Province-wide in Nova Scotia (4,610 acute care registered nurses) and the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union
Renewal Agreement: Effective November 1, 2009 to expire October 31, 2011. Ratified on April 20, 2011 with 55% voting in favour.
Wage Adjustments:
Effective November 1, 2009 – 1.0%.
Effective November 1, 2010 – 1.0%.
Paid Holidays: 11, unchanged.
Vacations with Pay: Three weeks after one year, four after five, five after 15, six after 25, unchanged. Double time is paid for all shifts when called back to work if vacation is cancelled.
Shift Premium: $1.50, unchanged, becoming $1.75 on October 31, 2011, for all hours worked between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. $7.00 per shift for management relief; 93¢ per hour facility responsibility pay. In-charge premium is 70¢. Call-in is four hours at straight time plus 34¢ per kilometre travel to $15. Stand-by is $13.50 for eight hours or less and stand-by on a holiday is $27.
Weekend Premium: $1.50, unchanged, becoming $1.75 on October 31, 2011, per hour between midnight Friday and 7 a.m. Monday. “Weekend Nurse” works 80% of full-time hours or two shifts of 11.25 hours and one of 7.5 hours and is paid 100%.
Overtime: Time and one-half for the first four hours over a 7.5-hour shift and all hours over 75 in a two-week period. Double time over four hours of overtime in a day. “Extra shifts” known to the employer when the schedule is posted will be offered first to regular or temporary part-time nurses, and then to casual nurses. “After posting” relief shifts may be offered to anyone. Nurses and LPNs cannot be “required” or “mandated” to work on their days off (NEW).
Medical Benefits: Blue Cross or similar plan cost-shared 65%-35%.
Dental: Blue Cross or similar plan cost-shared 65%-35%.
Sick Leave: 11.25 hours for every 162.5 hours worked (roughly 1.5 days per month) to a maximum accumulation of 1,125 hours. 37.5 hours of sick leave per fiscal year may be used for medical and dental appointments for the nurse, 15 hours for immediate family members.
L.T.D.: Cost-shared plan; no details are available.
Pension: NSAHO Pension Plan. Retirement allowance is one week per year of service to a maximum of 26 weeks, unchanged, plus $100 per year of service to a maximum of $12,500.
Meal Allowance: $8.00 after four hours of overtime.
Rates of Pay (current, after second increase): LPN-2 – $21.9078, progressing in three annual steps to $23.5288; RN-2 (Registered Nurse) – $29.8258, progressing in five steps to $34.8558 and after 25 years to $36.0757; Nurse Practitioner – $41.4548, progressing to $48.2746 and to $49.9642.
Editor’s Notes: Other Bargaining: About 800 registered nurses in long-term care facilities and represented by the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union also ratified a similar agreement on April 20, 2011, with 55% voting in favour. Professional Practice and Identity: A new uniform policy will see RNs and LPNs exclusively wearing white tops and black bottoms. Uniform allowance will be $100 per year for roughly four sets. (NEW) Worklife Improvements: Hospitals will be permitted to create multi-unit and multi-site positions, allowing nurses to have full-time positions in one patient care service, rather than being forced to rely on a part-time position and extra hours to fill in (NEW). Scheduling: Nurses will have at least one weekend off in three. Recognition of Service: Recognition of previous nursing experience within the last five years. Casual Employees: Casuals receive 11% on each pay cheque, made up of 4% in lieu of vacation and 7% in lieu of benefits. Storms: Nurses are required to make every reasonable effort to show up at work. If they do not, they have the choice of using vacation days, holiday time or banked overtime or making the time up later. Bereavement: Seven calendar days for the death of a spouse, child, step-child, parent, step-parent, sibling, step-sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, step-grandparent, step-grandchild or other relative residing with the employee. One working day for a sister-in-law or brother-in-law. One unpaid day for an aunt, uncle, niece or nephew. Two calendar days for travel. SUB: Plan tops up EI maternity benefits to 75% of regular salary for the two-week waiting period and 93% for five weeks, and parental leave to 93% for 10 weeks. Retention Bonuses: 2.0% of gross annual earnings to eligible RNs who agree to remain employed for 12 months following their eligibility to retire. Effective October 31, 2011, LPNs will also be eligible for the bonus (NEW). Retired Nurse Recruitment: $500 recruitment incentive to any retired nurse who agrees to work at least 24 casual shifts in a 12-month period. Discipline: Sunset clause is 24 months for a warning, 60 months for a suspension. Travel: Mileage is 40.51¢ per kilometre. Education Bonus: For successful completion of a post-graduate course of 450 to 900 hours’ duration, an annual bonus of $333; for a post-graduate course of 900 hours or more, $667. For a BN or a BScN, $1,445; for a Master’s of Nursing, $1,961. For current certification under the Canadian Nurses Assn. Certificate program, $996 annually. Practice and Leadership Premiums: Nursing Practice premium and Leadership premium are $600 per year, unchanged, becoming $850 on October 31, 2011, paid in a lump sum. Nurses must obtain 70 practice points over two categories or 60 leadership points. Job Evaluation: A joint committee will review position descriptions across the workplaces of each District Health Authority to see if a match exists and to determine if pay scales are different. If the parties cannot agree on an appropriate rate of pay, the dispute will be referred to binding mediation. Retiree Cost-Share Benefits: The employer pays 65% of the cost of retiree healthcare benefits for coverage to age 65 for nurses who retire with an unreduced pension and at least 15 or more years of service. 80/20 Strategy: Temporary regular full-time positions for nurses within three years of retirement are to be made available during a trial period; 80% of the work time would be spent on regularly scheduled clinical practice and 20% on mentoring, research or policy review or other supporting activities for a period of between one and six months.
