side image
 

Memorandum of Areement: 2004

November 22nd, 2003
Now, therefore, the parties herein agree the following constitutes a full settlement of all matters.
The parties will also agree that the Inergi L.P. Agreement shall include the terms of the January 1, 2004 - December 31, 2005 Inergi L.P. Collective Agreement provided, however, that all matters set out in the attached statement of Agreement are incorporated into the Inergi L.P. Collective Agreement.
It is jointly agreed that the Collective Agreement will be amended as follows. All changes will be effective January 1, 2004 unless otherwise dated. The parties herein agree that the term of the Collective Agreement shall be from January 1, 2004 - December 31, 2005.

SECURITY / RELATIONSHIP
 
1 Mediation-Arbitration
1.1 Mediation / Arbitration:
The next Collective Agreement will be bargained under the conditions of Mediation / Arbitration.

2 Term of Agreement
2.1 Amend Section 9.1:
  • January 1, 2004 - December 31, 2005 (two years)
3 Relationship
3.1 Amend Article 1:
  • Update as part of collective agreement "simplification and clean up" process (see section 6.0 below).

  • Parties will develop a "relationship roadmap" document that will incorporate relevant wording from the current Collective Agreement, and set out the norms and rules for Society prior involvement for the term of the agreement. A timetable to complete this document will be established no later than February 1, 2004. The contents of this document are subject to mutual agreement. At the end of the term of the agreement, the parties will jointly review their experience using this document with a view to incorporating an ongoing relationship template in the collective agreement.
4 Pension Security
Amend Article 22:
  • Excess Pension Contribution: Prior to December 31st, 2003, Inergi L.P. will contribute an incremental $9 million to the Inergi Pension Plan.

  • Inergi will conduct solvency and going concern valuations annually, the results of which will be shared with the Society through the Inergi Society Pension Committee.
5 Change of Employer and Voluntary Cash-out
Amend LOU #8:
  • Extend to December 31, 2005

  • Add clarification that LOU excludes sale or transfer of parent company
6 Collective Agreement Simplification and Clean-up
Parties agree to review collective agreement language to simplify, clarify and update (e.g., remove obsolete, inappropriate or inapplicable references) by no later than February 1, 2004. Any changes will be subject to mutual agreement.

7 Language Finalization
In the event the parties are unable to resolve any disputes arising from the implementation of this Memorandum of Settlement, either party may refer unresolved items, excluding those issues arising from item 6.0, to Mediator-Arbitrator William Kaplan for expedited final and binding resolution.

COMPENSATION
 
8 Economic Increases
Amend Article 24:
  • Effective January 1, 2004, all salary schedules will be increased by 3.0%

  • Effective January 1, 2005, all salary schedules will be increased by 2.0%
9 Escalator Clause
Amend Article 25:
  • Suspended for term of agreement
10 Pension Benefits
Amend Section 22.3:
  • Probationary employees will become members of the pension plan on the first day of the month following their hire date
Amend Section 22.9:
  • The Inergi Society Pension Committee will explore the concepts of early retirement options by no later than July 1, 2004.
11 Variable Incentive Pay Plan (VIPP) Pot
New Article:
  • Payout will be 4% if "meets" targets are met, and an additional 2% if the Corporate "exceeds" targets are met, for a total of maximum 6% of Society base payroll, for each year of the agreement.
12 "Competency" Pot
Amend Article 30:
  • Minimum annual payout equivalent to 1% of Society base payroll effective December 31st, 2004, and 2% of Society base payroll effective December 31st 2005.
13 Paid Absences
Amend Section 33.4 ("Family Care"):
  • Increase family care entitlement from 5 to 10 days per year
Amend Article 40 ("Statutory Holidays and Floating Holidays")
  • For a designated group of employees in the Markham Accounting Centre (MAC) whose work involves serving primarily U.S. customers ("designated employees"), the following statutory holidays with be observed:

    New Year's Day - January 1
    Memorial Day - Last Monday in May
    Independence Day - July 4
    Labour Day - 1st Monday in September
    Thanksgiving - Last Thursday and Friday in November
    Christmas Day - December 25th

  • In addition, designated employees will be granted an additional three paid days off.

    • Designated employees with bona fide religious objections to working on Good Friday or Easter will be permitted to take these days off as part of their additional three paid days off.

  • The annual statutory holiday entitlement of designated employees will be no less than that of non-designated employees.

  • Designated employees will receive a premium rate of 1.5x for regularly scheduled hours worked on the following days:

    Boxing Day
    Canada Day
    Easter Monday
    Victoria Day
    Thanksgiving Day
    Good Friday
    Civic Holiday
14 New Compensation Plan Design, Implementation and Transition Issues
14.1 Economic Increases
Affect entire salary grid
14.2 External Reference Community
In order to establish a credible and acceptable benchmark for base salary compensation, the parties will select, by mutual agreement, suitable comparator companies from the HayGroup database ("salary database") no later than January 31, 2004.
To be acceptable participants in the salary database, a company must satisfy most of the following criteria:
  • Provides similar services as Inergi provides; and
  • Has a similar or larger annual revenue as Inergi; and
  • Is a "hiring" competitor for the same or equivalent skills as employees of Inergi; and
  • Agrees to make available reported salary data sufficient to make adequate job size comparisons to jobs employed by Inergi; and
  • Employs unionized workers in a density similar to that of Inergi.
A majority of the companies included in the salary database must satisfy the "union density" criterion per above. If HayGroup is unable to obtain information on sufficient companies that meet this criterion, the parties, in conjunction with HayGroup, will agree upon a proxy methodology to reasonably simulate the effect of this criterion.
The parties reserve the right to revisit the composition of the salary database comparator participants 12 months following the implementation of the new salary policy line and in conjunction with the results of the first Hydro One commercial benchmarking study.
In the event of any unresolved disputes arising from the interpretation, application or implementation of this section, either party reserves the right to refer these matters to a mutually agreeable interest Mediator-Arbitrator.
14.3 Salary Policy Line for New Bands
P-60 (target market rates)
14.4 Size of Salary Bands
80-120%
14.5 Job Size or Job Match Methodology for Setting the Dollar Range for New Bands
Job Size
14.6 Job Evaluation System
Amend Article 28:
  • Replace all current job evaluation plans with HayGroup recommended Levels of Works (LOW) system

  • LOW description, Notes to Raters, list of benchmark jobs, and final ratings of benchmark jobs based on updated job descriptions are subject to mutual agreement and will be incorporated by reference in this Article.
14.7 Skill Broadening Compensation
Amend Section 66.5 ("Lateral Transfer")
  • Effective the date of implementation of the new salary bands, a minimum of a 1% increase (with discretion for more) will be provided to an employee on appointment to a lateral position in a different job family than his/her previous job
14.8 Relativity
Delete Article 29 subject to the following:
  • Incorporate in new compensation plan a rule that specifies that there will be a minimum 3% positive differential between the base dollar standing of Society supervisors and the "relief rate" of their highest-rated PWU report, provided the rule applies only to the specific individuals experiencing the "rub". Clarity note: This minimum differential will be maintained on an ongoing basis for the duration of the rate rub.
14.9 Trainees
Delete Article 26 ("Schedule 04") effective the new plan date.
14.10 Competency Payments
Payments will be made to employees who meet applicable "performance" criteria (e.g., demonstrated competencies, skill accomplishments)
14.11 Minimum Competency Pot Payout
The negotiated annual minimum pot must be paid out, the mechanics of which will be determined by Sub-Team B.
14.12 Competency and VIPP Rating/Payout Matrix
Competency and VIPP ratings/payouts will be distinct
14.13 VIPP Plan Year
Calendar Year
14.14 VIPP Allocation
50% Individual, 30% Line of Business (LOB), 20% Corporate. "Corporate" means the Toronto Service Delivery Centre (TSDC).
14.15 VIPP Payouts
An employee will receive a VIPP payout if he/she meets his/her individual VIPP objectives regardless of corporate or LOB performance.
VIPP payouts will be distributed to employees on an equal dollar basis (based on applicable performance results).
All money allocated to the individual VIPP component must be paid out in a plan year.
14.16 VIPP Objectives Deadline
Any objectives not set by March 31st of each year will be deemed as met.
14.17 Process for determining Corporate and LOB VIPP Objectives
Employer will determine Corporate and LOB objectives, following which, the Employer will discuss with the Society prior to publishing and implementation.
Financial objectives that must reasonably be kept confidential due to commercial or legal considerations will be shared with Society representatives, subject to confidentiality agreement if required.
Quarterly update reports on progress against corporate and LOB objectives will be provided to employees.
Where "mid course" changes/corrections to corporate and LOB objectives are made, or are required to be made (e.g., due to shifting management priorities), the same process will be used to revise the objectives and any changes will be documented and communicated to employees. These "mid course" changes/corrections must be reasonably based on business conditions.
14.18 Process for determining Individual VIPP Objectives
Managers and their employees must make reasonable efforts to reach agreement on the employee's Individual VIPP objectives.
Should an agreement not be reached, either party may appeal to the Inergi Society Local VP and the LOB lead.
Failing to reach an agreement, the manager will set the employee's Individual VIPP objectives. The employee will have the right to grieve his/her Individual VIPP objectives.
Where "mid course" changes/corrections to an individual's objectives are made, or are required to be made (e.g., due to shifting management priorities), the same process will be used to revise objectives, and any changes will be documented. These "mid course" changes/corrections must be reasonably based on business conditions and the year-end performance review should include consideration of the employee's progress against the initial objectives up to the point that they were modified.
14.19 Criteria for VIPP Individual Objectives
Individual VIPP objectives must comply with all of the following criteria:
  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable (i.e., by the average employee with reasonable effort and skill)
  • Relevant
  • Timely
  • Consistent (i.e., performance standards and criteria must be consistently applied/administered/interpreted by management across Inergi)
  • Fair (i.e., every employee should have equal opportunity to earn rewards)
  • Aligned (i.e., with the manager's objectives)
  • Clear (i.e., in order to minimize the chances of disputes at the end of the plan year, an employee and his/her manager should have a clear, shared understanding of what performance standards mean in relation to the employee's specific objectives for that year)
  • Actionable (i.e., to the extent reasonably possible, the employee should be able to influence the performance outcome through the application of his/her own skill and effort)
14.20 Deadline for making VIPP Payments
VIPP payments must be made by March 31st of the year following the plan year
14.21 Verification of Corporate and LOB VIPP Results
As soon as reasonably possible following the conclusion of a plan year and subject to the Society's execution of a Non-Disclosure Agreement, Inergi will provide sufficient data to the Society to attest to the integrity of the year-end figures that determine Corporate and LOB entitlements.
14.22 Outstanding Compensation Plan Design/Implementation Issues
These issues will include those matters identified as being delegated to sub-team B in the November 18, 2003 list of outstanding compensation plan issues
Delegated to a sub-team with decision-making authority
Sub-team B will meet December 16 -19, inclusive.
By end of business day December 19th the sub team will have agreed on a work plan and timelines by which to complete all work assigned to sub-team B.
Outstanding issues will be referred to mediator-arbitrator William Kaplan for a final and binding resolution.
14.23 Transitional Salary Treatment
Employees will be mapped over at their base salary rate in effect on the date of implementation of the new salary bands.
All employees on the Inergi payroll as of December 31st, 2003 will continue to receive economic increases.
All employees will be eligible to receive VIPP payments (subject to meeting other applicable plan eligibility criteria)
Employees whose base salary exceeds their assessed competency level for their salary band will be ineligible to receive competency payments until their assessed performance (based on applicable performance criteria) exceeds the level associated with their base salary.
14.24 Effective Date of New Salary Bands
As soon as reasonably possible following obtaining the requisite information from the salary database established pursuant to section 14.2 above. This date shall be referred to as the "new plan date".
14.25 Deadline for Completing the Updating and Rating of Benchmark and Non-Benchmark Jobs
April 1, 2004
Inergi agrees to provide the requisite resources.
The Society will participate in the process for reviewing and approving the finalized ratings for these jobs.
14.26 Collective Agreement Changes as a Result of the New Plan
AGREED SUBJECT TO FINAL REVIEW UPON REACHING MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
Section 39.7 - Vacation External Experience Credits
  • Grandparent credits obtained by employees prior to new plan date.

  • Employees who are hired directly into, or within one year of their ECD are appointed to, jobs on or after new plan date will receive external experience credits as follows:

    • Band C - 2 years vacation credit
    • Band B - 4 years vacation credit
    • Band A - 6 years vacation credit
Subsection 64.13.1 - Payment in Lieu of Notice Entitlement Calculations
  • Grandparent credits obtained by employees prior to new plan date.

  • Employees who are hired directly into, or within one year of their ECD are appointed to, jobs on or after new plan date will receive additional service-based credits as follows:

    • Band C - 4 weeks credit
    • Band B - 8 weeks credit
    • Band A - 12 weeks credit
Section 56.2 - On Call Service Payment
  • Effective new plan date, replace 100% MP4/TMS5 with Band B reference point.
Sections 59.3 and 60.3 - Shift Premiums
  • Effective new plan date, replace MP4 with Band B reference point
Article 61 - Shift Turnover Payment Table
  • Effective new plan date, replace references as follows:

    • Band C - $12.65
    • Band B - $14.40
    • Band A - $16.40
Sections 64.3 and 66.1 - Definition of Promotions, Demotions, and Laterals
  • Remove references to comparative ratings of jobs paid from different salary schedules
Article 68 - Hours of Work
  • Delete 68.2 and 68.3
Remove obsolete references and incorporate references to applicable part of new plan:
  • Article 28 - Job Evaluation Plans
  • Article 30 - Performance Pay Plan
Delete the following provisions:
  • Article 27 - TMS Salary Schedule
  • Article 31 - Promotion in Place Plans
  • Appendix I - Utilization and Advancement of Professional Engineers and Scientists
  • Appendix II - Input to PEO Salary Survey
  • LOU #3 - FLM Supervisory Positions (TMS)
  • LOU #4 - Reclassification of 40- Hour FLM Jobs
Any other changes required as a result of the implementation of the new plan will be identified and addressed by the sub-team established pursuant to section 16.24 above.

15 Health Benefits
No change to existing health benefits.

RESOURCING / STAFFING
 
16 Definitions
"Sustainment work" means on-going work falling under the jurisdiction of the Society that is required to operate or maintain (e.g., deliver services and/or products under) a service level agreement with a client or to support this work.
"Project work" means work falling under the jurisdiction of the Society that is required to design and/or build a solution, product, or service for a defined period of time. The results of project work may or may not become sustainment work.
"Project management work" means work falling under the jurisdiction of the Society that includes functions performed by the project management office (PMO), and project managers or equivalent functions.
"Client" means a service and/or product recipient internal or external to the Toronto Service Delivery Centre (TSDC)
"TSDC" means Inergi L.P. and New Horizon System Solutions (NHSS) L.P.
"CGEY secondee" means an employee of Cap Gemini Ernst and Young (CGEY) who is assigned to work within the jurisdiction of the Society for the TSDC.
"Shared Services" includes ongoing work that provides internal TSDC support services as well as services provided to the TSDC customer base.
"Bargaining Unit" (BU) means the Society bargaining unit in Inergi and/or NHSS.

17 Governing Rules/Intent
17.1 Amend Subsection 67.4 (a) and (b):
Note: 67.4 (a) still provides for a Blanket PSA.
17.1.1 Inergi will maintain a level of Inergi Society-represented employees based upon the number of FTEs required to perform sustainment work and project management work, minus a reasonable cushion of up to 20% contractors to accommodate temporary workload fluctuations. The number of FTEs required will be determined annually by Inergi as part of the business plan following consultation with the Society. Management will meet with the Society quarterly to discuss the business plan with respect to resourcing levels and any resourcing level adjustments that may be required during the course of the year.
17.1.2 The skill level of regular employees will be enhanced and maintained. Where contractors have skills that will be required for sustainment work and project management work, the employer shall put in place a mechanism for a transfer of skills from these persons to regular employees.
17.1.3 No regular employee will be adversely impacted, as defined in Article 64, as a result of the use of contractors. It is recognized that Management may need to transition regular Society-represented employees into alternate roles, to facilitate the elimination of contractors. Where there is no adverse impact, the provisions of 64.7 will be used to carry out this redeployment. For these purposes, "division" in this section will mean either the "Information Technology" or the "Business Process Operations" organizations.
17.1.4 Contractor assignments may not exceed 24 consecutive months.
17.1.5 Replace Article 67.4(b) with the following:
Inergi will provide Society with an electronic monthly summary of the total Society staff headcount, including a list of regular, temporary employees, contractors, and CGEY secondees doing work that falls within the jurisdiction of the Society.
The information on contractors will include the following details
  • Date of the commencement of the contract
  • Number of contract employees involved in the contract work
  • Date and expected end of the contract
  • Date of actual end of contract
  • Purpose for hiring contractor(s)
  • The work which the contractor(s) shall be performing (e.g., sustainment work, project work or project management work)
  • Cost of the Contract
17.1.6 Replace clauses 67.4.a (i), (ii) and (iii) with a requirement that if the number of contractors doing sustainment work and project management work, expressed in FTEs exceeds by more than 20% the total number of regular FTEs within the Society's jurisdiction, as calculated in section 17.1.1 above, Inergi will create one full-time regular Society-represented position for every 5 contractors in excess of the threshold number. The 20% figure shall be calculated at the end of each calendar year, based on a weighted 12-month average of FTEs.
17.2 Amend Subsection 67.4 (d):
  • A Society-represented employee of NHSS will not be considered a contractor for the purposes of this collective agreement.
17.3 Amend Article 65 to incorporate the following intent statements:
  • The base position of a regular employee will be protected while he/she is on temporary assignment outside of Inergi

  • Jurisdiction of new work, awarded to the TSDC, will be allocated to one of the BUs.

  • Reciprocal rights for Inergi and NHSS employees will be required for resourcing flexibility across the TSDC.

  • Resourcing decisions will balance fairness to employees, including employee preferences, with business effectiveness and efficiency

  • Inergi must continue to honour and meet its customer commitments.
18 Temporary Assignment to another BU
18.1 New Article
The employer may assign an employee in one BU to do work in another BU for a period of up to 18 consecutive months ("temporary assignment"), subject to the following conditions:
  • The employee retains all rights under the collective agreement of their "home" BU.

  • The employee's individual VIPP objectives shall reflect the requirements of his/her temporary assignment. His/her LOB objectives shall be those of his/her "home" BU.

  • A temporary assignment may be either a full-time or part-time (N.B. May only result in reduced hours for the employee where reduced hours agreement pursuant to Article 71 is in effect).

  • Temporary assignments shall be consistent with the employee's job document.

  • Extensions beyond an 18-month period are subject to mutual agreement between Inergi and the Society.

  • Reciprocal rights apply to employees in both BUs. The Society Inergi BU confirms that reciprocal rights apply to Society-represented employees of NHSS performing Inergi work.
19 Ongoing Shared Services Work
19.1 New Article
Inergi may assign an employee to perform work for more than one BU on an ongoing basis, subject to the following conditions:
  • The employee retains all rights under the collective agreement of their "home" BU.

  • The employee's individual VIPP objectives shall reflect the requirements of his/her shared services work. His/her LOB objectives will be those of his/her "home" BU.

  • Vacancies for existing positions providing Shared Services shall be advertised in the position's original "home" BU.

  • Vacancies for new positions providing Shared Services shall be allocated to the BU that possesses the skills and capabilities to do the work most effectively consistent with the historical distribution of the Shared Services work by function (e.g., finance, human resources) between the two BUs.

    • The historical distribution will be calculated as of December 31st 2003.

  • These assignments shall be consistent with the employee's job document.

  • Reciprocal rights apply to employees in both BUs. The Society Inergi BU confirms that reciprocal rights apply to Society-represented employees of NHSS performing Inergi work.
20 Vacancies and Rotations
20.1 Amend Section 65.5:
  • Opportunities for Society-represented rotational opportunities shall be available to regular Society-represented employees in both BUs. Inergi will post all NHSS rotational opportunities on the Inergi website. Applicants will be considered in the following priority order: a) regular employees from the "home" BU; b) regular employees from the other BU; c) temporary employees from the "home" BU; d) temporary employees from the other BU; e) other TSDC applicants.

    This provision is subject to the following conditions:

    • The employee will retain the rights of the collective agreement of his/her "home" BU

    • Reciprocal rights will apply to employees in both BUs.

    • The Society Inergi BU confirms that the provisions of this sub-section apply to Society-represented employees of NHSS subject to reciprocal rights for Inergi employees.
20.2 Amend Section 65.6:
  • A successful applicant to an ongoing vacancy in the other BU will become an employee of the "hiring" BU. The employee will retain service credits for all purposes (e.g., seniority, sick leave, vacation, pension) under Article 4 as a result of this transfer.

  • The Society Inergi BU confirms that the provisions of this sub-section apply to Society-represented employees of NHSS subject to provision of reciprocal rights for Inergi employees.
20.3 Amend Subsection 65.6.3:
  • Delete (c)

  • Move "regular MCP applicants" from (f) to (j)

  • Delete (g), (h), and (i) and replace with the following priority selection order:

    • (g) Regular Society-represented applicants from the NHSS bargaining unit

    • (h) Temporary employees and employees temporarily included in the Society's Inergi bargaining unit paying Society dues

    • (i) Society-represented temporary employees of NHSS and employees temporarily included in the Society's NHSS bargaining unit paying Society dues

    • (j) Non-represented regular or surplus employees of either Inergi or NHSS

    • (k) Members of other non-Society represented bargaining units who are active employees of either Inergi or NHSS

    • (l) External to Inergi or NHSS

  • The Society Inergi BU confirms that the provisions of this subsection apply to Society-represented employees of NHSS subject to provision of reciprocal rights for Inergi employees.
21 New Temporary Sustainment Work, up to 36 Consecutive Months
Resourcing of temporary sustainment work will be subject to the following conditions:
21.1 Prior consultation with the Society regarding specific resource elements required to win the new work, including agreement to any terms and conditions which vary from the Collective Agreement that may apply to Inergi Society-represented employees. Such agreement is applicable only to the specific work under discussion.
21.2 Should Inergi win such work, opportunity will be provided to regular Society-represented employees to engage in such work under the terms and conditions set out in accordance with 21.1.
21.3 Regular Society-represented employees accepting such assignments shall continue to accrue all applicable service credits.
21.4 Regular Society-represented employees accepting such assignments shall be provided an equivalent position in their home BU upon completion of the assignment. [Intent is similar to Article 6.3 of the Collective Agreement].
21.5 Regular Society-represented employees on such assignments shall neither be advantaged nor disadvantaged with respect to rights under Article 64.
21.6 Unfulfilled resource requirements will be filled with preference given to obtaining temporary Society-represented employees, subject to the terms and conditions set out in 21.1, followed by contractors.
21.7 Hiring temporary Society-represented employees will be given priority over contractors, when backfilling.
21.8 Temporary Society-represented employees or contractors backfilling for regular Society-represented employees on such assignments will be approved for durations equal to the regular Society-represented employee's assignment.

22 Society Opportunities - Outside TSDC
Amend Article 5
  • Inergi will develop a process to provide regular employees with opportunities to participate in CGEY work assignments outside the TSDC ("engagements") on a voluntary basis and subject to release by the applicable manager.

  • Names and qualifications of interested regular employees will be made available to CGEY resourcing managers for consideration in appropriate engagements.

  • CGEY will negotiate a personal services contract with an employee setting out the mutually agreeable terms and conditions of the engagement.

  • When an employee accepts an engagement, he/she:

    • Retains his status as an employee of Inergi;

    • Continues to accrue service credits for all purposes under Article 4

    • Will be required to pay Society dues during the term of the engagement.

  • Upon return from an engagement shall exercise redeployment rights in accordance with Section 6.3.

  • Employees on engagements shall be neither advantaged nor disadvantaged with respect to rights under Article 64.
23 Training and Development
Training and development objectives will form a key component of an employee's annual performance review meeting with his/her manager. Training and development objectives may include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following:
  • In-house and external formal training, covering technical and non-technical skills;

  • Informal training such as on the job training;

  • Rotational assignments, including, but not limited to, projects.
24 Relationship between Inergi and NHSS BUs
Inergi and the Inergi Society jointly endorse in principle the goal of combining Society-represented employees of the two BUs under a single collective agreement, to the extent that such combining works to the benefit of the affected employees and Inergi's business needs.
The parties agree in principle to continue discussions with each other and with Society representatives in NHSS on these matters.