CSSEA Launches BC Community Social Services Awards of Excellence

CSSEA is pleased to announce the launch of the first annual BC Community Social Services Awards of Excellence, sponsored by TELUS. 

The Awards of Excellence are designed to celebrate BC’s publicly-funded community social services sector and recognize the sector’s most important asset, its employees who provide vital services to the most vulnerable people in our communities.

The award categories are:…

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Registration Open for 2015 Compensation and Employee Turnover Survey Orientation Sessions

The 2015 Compensation and Employee Turnover Survey will be available for members to complete on April 15, 2015.

It is very important that all members complete the survey this year. The deadline for completion of the survey will be June 30, 2015. Your data will be used to report the sector’s total compensation base to the Public Sector Employers’ Council. In addition, it will support the implementation of the 2014-2019 collective agreements including the work of the committee conducting the job classification review and allocating the comparability and anomaly money. CSSEA will also use your data to produce annual reports on the sector, which will be available to all members.

A series of orientation sessions have been scheduled across the province to help members become familiar with the survey and the Work Force Information System (WFIS).…

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2014 - 2019 Collective Agreements Available on Website

The 2014 - 2019 collective agreements for Aboriginal Services, Community Living Services, and General Services have now been finalized and PDF versions have been posted to the CSSEA website under Resources>>Collective Agreements.

The collective agreement booklets are currently being printed and should be ready for distribution by early April. CSSEA and the CSSBA will be responsible for distributing copies of the agreements to their respective members.

For more information contact your HRLR consultant.

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Roundtable Initiative - Review of Benefits

More information

For more information on this initiative and Roundtable documentation, please visit http://www.mcf.gov.bc.ca/service_providers/ and/or CSSEA’s website for Mark Sieben’s presentation following the October AGM, Innovation and Sustainability Action Plan.  

In addition, you can also contact Jennifer Erickson with the Ministry of Children and Family Development at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 250.574.7910.…

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Job Description Collection

As part of the distribution of the approximately $30 Million for the comparability and anomaly wage increases from the 2014-2019 collective agreements, CSSEA and the CSSBA are conducting a joint review of the current classification system.

The first step in this work is to gather all job descriptions for bargaining unit (unionized) positions in the sector from all members. 

Before sending job descriptions to CSSEA, we encourage members to review them with their employees to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date.…

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Mandatory Early Intervention Program FAQs and Information Sheet

On March 31, 2014 the early intervention program became mandatory, since then we have received a variety of questions from members regarding the program.

To help members, CSSEA has developed a set of Frequently Asked Questions (below) and a Mandatory Early Intervention Information Sheet to improve understanding of the program.

Download Early Intervention Information Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions – Mandatory Early Intervention Program

How does the disability management provider help my employee return to work?
The disability management provider is responsible for coordinating your employee's return to work plan by:…

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Online Orientation Sessions for 2014 Compensation and Employee Turnover Survey

CSSEA has scheduled two online orientation sessions for the 2014 Compensation and Employee Turnover Survey, for members who were unable to send staff to one of the regional orientation sessions.

The online orientation sessions are July 31 at 1:00 PM and September 4 at 1:00 PM.

To participate, please register in-advance to receive the teleconference dial-in number and online presentation link.

Members are highly encouraged to have their staff responsible for completing the survey participate, in order to familiarize them with the survey’s data requirements. Staff who have attended an orientation session report they spend less time completing the survey than staff who did not.…

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Common Site Picketing Relief at Public Schools

Members with operations located in public schools may potentially be affected by picketing next week, due to the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) announcement that they will begin a full-scale strike on Tuesday, June 17.

Members who provide services independent from the School District at public schools can seek common site picketing relief at the the Labour Relations Board (LRB) to restrict picketing activity so that it only affects the employer involved in the dispute.

To begin the process, members should make contact with the local School District representative and explain their situation. The local School District representative is normally in contact with the local Teachers’ Association and aware of their position on picketing issues. Ask the local School District for the contact information of the local BCTF representative and let them know you plan to request common site picketing relief, so that your agency can continue to operate and your employees can attend work. We have found this local process to be useful and we recommend it as an efficient first step.…

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Mandatory Early Intervention Program Fully Implemented

The Mandatory Early Intervention Program negotiated by CSSEA and the Community Social Services Bargaining Association (CSSBA) in the 2012-2014 collective agreements and reinforced in the 2014-2019 agreements has been fully implemented as of March 31, 2014.

The early intervention program is a collaborative effort between CSSEA and the CSSBA, and the sector’s disability management providers Great-West Life Assurance, Acclaim Ability Management Inc. and the Disability Management Institute to support employees unable to work due to an illness or injury.

In order for the program to succeed it is essential that Employers refer employees to the program immediately after absences of 5 or more consecutive work days.  

CSSEA has been working with all the benefit providers to ensure the process and timelines are consistent across the sector, but for the program to work Employers must refer Employees in an expeditious manner to their disability management provider to initiate the process.…

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2014-2019 Collective Agreements Implementation Guide

To assist in implementation of the ratified 2014-2019 collective agreements below is a list of the major changes and wage increases contained in the agreements and their effective dates.

The changes apply to Aboriginal Services, Community Living Service and General Services unless otherwise indicated.

The wage increases apply to all employees with the exception of employees in the Aboriginal Services division working in delegated positions negotiated pursuant to the Public Sector Master Agreement.…

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