Registration Now Open for CSSEA In-Person AGM and Conference!

After a two-year pause in holding in-person conferences, CSSEA is excited to once again invite members to attend this year’s event, aptly named Together & Forward, taking place in Vancouver at the Marriott Vancouver Pinnacle Hotel from October 25-27.

With guidance from the AGM Planning Committee, Together & Forward promises to offer the high quality human resources and labour relations workshops that members have come to expect. This year, we will also prioritize networking opportunities, as we recognize members’ desires to re-connect meaningfully after what has been an unpredictably long absence. To that end, attendees can expect extended opportunities to socialize with colleagues, as well as more plenary sessions.

Annual General Meeting

CSSEA will be holding an in-person Annual General Meeting on October 25. Based on the positive experience the last two years of holding Divisional Sessions ahead of the General Session, we will continue to hold Divisional Sessions separately; this will ensure each division has ample time to discuss issues and, if necessary, hold elections. We ask members to register for both their Divisional Session and the General Session, and remind all attendees that only member owners, Executive Directors or CEOs may vote at the AGM. In addition to the AGM, CSSEA will be holding a “Blue Sky” Pre-Strategic Planning Consultation in preparation for the drafting of CSSEA’s next Strategic Plan. Members of CSSEA’s Board, along with CSSEA’s CEO, will consult with members on their broad strategic priorities for the years ahead and also provide an overview of how CSSEA’s strategic direction is set, particularly within the confines of our mandate. Attendance to both the AGM and Strategic Planning Consultation will be free of charge.…

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REMINDER: Employer Essential Services Forms Due by July 8

Further to this CSSEA Info issued on June 3, members are reminded that they are required to inform CSSEA about their essential services and to remit the required forms, if applicable.

Agencies that do not have any essential services must send the following e-mail to Vangie Johnson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. : “<LEGAL NAME OF AGENCY> does not have any essential services as defined in the Global Order.” This e-mail must be received by no later than July 8.

Agencies that have essential services must complete these forms by no later than July 8:
Form A - Employer Background Information
Form B - Bargaining Unit Staffing
Form B-2 - Supported Living - Client Visit Report 
Form C - Management and Excluded Areas of Work 
Form D - Volunteers
Form E - Signature Log
Forms A to E can be found: HERE
Instructions for Forms A to E can be found: HERE

Members must complete Forms A to D, and submit them to both their shop stewards and union representative(s) by no later than July 8 to initiate discussions over essential services staffing levels.

Please use the following contact list for the union representatives who must receive your completed Forms A to D (if two contacts are listed please send to both), and to commence the negotiations process:

Local negotiations should be scheduled as soon as possible. Remember:
1) Members must advise Vangie Johnson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if agreement is not reached by no later than July 29.
2) Members must send all agreed forms (Forms A to E) to Vangie Johnson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by July 29.…

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Member Action Required for Essential Services Planning

CSSEA and CSSBA have agreed to prepare for essential services staffing levels in the event of strike action by the unions. On May 31, 2022, the CSSBA under Section 72(1) of the Labour Relations Code applied for the designation of essential services. On June 1, 2022, the Minister of Labour directed the Labour Relations Board to designate the facilities, productions and services it considers necessary or essential to prevent immediate and serious danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the residents of British Columbia. The Labour Relations Board has the ultimate responsibility for determining staffing levels during a work stoppage.

The last Essential Services Orders were issued by the Labour Relations Board in 2012. As such, employers and unions must review and update their 2012 Orders (where they exist) in order to determine the current required levels of essential services.

For more information about essential services, please read this backgrounder.…

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Employers Required to Implement Communicable Disease Guidelines

WorkSafeBC recently advised that employers are now required to implement workplace communicable disease guidelines and are no longer required to have COVID-19-specific safety plans.

For details on the requirements of this change, please see this WorkSafeBC Communicable Disease Prevention link. The link highlights basic risk reduction principles regarding workplace transmission of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases. In times that the risk of COVID-19 transmission is elevated, such as seasonally, employers will be advised by medical health officers or the Provincial Health Officer on the measures they need to take to manage the risk.

Employers may also wish to use WorkSafeBC’s Communicable disease prevention: A guide for employers for information on how to develop an effective communicable disease plan. In addition, members can access the Community Social Services Health & Safety Association of BC’s Community Social Services Communicable Disease Prevention – Overview Template (under the COVID-19 Resource tab) for a sample template.…

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Final Call for Awards of Excellence Nominations

There are now just three days remaining to complete your Community Social Services Awards of Excellence nominations.

The Awards of Excellence, sponsored by TELUS, celebrates four individuals working in various stages of their careers in the publicly-funded community social services sector. The awards will be presented in person for the first time since 2019, on October 26, 2022 at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Vancouver Hotel. You can find details on awards categories, as well as the online nomination form, on our awards website.

CSSEA will be accepting nominations until this Friday, April 22 at 5pm. Nominators are welcome to continue editing or revising nominations online until the due date, after which they will automatically be considered final. In addition, members are encouraged to re-submit nominations for individuals not chosen to receive an award in previous years.…

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April 13, 2022 - Additional Details on New Sick Pay Minimum Requirements

Further to this CSSEA Info issued on March 31, Bill 19 has received Royal Assent and is now law. Bill 19 amended the minimum sick leave provisions under the Employment Standards Act and replaces some previous advice dispensed by CSSEA, including parts of this January CSSEA Info.

As previously mentioned in the March CSSEA Info, Bill 19 removed the sick leave sections from Section 3 of the Act, which had allowed for collective agreements to avoid the application of the minimum sick leave standards, as long as the collective agreement provisions on sick leave, when taken together, “meet or exceed” the Act minimums. In CSSEA’s view, the collective agreements met this test and the minimums did not apply to unionized employees covered by the sectoral agreements. As of March 31, Bill 19 deleted reference to the sick leave sections in Section 3:

Scope of this Act

3 (1) Subject to this section, this Act applies to all employees other than those excluded by regulation.…

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March 31, 2022 - Government Announces Further Amendments to ESA Sick Leave Minimums

The BC government announced on March 28, 2022 that it has introduced additional amendments to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) concerning paid sick leave. The latest amendments follow government’s initial announcement in November 2021 that it would be introducing five annual employer-paid sick days effective January 1, 2022. Details of that announcement were documented in this CSSEA Info, and follow-up information regarding application can be found in this FAQs.

The latest amendments are being introduced through Bill 19 and contain three notable changes that, upon receiving Royal Assent, will replace some advice currently dispensed by CSSEA:

1. ESA paid sick leave is removed from the “meet or exceeds” table in section 3 of the ESA, meaning it will be applicable to unionized employers regardless of their collective agreement provisions. In other words, the minimum five days of paid sick leave will be extended to casual employees and probationary employees covered by collective agreements who, until now, would have been excluded from ESA sick leave minimums in whole or in part.
2. ESA paid sick leave is removed as an exception from section 3(6), meaning union employees will have to launch a grievance/arbitration in case of potential disputes, as opposed to using the Employment Standards Branch complaint process.
3. “Employment year” is now replaced by “calendar year” for the purposes of calculating an employee’s entitlement to sick days, thus simplifying the need for employers to track each individual’s employment anniversary date to calculate their paid sick days entitlement. Please note that it is possible some employees may already have received more than five days of paid sick leave this year due to the current employment year calculation, and in those scenarios, there is currently no mechanism to seek repayment.…

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BC to Observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in 2022

In August 2021, we issued a CSSEA Info that communicated with employers the BC Government’s observance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by recognizing September 30th as a holiday for all employees who are normally entitled to provincial and federal holidays. The holiday would be interim while the province began a consultation process with residential school survivors and Indigenous partners, as well as the labour and private sector business communities, on how BC can observe September 30 in that year and beyond.

As the consultation and engagement process is still ongoing, and based on collective agreement provisions granting federal statutory holidays concerning the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, provincial public sector employers should plan for September 30 to once again be observed as a holiday this year (2022) on a without prejudice basis for all employees who are normally entitled to provincial and federal statutory holidays. More information can be found in this Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation update; employers are encouraged to share this update with their employees.

CSSEA is working with the Public Sector Employers’ Council Secretariat on how to address this matter in bargaining. If you have any further questions, please contact your HRLR Consultant or Advocate.

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2022 Community Social Services Awards of Excellence to be Presented in Person!

CSSEA is excited to announce that it plans to once again present the 2022 Community Social Services Awards of Excellence in person, after a two year pause in large gatherings. While we appreciate that the public health situation may change, CSSEA is buoyed by current Provincial Health Officer guidelines that allow for indoor gatherings at 100% capacity, and will hold the event as long as it remains safe to do so. Nominations for the awards are now being accepted until 5pm on April 22 and CSSEA encourages all members and associates to consider nominating an outstanding individual working in BC's publicly funded community social services sector.

CSSEA is particularly thankful for the continued, generous support of event sponsor TELUS, who has maintained incredible support of the event throughout the pandemic.

Four Award Categories

The Awards of Excellence celebrate four individuals who provide vital services to some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.…

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February 11, 2022 - CSSEA and CSSBA Commence Sectoral Bargaining

On February 2, 2022, CSSEA commenced bargaining with the Community Social Services Bargaining Association (CSSBA) to amend the sector’s three collective agreements, which are set to expire on March 31, 2022. Negotiations are being held in Burnaby in a hybrid format, with CSSEA Bargaining Team members participating both virtually and in person, in order to facilitate safe distancing.

The first two weeks of discussions, while constructive and collaborative, consisted mostly of developing housekeeping frameworks. The parties exchanged opening statements and agreed to a bargaining protocol, as well as the adoption of an interest-based bargaining approach. Both CSSEA and the CSSBA tabled housekeeping proposals and ended this week with a number of agreements on housekeeping-related language.

Working Within Government’s Shared Recovery Mandate

Over the past year, CSSEA has consulted with members to obtain their key bargaining objectives and service delivery priorities in order to inform the creation of its 2022 Bargaining Plan. Led by a Bargaining Team that includes members from all three membership divisions, CSSEA will be working to achieve sustainable and collaborative agreements that incorporate sectoral objectives with the provincial government’s Shared Recovery Mandate. The mandate supports the provincial government’s three key priorities for public sector negotiations:…

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