Policy 2c
Approved Executive Committee of the Board of Governors X88.62TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REASONS
PRINCIPLE
1. The University must occasionally modify its allocation of financial and human resources, considering its priorities, evolution and budgetary constraints. Where the University decides to eliminate a position for administrative reasons, the University seeks to ensure a fair and equitable treatment of its employees, while limiting as much as possible, the consequences of such a decision.
APPLICATION
2. This policy applies to all members of the support staff in regular positions. All other members of the support staff are governed by the terms and conditions of their employment contract or collective agreement.
DEFINITIONS
3. For the purpose of this policy, the term "administrative reasons" refers to any structural reorganization, financial limitations or other reasons (excluding termination for cause) resulting in the elimination of existing support staff positions at the University of Ottawa.
4. For the purposes of this policy, positions are considered "basically identical" when they are located in the same faculty or service, they are in the same grade level and they have substantially similar duties and job requirements as the position affected by the elimination for administrative reasons.
PROCESS
5. Requests to eliminate a position for administrative reasons must be initiated by the dean or the director of a service, signed by the Director of Human Resources Service and approved, in the final stage, by the Administrative Committee.
6. Where the position to be eliminated is not unique and there are basically identical positions in the faculty or service, a selection committee, chaired by a management representative of Human Resources Service, must draw up a list of all employees occupying basically identical positions placing them in decreasing order of merit. The selection committee shall determine which employee is to be last in order of merit and therefore be given notice of termination for administrative reasons. The person occupying the position to be eliminated will be transferred into the position occupied by the person who received the notice of termination.
7. In cases where there are basically identical positions to the position being abolished, but there also are vacant basically identical positions in the faculty or service, the member of staff occupying the eliminated position will be transferred to one of the vacant positions without applying the process in 6.
8. After the University decides to eliminate a position for administrative reasons, the dean or director responsible must meet with the employee concerned and notify the employee of the termination for administrative reasons, the reasons for elimination of the position, and to notify the employee of the assistance to be offered by Human Resources Service.
9. For positions up to Grade 12 inclusively, the notice of termination must be given six months before the effective date of elimination. For positions in Grade 13 or higher, the notice period must be twelve months before the effective date of elimination. The notice period will start one month after the date on which the letter is given to the employee, advising him of the application of the policy on Termination for administrative reasons.
10. Employees who receive a notice of termination for administrative reasons may leave their employment at the University one month after the date of the notice, receive an amount equal to their salary during the notice period and receive a severance amount as described in article 13. The University will continue to provide insured benefits for a period of two months after the termination date under the same conditions as when the employee was employed. In this case, the provisions of this policy are considered as having been complied with, except for articles 14 and 15 which deal respectively with the determination of the seniority date and the severance amounts to be reimbursed if an employee is re-hired at the University.
11. During the notice period, Human Resources Service shall give priority to the affected employee for those positions for which, in the opinion of Human Resources Service, the affected employee is qualified to occupy. In the event a dean or director refuses to hire such a person he or she will be required to submit his or her reasons in writing to the Director of Human Resources Service.
12. Human Resources Service shall preserve the eligibility for internal competitions of employees whose positions have been eliminated for administrative reasons for four months after the date of termination.
13. If the University cannot transfer the employee to another position before the effective date of termination, the University shall pay the employee a severance payment in the following amounts:
- a) For employees occupying positions up to Grade 12 inclusively, the severance payment shall be an amount equal to one week of salary for every year of full-time continuous service at the University (excluding leaves without pay for more than one month) up to a maximum of twenty-six weeks.
- b) For employees occupying positions in Grade 13 or higher, the severance payment shall be an amount equal to two weeks salary for each year of full-time continuous service at the University (excluding leaves without pay of more than one month) up to a maximum of fifty-two weeks. Under exceptional circumstances, the University may offer a severance amount which is higher than the established maximum.
- c) For employees described in paragraphs (a) and (b), 1/12th of one week of severance shall be granted for each month of continuous full-time service in excess of full years at the University.
14. Should the employee whose positions was eliminated for administrative reasons be re-hired by the University within one year of the date of termination, then the person shall retain his/her original seniority date for the purpose of calculating annual leaves or any other employee benefit less the period of time not worked during the year.
15. Should the employee whose position was eliminated for administrative reasons be re-hired by the University during the period covered by the severance payment, the balance of the severance payment must be returned to the University, unless the employee agrees in writing to waive his or her seniority. In cases where the employee has left his/her employment one month after the date of the notice as in paragraph 10, the amount to be returned to the University shall be equal to the total amount paid under 10, less the amount which would have been received if he/she worked during the period between termination and re-hire.
16. Positions that are eliminated for administrative reasons must not be reinstated, in an identical or essentially identical form, within one year from the date of elimination.
INTERPRETATION
17. The Assistant Vice-rector, Labour Relations, and Director of Human Resources Service is responsible for the interpretation of this policy. The application of the policy is the joint responsibility of the faculty, service administrators and the Director of Human Resources Service.
EXCEPTION
18. No exception may be made to this policy without the written consent of the Vice-rector, Resources.
Revised June 5, 2002
(Human Resources Service)