We have been working from home for close to a year now. Who would have thought this back in March? During this time, many members have been limping along in their homes making do with a less than optimal workspace. To that end we want to reinforce with you the fact that the employer has modified the eligibility criteria of our Accountable Professional Development Account (APDA) to give members a chance to access these funds to improve their remote workspace.
Continue reading “Did You Know? – Remote Work Space”Category: 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:
Continue reading “Increases to Extended Health Provisions”Temporary Layoffs
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird, ASPA Member Services Officer
As you are probably aware the University of Saskatchewan (the employer) announced on April 28th how they will manage their workforce moving forward. You should have received an email from People and Resources outlining their plans.
The people leaders in your area will be reviewing the work that is being done in your area over the upcoming days. The employer identified in this communication that “Staff working in essential campus operations will continue, some work in isolated areas of campus or sites outside the main campus may partially re-start, and work that can be done remotely will continue to be done off-campus.”
Continue reading “Temporary Layoffs”What to Do When You are Victim of a Data Breach
Article by Frank M. Schlesinger
We occasionally receive panic calls from clients whose computers have been breached.
If this has happened to you, you will want to know what to do to protect yourself in such a circumstance.
Depending upon your understanding of the information that was hacked, it would be wise to do the following:
- Change all of your passwords;
- Call the issuers of your credit cards in order to put a hold on or change your credit cards;
- Call your bank or financial institution, speak to the security officer, advise him/her
of what happened and ask him what steps should be taken with your accounts; - Contact Equifax (1-800-465-7166) and TransUnion (1-800-663-9980) in order to put a credit freeze on your accounts in order that no new loans or credit cards may be issued to a fraudster using your personal information;
- File a police report with the local authorities;
- If you have credit card or other type of credit insurance or insurance for data breaches, contact your insurance company and follow their instructions;
- For a reasonable period of time after the breach, check constantly your various accounts to determine whether any unauthorized charges have been placed on your accounts and if so, immediately notify the relevant financial institutions.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
Did you Know – Tuition Waiver
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird, ASPA Member Services Officer
Did you know that if you are a member of ASPA that you are most likely eligible for a Tuition Waiver?
Article 12.11 of the ASPA Collective Agreement allows ASPA members to take one (1) for
credit course per academic term at the University of Saskatchewan. The cost of the tuition would be waived. You would however still be responsible to cover the cost of the student fees but these may be eligible expenses under your Accountable Professional Development Account (APDA) (Article 12.10). Continue reading “Did you Know – Tuition Waiver”
Did you know? – usask.ca Email address
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird, ASPA Member Services Officer
The results of a recent ASPA member survey showed that 66% (of those who responded) of ASPA members are graduates of the University of Saskatchewan. This means that you have been given a usask.ca email account which is yours for life.
Although this is a really good bonus, this is also the email address that you are using during your employment at the University. This creates some challenges should your employment relationship with the University end for some reason, particularly if you use the usask.ca email for your personal use.
Should your employment relationship with the University end for whatever reason your usask.ca email address will be deactivated. There will be an out of office message put on your account saying that you no longer work at the University. However, we have had instances, after a member’s departure, where the employer has forwarded incoming messages to another individual in the same unit. ASPA has asked that this does not happen but we have seen “email forwarding” occur in a couple of cases. ASPA will continue to advocate that emails should not be forwarded as we believe that this is a breach of your privacy. Continue reading “Did you know? – usask.ca Email address”
Did you know? – Pay Stubs
Written by Darcy Hryn – Bird, ASPA Member Services Officer
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”
Personal/Family Leaves – Article 20.9
Written by Darcy – Hryn-Bird, ASPA Member Services Officer
Did you know that as a member of ASPA you have access to three (3) days of paid leave to deal with emergent, personal or family situations?
Article 20.9 of the Collective Agreement (May 1, 2014 – April 30, 2019) states: “ In order to meet the needs of a member to attend to emergent, personal or family situations, a maximum of three (3) days of paid leave is eligible per calendar year and does not accumulate from year to year.” Continue reading “Personal/Family Leaves – Article 20.9”
How your workplace is killing you.
An Uber software engineer making a six-figure income killed himself in 2016, with his family blaming workplace stress. A 21-year-old Merrill Lynch intern collapsed and died in London after working 72 hours straight. When Arcelormittal closed a steel plant that it had taken over, a 56-year old employee died of a heart attack three weeks later. His family said it was the shock. And the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has reported that over half of the 550 million working days lost annually from absenteeism “are stress related”.
In 2015, an analysis of almost 300 studies found that harmful workplace practices were as bad for mortality, and as likely to lead to a physician-diagnosed illness, as second-hand smoke, a known – and regulated – carcinogen. READ MORE
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. Continue reading “Union Dues”
