Bulletin Vol. 16, No 2 Jan 2015

Happy New Year!!

I hope you all had a fabulous winter break!! From all of us at LTU, we wish you an amazing 2015!!

January Pay

With the beginning of 2015, you may notice a reduction in your net pay due to the fact that some deductions are reactivated with the start of the new calendar year. Depending on your salary, when you reach the maximum deductible for QPP, EI and QPIP, the amounts taken for these programmes cease, therefore your net pay increases. In January of every year, as we begin a new taxation year, all deductions are reinstated on your pay until the maximums are reached. Also, RREGOP contributions have increased. This is why you may notice a decrease in the net amount taken home.

Working while on a Leave of Absence without Pay

The school board has decided that as of January 2015, teachers who are on a full or partial leave of absence without pay, will no longer be entitled to do substitution in our school board. The reason for the change mid-year is due to the fact that CARRA’s fiscal year is January to December. To avoid pension contribution errors and an exorbitant amount of work to manually correct all the errors, the board has decided to implement this policy as of January 2015. This does not affect emergency substitution.

Act of God

For an event to be deemed an Act of God it must be “sudden, unforeseeable, inevitable, thus making it impossible for a normal and reasonable person to meet his/her obligation to be at work.” A teacher must support the absence with proper documentation or a written statement (on the absence report or sent separately via email to HR) that explains the reason why it was impossible to report to work due to a sudden and unavoidable event. HR will ultimately determine, according the definition mentioned above, if the reason is valid. Please be aware that the board looks very closely at each absence where the Act of God clause is invoked. The days should be taken in full days, but the half day option can be used for impassable roads, mechanical failure, collision or transit system delays. Each case is looked at individually.

Excess Class Compensation

Twice every year, at the end of January and on the last pay in June, the board pays teachers for the excess students in their classes. Coded students with a 50, 53, 12 or 14 are always weighted even if the teacher or the student receives services in the class. All other codes are only weighted, if the student or teacher does not receive any services (attendant time, assistive technology, etc.). The teachers entitled to compensation will be asked by the principal to sign a form. All forms are due at the board by January 27th to ensure payments will be made in February. If you believe there is an error on the form or you believe you are entitled to compensation and were not asked to sign a form, bring it to the attention of your principal. Your school simply needs to submit a correction to Mr. Badin in HR. If you are unable to resolve the issue at the school level or are unsure of your calculations, feel free to call LTU and we will assist you.

Personal Bulletin

All personal bulletins have been mailed to the schools. If a teacher is not in the school due to a leave of some kind, the school will send it back to HR and they will mail it to your home. If you have not received your copy, please ask the school secretary first to see if it was sent to the school; otherwise, you can contact François Badin in HR or LTU. If the information is incorrect, please advise François Badin as soon as possible (fbadin@swlauriersb.qc.ca).

AESOP

For short term absences, you should always be using AESOP. Do not forget to update your top 5 choices if necessary. All elementary and high schools should still be using this system and it should not be circumvented by allowing the school secretary to staff the absences. The only time the system should not be used is for long-term absences and when you are calling in last minute and are beyond the morning cut-off time.

Emailing LTU

As of January 1st, the board upgraded its email system and we can no longer forward our SWL emails to our LTU account. Please make sure to update our email addresses in your contacts with our LTU email addresses as indicated below.

OFFICE STAFF

Sébastien Joly: President

sjoly@ltu.ca

Stephanie McLellan: Director of Membership Welfare

smclellan@ltu.ca

Pasquale Machado: Director of Pedagogical Affairs

pmachado@ltu.ca

Kathryn Morrow: Administrative Assistant

kmorrow@ltu.ca

Leonor Paixao: Secretary

lpaixao@ltu.ca

450-667-7037 / 1-800-301-1351 / FAX 450-667-9506