KFActs: Faculty Search and Vetting Processes

By Rachelle Hollaway and Rebecca Yoshizawa, Members-at-Large

The KFA often receives questions about KPU’s hiring and search processes. It is typical for anyone applying for a new employment position to undergo a hiring process that includes submission of a CV and several interviews.

At KPU, faculty members are often asked to go through a second or even third search process if they are interested in teaching new courses or if they want to increase their workload percentage. In this article, we’ll explain some of the rationales behind these processes and explain your rights as a faculty member under the Collective Agreement.

Search Committees

Article 4 in the Collective Agreement describes search procedures, beginning with details in Article 4.02 about how to form search committees. Usually, a search committee includes an Associate Dean, two to three faculty members, and up to three alternate faculty members. The alternate faculty members may serve on the committee if the original members are unavailable or if any member has a conflict of interest.

Departments/Areas are responsible for holding annual elections for their search committees. Usually, the Chair is responsible for initiating an election. Elections can be held in a number of ways but they must adhere to the principles of fairness and transparency. Faculty in the discipline/program must be provided reasonable notice about the opportunity to be nominated or to self-nominate and to vote. The format of the vote, nomination dates, and voting periods should be communicated to all voting faculty members. Elections can be formal (email votes) or informal (raising one’s hand during a Department meeting), a combination of the two, or really any process that is fair and transparent and agreed upon by the Department. Voting periods should allow ample time for participation (for example, one week if voting online or advanced notice of the date of the Department meeting if voting in person). If voting in-person, consider offering people the option to vote or self-nominate via an alternate method if they are unable to attend the in-person meeting. Alternate methods could include an email option or asking a colleague to provide a person’s nomination or vote. Essentially, the nomination and voting process needs to be accessible, fair, and transparent.

If a Department does not elect a search committee, the KFA is responsible for creating one. According to Article 4.02 (a), “In the event no Search Committee member or alternate member is available, the Union shall appoint a replacement to the Search Committee. Where possible, the replacement shall be appointed from the affected discipline/program.”

Because search committee members can be drawn from outside the Department, it is preferable that each Department makes sure it has a functioning search committee and elections process. Faculty members from the Department are more likely to be the subject matter experts for their courses and programs than faculty members from other Areas.

Once the Search Committee is elected, it is responsible for conducting fair and transparent searches for new hires as well as for vetting current faculty members who wish to teach additional courses. Article 4.02(a) explains that “the Administrative designate will be responsible for providing institutional support; the faculty members will provide expertise on subject/instructional matters.” The Associate Dean or Dean has the responsibility to make sure the Collective Agreement is followed, the various administrative details are taken care of (such as posting the search ad), and the process unfolds in a logical and efficient manner. The faculty members, as the subject matter experts, make the hiring recommendation based on the needs of the Department and/or Program. The Associate Deans or Deans most likely will not share the same areas of expertise as the Department and are not qualified to make this decision for the faculty members.

Search Processes

According to Article 4.02 (f) to (o), when a position is proposed, the job description and job posting are developed in consultation with the Search Committee. The competition runs for a minimum of two weeks. The Search Committee reviews all written applications, develops a short list of candidates to interview, provides rationales for their choices, and recommends the successful candidate(s) to the University President or designate.

If a member of the committee does not agree with the recommendation, they may make separate recommendations with a rationale. The University President or designate will attempt to resolve the matter as per Article 4.02 (h) before deciding whether to make an appointment, recommence the search, or cancel the vacancy.

Vetting

When a faculty member is hired, the Search Committee prepares a list of courses they are qualified to teach. Search Committees are further responsible for vetting existing faculty members who would like to be qualified to teach additional courses. All faculty categories can request to be vetted for additional courses: NR1 faculty, NR2 faculty, and part-time or full-time regularized faculty. The Department/Area should have a fair and transparent process for vetting along with fair and transparent criteria for qualifications. The vetting process may include submission of written requests, documentation, evidence, and/or interviews.

A Search Committee has the discretion to decide when it may hold vetting activities and/or interviews. Sometimes Search Committees will time vetting activities or interviews to coincide with a search process for posted vacancies and external hiring processes. This can reduce workload and increase efficiency. Some Search Committees send out notices for vetting interviews to the entire Faculty, such as in the Melville School of Business. Keep your eyes open for these vetting opportunities. Eventually, though, a Search Committee should agree to set up a time to vet you for additional courses if you request this, but please allow them time to do so.

If your Dean, Associate Dean, or Chair denies you the right to be vetted for additional courses because you are a non-regular faculty member, contact the KFA right away.

Qualified Faculty List (QFL) and Qualified to Teach (QTT) List

As per Article 4.04 (c)(i), the Search Committee, including the administrator responsible, must maintain an updated, viable qualified faculty list (QFL). This list is predominantly used for NR1 work, such as emergency hires and substitute work in case of sudden medical leaves or other emergencies. A posted search to populate the QFL may include outside candidates and internal candidates at KPU.

Some Departments or Areas have a separate list for Regular faculty called the Qualified to Teach (QTT) list. The QFL or QTT list should include the courses you were vetted to teach by the Search Committee when you were first hired and any additional courses for which you have since been vetted. Feel free to contact your Dean’s Office to confirm if your details on the QFL/QTT list are current and accurate. 

Bias and Conflicts of Interest

Every faculty member has the right to a fair and transparent search process as per Article 4: “The search process is guided by the principles of fairness and transparency as per Article 4.02.”

If you are concerned that the Search Committee is biased or if there is a known or perceived conflict of interest between you and someone on the Search Committee, you have rights under Article 4.02 (e):

If a candidate has any concerns relating to bias or conflict of interest on the part of a Search Committee member, those concerns should be brought to the Employer’s attention by the Union before the commencement of the interview process. Otherwise, the Employer will assume that the composition of the Search Committee is acceptable.

It is extremely important that you bring any issues related to bias (either positive or negative) or conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest to the attention of the KFA in advance of the interview process. It is difficult to prove bias or a conflict of interest after the fact, so please exercise your rights to a fair search by communicating any issues before the search process begins. If you communicate your issues to your Dean or Associate Dean, they should likewise tell you about Article 4.02 (e); however, the KFA is aware of several instances of administrators not following the Collective Agreement when engaged in various university processes, including vetting. So, protect yourself and your rights, and contact the KFA right away. We will make sure Article 4.02 is followed correctly, which can include requests for an alternate search committee so that any bias, conflict, or perceived conflict of interest is eliminated.

Some examples of perceived or real conflicts of interest on search committees may include personal friendships or relationships, past history of complaint processes, mediation, or interpersonal conflict, direct personal financial benefit outside of the employment relationship with KPU, and so on.

Search Committees and Article 7

Faculty members who have been issued layoff notices under Article 7 have the right to be vetted based on the minimum qualifications table. Any interviews conducted under Article 7 provisions must be conducted with the rights of affected faculty members in mind. If in doubt, Search Committees or faculty members who have been issued layoff notices should consult with the KFA in advance of any vetting processes to ensure the Collective Agreement is being upheld.

If you have any questions about Search Committees or the information in this KFActs article, please reach out to the KFA.

KFActs FAQ: When Should I Ask for KFA Representation?

By Mark Diotte

It happens. All of us, from time to time, are called into our Dean or Supervisor’s Office. Sometimes, the subject of discussion is something positive—an opportunity that we might take advantage of, upcoming regularization, or a congratulatory word about a recent achievement. At other times, these conversations involve topics that are not often publically spoken about at KPU—student complaints, complaints regarding colleagues, grading practices, or conduct issues.  

No matter the reason, when you are called to a meeting with your Dean or Supervisor, it is important to know your rights and when you should ask for KFA representation.

1.       Q.   What is KFA Representation and what does it mean?

A.    As per Article 3.01, the KFA is the “exclusive bargaining agent for all Instructors, Counsellors and Librarians employed by the University, including Continuing and Professional Studies Faculty.” This article means that the Union is your legal representative in the employment relationship between you and KPU. The KFA is committed to protecting the rights of all faculty members under the KPU-KFA Collective Agreement.

You are always entitled to KFA representation when the meeting may lead to discipline. Under Article 18.04 (d), “any faculty member may request that a Union representative attend as an observer at meetings where the faculty member reasonably believes their working conditions under Article 12 will be affected.”

2.       Q.   Can my Dean or Supervisor require me to meet with them?

A.   Yes, your Dean or Supervisor has the right to require that you meet with them unless you are on scheduled and approved vacation.

3.       Q.   What should I do if I am called to a meeting with my Dean or Supervisor?

A.   Before you attend any meeting with the Employer, you have the right to know the subject of the meeting. If your Dean or Supervisor does not provide a reason for the meeting, you should request one in writing (e.g. email). You should also contact the KFA for advice and representation if needed.

4.       Q.   Should I bring KFA representation to my meeting with my Dean or Supervisor?

A.   If the subject of the meeting involves or could possibly lead to a discussion regarding complaints, discipline, conduct, coaching, or any performance-related issues, then you should immediately notify the KFA and inform the Employer that you wish to have representation present.

5.       Q.   My Dean or Supervisor told me that KFA representation is not necessary, but that they can “be present if I want.” I have been told this is just a “friendly conversation.” What should I do?

A.   Contact the KFA for advice. In many cases, conversations with a Dean or Supervisor may start out as well-intentioned but end up moving into discussions about conduct, performance, coaching, or complaints.

6.       Q.   Is it adversarial to bring KFA representation to a meeting? Will I be labelled a “trouble-maker?”

A.   No. Bringing KFA representation to a meeting is “business as usual” in the world of labour relations. Often, the KFA representative just sits silently beside you and takes notes.

7.       Q.   I am in a friendly meeting with my Dean or Supervisor and the conversation has taken a turn toward performance, conduct, or complaint issues. What should I do?

A.   You should immediately stop the conversation and explain that you are uncomfortable continuing without KFA representation. You should then ask to have the meeting rescheduled so that you can have a KFA representative present. You should then leave the meeting and contact the KFA.

8.       Q.   My Dean or Supervisor has asked me what happened in one of my classes. What should I do?

A.   Keep your answers general; if the questions persist, stop the conversation and explain that you are uncomfortable continuing the conversation without KFA advice. Then, contact us. You do not have to incriminate yourself. Your KFA representative will advise you on how to proceed.

9.       Q.   I am being called as a witness to an incident or to provide context to an event. What should I do?

A.   Seek KFA advice. You may find yourself in a situation where you are asked questions about a situation and then the conversation moves into discipline, complaint, or conduct issues.

10.   Q.   Can I bring a lawyer to my meeting with the Employer?

A.    A member is of course free to hire their own lawyer at their own expense, but that lawyer has no legal standing or jurisdiction in the employment relationship with KPU. The phrase “exclusive bargaining agent” means that the Union is the legal representative in the employment relationship, and the KFA can provide legal advice through the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators (FPSE) if needed.

11.   Q.   I am involved in or witness to matters that may be criminal in nature but do not represent an immediate danger or threat. What should I do?

A.   Immediately contact the KFA. The KFA will arrange to have FPSE legal counsel available to consult on the matter. If there is an immediate danger or threat, call 911 and contact KPU Security and your supervisor (dean or director).

12.   Q.   My Dean or Supervisor wants to regularize me; should I have KFA representation?

A.   Not necessarily, but listen carefully to the conversation and follow it up with an email to your Dean or Supervisor that represents your understanding of what occurred. If issues arise in the future, contact the KFA. If you are unsure whether the process of your regularization was followed correctly, or if you would like to check before you sign any documents, contact the KFA.

13.   Q. I have a good relationship with my Dean or Supervisor, and they have an “open door” policy. Can I drop by and chat without KFA representation?

A.   Yes, of course! Most of the time, the faculty relationship with Deans or Supervisors is a positive one. Just be mindful of situations where conversations may lead to more serious subject matter such as conduct, performance, or complaint issues. You may also want to confirm with the KFA any proposals from your Dean or Supervisor to change the terms of your employment. This can include changes to your workload, scheduling of vacation and PD time, additional work contracts or top-ups, alternative payment plans, or any other anomalous proposals.

Further, it is wise to document all meetings with the Employer by taking notes during and/or afterwards. If you are having any doubts or feelings of uncertainty about a meeting, we strongly recommend that you summarize your meeting in an email to the person or people you met with to confirm your understanding about what was said and agreed upon. This helps to avoid misunderstandings and future uncertainty. 

For more information, please see Article 23 Discrimination and Harassment in the KPU-KFA Collective Agreement as well as the Guidelines for the Follow-up of Performance and/or Conduct Issues. KPU Policy HR21 Respectful Workplace, HR24 Protected Disclosure, AD2 Complaints About Instruction, Services, Employees or University, and ST2 Student Academic Integrity/Procedure can be found on the KPU Policy page.

If you need to contact the KFA for representation, please visit our Contact page or call 604-599-2200

Updated February 2025

Layoff and Recall of Regular Faculty

By: KFA Table Officers

We understand that layoff is not on most faculty members’ list of favourite subjects. At the same time, we all recognize it is important to know our rights and know the facts on this uncomfortable and complex topic. The KFA’s role is to support faculty throughout all layoff procedures, and prevention and/or mitigation of layoffs is our main priority during that process.

This article explains procedures for layoff and recall of regular faculty at KPU. The article begins with details about the Collective Agreement provisions in Article 7 and ends with details about layoff mitigation strategies the Employer may use in advance of commencing the layoff process.

It is important to understand that receiving a layoff notice does not necessarily result in an actual layoff, and when a layoff does occur, it does not necessarily result in permanent job loss.

Please note: this article does not address layoff or work reduction for non-regular faculty. It is a feature of faculty classifications that work reductions affect non-regular faculty first before they affect regular faculty. Most work reductions for non-regular faculty happen by simply not renewing contracts. Formal layoff provisions for NR2 faculty members are somewhat different and limited and can be found under Article 8: Layoff and Recall – Non-Regular Type 2 Faculty. If you have questions about the layoff process for NR2 contracts, please reach out to the KFA.

Layoff is a Process, Not a Single Event

A quick summary of events that may occur in the layoff process:

• Reasons for potential for layoff presented by the Employer to the KFA
• Consultation between KFA and administration and preliminary mitigation efforts
• 5-month layoff notice(s) issued to individual faculty members where layoff is still deemed necessary by the Employer
• Mitigation efforts
• Layoff
• Severance pay
• Recall period of 2 years
• Potential recall and potential repayment of severance

In the next section, we will describe the events that occur in the layoff process and reference the relevant articles in the Collective Agreement. These processes are described under Article 7: Layoff and Recall – Regular Faculty.

Reasons for Layoff Presented by the Employer to the KFA

Article 7.01 in the Collective Agreement states: “The Employer may lay off regular faculty due to technological change; shortage of operating funds; elimination or reduction of programs or courses or services; decline in enrolment; external decision or recommendation; or changing demand for Employer services.” In simpler terms, this means that layoffs can occur if there are budget cuts due to funding shortfalls, changes in the demand for courses, or shifts in how the university operates.

Employer Notice and Union Negotiation

Article 7.01 (a) speaks to the requirement of the Employer to take all reasonable measures to reduce job loss, including informing and consulting with the Union as soon as any of the above listed events occur. The Employer must fully disclose to the Union the reasons for potential layoffs and must give the Union 10 days to reply and make proposals regarding those stated reasons. Through this negotiation, job loss may be averted. 

5-Month Layoff Notice

If the above Employer and Union negotiation does not avert potential job loss, the Employer will serve a written layoff notice to the affected faculty members and to the Union (7.03). The notice period is 5 months, and during this time, notified faculty remain employed by the university in their usual positions. During the notice period, the Employer, the faculty member, and the Union explore various forms of mitigation as described later in this article.

Layoff Order

Faculty members are served notice of layoff in order of least FTE to most FTE (7.02) within the area(s) affected.

“FTE” stands for “full-time equivalent,” which is how service is tabulated at KPU. The details of how this is calculated are in Article 1.05(i). Your FTE is expressed as a number, and you can find your own FTE service number in the Online Self Service (OSS). For example, 1.0 FTE stands for one full year of service at 100%. In most areas of the university, 1.0 FTE typically corresponds to teaching eight 3-credit sections. This figure is pro-rated for part-time service. For instance, a faculty member who has worked three years and taught eight sections in each year has an FTE of 3.0; a faculty member who has worked three years and taught four sections in each year has an FTE of 1.5. Regular and non-regular work counts towards total accumulated FTE. FTE is accumulated irrespective of non-regular or regular status; however, a gap in employment longer than 18 months restarts the FTE count to zero. Teaching non-bargaining unit courses in Continuing & Professional Studies (CPS) does not count for FTE.

If you have concerns about layoff order, the Union recommends that you inquire and verify with HR your FTE and your FTE order within your area, referred to in the Collective Agreement as “discipline/program.” If you think there is an error, please contact the KFA.

Impact of Qualifications on Layoff Order

We should note that FTE order is not the only criteria for determining layoff order. Article 7.02 (b) (i-ii) describes how qualifications impact the order of layoff notice. If a faculty member has been identified for layoff on the basis of FTE, but the remaining faculty are not qualified to perform the job duties that remain in the area, the process of identifying the faculty member with the next lowest FTE will continue.

The Union recommends that you verify the list of courses you are qualified to teach with your dean’s office. You are qualified for all courses that you were qualified to teach at the time of hiring or at any point thereafter. If you believe the list the dean’s office gives you is incorrect, you should request a correction. If you encounter problems in this process, please contact the KFA. (Note: the list that should be kept by deans’ offices is sometimes referred to as the “QFL” or qualified faculty list, and sometimes it is referred to as the “QTT” or qualified to teach list. These are the same thing when referring to regular faculty.)

Faculty members who have transferred from one discipline to another, who are cross-appointed, or who are qualified in multiple disciplines/areas, may have access to additional mitigation strategies, so it can be helpful if your dean’s office(s) are regularly reminded of your qualifications in multiple disciplines/areas and are kept up to date in times when faculty are facing potential layoffs.   

Part-time Regular Faculty Members and Layoff

For part-time regular faculty members who have been working above their regularization percentage (additional work contracts), please note that offering work *only* at the percentage of regularization does not constitute layoff.

Part-time regular faculty members are entitled to first right of access to additional work that is available in their area; however, if additional work is unavailable as a result of general work reductions in the area, then the member will not be assigned work above their regularization percentage. They will not qualify for severance pay nor have recall rights to additional work above their regularization percentage. However, they will still continue to have first right to additional work above their regularization percentage should it become available.

If you have been working above your regularization percentage over the past three years, please contact the KFA as you may be entitled to a regularization percentage increase. Work reductions in future do not impact your entitlement to a regularization percentage increase now.

Layoff Mitigation under Article 7

Once any faculty members receive written notice of layoff, mitigation strategies are explored by the Employer. These are detailed under Article 7.05, 7.06, 7.09, and under the lists in 7.10 (c) and (d). Article 22.05 is also related to mitigation.

1. Alternative Work

A faculty member who receives a layoff notice will meet with their dean/administrator and discuss alternative work assignments for which the member may be qualified. This is one reason to ensure your vetted courses are updated and for administrators to be made aware of cross appointments. The dean/administrator will determine if the faculty member can be reassigned to an alternate position. If the Dean is unable to determine if a faculty member is qualified for alternate work in another department, then the search committee of that department will vet the faculty member. This process may require a current CV and an interview with the Search Committee.

If the faculty member or KFA disagrees with a dean/administrator’s determination of suitability for alternate work, then this determination is sent to the Labour Management Relations Committee (LMRC) for resolution. Failing satisfactory resolution at LMRC, a grievance is possible (7.02).

2. Partial Layoff

In some situations, faculty may be issued partial layoff notices. If the faculty member works less than their regularized workload (a partial layoff), then they become a part-time regular faculty member whose compensation and benefits are adjusted to their part-time workload. Under a partial layoff, the faculty member has a right of first refusal of available work, including non-regular work, and receives a partial severance. The partial severance can be used to top up salary, benefits, and/or pension for a period of two years.

3. Menu of Labour Adjustment Strategies

For a period of 14 days, the LMRC, via emails from the Dean’s Office, will canvas faculty in the areas affected by layoff (7.10 a) and provide solutions to minimize job loss.

Voluntary faculty solutions may include partial leave, job sharing, transfers to other areas, unpaid leaves of absence, workload averaging, reducing workload by combining with pension, secondment, and trial retirement. If you choose to consider a voluntary solution and are uncertain what it means, please consult the KFA.

Under 7.10 (d), the Employer also considers discretionary mitigation efforts which can include paid leaves of absence, severance of up to 12 months to faculty who were not identified for layoff, retirement incentives, workload averaging, purchasing past pensionable service for a retiring employee, retraining, and continuation of benefits. Mitigation efforts are optional on the part of the Employer and are subject to funding.

4. Retirement Incentive

Article 22.05 describes how the Employer can offset layoffs by offering retirement incentives to regular faculty who are at least 55 years old, have a minimum of 10 years of FTE service, are at the maximum step of the salary scale, and who will resign for the purposes of retirement. This mitigates layoffs by allowing someone with higher FTE service to retire in place of someone with less FTE being issued a layoff notice. This is optional on the part of the Employer as well as on the part of members who might qualify for the incentive. Faculty who accept an early retirement offer do not retain any FTE, but they may be added to the QFL and retain their access to email and access to non-regular work as NR1 faculty.  

5. Registry of Laid Off Employees

Letter of Understanding #7 in the Collective Agreement provides details about the entitlements of laid off faculty to available positions listed in the Registry. These entitlements may include access to interviews, training/orientation, benefits, seniority retention and so on.

Severance

After alternative work assignment possibilities and other forms of mitigation have been exhausted, a faculty member may be laid off. Article 7.08 states that they will “receive one month’s severance pay for every full year of FTE service to a maximum of ten (10) months’ severance pay.”

If a person is recalled to a regular position, then the severance pay received must be gradually repaid at the rate of one month severance pay per year of employment after recall. If a person is laid off and recalled, then laid off later, the severance pay received is adjusted according to a formula found in Article 7.08.

Recall

Article 7.11 (a) explains that faculty members who have been laid off have a right to be recalled back into a regular position for work that becomes available, and for which they are qualified, for two years from the date of their layoff. Offers of re-appointment are made in the reverse order of layoffs. If faculty members are not recalled within two years, their right to reappointment at KPU ends.

It’s important to note here that even if a person’s recall period has ended, the person can request to be retained on the qualified faculty list to be able to access non-regular work that might become available after the recall period. However, it should also be noted that a laid off faculty member does not have a right to this work after the two-year period has ended. All laid off faculty should check Taleo regularly and apply for any open positions.

Faculty members who have been laid off are responsible for keeping Human Resources informed of their up-to-date contact information. Make sure HR has your current personal email address, mailing address, and phone number. Be sure you check your email regularly, as the Employer will initially contact you via email.

A faculty member who is recalled will have 5 business days to respond to the initial recall email sent by the Employer. If a recalled faculty member decides to not accept re-appointment, they will “lose all rights to re-appointment under Article 7.11.”

Layoff Mitigation in Advance of Issuing Written Layoff Notices

The Employer may change faculty’s schedules in order to avoid issuing layoff notices. If student enrollment numbers are low, classes may be cancelled. If your class is cancelled, you may be asked to teach during your non-teaching semester to make up the missing section(s). Depending on the context, it may be in your best interest to accept this schedule change rather than refusing work as the refusal of work may lead to a workload reduction. This workload reduction would happen outside of the provisions and protections under Article 7, meaning that you would not receive severance and other rights under the layoff process. You would simply lose that workload, at least for that year, and then most likely be issued an overpayment notice because your annualized workload will have declined. If you are unsure about accepting scheduling changes, please contact the KFA.

It is important to remember that there is no seniority at KPU for scheduling courses. As long as the Employer has provided your workload percentage during your work year (12-month period), then they have fulfilled their contractual obligations to you. This means that you could be asked to teach in all three semesters in a number of configurations. For example, if you usually teach a 100% workload of 3-credit courses as 4/4/0, you could be asked to teach 4/0/4 or 2/2/4 or 0/4/4 or 4/3/1 and so on. Anyone can be asked to change their teaching semester based on operational needs, and a faculty member’s FTE amount need not be considered by the Employer. In the same way, the dean/administrator may fulfil their obligation to provide workload via a different course (for which you are qualified) and/or via a different mode (in person, hybrid, or online). If you have questions about being asked to teach in all three semesters, please contact the KFA.

Role of Deans, Associate Deans, and Chairs in the Layoff Process

Deans and associate deans are responsible for communicating to faculty about layoffs and layoff mitigation. Chairs are faculty peers, and they do not have supervisory or managerial responsibilities. That being said, chairs often perform scheduling tasks as part of their normal chair duties, so there is a real risk for chairs to be asked by their deans’ offices to undertake layoff mitigation tasks that should rightly be performed by deans and associate deans.

If you are a chair and you are being asked to communicate with a faculty member regarding a change to their schedule so that they must teach during their non-teaching semester, please contact the KFA. Chairs should not be required to have these conversations with faculty about their schedules. This is the role of the associate dean or dean since moving sections around in this way is considered a layoff mitigation strategy, and chairs are not responsible for layoff mitigation. Only supervisors (deans, associate deans, or directors) can engage faculty in these types of scheduling conversations.

If you have been asked to teach during your non-teaching semester by your chair, please contact the KFA. The KFA will provide support to all chairs so that they do not feel pressured by their deans to engage in layoff mitigation.

Final Thoughts

Being issued a layoff notice may provoke fears and anxieties, but remember that you have rights and options. Our rights around layoff, described in this communication, are a key way that our regularization rights are upheld and are key to the KFA being able to defend regularization. The KFA is dedicated to ensuring those rights are upheld and that you are supported.

If you have any questions or concerns about layoffs, or if you notice any potential breaches of the procedures described in our Collective Agreement or in this article, please contact the KFA. We are here to answer your questions and provide support.

Faculty Late Payments, Underpayments, and Correct Pay Calculation

By Diane Walsh, VP Grievances

Hello KFA Members! I hope the fall is progressing nicely for you whether you are in a teaching or non-teaching portion of your schedule.

Late Payments and Underpayments

I have some news to share that may be troubling. It has come to the KFA’s attention that a number of members have been underpaid and/or paid very late for their work. We do have some arbitration settlements or ongoing grievances regarding some of these kinds of errors, and you may or may not have seen or heard the communications about them. I will note them in the descriptions that follow.

Recent Examples

First, here are a few examples of what we have seen recently:

Example 1: The Employer currently is vigorously pursuing the collection of overpayments from faculty members. During the investigation of several of these, the KFA has discovered that, in fact the faculty member has been under-paid, not over-paid.

For this member, the original claim was that NR1 contracts had been incorrectly processed in duplicate and the member had been paid in error. When we investigated, we found that in fact the member had not been paid at all for one of their NR1 contracts, and that contract should have taken them over the 32% top-up threshold. The member is in fact owed money and we are trying to resolve this informally for them but may yet have to file a formal grievance.

Example 2: A member was about to go on maternity leave, but her baby was born early.  She did not inform the Employer immediately that her baby had been born, and she was paid full wages and not placed on maternity leave for one extra day. The Employer sought to recover this one day of pay from her, and when the KFA investigated, we found that she actually had not been paid the 100% normal salary she is entitled to for the first week after the birth of her child, and she also had not yet been paid her Supplemental Employment Benefit (a top-up for members on maternity/parental leave). This was as of September, for a baby born in June. We hope to resolve this informally but we may yet have to file a formal grievance.

Example 3: Another member who the Employer claimed owed them money due to an overpayment was found instead to have been underpaid. The calculations for a non-standard series of courses were incorrect, resulting in the member being underpaid by several thousand dollars. We have tried to resolve this informally but have had to grieve formally, and we expect to get the member compensated correctly.

Example 4: Another member completed a Guided Studies course in April this year, and they noticed they had not been paid as of late July. When they queried, it took until this September to be paid out for it, 5 months later. The unpaid Guided Studies contract inspired the member to check back on all their other Guided Studies courses, and they discovered another that had not been paid, from three years ago. In the words of the member, “Initially HR claimed they had no record of the guided study until I presented the original signed contract, Dean’s approval, screenshot of the CRN and posted final grade. That was also in late July. So…yes, I did have to wait three years. The parts that bother me are lack of apology for the mistake and there seemed to be no rush (5 weeks) to make things right once it was brought to their attention.”

Example 5: Another member, a part-time regular, agreed to take on significant additional workload for their appointment year, September through August, and received a confirmation memo in July for the additional work. They were not paid for the additional work as of the first pay period, and so they queried. They were told that no one in Payroll had time to put it in yet. They heard back from Payroll that it would be processed and paid on the next pay date. That makes their additional pay (if it arrives when promised) over a month late.

Example 6: A member approached the KFA wondering when they would start to be paid for work they were already doing. As it turns out, they had accepted work as an NR1, but nearly a month into actually teaching the course, they still do not have a contract, and have not been paid anything. We are trying to resolve this informally, and we will get the member paid.

There are also a number of formal grievances already in the works for underpayments that appear to be systemic in nature. (Please see details of those below.) But we are aware of what seems like an increasing number of errors like those I have described above around underpayments and overpayments.

You may now be wondering whether your pay is or has been late, or whether it is or has been incorrect. Please check the descriptions below, and if you think you have been underpaid, let us know!

Is my pay late?

There is a clear requirement in law on timelines for paying wages. The Employment Standards Act of BC in section 17 Paydays says “(1) At least semimonthly and within 8 days after the end of the pay period, an employer must pay to an employee all wages earned by the employee in a pay period.” There is not much room for interpretation there, but we are aware of the Employer making statements suggesting that a 5-week lag in pay processing is acceptable. It is not. Neither is it acceptable for anyone to work without a contract because if that is the case, one of the logical consequences is that they will not be paid in a legal time frame for their work. If you have been working without a contract, please let us know.

The KPU payroll cycle is a two-week pay period that then builds in that allowable one-week lag before payday, so that we are all paid one week after the end of the pay period. For example, if you performed some work this week, it falls within the Sept 15 to 30 pay period, and you must be paid out on the October 6 payday. The maximum lag between performance of work and receiving pay might be almost 3 weeks, and certainly it must not more than that. Here is the payroll schedule for 2023 which lays out all the pay periods and the actual pay date for each pay period. You can find the schedules for previous years by searching on the website. Again, you must be paid by the next payday for all pay earned during any given pay period.

Please note there are two slightly unusual situations for faculty. Over-enrollment fees should be paid out at the end of each semester, by December 31 for the Fall semester, April 30 for the Spring semester, and August 31 for the Summer semester. We are aware of many issues with these payments and we have been told it has been corrected, but please do let us know if you are paid after these dates, as that is when the payment has been earned. Guided studies contracts are the second exception, and they are paid out at the completion of the work in the contract, so please let us know if you are not paid on the payday following when you submit the final grade, as that is the date when the payment has been earned.

Is my pay correct?

Please take special note that all or most of the underpayments we have seen so far are related to:

1. changes in workload, and
2. changes in the way that overloads and additional work are paid, and
3. how NR1 work is being paid out.

If you fall into any of these categories, I would urge you to look closely at your pay.

Please see below a relatively thorough set of guidelines for how each different kind of compensated work must be paid. To check and make sure your pay has been correct, first skim the bold titles and find the category or categories below that describe your work. Then, check to see if your pay has been calculated correctly. 

All new faculty members:

Check to make sure your step placement is correct as per Article 9.02 of the Collective Agreement. That lays out the criteria for your placement, and there are often errors in your initial placement. As per 9.03, you have four months to request a reconsideration, after which you will not have your step corrected.

Full-time regular or NR2 faculty:

Your annual pay should match the amounts listed in Article 9.01 of the Collective Agreement for your salary step. Your gross bi-weekly pay as reflected on your pay stub should be 1/26 of your current step. This is a good indication if you are currently being paid at the correct rate. We believe most full-time regular and NR2 faculty are being currently being paid correctly for their normal salary (not some overloads, see below), but I think it’s worth checking.

If you advance on the scale to a higher step (see Article 9.02 for details), then you are paid at the new rate effective the beginning of the first full pay period (you can find the pay period dates here) after you achieve the FTE for the higher step. So, you won’t have a pay period in which you are paid a combination of steps.

General notes re annual salary: If you advance up the salary scale, then your annual salary as reflected on your T4 will be a proportional combination of the two rates for the applicable periods of time. Likewise, when our overall salary rates increase, that increase generally occurs mid-year, so the amount on your T4 should reflect proportionately the applicable periods of time. (In this communication, I am not going to detail how and when this occurred in the past collective agreement periods, but we might provide this explanation in a future communication if people believe it has not been accurately handled for them. If this is so for you, let us know.)

Overload for a full-time regular faculty member who chooses to be paid out:

Note: This is the subject of a current grievance on behalf of all affected faculty members. It will be helpful for us to receive your particular information as part of the evidence, but in the grievance remedies we are asking that all affected members be made whole, or in other words, everyone should be paid everything they should have been paid.

When you choose to be paid out for overloads over 100%, you are paid at the rate for that work for the applicable period of time, plus 25% in lieu of benefits and vacation. Here is the correct calculation:

For a semester-based course overload:

[(Salary step/2/3) / 24] = salary per credit for a single semester

[(Salary per credit x number of course credits) x 1.25] = total salary for the overload.

For example, if you teach a single course overload in a semester and you are at top of the current scale, then it goes like this:

$100 958 / 2/3 = $67 305.33

$67 305.33 / 24 = $2804.39

$2804.39 x 3 = $8413.17

$8413.17 x 1.25 = $10 516.46

The amount the Employer has been paying people for this work is $10,314.24, about $202 short.

Related FYI – You have the right to choose whether to take an overload as payment or as equivalent time in a later semester. Unless you favour receiving some extra money in the short term, it is more advantageous over the long term to take overloads as time. You actually get compensated at your full year-long rate ($12 619.75 per course). Overloads paid out immediately are not pensionable, either, so that also is missing from the compensation. And, you get to teach one fewer section in a future semester of your choice, so that you have a lighter workload. This is entirely *your* choice, however, and that choice is guaranteed in the Collective Agreement. You should not be pressured one way or the other.

For substitution:

The period of time is the number of weeks or part thereof, and salary is paid for that portion of the year.

              [[(Salary / 52) x (number of hours / fulltime hours in mode)] x number of weeks] x 1.25

For example, if you substitute for a colleague for one week, four courses in mode 16, you have effectively taught one additional full-time week. If you are at top of the current scale, your additional pay for that week would be

$100 958 / 52 = $1941.50

 16 hours / mode 16 x 1 week = 1

$1941.50 x 1 = $1941.5 x 1.25 = $2426.88

If you think you have been paid wrongly for substitution work, let us know.

Overload for full-time NR2:

Note: This is the subject of a current ongoing grievance.

In this situation, you are paid exactly the same as for a full-time regular who chooses to be paid out (please see above), and the current practice is wrong for the same reasons. FYI – Because NR2 appointments are for a single year, there is no option to bank the time.

Part-time Regular, additional work two weeks in duration or more:

Part-time regular faculty members must have additional work that is two weeks or longer in duration rolled in to their annualized workload. This was a grievance outcome from several years ago. What this means is that no matter when a part-time regular faculty member is assigned additional courses or other substantial pieces of work, they must be paid for it as if it was always part of their annual workload, up to 100%.

For additional work, the calculation is:

              (Annual salary x workload % including the additional work) = Annual salary

Workload percentage for teaching one 3-credit course is 12.5%. So, for example, if 50% part-time regular agrees to teach an extra section, that means their annualized workload becomes 62.5%. Their salary must be adjusted, retroactively if necessary, to reflect this annual gross salary. Workload percentages for other kinds of courses must also accurately reflect the workload percentage associated with that course.

For additional work less than a full course but the equivalent of two weeks or more full time work, the annualized workload associated with the additional work must be added to the annual salary. One full week of work in each mode is equal to the number of hours in the mode.

For example, in Mode 24, a person teaching 24 contact hours in that mode has taught the equivalent of one full time week of work. In order to have work annualized, a part-time regular must work a total of 48 contact hours in that mode.

Two weeks of full-time work is 3.85% annual workload. The calculation is the same as above, where the additional percentage is added to the annual salary and the faculty member paid on an annual basis for the work.

Additional work taking a Part-time regular over 100% is handled exactly the same way that overloads over 100% are handled for full-time regular members, and should be captured in the same grievance.

Additional work for part-time Regular, less than two weeks:

In this case, the member is calculated in exactly the same way as a 100% regular faculty member for substitution. Please see above.

Additional work for part-time NR2:

This work is paid in exactly the same way as overload for full-time regular and NR2. Please see above.

NR1 work:

Note: No NR1 should receive a workload equivalent to 50% as their initial assignment. (4 three-credit courses or more, 18 weeks’ instruction for trades, 50% equivalent of annual workload for faculty who fall under Article 12.07.) This must be issued as an NR2 annualized appointment, and you must be paid substantially more for that work. If this has happened to you, please let us know, and provide us with copies of your contracts. We have a current grievance on this matter headed for arbitration.

Note also: NR1 contracts are in general being paid incorrectly, and we have a current grievance heading for arbitration on this matter. In the grievance remedies, we are asking that all affected members be made whole, or in other words, paid everything they should have been paid. However, it will be helpful if you fall into this category if you can give us all your contracts as well as copies of your paystubs so that we can show how people have been underpaid.

NR1 pay calculations: We can calculate total payment for NR1s in a number of ways:

On the basis of credits, that would be [(annual salary x 2/3) / 24] x number of course credits.

On the basis of workload percentage, that would be (annual salary x 2/3) x appropriate annualized percentage.

Example 1: We would calculate pay for an NR1 faculty member at top of scale teaching a single 3-credit course at current rates as follows. 

$100 958 x 2/3 = $67 305.33

$67 305.33 / 24 = $2804.39

$2804.39 x 3 = $8413.17 gross

Example 2: We would calculate pay for an NR1 faculty member at top of scale teaching a 75% semester workload, which is equivalent to 37.5% annualized workload, as follows.

$100 958 x 2/3 = $67 305.33

$67 305.33 x 37.5% = $25 329.50 gross

NR1 additional work taking them to 50% annual workload or more:

NR1s who go over the 50% threshold for all of their work between Sept 1 and the following August 31 qualify for a 32% premium on all their work in that time period.

A recent arbitration award has clarified that NR1 faculty members who go over the 50% annualized workload threshold must be paid out for all their work during that period upon assignment of the additional work. This means a retroactive payment is due and payable immediately as of the assignment of work that takes you to or over 50% (4 three-credit courses or more, 18 weeks or more instruction for trades, 50% equivalent of annual workload or more for faculty who fall under Article 12.07.). Or in other words, you should be paid the retro and for your current work at the rate plus 32% as of the next payday after you are assigned the work.

The calculation would be [NR1 normal salary for all workload] x 1.32 = adjusted salary

For example, if a person taught 3 courses in their first semester, like the person in example 2 above, they would be paid the normal NR1 salary for that work. If they were then assigned an additional course in December for the Spring semester, bringing them up to 50% workload, they would be owed the 32% top-up on all their work completed to that point, paid retroactively and to the end of the semester, as of the next payday. In the following semester, they would be paid at the normal NR1 salary rate for that semester plus 32% from the start. If they have additional work in the third semester, it is paid at the normal NR1 salary rate plus 32%. If they have no work in the third semester, they are paid nothing, as NR1s get no paid vacation, and no PD and accountable time.

Course over-enrollment fees:

Pay for this varies and is not included in annual salary calculations. Here’s how it works:

For each over-enrolled course, the faculty member (all faculty members including NR1s, NR2s and regular faculty) should receive $225 per student for each additional student enrolled above the class size limit. Whether there are students over the class size limit is measured the day of the stable enrollment date, which is the day after the add/drop period ends. Payment for over-enrollments occurs in a lump sum, less required statutory deductions, three times per year. Payments will be made by December 31 for the Fall semester, April 30 for the Spring semester, and August 31 for the Summer semester. This is not a late payment.

Guided studies contracts:

You can find the provisions for this under Article 11 in the Collective Agreement.

Here is how they are paid out (largely drawn directly from the article):

Non-regular and regular faculty members who are part-time or who have a full teaching load may accept a Guided Study Course contract or contracts according to the following payment schedule: $200 per credit for first student and $75 per credit for each additional student.

These amounts are payable upon completion of the contract and submission of a final grade. In the case of an “I” grade, payment would be due upon submission of the final grade.

If a student vanishes or withdraws formally before completing the course, the faculty member will receive 50% of the fee. That amount would be payable upon confirmation of withdrawal or if the student just vanishes, at the end of the semester.

Conclusion

I understand this can seem complicated (understatement!), particularly for those of you who do not work with payroll concepts or suchlike things as part of your normal life, but I do hope this information is relatively easy to use. We do want you to be able to find out if you are owed money, or not.

I want to emphasize that if you believe you have been paid incorrectly, or if you have been or are being paid late, or are currently working without a contract, please let us know. In order to get your pay corrected, and for us have the strongest possible set of facts to bring to the Employer to advocate for systemic fixes, we need to know about these errors.

In solidarity,

Diane.

Please note that this was originally circulated as an email in September 2023, and the information contained above will change with each new Collective Agreement. We are posting this email in our Getting to Know Your Collective Agreement section to keep the information handy for our members. It is also posted in the News and Updates section.

KFActs FAQ: About Retirement

By Betty Cunnin, Member-at-Large

At some point, you might decide you’d like to retire from KPU. Retirement is a time of transition that encompasses many career, financial, health, and life decisions. This KFActs FAQ will provide information to help you plan for that special last day. We will also discuss how your age and employment at other BC Universities and Colleges might impact your plans.

You can learn more about retirement and your pension from the College Pension Plan (CPP) and the annual retirement planning workshops offered by the Association of BC College Pension Plan Retirees through the KFA. The KPU Retirees Association also provides helpful retirement resources and occasional workshops.

When can I retire?

In British Columbia, there is no mandatory age of retirement. While you are not eligible to receive your retirement pension until you are at least 55 years old, you can choose to work as long as you can and retire whenever you think it is best for you.

Faculty members who choose to work past the age of 65 face a reduction in some benefits, including but not limited to no access to long-term disability after age 65, and no access to short-term disability benefits after age 70. Furthermore, there are no additional personal or employer CPP contributions to your pension beginning November 30 in the year you turn 71. 

I am ready to retire! Who do I need to tell…and when?

Before retiring and applying for your pension, you must arrange your last day of work, called your effective retirement date, with the Employer to ensure the CPP has the correct information to pay your pension accurately and on time. In addition to reaching out to your KPU Health and Benefits specialist with this information, you may also decide that you would like to communicate your intention to retire, at any time, to your Dean or your chair/colleagues in support of departmental planning.  

If you have accrued and banked vacation over the past few years, please keep in mind that Article 5.02 states that if a faculty member provides anything less than two months’ notice for terminating their employment, the Employer is not obligated to pay out vacation beyond the bare minimum required by the Employment Standards Act. This minimum is much lower than our vacation entitlements in the Collective Agreement.

The CPP states that the earliest you can apply for your pension is 90 days before the beginning of the month you want to begin receiving your pension, and no later than 30 days before your pension effective date.  For most people, the effective date for their pension is the first day following their effective retirement date.

If you apply for your pension with less than 30 days’ notice, there may be gaps in receiving pension payments while you wait for your pension to become effective. For example, if you are thinking of retiring August 31st, making September 1st your effective pension date, the CPP suggests you apply on or after June 3. Your first pension payment will be September 30th, and then the last day of each month going forward.

In order to avoid any delays in receiving your pension benefits, make sure to complete any required paperwork on time.

How much will my retirement income be?

All regular and non-regular faculty who work at KPU at least 50% in one year are mandatorily enrolled into the CPP.  The CPP mails you a statement every year which includes an estimate of your pension at yearly milestones.  You can also perform calculations to estimate the pension you will receive based on assumed retirement dates by accessing your personal online CPP account. At present, the CPP uses the average of the five years of your highest salary to determine your pension. The CPP also provides every enrolled employee an annual statement showing the estimated value of your pension.

BC’s CPP is a defined benefit pension plan. In a defined benefit pension plan, your pension is based on a formula that uses your years of service and your highest average salary, not based on your overall contributions. Every pay period, a portion of your pay goes to the pension plan. Your employer also contributes at the same time.

The following contribution rates have been in effect since April 1, 2019:

• You contribute 10.24% of your salary
• Your employer contributes 10.34% of your salary

Basically, the more years of service you accumulate in FTE, and move up the salary steps, the greater your pension. If you retire early, before age 65, your age at retirement and years of contributory service, called the 85 factor, will determine if you are eligible for an unreduced pension.

If you have worked part-time or taken some types of leaves, your service may be reduced. See the CPP regarding options for purchasing this reduced service. It is important to know that when you are ready to retire, and you want to draw income from your pension, you will need to apply for your pension: you will not receive it automatically when you stop working.

What happens to my benefits?

Your KPU employee health care coverage will end one month past your retirement date. You can apply for extended health care and dental coverage through a number of private providers including the CPP, KPU Retirees Association, and Manulife. Each provider has pros and cons in terms of coverage and costs, so be sure to research all of your options in advance of your current benefits expiring. If electing to pay for Manulife’s coverage, be sure to let them know you were a KPU faculty employee.

What if I work at more than one Post-Secondary Institution (PSI) that is enrolled in the CPP?

If you are employed at another post-secondary institution in BC that is also a member of the CPP, and you are entitled to receive retirement benefits at that other workplace, to be eligible to draw on your KPU pension, you must sever your employment relationship for the purpose of retirement at both institutions. Alternatively, if you retire from KPU and choose to defer your pension to a later date, you can continue your active employment at the other institution and contribute to your pension up until November 30 of the year you turn 71.

Can I work at KPU after I retire?

Absolutely! But there are some limitations regarding timing. When applying for your pension, you and the Employer will be required to sign a declaration stating no pre-arranged agreement exists for you to work for KPU after retirement.

In other words, you need to completely sever your employment relationship with KPU for the purpose of retirement in order to be eligible to receive a pension from the CPP.

Article 21 states that you must ask to be placed on the departmental qualified faculty list in order to be offered future NR1 contracts, and many retired faculty return to teach via NR1 contracts. You must do this each year to be considered qualified and to maintain access to your KPU email. Let your Dean, AD, or Divisional Business Manager know that you want to be added to the QFL when you tell them you plan to retire.

What happens to my email address when I retire?

If you want to maintain access to your KPU email address after you retire, let your Dean, AD, or Divisional Business Manager know that you want to be added to the qualified faculty list (QFL) as per Article 21 in the Collective Agreement.

Help! My email address was deleted even though I asked be kept on the QFL!

This happens sometimes when there is a delay in processing some of the paperwork and/or if you let your Dean’s Office know you want to remain on the QFL but don’t provide a lot advanced notice. Don’t worry—your email is not deleted. That being said, let your Dean, AD, or Divisional Business Manager know right away that your email address is not accessible. They should be able to get it up and running again.

What happens to my ID card and office keys when I retire?

This is a bit of grey area at the moment. Some people are asked to return their ID cards right away and some people are not. If you know you plan to return as an NR1 instructor, feel free to ask your Dean’s Office if you can keep your ID card to make your next teaching semester easier. If you are asked to return your ID card and your keys, they should be returned as quickly as possible as these are considered property of KPU. You will need to get your ID card and keys reissued to you if/when you return as an NR1 instructor. Please note that you may be given a desk at a Hotel Office and not the office you had as a regular instructor.

Can I still access the Library when I retire?

Yes, retired faculty may request a special library card that allows access to many resources. Please visit the Library’s website for more details about the Lifetime Borrower Card for Retired Employees.

Am I still a KFA member when I retire?

You are eligible to become a retired member of the Kwantlen Faculty Association (KFA), and the KFA will pay your first year’s dues to your choice of a KPU Retirees Association Membership, membership in the Association of British Columbia CPP Retirees, or membership in BC Forum. Please contact the KFA directly for more information.

Am I eligible for the Early Retirement Incentive mentioned in Article 22.01?

According to this Article, anyone can apply for an early retirement incentive; however, in practice, this incentive has been offered only once (according to the KFA’s historical memory). Sometimes other retirement incentives may be offered under Article 7.10 (d) (v). These are offered to help mitigate layoffs and a general notice will be sent out to your Department or Faculty. It is up to you to indicate your interest in any retirement incentive offered by the university, so be mindful of any deadlines.

Can I draw my pension and work at KPU at the same time?

Yes and no. As explained above, you must sever your employment relationship with KPU for the purpose of retirement in order to receive your pension payments. If you do happen to return as NR1 faculty after retirement, you remain entitled to draw your pension.

If you don’t retire, you should begin to draw your pension as a regular instructor once you turn 71. The College Pension Plan will contact you in the year you turn 71 to let you know. They will encourage you to complete the paperwork required to draw your pension and thus be paid your monthly pension amount. If you do not fill out this paperwork, you will not draw your pension until the paperwork is completed. In order to avoid missing out on your pension benefits, make sure to complete any required paperwork on time.

Can I retire in the middle of my work year or appointment year?

Technically you could retire in the middle of your work or appointment year, but the KFA does not usually recommend this. Depending on the time of the year, KPU may issue you an overpayment for not fulfilling the requirements of your annualized salary. In another scenario, you may be shorted vacation and PD entitlements. It is always preferable to retire at the end of your work/appointment year. You can use your PD and/or accountable time during your non-teaching semester to wrap up any outstanding committee work and clean out your office. If you are unsure if your teaching rotation aligns with your work/appointment year, contact your Dean’s Office or HR and ask them to clarify this for you

I don’t know when my work year or appointment year begins. Will that affect my retirement?

Yes, this could very well affect your retirement. If you are unsure about your work year or appointment year, please contact your Dean’s Office or HR and ask them to clarify this for you. Your teaching rotation may not align with your work/appointment year, especially if you have been teaching at KPU for many years or if your Dean asked you to switch your non-teaching semester. You don’t want to be in a situation where you retire without having earned your vacation or PD nor do you want to be in a situation where you retire without having taken any vacation time or PD time owed to you.

I still have questions and concerns. Who can I talk to?

You can always ask the KFA any questions. Feel free to reach out. You can also always ask the HR Health and Benefits specialist for your area any questions, but we recommend cross-referencing any details with the KFA. In the same way, feel free to reach out to the CPP to ask them questions. The KPU Retirees Association is another fantastic resource as the members have already gone through the same process.

Congratulations if you are retiring! Keep in touch!

KFActs: Accommodations, Short-Term Disability, and Manulife

By Rachelle Hollaway, Member-at-Large

This article will help you understand the role that Manulife plays in some accommodation requests and all Short-Term Disability claims. For general information about 30 days’ sick leave, short-term disability, and long-term disability, please read “What If I Get Sick? Sick Leave, and Short-term and Long-term Disability Leaves.”

Accommodations

You have rights under the British Columbia Human Rights Code for accommodations:

13   (1) A person must not

(a) refuse to employ or refuse to continue to employ a person, or

(b) discriminate against a person regarding employment or any term or condition of employment because of the Indigenous identity, race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, political belief, religion, marital status, family status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or age of that person or because that person has been convicted of a criminal or summary conviction offence that is unrelated to the employment or to the intended employment of that person.

The following is from the BC Human Rights Tribunal:

The Human Rights Code forbids discrimination in employment. Discrimination is poor treatment, based on a personal characteristic. If the person can justify the poor treatment, then there is no discrimination. The Code protects you in employment based on these personal characteristics.

Employers and others have a duty not to discriminate regarding employment. This includes a duty to take all reasonable steps to avoid a negative effect based on a personal characteristic. This is called the duty to accommodate.

When you request an accommodation, your dean may direct you to KPU’s Health and Benefits division. Health and Benefits may subsequently direct you to Manulife.

As part of the accommodation process, you will be asked to provide information about your situation and the type of accommodation you are requesting. While you are never required to share private medical information with any employer, including KPU, if you are seeking an accommodation, you will need to provide sufficient medical information for the Employer to understand your restrictions and limitations related to your job duties. Health and Benefits may also request Manulife to assist in accommodation requests. In these cases, Manulife will ask your doctor to submit forms that will include diagnoses. Your doctor may be required to submit further diagnostic information and clinical notes.

The KFA has filed a grievance on aspects of the accommodations process. Our goal is that the parties come to an agreement on a legally sound, fair, and dignified accommodations process, including Manulife’s request for a diagnosis.

When you initiate the accommodation process, your dean or your Health and Benefits representative may not tell you to contact the KFA. However, it is crucial that you do so. A KFA Table Officer can help you navigate the Employer’s and Manulife’s processes. For example, Manulife may contact you to ask how you are doing. This may seem like a friendly conversation to get to know you, but the conversation serves as an intake interview that is cross-referenced against the medical documents submitted by your doctor. A KFA Table Officer can help you understand the purpose of these interactions. If your accommodation is denied by the Employer or by Manulife, a Table Officer can also help you with the appeals process.

Short Term Disability Benefits

You have access to 30 days of sick leave paid at 100% by KPU. If your medical condition is such that you may be unable to work for longer than 30 days, it is important to begin the application process with Manulife for Short Term Disability coverage as soon as possible in order to avoid delays in the payment of your wage loss benefits.

If you indicate to your dean or Health and Benefits representative that you think you will need more than 30 days, and you begin the process of completing the Manulife forms (from yourself and from your doctor), then your Health and Benefits representative will pair you with a KFA representative from the Faculty Joint Rehabilitation Committee (FJRC).

It is very important to meet with your KFA FJRC representative before you talk with Manulife. As mentioned above, your case manager may ask you several questions that seem like a friendly way to get to know you better, but this conversation serves as an intake interview that is cross-refenced against the medical documentation submitted by your doctor. Be sure to ask your KFA faculty rep about how to navigate this intake interview and other paperwork required while applying for Short-Term Disability. This will help reduce the chances that your claim is denied by Manulife. If your claim is denied by Manulife, then your KFA FJRC representative will help you through the appeals process.

Denial of Short Term Disability Benefits

If you are denied short-term disability coverage by Manulife, reach out to your Faculty Rehabilitation Committee Rep or the KFA as soon as possible. Your Union rep will help you with the appeals process with Manulife. Unfortunately, it can be common for insurance companies to deny coverage, but there is an appeal process that is often successful. We strongly urge you to undertake the appeals process despite the bureaucratic burden. If you are too ill, you can also apply for EI sick leave benefits and then file an appeal with Manulife when you recover. If the appeal with ML is successful, you will receive any difference in wage loss benefits between the two providers.

The crucial point to remember is that once Manulife is involved, you need to have a union representative help you through the process, whether that be a Table Officer for an accommodation or a KFA Faculty Joint Rehabilitation representative for an application for short-term disability coverage. If you have any questions about Manulife, sick leaves, or short or long-term disability coverage, please contact the KFA.

Updated March 2025

KFActs: Working Post-65 and Benefits Coverage

By Rachelle Hollaway, Member-at-Large

It is becoming more common for faculty members to work past the traditional age of retirement. While the majority of benefits remain the same, faculty members who choose to work past the age of 65 face a reduction in some benefits.

The table below is adapted from the Faculty Benefit Summary Sheet found in the Human Resources section of SharePoint.

As you can see, the sections highlighted in yellow reflect the changes in benefits coverage faculty can expect when they turn 65, 70, and 71.

Life Insurance

At age 71, you will no longer qualify for life insurance.  

Accidental Death and Dismemberment

At age 71, you will no longer qualify for accidental death and dismemberment insurance.

The optional insurance plans offered by Manulife also have a termination age of 71.

Sick Leave

All faculty members, regardless of age, are entitled to 30 days of sick leave paid at 100% of your current salary. You may take more than one 30-day period of sick leave for different reasons. For example, if you are in a car accident and you need time to recover, you have access to 30 days. If you then become ill for any other reason outside of the car accident, you have coverage for another thirty days. The Employer may require medical documentation for any sick leave coverage, regardless of your age or medical ailment.

Short-Term Disability

If you think you may be ill for longer than 30 days, and you are under the age of 70, you may apply for short-term disability coverage through Manulife. Short-term disability coverage lasts for up to 21 weeks and is paid at 70% of your current salary. If you turn 70 while collecting short-term disability, your coverage can extend for the full 21 weeks. For example, if the date of disability is March 1, you will become eligible for short-term disability coverage on March 31 (after 30 days of sick leave). If you turn 70 on April 15, and you remain unable to work the entire time, your short-term disability coverage will extend to August 26. If you are unable to return to work on August 27, you have the option of going on a leave without pay until you recover.

If you are over the age of 70 and you become ill, you have the option of going on a leave without pay after your 30 days of sick leave coverage ends.

Long-Term Disability

If you are under the age of 65, you have access to long-term disability coverage after your short-term disability coverage has ended. Long-term disability coverage lasts until you turn 65 and is paid at 70% of your current salary. If you turn 65 while collecting long-term disability payments, your coverage will end at the end of your birthday month. For example, if Manulife is providing long-term disability coverage for you and you turn 65 on April 15, your coverage will end on April 30. If you are unable to return to work on May 1, you have the option of going on a leave without pay until you recover. You may also elect to retire.

For more information about leaves, please read the following:

What If I Get Sick? Sick Leave, and Short-term and Long-term Disability Leaves

What If I Get Sick? Sick Leave, and Short-term and Long-term Disability Leaves

KFActs: Accommodations, Short-Term Disability, and Manulife

Cautions and Caveats About Taking Leaves: Part 1

Cautions and Caveats About Taking Leaves: Part II: Unpaid Leaves & Benefit Coverage

College Pension Plan

From the College Pension Plan: “If your long-term disability benefits are provided by a group disability plan approved for pension purposes, you will continue to accumulate pensionable and contributory service while you are away from work. In this case, you do not need to buy [back] service. If your long-term disability benefits are provided by a group disability plan not approved for pension purposes, you may be able to buy service when you return to work.” You also continue to accumulate pensionable and contributory service during  a 30-day sick leave and short-term disability leave.

One year of pensionable service adds about 3% to your monthly pension. This amount is not based on the total amount invested in your pension but the number of years of contributory service and your five best years of income during that service.

If you work post-65, you continue to contribute to your pension until November 30 of the year you turn 71. For example, if you turn 71 in May, your contributions to your pension will continue until November 30. You can then draw your pension on December 1 and continue to work. The College Pension Plan should mail information to you regarding the above in the year you turn 71. They will encourage you to complete the paperwork required to draw your pension and thus be paid your monthly pension amount. If you do not fill out this paperwork, you will not draw your pension until the paperwork is completed.

The Future of Post-65 Benefits Coverage

Over the years, the unfair coverage of benefits for those over 65 has been challenged, and the issue has been addressed several times via the courts. In 1992, the issue was brought to the Supreme Court: Zurich Insurance Co. v. Ontario Human Rights Commission. The case established the rights of organizations, businesses, and governments to discriminate based on age categories for reasonable and bona fide rationales of undue hardship. In the case of insurance companies and the Canadian government, short-term and long-term benefits coverage can be denied to those over the age of 65 since providing this coverage would cause “substantial interference with a service provider’s business enterprise” (Council of Canadians with Disabilities v. VIA Rail Canada Inc, 2007 (703)). As cited in Via Rail, 2007, the onus of proving undue hardship falls on the organization involved:

A service provider’s capacity to shift and recover costs throughout its operation will lessen the likelihood that undue hardship will be established: Howard v. University of British Columbia (1993), 18 C.H.R.R. D/353 (B.C.C.H.R.). Other relevant factors include the impact and availability of external funding, including tax deductions (Brock v. Tarrant Film Factory Ltd. (2000), 37 C.H.R.R. D/305 (Ont. Bd. Inq.)); the likelihood that bearing the net cost would threaten the survival of the enterprise or alter its essential character (Quesnel v. London Educational Health Centre (1995), 28 C.H.R.R. D/474 (Ont. Bd. Inq.)); and whether new barriers were erected when affordable, accessibility-enhancing alternatives were available (Maine Human Rights Commission v. City of South Portland, 508 A.2d 948 (Me. 1986), at pp. 956-57). (703)

In BC, two cases have been brought to the BC Human Rights Tribunal against employers and insurance companies for discriminating against employees who are over the age of 65: Jones obo others v. Coast Mountain Bus Company and others, 2014 BCHRT 166 and Johnston obo others v. City of Vancouver (No. 2), 2015 BCHRT 90.

Both complaints were dismissed by the BCHRT. In Johnston v. City of Vancouver, the rationale for dismissal is as follows:

On the material before me, limiting eligibility for participation in the Disability Plan to those under the age of 65 is a “common, accepted and established practice” with respect to long-term disability benefits in Canada. The material on the file, in my view, establishes that the plan was adopted in good faith by both the City and the Union and there is nothing in the material that remotely suggests that the plan was implemented for the purpose of defeating protected rights. The age exemption, which the Complainant asserts is discriminatory, has been in place long before its insertion in a plan would have been necessary in order to defeat protected rights because, when the age exemption was first inserted in the Disability Plan, the definition of age in the Code still ceased at age 65. In any event, there is no evidence in the material before me to support that a motive for the age exemption in this plan was to defeat protected rights. (14)

Recently in Ontario, a grievance was successful because the insurance company was unable to demonstrate undue hardship. In Talos v. Grand Erie District School Board, 2018 HRTO 680, rights to prescription drug coverage were won for post-65 teachers because only 2-3% of teachers were over the age of 65, and the School Board could not provide evidence that coverage would have caused operational harm. While Talos’ claim did not include short or long-term disability coverage, the HRTO found, “The actuarial evidence presented in this matter made it clear that there are reasonable ways to protect older workers from discrimination in relation to workplace benefits, while protecting employers from the expense of unduly costly healthcare benefits and life insurance plans” (86).

Hopefully, access to fair benefits coverage will be provided to post-65 faculty in the near future. In the meantime, your KFA is bringing post-65 benefits to the bargaining table as per the will of our membership in the last bargaining survey. The KFA will also provide updates on this important case as more information becomes available.

As always, if you have any questions about this topic or any other concerns, please contact your KFA.

Updated March 2025

KFActs: Important Information about Overpayments

By Rachelle Hollaway, Member-at-Large

Over the past few years, several faculty members have been asked to pay back money due to overpayment errors. Some common errors include workload percentage errors, leave calculation errors, additional work contract errors, benefit overpayments and so on.

Many faculty members have had money deducted from their pay without knowledge or consent.

If someone in HR or Payroll has contacted you about an overpayment or has told you that money will be deducted from your pay, please contact me at rachelle.hollaway@kpu.ca. There may be significant calculation errors in the amount you are being asked to pay back. You also have important rights under the Employment Standards Act (ESA) that HR must uphold.

Section 21 of the Employment Standards Act explains that employers “must not, directly or indirectly, withhold, deduct or require payment of all or part of an employee’s wages for any purpose.”

On the surface, section 21 of the ESA seems to imply that errors made in pay are not recoverable by the employer. However, this clause has been tested by the courts in Health Employers Assn. of B.C. v. B.C. Nurses’ Union, 2005 BCCA 343. In that case, the Court of Appeal wrote:

“The employer is still able to recover overpayments from employees where that employee agrees to the deductions, or where a statute or collective agreement expressly authorizes the employer’s unilateral action. Where no such agreement or statutory authorization exists, the employer has the option of recovering overpayments in other ways such as pursuing a grievance, or bringing a claim against the employee (para 67).”

This means that the employer must seek the consent of an employee to pay back any monies owed. If the employee does not consent, the employer has the right to grieve the employee through its union and/or garnishee the employee’s wages via the courts.

Many people assume that an error made by someone in payroll means that an employee should not have to pay back any money, especially as some of the amounts can be quite high. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and the employee must pay back the amount or else risk court proceedings that can result in garnisheed wages. That being said, you have the right to choose how you want to pay back any amount owing: lump sum, monthly payments over months or years, and so on.

The KFA has worked with our Employer (ER) to create a process that preserves the rights of faculty under the ESA. While this process is sometimes followed, there are often errors and omissions in that process. Further, the Employer has sent faculty members Overpayment Letters without copying the KFA.

Here is what is supposed to happen:

1. The faculty member receives an Alert Letter about an overpayment. The Alert Letter is cc’d to the KFA, and the letter explains that the faculty member needs to work with the KFA to resolve the overpayment. The KFA is involved as exclusive bargaining agent in any decisions regarding pay. In other words, your KFA representatives are your legal representatives in discussions of pay with the Employer.
2. The faculty member receives an official Overpayment Letter with an explanation and breakdown of the amount owed and a Consent Letter. The faculty member is asked to consult with their KFA rep, decide on a repayment schedule, and sign a consent letter allowing the ER to deduct money from their pay. The KFA, as exclusive bargaining agent, must also sign the consent letter.

Since this process began, the KFA has found consistent errors in the Employer’s requests for overpayments. In some instances, it is found that the faculty member is actually owed money.

The truth is that the vast majority of overpayment requests from the Employer have been calculated incorrectly. For that reason, we ask that you contact us if you have been sent an Alert Letter or an Overpayment Letter and the KFA was not cc’d on that correspondence.

If you have any concerns at all about the above or any other overpayment issue, please don’t hesitate to contact rachelle.hollaway@kpu.ca.

KFActs: Getting to Know Your New Collective Agreement: 2019-2022

By Rachelle Hollaway, Member-At-Large

The KFA-KPU 2019-2022 Collective Agreement was ratified by the membership on July 10, 2020. The following is a summary of important changes relevant to KFA members.

Salary Changes

• Salary increase (Article 9): Faculty salaries will increase by 2% as of April 1, 2019; an additional 2% as of April 1, 2020; and an additional 2% as of April 2021. The current updated rate (4% higher than previously) was reflected in the November 20, 2020 pay statements. Retro pay for Regular and NR2 faculty was paid on December 18, 2020. Retro pay for NR1 faculty will be paid on January 29, 2021, unless manual calculations are involved. Retro pay or adjustments requiring manual calculations are to occur by the end of March 2021. (The KFA has filed a grievance on these timelines.) 
  • NR or recently retired faculty no longer working at KPU but who were employed by KPU at any point since April 1, 2019, had 8 weeks from the ratification date (July 27, 2020) to apply for retroactive pay. Members were contacted and retroactive pay is to be paid per above. Anyone who was still employed on the date of ratification but who has since left or retired does not need to apply. These employees should be paid out automatically as per the employer’s schedule. For most people, this means by the end of March 2021.
• NR1s placed on scale (Article 10): NR1 faculty will be placed and paid on the same salary scale as NR2 and Regular faculty (for the duration of their appointment) and will receive increments as FTE accrues. Service obligations such as committee work (in proportion with contract percentage) will apply. Please note that the scale calculation is currently in dispute, and the KFA has filed a grievance over the employer’s interpretation of the scale. Placement on the salary scale and FTE accumulation for increment progression began on September 1, 2020. Please contact the KFA if you have questions about placement on the salary scale as per Article 9.02.

Review of Class Size Past Practice

• LOU #13: As many faculty members are aware, the LOU #13 process is underway. Letter of Understanding #13 refers to the Joint Committee on Class Size Past Practice. All departments affected by LOU #13 have been contacted. Most departments have communicated their rationales for their respective class sizes. Past and future updates from Mark Diotte, VP Negotiations, are emailed to members and can be found here https://yourkfa.ca/news-issues/news-notices/  and within the fall AGM documents posted on the members’-only section of the KFA website.

Changes to Extended Health Coverage

• Extended health coverage (Article 15.01): The vision care allowance has increased from $500 to $650 every two years.
• Though not noted in the Collective Agreement, coverage/reimbursement for the first 5 visits for professional services has increased from $10 per visit to $20 per visit for chiropractor, naturopath, and podiatrist/chiropodist. More information is available in the Benefits Booklet available in SharePoint here: https://our.kpu.ca/sites/hr/benefits/SitePages/Manulife%20Benefit%20Booklets%20and%20Emergency%20Travel%20Assistance.aspx

Changes Involving Leave

• Requests to extend leaves (Article 13.02 (b)): If you are currently on leave or are planning to go on leave, please note that requests for extensions to leaves must be made “no later than sixty (60) calendar days prior to the agreed return date.” This is a new deadline that did not exist in the 2014-2019 Collective Agreement.
• Expanded leave provisions (Article 13):
  • (13.07 and LOU 17) Supplemental benefits for parental leave may now be spread across up to 61 weeks. The period to apply for these benefits has been extended to up to 78 weeks after birth.
  • (13.09) Compassionate care leave has been increased from 8 weeks unpaid leave to 27 weeks unpaid leave as per the BC Employment Standards Act.
  • Leave provisions have been introduced for intimate, personal, and relationship violence (13.10); death or disappearance of a child (13.11/13.12); and Indigenous government elections and cultural leave for Indigenous employees (13.13/13.14).
• Ed leave deadlines (Article 14): There are new application deadlines for Educational Leave. The deadline for 2020 was October 31. The deadline for 2021 and ongoing is September 30. Members must have three years FTE before being considered for a four month Ed Leave and six years FTE for a 12 month Ed Leave. A notwithstanding clause allows for these applications to be considered if there are unused funds left in the Ed Leave fund by the end of the regular application process. The application process has also been clarified.

NR2 Offers

• Offers of NR2 contracts (Article 4.02 (o)): If an incumbent has been offered a second NR2 contract and declines, the Employer may, “in consultation with the Search Committee,” offer the position “to a faculty member from the qualified faculty list without posting.” This makes it easier for contracts to be assigned to faculty already on the qualified faculty list.

Search Committees

• Faculty search committees (Article 4.02): Up to 3 “alternate” members for departmental search committees may be elected each year. Previously, this article did not include the election of alternate search committee members. The search process is to be “guided by the principles of fairness and transparency and shall be “subject to the grievance/arbitration procedures set out in Article 17.02 and 17.03.”
• Interdisciplinary or interdepartmental search committees (Article 4.02 (b)): Several paragraphs have been added that describe the creation, membership, and scope of interdisciplinary or interdepartmental search committees.
• KFA appointments to administrative search committees (Article 4.10): The Union may appoint up to 3 regular faculty members to search advisory committees for President and VP-Academic, and up to 2 regular faculty members for various other positions, including “any administrative position with faculty oversight.” This means that the Union may appoint faculty members to search committees where the administrator will have oversight over faculty and not just where there is a direct reporting or supervisory relationship.

Clarification of Normal Duties Language

• Article 12.01: “Normal duties” of faculty members have been defined more specifically and extensively. Over three pages have been added that describe teaching duties, professional practice, service, scholarly activity, and professional development for faculty, librarians, counsellors, learning specialists, and learning strategists. These activities “may fall under the responsibility…of faculty members.” The list is not exhaustive and “not all activities may apply.” Undertaking these activities “constitutes a fair and reasonable work assignment,” meaning that faculty have the right to say no to more workload if it is not fair and reasonable or if they are asked to do too many of these activities.

Clarification of Layoff Language

• Consultation re: potential layoffs (Article 7): There is stronger language to ensure the Employer informs and consults with the Union “as soon as known” regarding “any changes that may impact the security of employment of any part of the workforce.”

Chair Terms

• Article 4.05: Alternatives to the typical three-year department chair terms, and to the limit of two consecutive terms, may be agreed on. This important change means that anyone can run for chair despite not being able to serve a full three-year term, such as a faculty member who plans to retire in two years from the date of election.

Equity Initiative for Indigenous Employees

• LOU 16:  As a result of this LOU, KPU and the KFA will apply to the Human Rights Tribunal “to obtain approval for a special program that would serve to attract and retain Aboriginal employees.”

Retired Faculty

• Article 21: Retiring faculty shall, upon their request, be placed on the Qualified Faculty List (QFL) and may be offered employment as NR1 faculty. This new language gives retiring faculty continued access to KPU email as long as the retired faculty member communicates their desire to remain on the QFL.
• Article 10: Retired faculty who come back to teach on an NR1 basis are paid on scale.

NR1 Contracts

• NR1 contract offers (Article 5.06): the language was changed from “by contract” to “in writing.” This means that NR1 contracts include offers made via email even if an official contract has not been drafted.

Parking

• Article 12.10 (e): Unreserved and reserved semester and monthly parking passes at specified rates are now available.

Annual Unreserved – $120/year

Annual Reserved – $200/year

Semester Unreserved- $40/semester

Semester Reserved – $66.67/semester

Monthly Unreserved – $10/month

Monthly Reserved –  $16.67/month

There is a new process to apply for monthly parking. Please see SharePoint here: https://our.kpu.ca/sites/as/parking/SitePages/Online%20staff%20and%20adm%20application.aspx

Impark’s Terms and Conditions are available here: https://impark.myparkingworld.com/terms/Print

Faculty Overload

• Usage of ‘banked’ overloads (Article 4.03 (b) (ii)): ‘Banked’ overload time (“compensatory time off”) must be used within 3 years or it will be automatically paid out. If the faculty member and dean are unable to agree on the scheduled time off, the overload time will be paid out.

Gender Neutral Language

• The Collective Agreement has been updated throughout with gender neutral language (they, their, them instead of he, his, she, hers).

Personnel Policies

• Article 18.01: All documents of a disciplinary nature will now be automatically removed from an employee’s personnel file after the relevant time period has passed. Faculty are no longer required to request this action.

Special thanks to Gillian Dearle, Mark Diotte, and Romy Kozak for their contributions to this article.

KFActs: The KFA, Research, & Scholarly Activity. Part II: Protections & Other Provisions

By Mark Diotte

Aside from the Collective Agreement provisions on funding sources for research and scholarly activity discussed in Part I, the KFA has negotiated or advocated for provisions to protect faculty research and scholarly activity along with provisions to enhance the ability of members to apply for and access funding.

Article 12.18 Academic Freedom

One of the foundations of work at a university is academic freedom. Without academic freedom, scholars are susceptible to censorship, discipline, and precariousness of employment as a result of their work.

Not all post-secondary institutions in our sector have provisions on academic freedom. Yet, in arbitration cases, it is often academic freedom language that prevails in protecting the rights of academics to freely engage in, disseminate, and publish their research and scholarly activity.

Our provisions were bargained in the round leading to the 2010-12 Collective Agreement. The article, in part, reads:

Academic freedom is the freedom to examine, question, teach and learn and it involves the right  to  investigate,  speculate,  and  comment  without  regard  to  prescribed  doctrine. Academic freedom ensures the following:

a) Freedom in the conduct of teaching;

b) Freedom in undertaking research and making public the results thereof;

c) Freedom from institutional censorship

Certainly, this language has been tested and defended at KPU through our formal and informal grievance processes, and this provision has offered much needed protections to KFA members who sought to make their ideas public.

Academic Title

One concern brought to the KFA by members is the difficulty in requesting funding from external sources without the ability to use traditional academic titles such as Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor.

To address this concern, the parties agreed to LOU#20 in the 2012-2014 Collective Agreement. This Letter of Understanding created a joint committee on the issue of academic title. The committee, consisting of Bob Davis, KFA President; Jane Fee, Vice-Provost, Students; Jeffery Shantz, KFA Social Science Representative; and Diane Salter, Vice Provost, Teaching & Learning, recommended that:

1.       The Office of Research and Scholarship actively seek to open access with granting bodies to provide Instructor options, such as listings on drop down menus for applications and that the term Instructor be viewed by the funding bodies without prejudice, with some understanding to funding bodies what the title means at KPU.  KPU administration should be prepared to write explanatory letters on behalf of faculty applications. 

2.       [F]aculty be allowed to identify themselves with alternative designations, such as J. Doe is a professor of History, on KPU business cards.

In the 2014-19 round of bargaining, these joint recommendations were brought by the KFA to the negotiating table as Union Proposal 3.3, but the Employer ultimately declined to accept the proposal.

Article 12.17 Scholarly Activity

Another key protective provision in the Collective Agreement is Article 12.17 which was negotiated in the 2007-10 Collective Agreement to recognize “that research and scholarly activity have always been an integral component of faculty work at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.” The significance of this statement is the formal recognition that research and scholarly activity are an essential part of faculty work at KPU under the agreement.

While the provision recognizes that research and scholarly activity are a component of faculty member work, it also protects faculty workload from becoming exploited or unmanageable due to any formal expectations for research or scholarly activity beyond a 100% assigned workload. The essential line here is that “nothing in this provision shall be construed as increasing a faculty member’s assigned workload.” In other words, the Employer may not force faculty members into untenable workload situations by requiring scholarly activity or research that increases a faculty member’s assigned workload beyond what they are compensated for. In contrast, some institutions in our local sector are required to perform research despite not being given the time to do so—the members of these locals may end up overworked and/or using their vacation time to perform the research duties expected of them.

Other Connections

• Aside from the three pools of negotiated funding mentioned in Part I, each faculty member is able to spend $100 each year as per Article 16.04 Personal Professional Development Funds. These funds are for scholarly activities and professional development resources such as books, journal subscriptions, computer software, and membership fees in professional organizations. This fund was established as of the 2001-04 Collective Agreement.
• In 2015, a concern was brought to the KFA that there was some uncertainty about whether or not time release could be funded through grants centrally administered through the Office of Research and Scholarship. As a result of KFA discussions with the Employer, then Provost and VP Academic Sal Ferreras signed a memorandum to the KFA that “confirm[ed] that the perspective of KPU is that to support their scholarly endeavors, faculty may apply for time release as a component of these internal grants. Approval for time release shall be given reasonable consideration.”
• Finally, in 2018, the KFA began advocating for members who were teaching ARTS 3991, 3992, and 3993  research supervision courses without receiving any form of compensation—despite these courses being credit & tuition bearing courses and requiring instructional responsibility for assessments and learning outcomes. In this matter, the KFA was consistently explicit: research is important to our faculty members, but faculty member workload must be fair and faculty member work must be compensated. The end result of the grievance process arising out of this situation is that all faculty members who delivered these courses in the past will be compensated for their work on a per-credit basis for the courses delivered. Furthermore, the KFA is advocating for the continuance of these courses and has reached a tentative agreement with the Employer for working conditions that will allow these courses to continue to be offered.

Professional development, research and scholarly activity are embedded throughout the provisions of the Collective Agreement, and the KFA has been successful in representing the desire of members for access to stable funding sources such as Article 16.05 Faculty Professional Development Fund, Article 14 Educational Leave, and Article 16.01 Professional Development. Similarly, the KFA has been successful in negotiating language that goes beyond opportunities for funding to protect the research and scholarship that is thus produced by our members.

If you have any questions or comments about this topic, please contact the KFA.

Updated in October 2021.