Temporary Wage Adjustments Negotiated for Supportive Housing Members

At the initiative of the provincial government, an agreement was reached on behalf of eligible CSSEA supportive housing members to pay a temporary market adjustment (TMA) in addition to specific Grid 11 wage rates that have fallen behind wage rates paid in the health sector for comparable jobs.

Due to a comparability adjustment that took place in the health sector under the community health collective agreement, wage rates were increased for jobs classified as Shelter Support Worker at Grid 33 and Support Worker II at Grid 34 in the community health sub-sector, and as a result certain community social services classifications fell behind. The impacted classifications are:

• Adult, Youth and/or Child Worker;
• Residential Child and Youth Worker;
• Special Services Worker;
• Victim Service Worker; and
• All unique Grid 11 positions that meet the definition outlined in #2 of the Memorandum of Agreement.

As such, members who are listed in this Memorandum of Agreement will have employees eligible for the TMAs if they work in these classifications in fully provincially-funded supportive housing programs.

The TMAs will top up the targeted Grid 11 classification rates to the following wage rates. Note that the TMAs do not interfere with usual increment progression, as employees will still work the usual 2000 hours at Step 1, a further 2000 hours at Step 2, and so on.

• $30.18 at Step 1
• $30.18 at Step 2
• $31.82 at Step 3
• $33.49 at Step 4

The TMA is added to the employee’s base pay and all usual payroll deductions continue to be made on the aggregate amount.

CSSEA will be working with government to address this disparity in wage rates on an ongoing basis in the upcoming round of bargaining. In the meantime, government made this funding available through BC Housing to pay the specific classifications’ TMAs pending a more sustainable solution achieved in bargaining.

The TMAs will be effective at the beginning of the first full pay period in September 2024, without retroactivity. Government is working closely with BC Housing to fund the TMAs by September. The TMAs will continue to be paid until new collective agreements are negotiated by CSSEA, at which time comparability adjustments in an updated Wage Schedule is expected.

Should you have any questions, please contact your HRLR Advocate/Consultant.