Article 27 : funds
27.1 Employee’s Financial Aid Fund
The Employer shall maintain an Employee’s Financial Aid Fund to assist individuals who have been a member of the Bargaining Unit within the past twelve (12) months in financial need and in order that they continue to perform their duties. The Fund will assist in the payment of tuition, UHIP fees, costs associated with caring for dependents and assistance for members with urgent financial needs. In the case of an approved leave of absence from studies wherein the Employee retains Student Status, the Fund will assist in the payment of UHIP fees, costs associated with caring for dependents and assistance for members with urgent financial needs.
27.1.1 Allocation and distribution of the fund
Effective September 1 of each year, the annual amount allocated to the fund shall be based on the following formula: 0.8% of all the annual salary mass based on the previous financial year of allocation.
Any unspent monies shall remain in the fund for future distribution.
27.1.2 Administration of the fund
The fund shall be administered by the Labour/Management Committee, which shall establish criteria, priorities, and procedures for application to and distribution of the fund as well as the manner in which financial need must be demonstrated, and these shall be established by a majority vote of the Committee. The Labour/Management Committee shall prepare an annual report on the disbursement of monies from this fund and transmit a copy to each of the Parties.
27.1.3 Distribution of the fund
An individual who is awarded financial aid assistance will be issued a payment in their name in the amount of the balance of the approved financial assistance after outstanding tuition and fees have been deducted. Such payment shall be issued within two (2) weeks of the approval by the Labour/Management Committee.
For the purposes of article 27.1 only:
“Dependent” – is a person who at any time in the year is dependent on the Employee for support and is:
- The child or grandchild of the Employee, the Employee’s spouse or common law partner; or,
- The parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece or nephew, if that person resided in Canada at any time within the last three hundred and sixty-five (365) days, of the Employee or the Employee’s spouse or common-law partner.
“Child” – refers to:
- A person of whom the Employee is the legal parent;
- A person who is wholly dependent on the Employee for support and of whom the Employee, has, or immediately before the person attained the age of nineteen (19) years had, in law or in fact, the custody and control; or,
- A child of the Employee’s spouse or common-law partner.
“Care for dependent” is child care, attendant care or emergency caregiving.
27.2 Conference Fund
The Employer agrees to maintain a Conference Fund to be jointly administered by the Labour/Management Committee for undergraduate and graduate Students who have been a member of the Bargaining Unit within twelve (12) months prior to applying to the fund for the purpose of presenting research that is not part of the Employee’s thesis. The research should be related to the work done during a Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant position.
The Employer shall remit into the Conference Fund thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) on September 1, 2019, thirty-six thousand dollars ($36,000) on September 1, 2020 and thirty-seven thousand dollars ($37,000) on September 1, 2021. Any remaining funds in a given Academic Year shall be carried forward to subsequent Academic Years.
Application for this Fund will be made on the CUPE 2626 Conference Fund application form and is subject to the conditions for that fund as amended in this provision.
The Conference Fund will reimburse the following expenses to a successful applicant who is the presenter of a poster or paper presentation, with the understanding that no more than one co-author will be funded for any given conference presentation (if the author is not the presenter, an explanation must be provided as part of the application):
- travel expenses;
- accommodation expenses;
- registration costs.
Reimbursement of expenses shall be subject to the submission of receipts. The Labour/Management Committee will decide on the zones and the maximum amount awarded for each zone.
The application must be submitted before the starting date of the conference. The reimbursement request must be submitted no later than four (4) months after the end of the conference.
An application for funding from the Conference Fund shall include proof of being a member of the Bargaining Unit within the twelve (12) months prior to the application, and all documentation required. The proof of acceptance from the conference organizers (or a copy of the program) as well as proof of attendance must be included with the application. The applicant will have to describe what other sources of funding they have received so that the same expenses will not be reimbursed twice.
In any given year, priority will be given to applicants who have not received a grant in the same financial year. Furthermore, funding for undergraduate Students may not exceed twenty-five (25) percent of the funding in any given year.
Subject to the foregoing regulations, where the applications for funding in a session exceed the amount of monies available in the Conference Fund, the Labour/Management Committee may adopt additional guidelines to determine which applications are approved.