Know Your Rights: Workload Assignments

Ever wonder what factors need to be considered when allocating workload assignments?

Are you a new Chair and wondering how to tackle the complexities of multiple intersecting clauses in the collective agreement? Are you a term faculty member with ROFR, wondering when you’ll get offered more work? Well, you’re in luck because this “Know Your Rights” blog is just for you!

The first step in creating a workload assignment recommendation is to ensure that all continuing faculty in the department have a workload that matches the percentage of their full-time employment or Full-time Equivalent (FTE) status. FTE can be expressed differently, but it is generally represented as a decimal or a percentage (1.0 = 100%, 0.75 = 75%, 0.5 = 50% and so on). Once all continuing faculty have their required workloads, the Collective Agreement indicates that additional work (i.e. term work) must be assigned in the following order:

1. Faculty who have reappointment rights
   • Faculty usually acquire reappointment rights as a result of a labour adjustment or layoff. Either HR or the CCFA can advise who has reappointment rights.
   • These faculty members must have the minimum qualifications to perform the available work.
2. Part-Time Continuing Faculty
   • Provided they meet the minimum qualifications for the work, part-time continuing faculty in the department must be offered up to a 100% workload each term unless they have indicated in writing that they do not want to be offered additional work.
   • When two part-time continuing faculty members meet the minimum qualifications, the work should first be offered to the faculty member with the greatest seniority, unless the other faculty member is deemed “best qualified.”
3. Term Faculty with Right of First Refusal (ROFR)
   • Provided they meet the minimum qualifications for the work, term faculty with ROFR must be offered work each term up to their ROFR percentage (the average of their qualifying semesters) unless they have indicated in writing that they do not want to be offered additional work.
   • All part-time continuing faculty must be offered work up to 100%, before any term faculty with ROFR can be offered the work, even if they are better qualified.
   • When there are two term faculty members, both with ROFR, who each meet the minimum qualifications, the work should first be offered to the faculty member with the most service unless the other faculty member is deemed “best qualified”. (Service is the accumulated percentage of FTE work done by a member until they become continuing, at which point it converts to seniority.)
4. Other Term Faculty
   • After all part-time continuing and term faculty with ROFR have been offered work, other qualified term faculty may be offered the remaining work.
   • All term faculty with ROFR must have been offered work up to their ROFR percentage before other term faculty can be offered work, even if they are better qualified.
   • The Union recommends offering work first to returning term instructors as a sign of respect for their service.

Additional Notes:

• Continuing faculty members are always paid at their full rate, regardless of the actual work assigned to them (you cannot be asked to take unpaid leave because there is insufficient work).
• Continuing faculty members do not have rights to any specific assignment or course, even if they are more senior; they only have rights to their percentage of the work.
• Continuing work cannot be replaced with term work (Clause 1.02a); if a continuing faculty member leaves, the department cannot have 50% or more of its work available on a term basis in the following year.
• All term work must be “bundled” into 50% or higher contracts wherever possible (Clause 1.02a).
• Term faculty (or part-time continuing faculty taking on additional term work) may refuse some work assignments but accept others.
• Instructional and non-instructional work follow the same priority order.

Now you know how workload assignments are supposed to be allocated according to the collective agreement. However, remember that Chairs only make recommendations to their Deans or Directors based on the information available to them at the time. New Chairs may not have a record of everyone’s ROFR letters or be notified of members attaining their continuing status, and the amount of work available in future terms appears to be in constant flux for some departments. That’s why it is vital for all part-time and term members to keep their Chairs updated on their personal status on a regular basis. Don’t assume they have copies of your ROFR or that they know if you want to be offered more work.

Ultimately, it is your Dean or Director who officially assigns your work, and you have the right to agree to your work assignment.

Under Article 7.01 in our collective agreement, faculty members have the right to agree to their work assignment, meaning that workload decisions can’t be unilaterally imposed by management but must be reached through mutual agreement among the faculty member, their Chair, and their Dean or Director. If the parties (that is, you, the Chair, and your Dean or Director) cannot reach an agreement on the workload, the matter may need to be addressed through our dispute resolution process outlined in Article 21. In practice, this means:

• Faculty have the right to participate in defining their workload, including instructional, service, and developmental duties.
• Any “excessive workload” beyond the agreed norms requires the faculty member’s explicit consent and must include compensation or time off.
• The union can represent the faculty member in discussions or disputes about workload assignments or compensation.

Contact us by emailing ac.ytlucafnusomac@afcc if you have any questions about how your work has been assigned or if you haven’t been able to come to an agreement on your work assignment.

Peter Ove
ac.ytlucafnusomac@riahccmc

Contract Management Chair

Peter Ove has been teaching sociology since 2009. Apart from teaching at UVic and Camosun, Peter has also worked as a UN human settlements officer in Brazil, a high-school teacher in Denmark, a researcher on community development, a consultant for international non-profits, a “Cultural Assistant” for international students, a youth worker, a municipal recreation planner in Ucluelet, and a laboratory technician in a Cuban cement factory.

Peter has a BA in Psychology and Anthropology (UVic), an MA in International Development Studies (Dalhousie), and a PhD in Sociology (UBC). His graduate research focused on issues of global poverty, non-profit fundraising, and child sponsorship programs.