The following is a Letter of Agreement between Health PEI and the Prince Edward Island Nurses’ Union, which was signed April 1, 2020.
RE: Mobility of the Prince Edward Island Nurses’ Union
- Because of the impact on the Health PEI operation created by the COVID-19 pandemic event, the parties agree to a suspension of any Collective Agreement articles that restrict the deployment and or reassignment of employees to any position, regardless of job specification, within Health PEI with the exception of the following conditions.
- In no case will an employee be required or expected to perform any duties that the employee considers to exceed their scope of expertise, scope of license or certification. Employees will inform or declare to the Employer any limitations in the performance of duties. The parties agree that employees reassigned to work of another position or bargaining unit shall be trained to deal with:
a) Any unfamiliar equipment they may need to use to complete assigned tasks;
b) Any unfamiliar products that they may handle to complete the tasks (chemicals, cleaning solutions, etc.);
c) Any PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) required to complete the task;
d) Basic understanding of the signs and symptoms, how the virus is transmitted and prevention of COVID-19 if required; and
e) Basic orientation which should include procedures for personal safety and workplace practices for assigned jobs if required.Whenever reasonably possible, employees shall be given 24 hours’ notice of redeployment before being redeployed. For every redeployment, employees shall be given all the information they need around redeployment including but not limited to:- What training will be provided;
- What PPE will be provided to them during the redeployment;
- Duties and expectations during redeployment;
- Supervisor they will be reporting to.
- Notwithstanding paragraph 1 above, any Union specific work for which there are Union members available and qualified to perform the work shall be offered to Union members first, including Casuals pursuant to paragraph 9.
- In the event that an employee refuses a reassignment on the basis of an identified occupational health and safety issue, the Union will be contacted, and the parties will attempt in good faith to resolve the matter by consensus. The process in the Occupational Health and Safety Act will be followed if the parties are unable to resolve the matter. No employee shall be disciplined for the reasonable refusal of a reassignment on the basis of an occupational health and safety issue.
- In addition to the above, no employee shall be terminated for refusing redeployment during the COVID-19 crisis.
- No employee will lose pay because of redeployment. During the COVID-19 pandemic event, if an employee is assigned to a position with a lower rate of pay than their own position, they will continue to be paid at their own rate of pay for all hours worked, including all overtime hours worked. If there is a substantial difference in rate of pay between the employee’s own position and the position they have been assigned to, the Union will be contacted and the parties will attempt in good faith to resolve the matter by consensus. If the parties are unable to arrive at consensus the matter will be held in abeyance in accordance with paragraph 13 below.
- The Collective Agreement of the employee will continue to apply during the period of reassignment. The employee will continue to accrue seniority and continuous service in the employee’s bargaining unit for the duration of the assignment. All time worked in a redeployment role will be compensated as per the usual provisions of the Collective Agreement (pay, benefit accrual and pension, travel and accommodations, etc.).
- Any employee who is required to be isolated because of actual or potential COVID-19 exposure at work will have all time in isolation considered as ‘at work’ during their normal shift hours and the employee will suffer no loss of regular earnings or benefits for the period of isolation. If, during the period of isolation, the employee becomes ill, then the employee will be placed on sick leave.
- It is agreed by the Employer and the Union that the redeployment of any employee to functions within another bargaining unit during a pandemic, shall not be used subsequently to support a jurisdictional dispute or as a justification for the re-assignment of any duty to a different bargaining unit or other third party. This applies to excluded employees, non-healthcare sector employees in the private and public sector as well as volunteer and retirees.
- Permanent part-time employees shall continue to be entitled to their minimum guaranteed hours of work and given first priority for any pickup Union work pursuant to Article 20.22.
- Casual employees shall continue to get priority for casual PEINU work.
- Employees will continue to accrue service for pension in their bargaining unit for the duration of the reassignment.
- The parties recognize that the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic event are changing quickly, therefore if either side wishes to amend this Agreement the parties will discuss and attempt in good faith to reach agreement on the proposed amendment.
- This Agreement will expire on April 30th, 2020 unless renewed for a specific period by mutual consent of the parties.
- Disputes arising out of this Agreement that remain unresolved will be held in abeyance and resolved through mediation or the grievance process after the COVID-19 pandemic event has passed.
Signed by:
Jason Rendell, Director of Human Resources at Health PEI
Mona O’Shea, President of the PEI Nurses’ Union
Lisa Durley, Vice-President of the PEI Nurses’ Union