The move to a 37.5-hour week: BCNU and Health Employers develop a process to ensure protection of employees and a smooth transition with new rotations

JOINT BULLETIN FROM BCNU AND HEABC:

BCNU has set a process in place with Health Employers to ensure a smooth transition as the move to a 37.5-hour week is implemented.

The union met with senior representatives from the Health Employers Association of BC and the Health Authorities January 11. Under the agreed process, managers will engage in detailed consultation with the union and obtain feedback from members. The employers will respect nurses' collective agreement rights.

BCNU has appointed Bella Brown, an experienced Labour Relations Officer, as staff administrator of rotations and scheduling. The union will also appoint members experienced in rotations as BCNU regional Rotation Representatives to work with employer specialists.

The process will be based on the Memorandum of Agreement - Transition to the 37.5-hour workweek - contained in the new NBA Provincial Collective Agreement. The memorandum stipulates that no layoffs will result from the transition to the 37.5-hour week. It will be done in a manner that minimizes the impact on individual nurses' employment and security.

Under this transition agreement the employer agrees to consider:

• Regularization of casual and overtime hours (part-time or full-time basis) including creating built-in vacation relief or float positions
• Use of current vacancies to maintain current part-time employees' hours of work
• Offer job shares as per Appendix AA of the NBA Provincial Collective Agreement
• Other options as mutually agreed between the union and employer.

The process will involve consultation between a BCNU Rotation Representative and the Employer. The Employer will provide the data assumptions made to build the rotation, such as the number of FTEs, overtime hours, vacation relief needs for the unit and current vacancies.

The Employer agrees that it is a priority to maintain full-time positions and to minimize the impact on part time nurses by building in vacation relief.

Once a new draft rotation is agreed to, it will be submitted to members at the local level for review as per the long-standing "Six Steps to Mutuality" (Munroe arbitration award). This process gives members an opportunity to tweak the proposed rotation or develop a new one. If more than one proposed rotation meets the unit's requirements, members will decide with a vote which rotation to implement.

For rotations developed before March 29, 2013 BCNU has agreed to reduce the notice period to put the new rotation into effect from six weeks to 10 days. Thereafter, the collective agreement applies unless otherwise mutually agreed. The union has also agreed that:

• Rotations will be based on a 52-week year (not 52.2);
• If employees are already working extended shifts there is no need for the extended hours to be reapproved and no new overtime waivers will be required;
• Section 54 notice will not be required if only changes to rotations are being implemented.

BCNU members should direct any questions to your Regional Chair or to your Rotation Representative. Names of the rotation representatives will be distributed once they are confirmed.