Did You Know?

Did You Know? Year End Benefits

The end of the 2025 calendar year is approaching, and it’s a good time to review your benefits. Remember, some of your benefits are “use it or lose it” and reset in January, while some unused benefits stack year-to-year. See the quick overview below:

Did You Know? Do You Know Your Status?

Brought to you by your friendly neighbourhood MSO, Shayne Meggs

In my short time here, I’ve already come across a few members who discovered that the employment status they thought they had didn’t match what the university had on record—for example, thinking they were permanent when the university had them listed as term.

If you’re unsure or believe your status might be incorrect, I encourage you to check. You can verify your employment status by:

Did You Know? Prescription Vaccinations

Prescription vaccinations covered by benefit plan

Are you planning on a hot holiday this winter, worried about getting shingles, or are susceptible to respiratory viruses? Our benefits provider, Sun Life, covers the cost of some prescribed vaccines that aren’t covered by the Saskatchewan Drug Plan including RSV vaccines, Shingrix, and Twinrix to name a few. To be eligible a doctor must prescribe the vaccine. Please note the cost of administering the vaccine is not covered by the plan but if you have a health spending account, you can submit the cost for reimbursement. To find out if a vaccine is covered, please use the drug lookup tool on the Sun Life website or app or call 1-800-361-6212. If you don’t have a family doctor or can’t get in to see your doctor, all USask employees and their families have access to virtual health care through Lumino Health.

Did You Know? Increments vs General Across the Board Increase

Did you know that there is a difference between a general across the board increase and an increment?

Did You Know? Salary Continuance

If you are an ASPA member in a term or permanent position of one (1) year or greater and at least 0.5 Full Time Equivalent (FTE), did you know that you are eligible for the Salary Continuance Plan?

ASPA’s Salary Continuance Plan, or sick leave, is broken down into three distinct groupings or phases.

1. Days 1 – 5

Did You Know? Position Review

Did you know that ASPA members or their supervisor could request a review of their position once every twelve (12) month period if they felt that the position might not be in the correct Family or Phase? (Article 9.1.2 of the ASPA Collective Agreement)

The duties of a position may alter over time or particularly in the first year of a new position. To ensure that the duties of the position are being correctly classified, the member or their supervisor may seek to have the position reviewed by U of S Compensation (compensation_inquiries@usask.ca ).

Did You Know? Increases to Extended Health Provisions

With the new agreement there are increases to some of the benefits that ASPA Members have available to them. These are:

Did you know? Pay Stubs

Do you check your pay stubs each time you get paid? I am thinking that you might be among the majority if you do not.

Members should be getting into the habit of checking their pay stubs with each pay period. Mistakes do happen and it is important for them to be caught early so as to not delay any necessary corrections. Continue reading “Did you know? Pay Stubs”

Did You Know? Union Dues

As an ASPA member you pay monthly Union dues. The dues ensure that ASPA can effectively advocate on behalf of its members, by bargaining and protecting their rights and benefits in the Collective Agreement. Dues also fund the day to day operations of the organization.

More specifically, your dues pay for things like the salary and benefits of the ASPA staff, and for legal expenses at arbitration and Labour Relation Board hearings. Other ASPA expenses covered by dues include website maintenance, various subscriptions or membership fees (survey monkey, Lancaster House, CIRA), auditor fees, legal fees, bargaining related costs (education, hiring of external negotiator, research) and allocations to the contingency fund, to name a few.

Please note that your union dues are tax deductible from your annual income.