CUPE, together with the other health care unions in Saskatchewan, reached a temporary letter of understanding with SAHO late in the night on April 15, 2020 that will, we believe, help protect our most vulnerable citizens and our dedicated health care workers across the province.

We have already seen our members getting redeployed to other areas, such as the testing and assessment sites. We believe that the rights of our members must be protected even during unprecedented events such as this pandemic. This letter of understanding is enforceable only for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we believe that it provides some level of certainty and protection in uncertain times.

As we have seen across the country, long-term care homes have been hit hard by COVID-19. This is true for both residents and workers in those facilities. To protect our members and residents, CUPE has agreed to the following provisions:

• Our members who work in more than one facility will be cohorted to the facility of their choice. Only if there is an urgent need will it take precedence over their choice.
• Guaranteed hours for all permanent part-time and full-time workers will be protected. Therefore, if you are cohorted to a facility and are unable to work at another facility that you have a position in, you will pick up those hours at the facility you are limited to. We anticipate that this will be used first in long-term care but can be extended to other areas of health care, including acute care.
• There will no new layoffs during this time.
• Relief employees will not be removed from casual or relief lists at facilities they are unable to work at due to cohorting.
• Relief employees will be able to volunteer for additional work through the labour pool.

The employer has already been working on establishing labour pools; this letter of understanding establishes ground rules under which the labour pools will be managed.

Our members can be added to a labour pool in their area either by volunteering or because the area they hold a position in has been closed or subject to a slowdown due to COVID-19.

When redeploying employees from a labour pool, the following considerations must be made:

• Preference will be given to redeploying employees within their own classification.
• The employer will take the following into consideration: geographic distance, guaranteed hours, availability, schedules, training, skills, and abilities and licenses.
• If the above are equal, and no one volunteers, the junior employee will be redeployed.
• Employees will not be required to work beyond their professional scope of practice or required to do work which is inconsistent with legislation or their professional association’s standards of practice.
• Preference will be given to employees who are geographically closest to the work area they are being reassigned to.
• Employees need to notify the employer if they require an accommodation which would prevent redeployment (medical or family status).
• Employees need to notify the employer if they have a special circumstance (inability to travel to another location) which would prevent redeployment.
• Our members may be redeployed to do the work of other bargaining units, and members from other bargaining unit may be redeployed to work alongside our members. Each will retain their own bargaining unit status. CUPE members will maintain their seniority.

The employer has committed to maintaining our members’ schedules as much as possible, to maintaining guaranteed hours in all instances, and to maintaining pay and premium pay provisions where schedules and guaranteed hours cannot be maintained. This means that:

• If the employer cannot find work for a full-time or part-time employee, that employee will continue to get paid their regular wages for their guaranteed hours.
• If an employee is redeployed, and their posted and confirmed schedule is changed as a result of the redeployment, they will be paid overtime for the first seven shifts within a single posted and confirmed period. This premium will be paid in all instances and will not be forfeited when employees agree to the schedule change.
• Volunteering for the labour pool will not deprive members of this premium.
• Members redeployed to a lower paid classification will continue to be paid the wage rate of the job they own.

Employees being redeployed will be paid mileage, meals, and travel time. Employees being redeployed more than fifty (50) kilometres from their homesite will provided with accommodations. They can either claim the cost of the accommodation, or they can request an advance or direct billing for the accommodations.

Employees who are redeployed will be provided with adequate training and orientation both to the new area and/or job and to the appropriate personal protective equipment required in that area and/or job.

Most of our members have been asked to sign up for the employer’s broadcast system. This system will now be used to offer shifts.

• Shifts will only be offered through the broadcast system if the employer has been unable to fill them through the regular call-in process, relief assignment, overtime processes, or assigned by the area labour pool.
• The shifts offered through the broadcast system will be to employees within a specific work area to specific classifications and/or specific departments.
• Geographic distance, employee schedules, transferable skills, required training, abilities, licensing, availability, and guaranteed hours will be considered. If all the above are equal, the most senior employee will be awarded the shift.

CUPE understands that these are difficult times and that the amount of information coming at you is overwhelming. We’ve drafted this summary of the changes you may experience as a result of cohorting, the creation of labour pools, and redeployment. Rest assured that the entire document will made available to you as soon as it is signed.

In the meanwhile, if you have questions please call us.

• Region 1: 306-445-6433 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Region 2: 306-922-0600 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Region 3: 306-757-7925 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Region 4: 306-842-1559 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Region 5: 306-783-1396 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Main office: 306-546-2185