It is the purpose of this Agreement, in recogniz­ing a common interest between the Company and the Union in promoting the utmost co-operation and friendly spirit between the Company and its employees to set forth conditions covering rates of pay, hours of work and conditions of employment to be observed between the Parties and to provide a procedure for prompt and equitable adjustment of grievances. To this end, this Agreement is signed in good faith by the two Parties.

The Company recognizes the Union as the exclusive bargaining agent for all persons employed in the unit defined by the Canada Labour Relations Board in its decision of August 16, 2000, and any amendments to the Unit as mutually agreed to by the parties, or any job subsequently held to be within the bargaining unit.

The employees covered by this Agreement shall be:

All employees of CFRN TV Edmonton, Alberta, and all employees of CFCN TV, Calgary, Alberta, except:

The term “employee” as used in this Agreement shall mean any person employed in a classification included in the bargaining unit referred to in Article 2 of this Agreement.

All employees as defined in Article 3.1 above shall be covered by this Agreement from the date of hiring.

All employees covered by this Agreement shall be considered full time employees of the Company except as hereinafter provided.

The Company shall notify the Union in writing at least twenty (20) calendar days prior to the formal introduction of any new job classification. Such notice shall advise the Union of the primary duties and the salary rate of the new job classification..

Either Party to this Agreement may request that negotiations begin within thirty (30) calendar days of the issuance of the notice outlined in (a) above, to determine if such job classification shall be excluded from the bargaining unit. If agreement is not reached within thirty (30) calendar days of the request outlined above, the issue shall be referred to the Canada Industrial Relations Board for a decision.

Should the employee's performance not meet the level of proficiency expected by the end of the first sixty (60) days worked, providing the Company is reasonably satisfied that the employee may improve his/her proficiency with more guidance, then the probation period may be extended for a further period, but not beyond a maximum of one hundred twenty (120) days worked from the date of hiring.

In exercising (b) above, the Company shall make such decision no later than ten (10) tours of duty prior to the expiration of the first sixty (60) days worked and shall advise the employee and the Union, in writing, giving reason for such extension.

The probationary employee shall be entitled to all terms and conditions contained in this Agreement, except that the Company may terminate or dismiss the employee at any time during the initial probation period or any extension thereof and an arbitrator shall have no jurisdiction over such termination or dismissal.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3.5.1 (a) above, Producer/Directors and all Supervisors employed in bargaining unit positions shall be probationary employees for a period of one hundred twenty (120) days worked from the date of their hiring and further subject to the following:

Prior to the end of the one hundred twenty (120) days worked and upon notification to the Union, the Company may extend the probationary period up to a total of two hundred forty (240) days worked from the date of hiring..

ARTICLE 4

Part-time Employees

General

All Articles of this Collective Agreement, being Articles 1 to 48 inclusive, shall apply to part-time employees, except as hereinafter provided.

The following Articles shall not apply to part-time employees:

Article 17
Article 20
Article 25
Article 27

Article 28
Article 29
Article 35
Article 36
Article 45
Article 47
Article 48

- Union Seniority
- Layoff and Recall save and except Article 20.6 which will apply
- Technological Change
- Any provisions of Article 27 which provide a premium when the Company fails to  give advanced notice of overtime or shift change
- Overtime
- Work on Days Off
- Holidays (with the exception of 35.1 which will apply)
- Compensatory Leave
- Wages
- Clothing Allowance
- Transfer of Work

Part-time employees shall be probationary employees for a period of five hundred (500) hours worked or six months from the commencement of their employment with the Company.  There shall be opportunity for one equal period of extension of a part-time employee’s probationary period.

All applicable terms and conditions of this Agreement shall apply to the probationary employee covered by Article 4.4, except that the Company may terminate or dismiss the employee at any time during the initial probation period or any extension thereof and an arbitrator shall have no jurisdiction over such termination or dismissal.

Where a part-time employee is engaged for a temporary period for a specific purpose and for a limited time, the following shall apply:

A casual employee is defined as a person who is employed on an irregular basis.

Where a full-time or part-time employee is on lay-off and there is casual work available within that employee’s classification, the Company will make a reasonable effort to recall that employee to perform casual work within the employee’s classification.  Article 20.8 to 20.11 (Re-engagement) will apply to such work.

Casual employees shall not be subject to the terms and conditions of the Collective Agreement but they shall pay Union dues in accordance with Article 7 of this Agreement.

The parties recognize there are business and other operating requirements which necessitate overtime work being performed. The Company, however, will not require employees to work an excessive amount of overtime.

Where an employee is required to work overtime, he/she may ask to be relieved from the overtime requirement. Where the Company determines it can reasonably grant such a request, it will do so.

For all hours worked in excess of seven and one-half (7½ ) hours in a day and thirty seven and one-half hours in a week (37½ ), one and one-half (1½ ) times his/her basic hourly rate..

For All Other Employees

For all hours worked in excess of eighty (80) in a 2week period with a fixed period of no compounding, one and one-half (1½ ) times his/her basic hourly rate, and/or  overtime rates shall apply for all hours worked in excess of eight (8) hours in one day.  No part-time employee will be required to work more than eight (8) consecutive days without their consent.  Failure of the employee to give consent will not be used to penalize the employee in anyway.

All overtime, in order to qualify for overtime compensation, must be authorized or approved in advance by a designated supervisor or department manager..

A tour of duty shall mean the authorized and/or approved times worked during a day, with a minimum credit based on three (3) hours at the employee’s hourly rate of basic pay.  If a tour of duty extends beyond midnight of the day on which it commenced, it shall be considered as falling wholly within the calendar day in which it starts.

 Part-time employees shall be paid at an hourly rate based on the Salary Groups and Schedules set out in Article 45 of this Agreement, as a minimum pay requirement and further subject to the following:

At the time of hiring new part-time employees, the Company shall determine the salary step at which such employees shall commence employment..

Progression up the wage schedule, based on hours worked shall occur where the employee’s performance justifies the progression.

Each year the Company will indicate, on the T4 issued to employees, the total amount of Union dues which were deducted in respect of the taxation year.  All T4 slips will be issued no later than the last calendar day of February.

The provisions of Articles 4.3, 4.13 and 4.14 above shall not apply to part-time employees engaged as Regional News Correspondents. In lieu of such minimum pay requirement, the Company shall pay to Regional News Correspondents a minimum amount for each news item filed as follows:

January 1, 2010                 -    $151.53

September 1, 2010            -    $153.80

September 1, 2011            -    $156.88

In addition to the exceptions set out in Article 4.2, part-time employees engaged as Regional News Correspondents shall not be subject to overtime and premium provisions contained in the following Articles:

Article 27 - Scheduling

Article 28 - Overtime

Article 29 - Work on Days Off

Article 30 - Meal and Break Periods.

Notwithstanding the provision of Article 4.19(b), in the event a Regional News Correspondent is assigned to news stories after having been working for eight (8) hours during any day, the employee shall be paid at the one and one-half (1½)  times rate for each hour so assigned.  For the purposes of this Article, an hourly rate shall be determined by dividing the news story payment by eight (8).

intentionally left blank ( for renumbering)

Requests for vacation must be submitted to the Company in writing a minimum of two (2) months prior to the date requested.  Submissions must be made to the employees’ immediate supervisor or designate and will be approved in accordance with operational requirements, and shall not be unreasonably denied.

(refer to article 35.1 )

An employee is not entitled to be paid for a holiday on which he/she does not work unless he/she has worked for at least fifteen (15) tours of duty during the thirty (30) calendar days immediately preceding the holiday..

Part-time employees shall be entitled to pay for a general holiday on which they do not work, the greater of, not to exceed one-fifth of the basic weekly rate of pay.

Part Time employees will be eligible for 2 Personal Floater Days. A Part-time employee shall be entitled to the greater of, not to exceed one-fifth of the basic weekly rate of pay.

Where an employee is required to work on a holiday, he/she shall be paid the holiday pay to which he/she is entitled plus one and one-half (1½)  times for the first eight hours worked and two (2) times for any hours worked in excess of eight hours worked.

Union seniority for part-time employees shall be based on actual hours worked as a part-­time employee from the date of last hire with the Company. Company service, shall be determined by the net credited service as shown on the Company records. (Company service shall be used for the purpose of calculating vacation entitlement.).

Where a part-time employee has been assigned to full-time status, he or she shall be given Union seniority  for part-time hours worked.

Part-time employees shall have seniority only with the part-time group of employees.

Where a part-time employee has not worked for the Company during any consecutive ninety (90) calendar day period, he/she shall be deemed to be no longer employed by the Company.

A part-time employee who has subsequently been hired as a full-time employee shall serve the full-time probationary period defined in Article 3.5.

Where a vacancy occurs in a full-time position, the Company shall give preference in hiring, over outside candidates, to a part-time employee, provided the employee in question possesses,  greater ability, skill, potential and competence to perform the duties of the full-time position. These criteria will also be used to evaluate two or more internal candidates for a vacancy competition.

Prior to January 1 2013, Part-time employees were entitled to 32 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year. Should there be any changes to the existing plan, those Par-time sick leave provisions prior to January 1 2013 will be held as a minimum. .

ARTICLE 5

Jurisdiction

It is recognized that circumstances and conditions exist and will continue to exist which may necessitate the use of non-bargaining unit personnel to carry out work covered by this Agreement, such work having been performed exclusively by bargaining unit employees in the past.

Notwithstanding the provision of Article 5.1, the Company agrees that it shall not assign non-bargaining unit personnel to the extent that the same would result in, or significantly contribute to, the lay-off, displacement (bumping) or reduction of scheduled hours of a bargaining unit employee in the employ of the Company.

Without restricting the generality of Articles 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3, it is understood that:

The Company may enter into separate contracts to obtain goods and services in the following areas:

Recognized professional services such as surveys, inspections, appraisals, legal functions and auditing functions.
  

Janitorial and security functions.

Construction, upgrading or renovations of physical plant and facilities.

Maintenance of rebroadcast transmitters.

Cases of expertise not resident in the bargaining unit. Wherever possible, the Company shall make efforts to develop such expertise within the bargaining unit.

Those contracts required for a specific purpose and a limited term, although they may be renewable, which are necessitated by commercial or program production, which is not of an ongoing, permanent nature..

Where an outside production client specifically requests the services of a third party to perform work in connection with a production or where it is necessary to engage a third party in order to secure a production contract. Such services shall be limited to Director or Camera.

Outside employment agency personnel may be hired by the Company to perform the work of Secretary and Clerk/Typist job classifications and shall be excluded from all provisions of the Collective Agreement provided that the duration of employment is less than one (1) month.  The Company shall remit on behalf of such personnel, an amount equivalent to Union dues as set out in this Agreement.

The Union agrees to allow the use of students on practicums to perform bargaining unit work or function.  Students shall not be used in order to replace a bargaining unit employee on vacation, sick leave or any other leave, or to avoid the payment of overtime or premiums to bargaining unit employees.  The use of students on practicums shall not deny access to hours of work that would otherwise be assigned to qualified bargaining unit employees.

Real time closed captioning functions.

The Company shall be free to enter into personal employment contracts with individuals who perform the functions of Program Host. Such individuals shall be excluded from all terms and conditions of this Agreement, provided that:

the total number of such contracts shall not exceed four (4); and

The Company shall not use non-bargaining unit personnel as set out in Articles 5.4 through 5.4.2 if such action::

results in the lay-off or displacement (bumping) of a bargaining unit employee; or

results in the failure to recall a laid-off bargaining unit employee; or

results in the failure to fill a full-time bargaining  unit position or a part-time position; or

to set the broadcasting policy and broadcasting standards of the Company;

The Union further acknowledges the right of the Company to operate and manage its business, control its properties and maintain order on its premises in all respects in accordance with its commitments and responsibilities. The direction of the working forces, the amount and type of supervision necessary, the number and types of machines and technical equipment, procedures and standards of operations, the content of programs, judgement and evaluation of personnel qualifications, the right to decide on the number of employees needed by the Company at any time, operating schedules and the selection, procurement, design and engineering of equipment which may be incorporated into the Company's plant, including the change of any or all of the foregoing, from time to time, control over all operations, buildings, machinery, equipment and employees, are solely and exclusively the responsibility of the Company.

All employees shall become and remain members of the Union. Those Employee’s with a hire date prior to 2012, who are currently non-members, are excluded from this requirement.

Each employee shall be required, as a condition of continued employment, to pay to the Union a sum equal to the Union's monthly dues as may be established from time to time. Such sums shall be deducted from the employee and remitted to the Union by the Company as mutually agreed upon in a timely manner.

The Union shall indemnify the Company and save it harmless from any and all claims which may be made against the Company by an employee or employees for amounts deducted from wages as provided by this Article.

It is agreed that when remitting dues, the Company is not required to identify specific amounts which relate to over-scale earnings of an employee assigned to Classification 11 (Anchor).

When submitting the remittance set out in Article 7.2, the Company shall provide to the Union, a statement showing the name of each bargaining unit employee, the total amount of dues deducted from each employee for the period and the gross earnings of each employee. In addition, such statement shall show the total amount of dues deducted from all bargaining unit employees as a group, with a further breakdown showing the portion of such dues that were deducted from base pay.

The Company will not discriminate in respect to hiring, tenure of employment or any term of employment against any employee covered by this Agreement because of membership in or non-membership in or lawful activity on behalf of the Union, nor will it encourage or discourage membership in the Union.

Employees shall enjoy equal rights under this Agreement regardless of sex, colour, racial, ethnic or national origin, religious or political affiliation, or sexual orientation.

The Union agrees that it will not discriminate against any employee because of his/her non­membership in the Union.

The Union will not take action against a member of the bargaining unit who is employed in a supervisory capacity unit for any action taken when carrying on such supervisory duties for the Company, but this shall not be construed to prevent the filing of a grievance in respect of grievable actions of any such employee who is acting in a supervisory capacity in carrying on his/her duties for the Company.

The Company and the Union acknowledge that every employee of the Company is entitled to employment that is free of discrimination and sexual harassment as defined in the Canadian Human Rights Act. The Company and the Union shall make every reasonable effort to ensure that no employee is subjected to such actions in the workplace.

Upon request, news employees shall be given the reason for substantive changes to their material. Where, in the Company's opinion it is possible to do so, such reasons will be given before broadcast.

ARTICLE 9

1. A grievance in where the subject matter is personal to the employee and shall be submitted at Step 1 of the grievance procedure.
   
   

• Such a grievance will not deal with matters which are properly the subject of an individual grievance.
  
  
• In terms of relief, a union policy grievance is limited to a declaration only.

• A Union policy grievance will be submitted at Step 2.
  
  

Group Grievance – A group grievance is where a number of employees with identical subject-matter grievances join together in filing their grievances.  A group grievance shall be submitted at Step 1 of the grievance procedure

Either Party shall inform the other, in writing, five (5) days prior to any meeting, of any change that may be necessary in the personnel of the Grievance Committee. The five (5) days notice may be waived upon mutual agreement of the Parties.

All time periods referred to in the grievance and arbitration procedures ­shall be considered mandatory and shall refer to working days and shall not include Saturdays, Sundays and Company recognized holidays. All time periods may be extended by mutual agreement of the Parties..

Where a grievance is of an individual nature, an employee shall first give his/her Manager an opportunity to deal with his/her complaint.

Step 1 - An employee shall submit his/her grievance to the Department Head, or in the absence of the Department Head, to the Division Manager, in writing. The grievance shall be submitted within ten (10) days from the date the employee became aware or ought to have become aware of the occurrence giving rise to the grievance. The Department Head and/or Division Manager, on receipt of the grievance, shall attempt to settle the grievance with the employee and the employee may, if he/she so elects, have a member of the Union with him/her to represent or assist him/her. A written grievance shall set out the nature of the matter complained of, the provisions of the Agreement allegedly violated and the remedy sought..

Step 2 - If the grievance is not settled within ten (10) days of it being initiated at Step 1, it shall be referred to the Company Grievance Committee and the Union Grievance Committee who shall attempt to resolve the grievance within the next ten (10) days.

Step 3 - If the grievance is not settled at Step 2, the grievance may, on written notice of either Party, but within the next ten (10) days, be submitted to arbitration by sending notice to the other Party, naming a sole Arbitrator from one of the persons named herein. The notice of the grieving Party submitting the grievance to arbitration shall contain a brief statement of the nature of the difference, controversy or dispute and identifying the Article or Articles of the Collective Agreement alleged to have been violated.  
      

The Union Grievance Committee shall consist of not more than two (2) members, at each location, of the local Union. It is agreed that all grievances except policy grievances will be dealt with at the location from which they originated. Policy grievances may be dealt with at either location.

Where a grievor is required to attend a grievance meeting with the Company, he/she shall suffer no loss of regular pay or benefits as a result of attending such a meeting.

The selection of a single arbitrator shall be on a rotating basis, provided that if the Arbitrator selected is not available to act within sixty (60) calendar days, the next named Arbitrator shall be requested to act in his/her place, and so on until an Arbitrator is selected. Once an Arbitrator has acted on a grievance, his/her name shall be placed at the bottom of the list of Arbitrators. The selection of an Arbitrator shall be made from the following in turn::

Where an Arbitrator determines that an employee has been improperly discharged or disciplined, the Arbitrator may substitute such other penalty for the discharge or discipline as the Arbitrator deems just and reasonable in the circumstances.

A decision of an Arbitrator or a Board of Arbitration as the case may be shall be final and binding upon the Parties. The Board may not by its decision modify, waive, abridge, alter or extend any of the terms of this Agreement, nor render a decision which is inconsistent with the terms of this Agreement.

There shall be no strikes or lockouts dur­ing the term of this Agreement and thereafter while negotiations are under way for a renewal or extension thereof, and the Union shall not during the aforementioned period authorize, call, encourage, support or take part in any strike, walk-out, stoppage, slowing down or other cessation of work, until there has been compliance with the requirements of the Canada Labour Code.

The Company shall within seven (7) calendar days, provide to the designated local union officer, with a copy to the Local Union, notification with respect to the following:

The name, job classification, hiring date and wage grid level of each employee hired in a bargaining unit position.

The name of each bargaining unit employee who is promoted or terminated.

The Company shall provide to the Union no later than thirty (30) calendar days prior to the expiry of this Agreement, a list of employees showing their names, job classifications, seniority and current salaries.

The Union and the Company shall exchange in writing, the names of their Negotiating, Grievance, Safety, Joint Consultative Committee members and Educational Trust Fund Trustees.

There shall be a Joint Consultative Committee at each location for the purpose of reviewing and discussing matters of mutual concern relative to the employees and the Company. This Committee shall not be empowered to alter or abridge any of the terms and conditions of the Collective Agreement but may make joint recommendations to the Union and the Company. The Committee meetings shall be held at the call of either Party on a mutually agreeable date.

There shall be a Health and Safety Committee, comprised of two (2) representatives of the Company and two (2) representatives of the Union at each location. The terms of reference for the Committee shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Canada Labour Code.

Union Representatives shall be entitled to leave without loss of pay to attend Union/Company Committee meetings as set forth in Article 13, subject to the following:

Two (2) Representatives from Calgary and two (2) Representatives from Edmonton, plus the Local Union President for negotiations. 

Two (2) Representatives from Calgary and two (2) Representatives from Edmonton for Educational Trust Fund Meetings.

Union Representatives shall be entitled to a reasonable amount of leave, at reasonable times, without loss of pay, to discuss and process matters requiring immediate attention, to process any grievance and/or business arising out of the operation of this Agreement originating only at the Union Representative’s location.

The Company shall make a reasonable effort to ensure Union Representatives who attend negotiating meetings and arbitration/labour board hearings are not required to return to work if such meetings/hearings are not concluded by 13:00 hours on the day in question, subject to operational requirements and provided no overtime shall be incurred..

Approval for such leave shall be subject to the operational requirements of the Company and reasonable advance notice of such leave shall be provided by the Union.

The Union shall reimburse the Company for such leave at the Union Representative's hourly rate for the period of the leave or the cost of replacing the Union Representative, whichever is the greater.

Such leave shall not exceed a maximum aggregate total of fifty (50) working days in any calendar year. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in a year when a CEP National Convention is scheduled, the maximum aggregate total of days shall be increased by ten (10) to be used for the purpose of attending the Convention.

"Union Representative" shall be defined as any Union member duly appointed by the Local Union Executive Board to carry out the business of the Union.  Where in the case a part-time is appointed to the negotiating committee, both parties understand and agree that the part-time employee shall be compensated for an 8 hour shift.

The Company agrees to the posting by the Union, on Company bulletin boards of announcements regarding elections, meetings, negotiation developments and the internal affairs of the Union, provided that such announcement is first submitted to the Company for authorization and authorized and such announcement shall not be altered by either Party thereafter. Company authorization shall not be unreasonably withheld.

Where an accredited Union official wishes access to the Company's premises, he/she shall make his/her request to the Company's Manager of Human Resources not later than twenty-four (24) hours in advance.

The time period referred to in Article 16.1 may be waived in specific instances by arrangement between the Union representative and the Company representative. At the time the request for access is made, the person making the request shall indicate the reason for which access is requested.

A request made for access under this Article shall not be unreasonably denied

Union Seniority shall be defined as the length of continuous full-time equivalent employment from the last date of hire with the Company.  Company service shall be determined by the net credited service as shown on the Company records. The Union seniority lists for Calgary and Edmonton shall be considered separate for all purposes.

Union Seniority will accumulate during any approved leave of absence, except as provided in this Agreement. Union Seniority shall not accumulate during lay-off.

Leaves of his/her own accord or is retired;

Is discharged; 

Where he/she has been laid off and not re-called to work within the time periods set forth in Article 20.8; 
 

He/she overstays any leave of absence granted by the Company;

Where the Company decides that a position is to be filled, the Company shall post such vacancy at least five (5) working days in advance of filling the position.

where the duration of employment is for three (3) months or less, provided that such position shall be posted in accordance with Article 18.1 if its duration exceeds three (3) months; or

Employees may make application for such position during the posting period. Applicants shall be considered on the basis of the criteria set forth in Article 18.3. Such applications shall be made in writing to the Manager of Human Resources or his/her designate. The Company shall acknowledge applications in writing, stating its decision.

Promotions and transfers within the bargaining unit shall be based on ability, skill, potential, competence and seniority; provided that where all other factors are equal, seniority shall prevail..

An employee who is promoted or transferred from a classification within the bargaining unit to another classification within the bargaining unit shall serve a probationary period of three (3) months in the new classification. The Company shall have the option of returning the employee to his/her former classification during the probationary period without loss of seniority upon its own initiative or upon the request of the employee. At the conclusion of the successful probation period, the employee shall be advised in writing that his/her transfer has been made permanent.

Without his/her consent, but subject to other provisions of this Agreement, no employee shall be transferred or re-assigned to another job classification for a period exceeding three (3) months in any twelve (12) month period and no employee shall be penalized for refusing such transfer, promotion or re-assignment. It is agreed that this provision shall have no application when the Company decides to transfer or re-assign an employee to fill a temporary vacancy or a vacancy caused by an employee going on an extended leave of absence (i.e. sick leave, maternity, paternity leave) pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement. The foregoing shall not be considered a limitation on the Company’s right to assign duties in the event that two (2) or more job functions are combined.  If the Company assigns duties that combine two (2) or more job functions, the employee will receive the highest of the two or more wage rates applicable to the combined duties.

When an employee is promoted into a higher-rated job classification, he/she shall be placed on the higher salary scale at the level next highest to his/her previous salary.

For any jobs that are posted pursuant to this Article, it is agreed that the Company may fill such jobs temporarily in its discretion during the posting process and until the successful applicant commences employment in the position.

It is recognized by the parties that it is to the advantage of the employees in regard to career development and that it is in the Company's interests to maintain flexibility for employees in the performance of job functions other than those within the classifications to which an employee is normally assigned.

ARTICLE 20

Layoff and Recall

Lay-Offs

Where lay-offs are to be made, the Company shall determine what jobs are to be left vacant or abolished, and the number of employees to be laid off.

When lay-offs are to be made, such lay-offs shall proceed in reverse order of Company seniority within those job classifications affected.

Any employee scheduled for layoff from one job classification who can meet the qualifications of another job classification, as established by the Company, may apply his/her Company seniority and bump to such classification.

The qualifications shall, amongst other relevant factors, include experience, skill, ability, and training/education. The qualifications shall be established in a bona fide, non-arbitrary and non-discriminatory manner.

An employee who wishes to apply his/her Company seniority and bump to another job classification, shall give notification of the same in writing to the Company within seven (7) calendar days of lay-off notice having been received. The notification shall state the job classification to which the employee wishes to bump.

The right of an employee to bump as set out in Article 20.2 shall include the right to bump to a part-time job classification, provided the employee scheduled for lay-off has at least as much seniority as the part-time employee whom the full-time employee seeks to displace. The employee wishing to bump must be able to meet the qualifications as established by the Company.

The right of an employee as set forth in Article 20.2.2 shall only be available to a qualified employee who has elected to retain his/her seniority rights. Such an employee shall not accumulate full time seniority while employed on a part-time basis pursuant to this Article.

The Company shall provide layoff notice to an employee and the Union as follows:

an employee who has less than one (1) year of seniority at time of lay off shall receive two (2) weeks notice, or pay in lieu thereof; or

an employee with one (1) but less than five (5) years of seniority at time of lay off shall receive four (4) weeks notice, or pay in lieu thereof; or

an employee with five (5) but less than ten (10) years of seniority at time of lay off shall receive five (5) weeks notice, or pay in lieu thereof; or

An employee who has exercised his/her rights under Article 20.2 and who is to be placed in a lower salary classification, shall continue to receive his/her former salary for a period of six (6) months, and then such employee shall be placed in the new classification salary scale at the step which is closest to but not greater than his/her previous salary step.  Should an employee’s anniversary date fall within the six month period, salary advancement shall take place on the former salary scale in accordance with the provisions of Article 45 of this Agreement.  Where no equivalent step is available in the new classification, the employee shall be placed at the top level in the new classification.

An employee who has been laid-off and who has been employed for a continuous period of twelve (12) months or more, shall be paid severance pay at a rate of three (3) weeks pay for each full year of continuous service with the Company

Severance pay shall be limited to an amount represented by fifty-two (52) weeks times the employee’s basic weekly pay.

.

The above severance payment shall be deemed to include any severance payment required pursuant to any statute. Acceptance of severance pay will be deemed termination of employment.

Employees will retain seniority and have recall rights for a period of twelve (12) months..

When vacancies occur within a job classification, the Company agrees to re-engage employees who have been laid off within the job classification in order of Company seniority, provided the senior employee is then qualified to perform the work to be performed.

Where a full-time employee is on lay-off and a part-time position or casual work becomes available, the Company will give first consideration to offering the opportunity to the full-time employee on lay-off, providing the full-time employee can meet the qualifications as established by the Company. Such employee's seniority, and right to re-engagement to a full-time position shall not be affected by the employee accepting a part-time position or casual work.

If an employee is recalled or re-engaged within six months of layoff, seniority shall be considered unbroken.