This page provides answers to common questions from members of the Association. Clicking on a question below will display the answer.
The employer is responsible for providing a print or disk copy to individuals. Call Human Resources at 3634 to request a copy.
No, the employer's insurance has a $100,000 deductible. You should make arrangements to insure the contents yourself. The tools of the trade for most academics represent a substantial investment. If your books, computer, software, scientific equipment or other personally owned professional property were suddenly lost or destroyed, you could suffer a substantial loss which may not be covered by your home insurance unless specifically endorsed.
The Conflict of Interest Policy (available on the Human Resources site - see section E3), covers this sort of conflict of interest. Please take the time to review this policy. If you have any questions, please contact the CUASA Office.
Your Chair/Director, Dean and the Vice-President's office all have files on individual academic staff members. You have the right to examine these files during normal business hours (an appointment to do so is recommended. You may obtain copies of any information contained in your file that you want and may supplement your file or make corrections in the event of error or inadequacy. You may provide any additional material for inclusion. [Article 16]
Provided such activities do not conflict or interfere with your obligations at Carleton, one-half day a week (September-May) is acceptable. Those wishing to spend more time shall so advise the dean/director. [Article 15.7(b)]
Research awards are only open to faculty members in the bargaining unit (Lecturer, Assistant, Associate and Full Professor). Teaching awards are open to all members of the bargaining unit who teach (faculty and instructors). Professional awards are only open to professional librarians and instructors who are members of the bargaining unit. [Article 42]
No, Senate regulations treat academic staff the same as all other members of the Carleton community when it comes to fines.
CUASA is a certified union and an association. All Carleton Faculty, Professional Librarians and Lecturer (Instructor) employees are automatically members of the union (in accordance with the Ontario Labour Relations Act). Membership in the Association is voluntary. When new academic employees are hired, a membership form is sent to them. They then have the choice to sign up for Association membership. If the form is not returned, it is assumed that the individual does not wish to participate in the democratic running of CUASA and they remain as a rand formula member of the union or barganing unit.
The Rand Formula is based on a ruling by Justice Rand which requires all members of a bargaining unit to pay dues to the union as all union members receive the benefits negotiated in the collective agreement.
The union dues are 8.5 mil or .085% of nominal salary.
You may not be a member of the Association. Contact the CUASA Office to check.
The Association directs the affairs of the Union. To vote for Council, Steering Committee or Executive members you must be a member of the Association. To run for CUASA office, you must be a member of the Association.
All Association members are provided with a calendar each year. The calendar contains important deadlines from the collective agreement (such as when to submit sabbatical forms). You may also find the deadlines on this web site.
Some people have religious, ethical or philosophical objections to being members of a union and so do not wish to participate in the democratic running of CUASA.
Yes, although you will not find it in the collective agreement, it is the practice of CUASA and the employer to grant requests for delay of tenure hearing for up to two years. The request must be made in writing to CUASA and the relevant Dean. The parties to the collective agreement will then sign a Memorandum of Agreement varying the collective agreement in this instance to permit a later tenure hearing date than specified in Appendix A.
Only if your nominal salary, at the date the promotion becomes effective, is below the floor of the rank you have been promoted into. In which case your salary will be raised to the floor automatically.
You may apply for promotion whenever you think you have met the criteria specified in Appendix B and the University Promotions Committee document. See Timetables.
No, you may opt to change the term into a preliminary appointment without advertisement. Where the position is advertised, if the qualifications and experience of the term appointee are demonstrably equal to the best external applicant who meets the requirements of the position then the term appointee must be hired. [Article 37.3(a)]
If you spouse is also an academic with qualifications appropriate for an academic position at Carleton University, Article 9.1(a)(iv) of the collective agreement permits the appointment of your spouse without the requirement for advertisement provided that a department, through the procedures for recommending appointments normally followed by the department, determines that a spouse of a successful candidate for a preliminary or tenured academic staff position has qualifications and experience that would benefit the programs of the department. There is no obligation on a department to accept the spouse. The employer has set up an office of recruitment and retention. If your spouse is looking for other employment, Human Resources provides some help in job searches.
A term appointee employed under successive term appointments must in the 5th year of such employment be considered for tenure or confirmation. [Article 37.3(c)]
On May 26, 2006, CUASA and the employer agreed that term appointees converted to preliminary or tenured faculty status would be permitted to renegotiate their salaries. This agreement is Appendix J of the collective agreement.
If you can't find it on the CUASA Benefits page, information on your benefits can be found on the Carleton Human Resources Website. Remember to choose CUASA from the list of benefits documents as there are different plans based on your employee group. If you have questions about the administration of your benefits, please contact Human Resources.
If you are within two years of retirement you should contact the Pensions Specialist or Pensions Officer in Human Resources (3634).
Up to the age of 26, dependent children are eligible for free tuition Free Tuition Form in credit courses offered at Carleton. The student must remain in good standing. For more information, see Article 40.12 of the Collective Agreement.
Carleton has reciprocal free tuition arrangements with York and Simon Fraser Universities only. There are 5 places at each university. Human Resources maintains a list and the practice is to allocate the benefit on a first-come basis subject to an over-riding preference for applicants who are taking programs not offered at Carleton (JCAA Minutes October 17, 1997). Contact Human Resources (3634) to place your dependent on the list.
Yes, you are entitled to the full amount. Provided your claim is submitted within the first 4-6 weeks following termination of your employment, it will be processed.
Yes, you may carry forward unspent amounts (up to a maximum of three year's entitlement) even though the collective agreement is ending. [Article 40.13]
No, "each member of the bargaining unit" is entitled to the full value of the Professional Expense Reimbursement regardless of their full or part-time status. [Article 40.13(a)]
Each member of the bargaining unit is entitled to PER: faculty, instructors, professional librarians, part-time, full-time, term, preliminary (tenure/confirmation track), confirmed and tenured.
Your Extended Health Care and Dental remain unchanged. However, on July 1st coincident with or following your 65th birthday, your LTD coverage ends; your Basic Life Insurance is reduced to 1 x salary to a maximum of $25,000; and, your Optional Life Insurance is reduced by 50% to a maximum of $100,000. Your Life Insurance ceases at earlier of retirement or age 70 (Basic Life Insurance), age 71 (Optional Life Insurance). You may convert the balance, without evidence of insurability, to a personal policy within 31 days of retirement.
Yes. You may use up to 100% of your salary as a research grant subject to the employer being satisfied that the normal rules and requirements pertaining to approval of research proposals have been satisfied. Payment is normally made in quarterly instalments. You must use this money for research purposes approved by Revenue Canada and should you not be able to satisfy them that such is the case, you will be assessed tax on the portion they have disallowed as research expenses. The simple fact of having salary money paid as a research grant is not sufficient to exempt it from being assessed as taxable by Revenue Canada. The money must have been spent on legitimate research expenses acceptable to Revenue Canada. Contact Research Services for further information. [Article 46.2]
While you are on LTD, your full pension contributions (both your 6% and the employer's 6%) are paid by the Pension Fund [Section 4.01(b) of the Retirement Text]. This contribution is based on your salary as at the date you went on LTD, increased thereafter on each July 1 by 3% or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. Your nominal Carleton salary is increased by the negotiated salary increases during your LTD period. If you received a CDI for the year immediately prior to the period of LTD, CDIs will automatically be added to your nominal Carleton salary for 2 years. If you are on LTD for more than 2 years, no further CDI decisions are made and your nominal salary is not adjusted for CDI increments. When you return to service at Carleton, your salary is automatically reviewed by the Salary Adjustment Commission in the year in which you return to work.
As the Provincial Government exempted LTD from the legislation that makes mandatory retirement discriminatory, your LTD will end the July coincident with, or next following, your 65th birthday.
Carleton University Accommodation Policy for Employees with Disabilities
The employer has a primary duty to accommodate an employee with a disability and the duty is to accommodate the employee's needs, not his/her preferences. The duty to accommodate is to the point of undue hardship on the employer. The employee seeking the accommodation has an obligation to facilitate accommodation by providing requisite information and accepting reasonable offers of accommodation.
Contact Human Resources and ask for a preliminary ergonomic assessment. After the initial assessment, a specialist may be called in to provide an in-depth assessment for more problematic situations.
Contact Purchasing Services and indicate that you have a medical note or medical practitioner's letter (do not include the note or letter) and a chair will be supplied.
Article 20.6 of the Collective Agreement provides 5 paid working days for absences resulting from "certain circumstances (that) may arise in the employee's personal or family life".
Employment Insurance provides Compassionate Care Benefits of up to six weeks for employees who need time off work to provide care or support for a family member with a serious medical condition carrying with it a significant risk of death within 26 weeks. To assess your eligibility for this benefit, contact EI.
The Employment Standards Act provides for emergency leave for a personal illness, a family crisis, illness or death of an employee's close relation, including spouse or same-sex partner, child, step-child, parent, step-parent, parent of spouse or same-sex partner, or any relative dependent upon the employee for care or assistance. You may be entitled to 5 unpaid days under this provision.
Yes, you may elect to contribute an amount in order to increase the period of Credited Service by the amount of the deficiency or any part thereof and, provided that you elect to make such a contribution prior to April 1 of the year immediately following the completion of the leave of absence, the election shall be subject to the recalculation of any pension adjustments (rather than just the certification of any past service pension adjustment if you wait longer).
(Retirement Plan Text, section 4.06)
In accordance with Article 20.1(d), you are entitled to, but not required to, maintain membership in the benefit plans. If you decide to maintain membership, you must pay all premiums associated with the plans. If you are considering not maintaining membership, you should seek advice from the Benefits section of Human Resources with respect to potential problems that might arise when you return from LOA and seek to restore your membership (the insurer requires evidence of insurability for review of your application and may refuse to reinstate you in the plans should a pre-existing medical condition exist).
Both you and the employer are required to pay 6% of your actual salary into the Carleton Retirement Plan. When working full-time, your actual salary is equal to your nominal salary so the total sum credited to your pension is 12% of nominal shared equally by you and the employer. Since the requirement is to pay pension premiums on the basis of actual salary, any reduction (up to and including 100%) will have an impact on your pension at retirement. You may elect to mitigate this by opting to pay the difference between 12% of actual and 12% of nominal into the plan but you will have to pay both the employer's and your share. For example, in the case of leave of absence without pay, you would need to pay the full 12% of your nominal salary to maintain full pension contributions for the period of absence. Revenue Canada limits the ability to make a top-up contribution to pension in this fashion to a maximum full-time equivalent of 5 years which includes periods on sabbatical. Sabbaticals count as 20% of a year, if the sabbatical was at 80% of nominal. Other periods, when the actual salary is less than nominal but pension is topped up by the individual, count in a similar pro-rated fashion. Should you elect not to make up the contribution level, your pension at retirement will be less than it would have been had you made such contributions. (Retirement Plan Text, sections 1.10, 4.05 and 17)
You are credited with time completed towards tenure, confirmation, promotion and sabbatical on a pro-rated basis (i.e., if you are on half workload for a year, you earn 1/2 a year's credit). [Article 13.5(d)]
If you become so ill that your sabbatical will be undermined you should contact your Dean to have your sabbatical changed to sick leave and preserve your sabbatical for a later date. You should provide medical evidence of your illness to your Dean at the time of your request.
If you have/adopt a baby, that portion of your sabbatical to which maternity or parental leave applies may be retained and applied at the end of the normal sabbatical period or rescheduled or you can abandon the extra time. As maternity/parental leave is remunerated at 95% of salary it is usually financially advantageous to take maternity/parental leave.
You must provide this statement no later than 3 months prior to the beginning of a sabbatical (i.e., March 31 for a sabbatical beginning July 1, or September 31 for a sabbatical beginning January 1). [Article 21.1(d)]
You must provide notice of intent to take a sabbatical to the Chair/Director by October 31 of the year prior to the academic year in which the planned sabbatical will take place (e.g., if you plan to take a sabbatical Jan.1 you must give 15 months notice). Management has a green form, available from departmental administrators and dean's offices, that you must fill out. If you miss the deadline, the management may, at their discretion, extend the deadline for you. You may withdraw your statement of notice up to 6 months prior to the start of the sabbatical. [Article 21.1(c)]
Sabbatical credit is based on full-time on-campus service so lengthy sick leave does not count towards sabbatical. [Article 21.1(a)]
It is lost. There is no payout of accrued sabbatical credits when you quit or retire from Carleton.
Upon request, the employer and CUASA have agreed to coordinate sabbaticals between spouses by transferring service credits between them. Application for coordination should be made to the dean and CUASA.
The Employment Standards Act does not specify a requirement for any minimum period of notice to the employer. However, it is customary to provide the period of the pay (now 1/2 a month).
Article 22.5 of the collective agreement sets out the notice period that would be most convenient to the employer as follows:
(a) Faculty employees on preliminary or tenured appointment and Instructor employees on preliminary or confirmed appointment shall have as their normal resignation or early retirement dates June 30 and December 31. A minimum of one term's advance notice of intention to resign or retire will be given in writing to the Dean. An alternative resignation or retirement date shall be August 31, provided that the employee and the appropriate Dean agree in writing that the employee will be active on campus during the summer session in teaching, research or graduate supervision; notice in such cases shall be required by May 1. When an employee requests an August 31 resignation date, the following understanding shall apply:
(i)
the request must be made in writing to the appropriate dean by May 1;
(ii)
the employer shall not unreasonably refuse such a request;
(iii)
within one (1) month of receiving such a request, the dean shall provide a written response indicating either:
1.
that the dean agrees that the employee will be active between June 30 and August 31 conducting Carletin University business in treaching, research and/or graduate supervision and that, therefore, the August 31 date of resignation is accepted; or,
2.
that the employer is not in agreement that the employee will be active on Carleton University business during the entire period between June 30 and August 31 and that an earlier resignation date between June 30 and August 31, inclusive, is being imposed, in which case, the employer's written response will include reasons for the decision.
(b) A professional librarian employee may resign his/her position at any time provided that a minimum of two (2) month's notice be given in writing in advance of the resignation or retirement date.
To whom do I resign?
The employer must receive your resignation (i.e., Director of a School, Dean, University Librarian, Vice-President or President). Even though Chairs of Departments are not members of management, it would be polite to copy them on the resignation.
Anytime after you turn 55 years old.
If you were hired before Nov. 29, 2006 and retired with at least 5 years of service with Carleton University and you were an active member of the benefit plans at the date of retirement, or if you were hired after Nov. 29, 2006 with at least 8 years of service and were an active member of the benefit plans at retirement, you and your spouse are covered by the Extended Health Care and Dental plans as are any dependents under the age of 25 with all premiums paid by the employer.
If you pre-decease your spouse after retirement, your spouse retains the benefits for his/her lifetime on the same cost sharing as existed at the time of the death of the member.
Spouses of members who die before retirement are entitled to continue as members of the benefit plans as follows:
The employer will pay for continuation of the Extended Health Care and Dental benefits for a three month period.
EHC and Dental coverage beyond three months will continue if:
the deceased employee was eligible to retire on the date of death, and
had coverage on the day immediately preceeding the date of death, and
had at least 5 years service with Carleton University, and
the surviving spouse and/or dependant/s agree to cover the cost of participation, through the payment of premiums, if required.
The premiums will be based on the active CUASA employee rates, until the survivor reaches Normal Retirement Date or draws a pension from the Carleton Retirement Plan, whichever comes first, at which point the rate will be the retiree rate for the group.
At the beginning of the academic year you must designate at least 2 courses for evaluation. The evaluations from these 2 courses are used in career decisions including CDI. While all courses with five or more students have teaching evaluations conducted and the scores are used to generate Department/Faculty means, evaluations from non-designated courses must be returned to the instructor of record. [Article 26.7]
You may put any evaluations you wish on your personnel file (Chair/Director and Dean) and request that they be considered in career decisions. [Article 26]
If there is a suitable vacancy and your qualifications are demonstrably equal to the best external applicant who meets the requirements of the position you may be appointed to faculty ranks. [ Article 12.4(a)]
You may apply to transfer without there being a vacancy if your research is of a caliber and nature normally required for a faculty appointment and you are doing a job which is effectively the same as that normally required of a faculty employee. The departmental promotion committee makes such recommendations to the faculty promotion committee and then to the appropriate dean. [Article 12.4(b)]
2 full-credit courses in the Winter session (September-April)
3 full-credit courses in any academic year ending August 31
(Repeated sections count as if they were other courses.)
Contract instructors with higher teaching workloads must be included in the CUASA bargaining unit. [Article 2.5]
In recognition of the unique nature of the studio component of the Architecture program, the parties agree that, solely for the purposes of Article 2.5 of the Collective Agreement, a section of a studio course in Architecture for one term shall be deemed to have a full-course equivalent credit value of 1.0.
Call the CUPE 4600 office at 613-520-7482 or check the CUPE4600 collective agreement on the Human Resources web site.
The employer gives preference to members of the CUASA bargaining unit who apply to teach summer school provided that the member's qualifications are demonstrably equal to those of non-member applicants. You apply in response to the advertisement which must first be circulated to members of the unit. [Article 27.1]
The employer has a policy which forbids the hiring of faculty members to teach as sessionals outside of the summer term.
