Article 29 - Professional relations and work overload

29.01 Continuance

The parties have sixty (60) days from the date the collective agreement comes into force to continue or, as the case may be, to set up the local advisory committee known as the “professional relations committee.”

29.02 Composition

The committee is composed of representatives designated by the Employer and representatives designated by the Union. The number and choice of these representatives may vary depending on the topics discussed. The number must not, however, exceed three (3) for each party, except in extraordinary circumstances.

29.03 Role and duties

The role and duties of this committee, which is purely advisory, are to:

• a) establish a recognized, direct procedure for communications between employees, on the one hand, and the management of an activity centre and the institution, on the other;
• b) allow for a systematic, in-depth examination of local professional problems that the parties have a common interest in resolving;
• c) promote a spirit of co-operation between employees and management;
• d) examine ways of improving the effectiveness and general operations of an activity centre, in part by considering the distribution of the work and psychosocial risks;
• e) examine ways of improving employees’ satisfaction at work;
• f) discuss grievances before the request for arbitration with a view to examining them and finding satisfactory solutions;
• g) examine ways of facilitating the establishment and accessibility of atypical work schedules;
• h) discuss employees’ professional practice and conditions of practice;
• i) assess and propose solutions to facilitate fair access to work-time arrangements.

The local parties may agree on any other mandate pertaining to matters of local jurisdiction.

29.04 Internal rules

Once appointed, the committee must establish its own administrative rules for how it operates and decide on the frequency of meetings.

29.05 Leave with no loss of salary

If committee meetings are held entirely or partly during regular working hours, the Employer gives the representatives designated by the Union leave with no loss of salary.

29.06

The professional relations committee is also charged with examining employees’ complaints about overwork.

29.07

The committee meets at the request of either party within five (5) days of receiving a written complaint. Before taking up a complaint, the committee must make sure that the issue is not under study by the joint local health and safety committee.

29.08

When studying a complaint filed under this section, the committee must take care to start by obtaining any documentation held on the issue by the joint local health and safety committee on this situation.

29.09

The committee has twenty (20) days from the request for a meeting to render a decision in writing if the request comes from one employee, and twenty-five (25) days in the case of a request from more than one employee. Each party has one vote in making the decision.

29.10

A unanimous decision is enforceable. If following the committee’s meeting there is no unanimous decision, or if the Employer is responsible for the committee not meeting within the required time set out in clause 29.07, the Union has fifteen (15) days to file for arbitration by sending the Employer notice.

29.11

The parties may proceed before an arbitrator chosen by common consent. Failing agreement, the arbitrator is appointed by the Minister Responsible for Labour.

29.12

The arbitrator determines whether there is a work overload and orders the Employer to remedy it, where applicable. The choice of methods is up to the Employer.

29.13

The arbitrator has twenty (20) days from the date of the hearing to render its decision.

29.14

At the Union’s request, the arbitrator must sit between the thirtieth (30th) and sixtieth (60th) day after the decision for the purposes of determining whether the method used by the Employer has in fact eliminated the work overload. If not, the arbitrator imposes the measures to be taken to eliminate it.

29.15

For the purposes of applying this section, work overload (overwork) is assessed comprehensively in relation to the workload normally required for all comparable job titles in the institution.

29.16

The time limits set out in this section may be modified with the parties’ consent.

29.17

Once a year on a date determined by the Employer, the Employer informs the professional relations committee in writing of foreseeable organizational changes that would affect the employment relationship or cause transfers of employees in the coming twelve (12) months. The Union may make the representations it deems useful in this regard to the Employer.