MOA RE: Critical Shift Premium

The PEI Nurses’ Union is pleased to share that Health PEI has confirmed the renewal of the Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs) to offer premiums for Critical Shifts and Working Extra Shifts. These premiums will apply to shifts worked on Evenings, Nights, Weekends, and Holidays.

The renewed MOAs will take effect from November 18, 2024, through March 31, 2025.

If you have questions about the MOA terms or eligibility, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Local Union representative.

MOA Critical Shift Premiums PEINU FallWinter 2425

Employer Discretion

Critical Shifts are designated at the discretion of the Employer in order to:

Ensure appropriate staffing levels are in place to provide safe and effective care to patients/residents and to secure a safe working environment for Employees;
Avoid the need for the reassignment of other employees because of the impacts such reassignment may have to other work units and their staffing levels;
Eliminate or minimize the need to temporarily reduce services (e.g. limiting the hours or closing the service, closing beds, canceling appointments/clinics, transferring patients, etc.).

Eligible Shifts

The Employer may designate any shift as a Critical Shift. Critical Shifts may be designated on a Day, Evening, Night, Weekend, or Holiday.

Hours Worked on a Critical Shift

The premium for a Critical Shift is payable to Employees for the hours worked on a ‘Critical Shift’. This means that if/when an Employee works only a portion of a known vacancy that was designated as a ‘Critical Shift’, the hours worked on the Critical Shift will be eligible for the premium. (Note: This is not the case for the ‘Off Shift Premium’. The Off Shift Premium is not applied to a portion of a shift.)

Eligible Members

All PEINU Members have the opportunity to benefit from the incentive offered under the terms of this MOA.

Full-Time
Part-Time*
Casual**

*Part-Time Employees will be paid the premium for Critical Shifts they work in excess of either:

their regular (guaranteed) hours of work (for Employees who hold a permanent position of 0.5 FTE or greater) or
0.50FTE (for Employees who hold a permanent position of less than 0.5 FTE)

**Casual Employees will be paid the premium for Critical Shifts they work in excess of 0.50FTE in a pay period.

Preference

Preference shall be given in the following order:

Full-Time Employees
Part-Time Employees
Casual Employees

Communications

Critical Shifts will be identified by the Nurse Manager (or their delegate) and should be communicated to PEINU bargaining unit Employees, as well as the other healthcare workers who are responsible for Scheduling, Staffing, and Payroll.

Ideally, the shifts will be identified using the same method(s) of communication that are already in place to communicate with Employees about the opportunities that are available for picking up extra shifts. If Employees are unsure about the process on a Unit/Service, they should ask their Nurse Manager to confirm if/how Critical Shifts will be identified and how they will be made aware/offered to the Employees on the Unit/Service.

Working Extra Shifts on Evenings Nights Weekends Holidays PEINU MOA FallWinter 24_25