YUFA
Collective Agreement
2009-2012
Article 26
Employees' Benefits
26.01
The terms and levels of benefits in effect as of the signing of this Agreement are defined by OHIP legislation and relevant benefit plans. The Employer agrees to maintain those terms and levels except as they are modified by this Agreement. A statement of the terms and levels of the various benefits shall be provided by the Employer to the Association and shall be considered to be part of this Agreement. The Employer agrees that participation in Extended Health Benefits is not contingent upon participation in OHIP.
Pensions
26.02
The parties agree to continue the York Pension Plan in effect as of 30 April 2009.
It is agreed that an updated copy of the York Pension Plan shall be prepared and distributed to all employees as soon as possible, following the approval of any amendments to the Plan arising out of this Agreement.
26.03
The Employer agrees to continue an All-University Pension Committee representing the different groups of participants in the York Pension Plan (including pensioners and the Board of Trustees of the York Pension Plan) to discuss changes to the York Pension Plan and report back periodically to their constituencies.
26.04
As per Article 14.01(d), the parties agree to establish a joint committee to study pension plan and retirement provisions.
Insurance
Employer Health Tax
26.05
The Employer shall continue to pay Employer Health Tax premiums.
Basic Benefits Program
The Employer agrees to maintain a basic program of benefits at the current levels as outlined below. The level of benefits may be improved from time to time by the Supplemental Benefits Plan.
[Note: For current coverage, see Benefits Booklet]
26.06
All employees participating in the University’s Dental Plan in force as of the signing of this Agreement or who may join the Plan at Plan openings in the future, or new employees who may elect to participate in the Plan, and their dependents, shall continue to be covered by a Dental Plan equivalent to the Plan in force at time of signing, updated to incorporate the current ODA Schedule of Fees.
The Employer shall contribute to the premiums therefore an amount equal to 100% of the premium cost for participating employees. Effective 1 August 1989 dental plan coverage shall include coverage for caps, crowns, and fixed bridgework at 70% of the current ODA Schedule of Fees, and increase maxima on major restorative and orthodontia to $2,300, effective 1 August 1989, and to $2,400 effective 1 May 1990.
26.07
The Employer shall continue to pay 100% of the premiums of the University’s Group Life Insurance, as currently in force.
[For current coverages, see Benefits Booklet]
26.08
The Employer shall continue to pay 100% of the premiums on this programme, which provides for private room coverage and includes reimbursement for 100% of drug costs in excess of the established deductible level.
[Note: For current coverage, see Benefits Booklet]
The Employer agrees to maintain vision care at its current level of $225 over the period of the Agreement, with a $25 deductible, for employees only, but with an option to purchase insurance coverage for dependents (including spouse) at 100% cost to the employee. Effective 1 August 1989.
Supplemental Benefits Fund
The Employer shall provide an annual supplemental benefits fund for improvements and additions to the Basic Benefits Programme, as agreed to by the parties from time to time. The parties agree that the amount in the fund as of 1 May 1991 is $150,000. The parties further agree that this annual fund was increased by another $150,000 as of 1 May 1996, for an annual total amount of $300,000.
The Joint Subcommittee on Benefits will carefully monitor the available balance in the YUFA Supplemental Benefits Fund against the projected and actual expenditures charged to the Fund. Should expenditures significantly exceed the available funds, the Subcommittee will meet to discuss how the benefits paid out of the Fund can be adjusted to keep the expenditures within the available funds. Sufficient advance notice will be provided to YUFA members should any changes in coverage be required.
Liability Insurance
26.09
The Employer shall maintain its Liability Insurance at least at the level currently in force.
Long-Term Disability Insurance
[Note: For current coverage, see Benefits Booklet]
26.10
The Employer shall maintain its existing Long-Term Disability Salary Continuance Insurance. The parties agree to pursue the feasibility of improving this program through the addition of provisions to defray the costs of inflation currently borne by persons receiving payments under the plan. The Employer agrees to arrange additional coverage with an ltd carrier of the Employer’s choice, at the Association’s request and cost. (See also Appendix D.)
The parties agree, within six (6) months of the date of ratification of the renewal Collective Agreement, to discuss in the benefits subcommittee of JCOAA issues concerning ltd benefits, including:
- whether LTD benefits should be indexed to be proportionate to an employee’s shadow salary;
- whether employees should be able to access partial LTD for either full-time employment or full LTD; whether partial LTD should be incremental or vary if necessary; whether partial LTD should not be limited to any specific period; and whether employees not be required to “qualify” for full LTD to be able to access partial LTD;
- whether access to partial LTD should be available to new employees under the conditions described above so that people may be hired explicitly with reduced duties and with a combined income from salary and LTD;
- whether the cap on LTD shall be raised from $42,00 to $60,000.
York University Guaranteed
Housing Loan Plan
26.11
The Employer shall continue the York University Guaranteed Housing Loan Plan, on the basis current as at the date of signing of this Agreement:
- The employee’s base salary ceiling for eligibility for interest rate subsidy shall be $53,250.
- Subject to the approval of the banks participating in the Guaranteed Housing Loan Plan, the maximum loan available to participants in the plan shall be $130,000.
[The Employer has made improvements to the York University Guaranteed Housing Loan Plan, including:
-
the removal of the salary cap set out in paragraph (a), above; and
-
an increase in the maximum loan available to participants in the plan to $165,000 to be adjusted by the Toronto Consumer Price Index in January of each year.
YUFA members are eligible to take advantage of the amended Guaranteed Housing Loan Plan, the effective date of which is 1 April 2007.]
Tuition Waiver
26.12
All employees shall be entitled to a tuition waiver for themselves, their spouses and their dependents for degree credit courses offered by York University at the domestic tuition rate, except for deregulated programs as follows:
- the tuition waiver for deregulated undergraduate programs will be capped at the domestic rate for non-deregulated undergraduate programs; and
-
the tuition waiver
for deregulated graduate programs will be capped at the standard
domestic deregulated rate for graduate programs, which is the rate
applicable to all graduate programs with certain specified exceptions:
the MBA,
IMBA,
EMBA and
MPA offered by the Schulich School of Business and the
part-time LLM offered by
Osgoode Hall Law School.
‘Dependent’ is defined as any person: claimed as a dependent for income tax purposes by the employee or the employee’s spouse; eligible to be claimed as a dependent for York University Benefit Plan purposes; or who meets either of the above criteria as a ward of the employee as specified by the courts.
Where a child of an employee was dependent at the time of the employee’s death or retirement, that child is eligible for tuition waiver provided that the child commences and continues in a degree programme at York University prior to attaining twenty-one (21) years of age. The spouse of an employee at the time of that employee’s death or retirement is eligible for tuition waiver unless the spouse remarries or becomes the common-law spouse of another.
Reciprocal Tuition
26.13
The parties agree to explore bilaterally with other Ontario universities the possibility of reciprocal tuition waiver for dependents of employees, and to report to JCOAA on the progress of those explorations. The Administration agrees to commit $4,500 in a reciprocal tuition venture with Carleton University to allow for three (3) students per year for four (4) years.
The Administration agrees to a reciprocal tuition venture with Simon Fraser University.
Childcare
26.14
The Employer agrees to maintain its support for the York University Co-operative Daycare Centre according to the terms of the attached Memorandum of Understanding (Appendix G). In addition to the foregoing obligation, the Employer shall support the Lee Wiggins Daycare Centre in the amount of $15,000 annually.
The Administration further agrees to continue its collaborative efforts to define campus childcare needs and to establish improved childcare facilities at York University, including a determination of an appropriate level of University financial support for such facilities over and above that defined in Appendix G.
Moving Expenses
26.15
The Employer agrees to continue its existing policy with respect to moving expenses, with the exception that all bona fide visiting faculty members (i.e., visiting from an appointment at another educational institution) shall be reimbursed at the rate established for Full Professors under the policy, regardless of their rank while visiting at York.
Joint Subcommittee on Benefits
26.16
The Employer and the
Association agree to establish a Joint Subcommittee on Benefits (see
Article 7.06).