Each month, the Advocacy Committee answers your questions about the AD 10 polices (aka, your terms and conditions of employment.)
Hello, I'm Andrew Boden, APSA's Executive Director and an advocate on our Advocacy Committee. I'm answering your questions related to our AD 10 policies. Questions? Submit them anonymously here. These questions will be answered in a monthly advocacy corner issue. For an immediate answer, please contact us.
I received a variety of questions this month, the main question surrounds bullying and harassment.
My manager has been very critical of me, is this bullying and harassment?
APSA believes that all employees must have a safe work environment. If you feel you are being harassed or bullied at work, I encourage you to document the incident(s) and contact us.
Bullying and harassment are case-specific and a very nuanced subject. Being critical of a subordinate in an isolated incident may or may not be bullying and harassment.
There are blatant incidents of bullying and harassment, for example, physical attacks or screaming abuse, but there are more subtle ways of bullying. Criticizing you is one of those behaviours, which on its own, needs more context to determine if it is bullying and harassment. This is because an employer could argue that the supervisor has an authoritative management style.
I would need more detail about the criticism. Here are some questions to think about.
- How often does your supervisor do this?
- How does this make you feel?
- Are there other behaviours that make you feel the same way?
- Is the person singling you out?
- Are they doing this publicly?
- Or are they critical to everyone and is known to have a harsh personality?
If you feel you are being bullied or harassed in the workplace, there are options to address this. Please contact us to discuss further.
Resources: https://www.worksafebc.com/en/health-safety/hazards-exposures/bullying-harassment
We also received other advocacy questions from members who wish to remain anonymous:
1. My department has requested that I use my APSA professional development to attend training for my job. I had already planned to use this year's allocation for something else. What are the rules around this? I thought that if my supervisor wanted me to get training that the department should pay. Can they force me to use my APSA pro-d for something they want?
This is case specific and I would encourage you to contact us at the APSA office.
2. I was given a new continuing position with a retroactive appointment of a year earlier as I had been a temp in that position for a year. When do my years of service begin for my pension calc start date?
Please contact us as this is not the usual practice for employment. You can certainly contact the pensions office as well, at pensions@sfu.ca.
3. Do I have to use vacation days to deal with a legal matter? It is one or two days- do I have the option as a full-time staff just to take unpaid leave rather than use my vacation days for something that is stressful but necessary?
You can certainly ask your supervisor if you can take this as personal leave. Please see AD 10.08 for more information.
I recommend that you do whatever you can to deal with your legal matter and if you and your supervisor cannot reasonably resolve the issue, contact us.
4. I just started supervising an APSA employee. When do I ask for their vacation requests? Are there any rules around vacation requests similar to CUPE employees?
I encourage you to read the AD 10 policies as they form the basis of the terms and conditions of employment for APSA members. AD 10.08, Leaves without pay section 4 answers questions regarding vacation. Please note as per 4.08 “Supervisors will make a reasonable effort to facilitate vacation schedules that allow the maximum number of Employees to take vacations on the dates of each Employee's choice.” There are no timelines regarding when an APSA member can request vacation nor are there any policies on having blackout dates.