To our members looking for more information about ASPA’s Merit Program, please refer to the documents below. If you have any further questions please feel free to reach out to our office aspa@aspasask
Category: Did You Know?
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.
This update can be found in the YouSask Faculty and Staff Newsletter.
Did You Know – Increments vs General Across the Board Increase
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird
Did you know that there is a difference between a general across the board increase and an increment?
Continue reading “Did You Know – Increments vs General Across the Board Increase”Canada: Claiming Home-Office Expenses On Your Tax Return
Disclaimer – The views in this article are not necessarily the views of, nor express our reality in, ASPA. The purpose of highlighting this article is to provide members with varying viewpoints and information about the happenings around campus, provincially, nationally and internationally.
Written by Crowe MacKay LLP, February 14, 2022.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a large portion of Canada’s workforce transitioning to a work-from-home environment. Because of this, the Federal Government introduced temporary changes to how employees may claim their home-office expenses in 2020 and have extended them for the 2021 and 2022 tax years.
Continue reading “Canada: Claiming Home-Office Expenses On Your Tax Return”Did You Know? – Returning to Work
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird
The last twenty months have been a difficult and strange time for all of us. In March of 2020 many of us ended up working from home. Trying to juggle work and family became an even bigger challenge. We heard from members on all sides of the spectrum, some saying that they were putting in even more hours while working from home than they did before and that it was difficult to put work aside. Others said they hoped they never have to come back to campus as they have loved working from home.
During the fall semester, more members are being asked to return to campus to work. For some, this was a welcome change and for others, a time of fear and anxiety. We also anticipate that once the winter semester is upon us, even more people will be coming back to campus to work.
Continue reading “Did You Know? – Returning to Work”Did You Know? – Salary Continuance
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird
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
Continue reading “Did You Know? – Salary Continuance”Did You Know? – Position Review
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird
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 ).
Continue reading “Did You Know? – Position Review”Did You Know? – Merit 2021
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird
Well, it is the time of year again, to talk about merit. You may or may not know that merit changed significantly in 2021. Here is an update of those changes:
1. Eligibility – to be eligible for merit there are two criteria that need to be met:
a. You are an ASPA member.
b. That you have been employed since November 1 of the current fiscal year.
We have seen some of the documents that the employer has sent out recently and it appears that in a few cases their documents have not been updated or the employer is adding criteria that is not referenced or inferred in the Collective Agreement. If you have been advised that you are not eligible for Merit, we encourage you to find out the reason why and then reach out to ASPA so we may have the appropriate follow up conversations.
Continue reading “Did You Know? – Merit 2021”Did You Know? – Remote Work Space
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird
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”Increases to Extended Health Provisions
Written by Darcy Hryn-Bird
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”
ASPA (Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Association) 