JE Town Hall Follow Up
Many thanks to those of you who came out to last week’s JE Town Hall to learn more about Job Evaluation in general from Peter Coombes, about our plan specifically, as it is, and some of the proposed changes at the bargaining table.
A few things were clear to me, as JJEC Co-chair. Primarily, there is frustration about the backlogs caused by JEQs not making it from the incumbent to the manager and back in a timely manner. I assure you this is one of the key issues we have taken to the bargaining table and we want to find the best way to track and streamline this part of the process.
It was hoped that an online version of the JEQ would be ready to use by now, but that hasn’t come into being yet — it’s still far too glitchy to go live and there seems to be no priority to address those glitches right now.
Secondarily, there is confusion over the process as it stands. Our members do not know their rights and responsibilities. We have been assured time and again by Human Resources that staff are allowed and expected to complete the JEQ on work time. If you are being denied the right to do so, please contact a steward. We realize that you may feel the pressure of workload but please schedule yourself some time — even thirty minutes a week — to get the writing of the JEQ completed.
In addition to some difficult, detailed and specific questions I heard some pretty basic questions and to address that, I have added some more instructions on our Job Evaluation section of the website. Please go to https://www.cupe951.ca/rights-and-benefits/job-evaluation/ and scroll down to More Resources.
I hope to build that information out in coming weeks because even if we were to get everything we request at the bargaining table, we will still be using the existing JEQ for a couple more years. As noted at the meeting, any of your JE questions can and will be answered as I have time: email me at cdewolfe@uvic.ca