Winter leave

Am I eligible for paid leave between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day*?

The length of time you are allowed to take depends on your employee group. The table below shows the time you are allowed to be on leave.  

 

UBC Employee GroupAllowed Length of Winter Leave
Administrative ExecutiveTo offset the significant number of hours you work beyond your usual job requirements, you may be granted these three days as leave with pay if you are normally scheduled to work between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
BCGEU Vancouver (Child Care)Not eligible.
BCGEU Okanagan

Regular employees:  you are granted three additional days leave of absence with pay per calendar year as Winter Leave. These days may be used during the three working days during the winter holiday season (between Boxing and New Year’s Day). These days may alternatively be used at other times during the year subject to reasonable timing of notice and operational requirements.

Auxiliary employees: you are entitled to one day of paid leave as follows:

  • on Dec. 24, when Christmas Day falls on a Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or a Saturday;
  • on Dec. 27, when Christmas Day falls on a Monday or a Wednesday;
  • on Dec. 28, when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday.

Those employees who are designated to remain on duty on the Christmas floater (in keeping with operational requirements) shall receive a day off in lieu within the following 12 months.

CUPE 116

If you are normally scheduled to work between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, you will be granted these three days as leave with pay, unless you are required to be at work for operational reasons. If this applies to you, you will be eligible for three paid leave days at another time.

Pay grades for employees within Food Services include a 1% wage differential in lieu of the provisions of Article 18.10 and are therefore not entitled to Paid Leave Between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

CUPE 2278Not eligible.
CUPE 2950

If you are normally scheduled to work between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, you will be granted these three days as leave with pay, unless you are required to be at work for operational reasons. If this applies to you, you will be eligible for three paid leave days at another time.

If you are a Hiring Solutions employee, eligibility for Winter Leave is based on the Letter of Understanding (LOU) #7 of the CUPE 2950 Collective Agreement

Executive AdministrativeIf you are normally scheduled to work between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, you will be granted these three days as leave with pay, unless you are required to be at work for operational reasons. If this applies to you, you will be eligible for three paid leave days at another time.
IUOE 115If you are normally scheduled to work, you will be granted three days’ leave of absence with pay to be taken between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day unless you are required to work for operational reasons. If so, you will be paid at straight time and granted three paid leave of absence days at some mutually agreeable time between December and February. This also applies to shift employees.
Management & ProfessionalTo offset the significant number of hours you work beyond your usual job requirements, you may be granted these three days as leave with pay if you are normally scheduled to work between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
Non-Union Technicians and Research AssistantsIf you are normally scheduled to work, you will be granted three days’ leave of absence with pay to be taken between Boxing Day and New Year’s Day unless you are required to work for operational reasons. If so, you will be granted three paid days off at some other mutually agreeable time.
Postdoctoral Fellows (Award Recipients)May be arranged with the supervisor or head.
Post-doctoral Fellows (Employees)May be arranged with the supervisor or head.

*The period after the Christmas/Boxing Day statutory holidays and before New Year’s Day was previously referred to as a holiday closure, seasonal closure or Christmas leave.

Preparing the job description

A well-defined job description helps attract qualified candidates and streamlines the recruitment process. 

A clear, well-structured Job Description (JD) outlines the responsibilities, qualifications and expectations associated with a role. It serves as the primary reference for both the hiring team and the applicants. Crafting an accurate and clear JD ensures that potential candidates understand the role they’re applying for, leading to a better fit for both the organization and the individual.  

Considerations in preparing a job description 

  • Review comparative job descriptions posted on the Careers site.
  • Build the JD around the required work and keep it clear and concise.  
  • Ensure that qualifications and duties are listed in order from most to least important.   
  • Consider that candidates must meet all the minimum qualifications, which are standard across all positions of the same classification. When building a JD, it is important to have enough (but not too many) qualifications in your job description.
  • Be mindful about how you plan to assess qualifications. Experience, education and certifications are typically assessed via applications while other qualifications are assessed via tests, interviews and references.   
  • Job descriptions are meant to be designed around the actual work required, not individuals. Refrain from building job descriptions tailored to individuals or that reflect future responsibilities.
  • The position should be reviewed to determine if a background check (criminal, credit, credential, drivers abstract, vulnerable sector check, etc.) is required as it will be important for the job posting, post-interview checks and job offer. Review guidance on background checks or contact your Departmental HR Representative to discuss.
  • Some position , including M&P roles, require additional review and approval by an HR Compensation Consultant. Please ensure to factor this into your timelines when creating a position.

New versus existing roles 

Before writing or reviewing the JD, you will need to determine if the position is new or existing. If it’s an existing position, confirm details and update if needed. View the Edit Position Restrictions Knowledge Base (CWL required) for instructions on how to edit existing positions. 

If it’s a new position, you will need the following information: 

  • Supervisory Organization
  • Business Title
  • Employee Group
  • Work Location
  • Full-time or Part-time
  • Job Type and Job Family

Creating a position in Workday 

New positions will need to be created in Workday. View the Create Position Knowledge Base Article (CWL required) for instructions on how to create a position in Workday. When the Job Description is complete, ensure you attach it to your Workday requisition. 

For general Workday resources and help, visit the Integrated Service Centre.   

Security roles 

When creating new positions, you must also request to add the appropriate HR or Finance security roles to that position if required. Security roles are required to access, initiate and approve HR and Finance information and processes in Workday.  Employees who only require basic self-service functionality do not require an additional security role.   

For more information, review the Security Role Request Process knowledge base (CWL required). 

Once these steps have been finalized, you can open the position for the recruitment/hiring process.

Resources for preparing the job description 

In order to prepare everything you need to create your job description, ensure you review the following information prior to getting started: 

  • Review the Staff Job Evalutation page to ensure consistent and transparent classification decisions are made about positions
  • Review the Staff Job Families page for occupational guidelines or benchmarks for specific employee groups

Writing a strong job description 

Follow these best practices when writing a job description: 

  • Be clear and concise. Avoid jargon, acronyms, abbreviations or vague phrasing.
  • Use non-discriminatory language.
  • Focus on duties and qualifications, not personal traits.
  • Write the JD based on the role as it exists today.
  • Align qualifications to actual job duties.
  • Order responsibilities from most to least important.
  • Use action verbs (e.g. “Coordinate”, “Manage”, “Support”). 

Writing a clear and accurate job description for a position is an important first step to recruiting the candidate best suited to your needs. 

Job description template

Follow the sections of the job description template, below. Please ensure that you include the general EDI statement at the top of your JD, along with the two EDI qualification statements that appear in the 'Minimum Qualifications' section. 

UBC's employee groups and cost of benefits explained

The employee group is listed on the job posting and tells you which union represents the position, or if it is non-unionized. Salary scales and benefits packages are also determined by employee group.

Next steps

After preparing and reviewing your job description, the next step in the process is establishing a selection committee.

 

Faculty bargaining

The following principles and values guide and inform the University’s preparation of its proposals and our response to the Faculty Association’s proposals in this round of negotiations.

Principles and values:

  • Encourage, inspire and value the highest standards for the University – the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty is critical to the University’s ability to meet its vision of excellence;
  • Honour and foster the essential mandate of the faculty: student learning, excellence in teaching, contribution to knowledge through scholarly activity and community engagement;
  • Protect UBC’s bicameral governance system, as provided for in the University Act;
  • Recognize that the University is a complex, diverse and decentralized organization, and that departments and faculties have developed different approaches and different practices which reflect their diverse disciplines and histories;
  • Adopt a fair and rational approach in the context of a requirement to honour contractual commitments;
  • Strive for simplicity, transparency and clarity in the wording of our agreements, and streamline processes that are put in place;
  • Ensure flexible and discretionary means to address faculty retention issues;
  • Recognize that there are different ways of rewarding merit – compensation is only one;
  • Strike a balance between collegiality and shared governance with UBC’s responsibilities as a university and the Faculty Association’s responsibilities as a union;
  • Understand that collective bargaining decisions are influenced by the University’s need to exercise fiscal responsibility and respect government constraints;
  • Bear in mind that commitments made today have implications for the future.
  • Conduct our negotiations at the table; not through the media;
  • Respect the roles of those we bargain with and the concerns of those they bargain for – our faculty members.

Calculating years in rank

For new tenure/tenure track faculty, lecturers and professorial ranks appointments without review.

It is UBC’s practice to count years in an equivalent rank at another institution or equivalent experience in determining where a new appointee should begin on the career progress increment (CPI) scale for the purpose of salary increases. Applicable ranks include all tenured/confirmed, tenure track/probationary and without review appointments, and Lecturers (not including Sessional Lecturers). A Years in Rank form should be completed for every new appointment that has prior service.

An equivalent rank should include ranks with equivalent experience; for example, a new Assistant Professor at UBC would be considered to have previous years in rank if they had previous experience in teaching, research and service in previous appointments. If the new hire does not have all three areas of experience then the experience is not equivalent.

It is necessary that the number of years in an equivalent rank be determined at the time of hire, and communicated to the new appointee in writing, preferably in the offer letter so that the new hire can indicate acceptance with their placement on the CPI scale.  Alternately you can provide a copy of the completed Years in Rank form. 

This process is important to ensure that starting salaries are appropriate. It is also an important step to ensure that all appointees are treated fairly and to avoid future salary anomalies and inequities; new appointees with prior experience who are placed at the bottom of the CPI scale are placed at an advantage over new appointees whose experience is solely at UBC.

If you have any questions regarding this procedure, contact Faculty Relations.

Appointment checklist

We’ve created checklists of documentation that is required for specific faculty appointments, changes and leaves.

Please ensure that all the attachments are included for the appropriate business process.

 

A to Z Guide for items related to Faculty appointments

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Faculty honoraria and administrative stipends

Honoraria may be available to faculty members, and Administrative Stipends may be paid in recognition of formal administrative appointments.

Honoraria

Honoraria may be available to faculty members with salary for teaching overload, research, or for additional administrative duties.

Processing honoraria payments

Honoraria can be paid as a lump sum, or spread over a relevant period of time. For unpaid appointments, see the note near the top of this page.

When processing an honorarium payment there must be sufficient back-up that provides an explanation for the payment. This should consist of an offer of the work to be done and an acceptance by the faculty member and can be in the form of a formal letter or an email exchange.  In the case where the work is being done by multiple faculty members any third party information must be redacted. Email exchanges that simply request the payment be made are not sufficient.

In the case of honoraria paid only as a token of appreciation a copy of the letter or email provided to the individual is sufficient – signed acceptance of the payment is not required.

Note that faculty members with salary should never be paid salary through Accounts Payable. Those faculty members who provide service to the university in an area of specific expertise unrelated to their UBC employment must comply with Policy SC3 – COI.

Checking payment limits

Prior to processing in Workday, ensure that the honoraria payments are in accordance with section 4.11 of Policy LR2 – Research and that the faculty member will not exceed their limit for the academic year (July 1 to June 30). Workday Query will provide a summary of honoraria payments and will assist administrators in determining the annual honoraria limit. 

Administrative stipends

Administrative stipends are paid in recognition of formal administrative appointments such as a head of a department, director of a school or associate dean in an academic unit.

Helpful information about our practice regarding administrative appointments is found in Policy AP5 – Deans/Principals Appointment and Policy AP9 – Academic Heads.

Stipends are paid for the duration of the administrative appointment. In the case of Academic Head of unit the minimum annual stipend is $5,000 per year. Other than Academic Heads of unit, there is no salary scale, minimum or maximum for stipends. Stipends are taxable as salary, and attract pension and benefits, as well as CPP, EI, & WCB.

If a faculty member is asked by his or her head of academic unit to take on an administrative role above and beyond what is normally required within their unit, they must be paid an honorarium, not a stipend.

Get helpful information in Policy AP5 – Deans/Principals Appointment and Policy AP9 – Academic Heads.

 

Statutory holiday pay

Canada's statutory holidays consist of various cultural, national and religious holidays legislated at the federal or provincial/territorial level. 

View the list of statutory holidays observed at UBC.

Workday will automatically calculate statutory holiday pay for full-time salaried and hourly employees who do not work the holiday. However, there may occasionally be circumstances where statutory holiday pay must be calculated outside of Workday. This may include calculating or adjusting the statutory pay for employees who do not work a standard workweek. 

If you have a statutory holiday pay inquiry, please review the Collective Agreement, Agreement or Employee Handbook.

Vancouver campus: If you have questions about statutory holiday pay, please contact your Human Resources Representative.

Okanagan campus: If you have questions regarding statutory holiday pay for staff who are represented by BCGEU Okanagan, please contact your HR-Okanagan Associate.

Calculating vacation pay

Vacation pay guidelines

At UBC, vacation entitlements are calculated with the calendar year, from January 1 to December 31. For most years, an employee’s vacation entitlement will follow the guidelines according to their employment group.

However, since very few employees begin their employment at UBC on January 1, or end it on December 31, you will likely have to calculate vacation entitlements and vacation pay for partial years in the first and last year of their career at UBC.

Partial first year

Calculate the vacation entitlement based on the employment group, and how much of that year will actually be worked by the employee.  Use the vacation calculation for first year of work described in the respective collective agreement or handbook.  In cases where there is no calculation described in a collective agreement or handbook, prorate the vacation based on anticipated time worked.

Partial final year

When an employee leaves UBC part way through the calendar year, pro-rate the final year’s vacation entitlement in the same way as in the first year, but using the proper rate of accrual based on the employee’s years of service. To this, add any unused vacation carried over from a previous year, and subtract any vacation already taken.

For example, our CUPE 2950 employee from the example above works for UBC for four years, and resigns effective September 30. They carried over 35 hours of vacation from previous years, and has already taken 70 hours of vacation this year: 105 hours/12months = 8.75 hours/month X 9 months worked = 78.75 vacation entitlement. 78.75 vacation entitlement + 35 hours from previous years – 70 hours taken = 43.75 hours of vacation time owing when they resign.

If the employee has taken more vacation than they are entitled in their final partial year, and this calculation results in a negative number, note the amount of hours owing, and Payroll will deduct this amount from their final paycheque.

If employee gives less then the appropriate notice of resignation for their employee group vacation can be calculated according to Employment Standards for their final year. (Contact your Human Resources Representative for assistance.)

Vacation entitlements

For information on vacation entitlements in a specific employee group, please visit the Vacation section of our website:

Merit and Performance Salary Adjustment (PSA) Awards for Faculty

General Information

Merit and Performance Salary Adjustment (PSA) awards are granted at the discretion of the University when provided for in the annual bargained agreement. The Association negotiates the total amount to be allocated to such awards and the criteria for distributing the awards.

The amount of merit & PSA allocated to each unit is distributed on a pro-rata basis, based on the total academic dollars in each unit. For the purpose of the merit & PSA processes, unit includes all faculties,  Extended Learning, the Library and the Office of the VP Academic.  The allocation amounts are communicated individually to each Faculty by Faculty Relations.

It is expected that the cost of any merit awards or PSA allocations made to members who are partially or fully funded from non-university operating funds will be borne by the non-university funds.

Heads and Directors must distribute the written procedures to all members eligible to be considered for Merit and PSA. These procedures must address the process for Joint Appointments, if applicable. All faculty members eligible for consideration for merit or PSA shall submit to the Head a summary of their relevant scholarly, teaching and service activities and may include an indication of the nature and significance of the activities. After awards are confirmed and implemented, the Unit Head unit must distribute a list to all eligible faculty member of those faculty members who are awarded merit and a list of those awarded PSA (but not the amounts).

Eligibility

All continuing members of the bargaining unit who are active on both June 30 and July 1 are eligible for merit and PSA. This includes members in academic ranks (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Acting Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Associate Professor of Teaching, Professor of Teaching), Librarians, Program Directors and Lecturers, as well as those on Reduced Appointments.  Sessional Lecturers are not eligible for merit or PSA.

To be considered for merit members must have had active service during the merit review year (normally April 1 to March 31).  Members continue to be eligible for consideration for merit awards and PSA while on leave, although leave may reduce the period of review.

Heads and Directors must consult with a reasonable number of colleagues within their unit prior to finalizing the unit’s policy or approach to the allocation of Merit and PSA.  The finalized policy should be included with the  procedures, which must be distributed as per below.  Unit Heads/Directors of faculty members who hold Joint Appointments must confer regarding Joint Appointments. Primary responsibility for ensuring that the process is properly followed for a Joint Appointment rest with the Head/Director of the home Department.

Merit Awards

Review Period: For increases effective July 1, 2025, the review period is April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025. 

Unit Value: The dollar amount of the Merit unit varies from year to year. The value of a Merit unit as of July 1, 2025 is $2,557.

Award amount: Awards will be composed of 0.5,1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 or 3.0 units. In the case of faculty members who hold joint appointments, it's important to remember that if merit is to be awarded it can't be less than 0.5 units in total.

For example if Dr. X is jointly appointed 75% in Department A and 25% in Department B, Department A cannot simply award 25% of a merit unit without Department B awarding 75% of a merit unit. Alternately, either Department A or B can award 100% of merit from their own merit pools.

In assessing merit, you should take into consideration the criteria for appointments set out in the relevant agreement:

  • Article 4 of Part4: Conditions of Appointment for Faculty
  • Article 3 of Part 5: Conditions of Appointment for Librarians
  • Article 3 of Part 6: Conditions of Appointment for Program Directors in Continuing Studies

The assessment for awards shall be based on the duties expected of a faculty member in the period in question, i.e., April 1 to March 31 of the current review year.

It should not be based on activities in which the faculty member didn't have the opportunity to engage. For example, a faculty member who isn't expected to teach but is expected to carry out research and contribute service should be considered on the latter two criteria. A faculty member whose assigned duties consist of teaching and service should be considered only on those two criteria.

When considering teaching performance, the review must be based on formal procedures such as student and peer evaluations. The unit head shall consult with a reasonable number of colleagues representative of each of the ranks in the unit before making a recommendation on the award of merit. Note that this includes instructors and Lecturers where applicable. If the head cannot adequately assess the contribution outside the department of an individual for the purpose of merit he/she shall consult with the dean and vice president academic before making a recommendation.

Merit recommendations should be expressed in number of units and should be entered on a Merit and PSA Summary Form.. .

Performance Salary Adjustment

PSA awards are granted at the discretion of the University when provided for in the annual bargained agreement. The Association negotiates the total amount to be allocated to such awards and the criteria for distributing the awards.

Recommendations for PSA awards are made having regard to overall performance. The factors that should be taken into account are:

  1. performance over a period of time which is worthy of recognition;
  2. the relationship of a faculty member’s salary to that of other faculty taking into consideration total years of service at UBC; and
  3. market considerations.

PSA awards must be based on these three factors and may not be used as additional merit dollars.

In assessing a faculty member’s performance Heads shall take advice from a reasonable number of colleagues representative of each of the ranks in the unit before deciding whether to recommend PSA. In distributing PSA, faculties and departments shall give particular consideration to those who are beyond the career progress schedule for their current rank. It is inappropriate to recommend PSA to compensate for salary differentials that result from the differential award of merit.

Note that normally PSA is not awarded for members in their first 3 years of employment as a Faculty member at UBC.

Please note that the 0.5% PSA allocation for each faculty must first  be reduced by the cost of carry-forward career progress increments and the LOS CP retro units.

The Merit-PSA Summary Form

Each faculty and equivalent unit must complete a Merit-PSA Summary Form for Faculty Relations detailing the merit & PSA awards provided from their specific merit & PSA pools. Administrators produce this list themselves by running the Workday report "Faculty Increase - Merit and PSA Summary Form - Distributed", and download it in Excel.  The report captures eligible members who are active on both June 30 & July 1 of the increase year.  Note that Joint Appointments will only appear in the report that is produced by the Home Faculty.  The non-Home Faculty will need to manually add the person to their report if they are providing any merit and/or PSA.

Administrators enter the Merit & PSA awards being provided from their faculty/unit only.  Each Dean's Office returns the completed form to Faculty Relations in early June.  Departments should not return their individual spreadsheets to Faculty Relations.

 

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