We have had many emails and calls from the Environmental Health Officers (EHO) group outlining concerns with respect to the recent changes to Tobacco Enforcement Officers (TEO) classification.

Prior to the last round of bargaining, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in the Collective Agreement covered the TEO's. This is because they did not fit within either the Job Families or the Industry Wide Miscellaneous Rates (IWMR) sections of the Collective Agreement.

During the last round, the HSPBA was successful in moving the MOA groups into the IWMR section of the Collective Agreement. (Please note EHOs are already in the IWMR grouping.)

One of the results is that they are now entitled to Sole Charge designation.

Under the old HSP Collective Agreement

TEO's were classified as either:

Diploma – Grid 7
Bachelor – Grid 8

Post Ratification of HSP Collective Agreement

After ratification of the HSP Collective Agreement, the employer needed to place TEO's into the IWMR table, which resulted in "sole designation" being applied. For FHA, there is one TEO per region, three regions in total. Therefore, due to being sole charge, they moved up one grid:

Diploma – Grid 7 → Grid 8
Bachelor – Grid 8 → Grid 9

Sole Charge Arbitration

The Employers and Unions were in disagreement on several interpretive issues and these matters were referred to Arbitrator John Kinzie. Specific to Sole Charge designation, Arbitrator Kinzie found that for jobs that have dual entry education requirements and have a sole charge designation, there should be one classification. Therefore, the Employer was required to move all Sole Charge TEO's to grid level 9.

Post arbitration award:

Diploma – Grid 7 → Grid 8 → Grid 9
Bachelor – Grid 8 → Grid 9

We have been asked about the difference between working without general supervision and Sole Charge in relation to these classifications.

Working without general supervision is defined as Supervision that is general in nature and does not involve supervision at each specific step; the employee has practical access to a Supervisor for guidance and instruction in unclear situations and/or those which deviate from established practices and procedures. (Such access does not need to be provided on-site, and may be provided in person, or by email, telephone or other means of communication.)

Sole Charge is defined as the only regular full time or regular part time employee within the discipline employed at the facility. Please note that the Employer establishes how many employees within the discipline are employed at the worksite and therefore determines Sole Charge designation. The Union does not have control or influence over this management right.

We need to clarify that your wages were not overlooked in the last round of bargaining. EHO's were already in the IWMR wage schedule and were recipients of general wage increases. On April 1, 2020, there will be an additional 2% increase. Additionally, the Classification Redesign Committee meets twice per week to develop a new system for classifying and paying professions covered under this agreement. Your classification is under review through this process.

In Solidarity

Anthony Davies & Angela Mahlmann
Staff Representatives

Download PDF of notice here 
Download a copy of the Kinzie award here 

UWU/MoveUP