Before heading off on holiday, have you taken note of these year-end items?
Paid leave – Holiday closure
Once again, the University will be closed for the holiday break. Continuing members will be paid for this time. Temporary members will be paid for this time period if the last day of your temporary appointment is after the holiday closure.
Use your Professional Development Expense Reimbursement
Professional development reimbursement is a negotiated benefit of $1,100 per year, up to a maximum carry forward of $5,500.
If you are eligible, claims must be sent to Human Resources by December 31 to be eligible for that calendar year. The University will process any claims sent after December 31, 2023.
HR recently informed us that the one-time supplement for your Professional Development reimbursement from our compensation negotiations is available to members.
Temporary APSA members:
If you are a temporary APSA member with a contract over one year, your one-time PD supplement of $250 should be available in your accounts now. It must be used for PD expense reimbursements that fell between September 5 and December 31, 2023. Please use these funds before the end of the year, as temporary employees have no carry-over provision.
Continuing APSA members:
Your one-time PD supplement of $500 will be available on January 1, along with your yearly amount, subject to carry-over caps. However, continuing members can use this supplement to reimburse expenses that fall between September 5 and December 31, 2023.
Expense forms and an eligible item list are on the Support for Learning web page.
To find the balance in your professional development account,
To find the balance for your professional development, visit my.sfu.ca (login, and under Staff Resources, click on Professional Development Expenses) OR go to https://pdr.its.sfu.ca/.
Defer unused vacation time
Section 5.07: “…an employee’s full Vacation Entitlement for a given annual Payroll year may be deferred for one year but must be taken in the next annual Payroll year. Where an employee cannot take the deferred vacation entitlement in the next annual Payroll year, the deferred vacation will be paid out.”
Please be advised that “off the books” vacation or verbal agreements with your supervisor about carrying over additional vacation days are outside of the AD 10 policies and may not be honoured.
For your vacation entitlement balance, log in to https://myinfo.sfu.ca.
Help during the holidays
Free, 24/7 counselling services are available through the Employee Family and Assistance Program (EFAP). Call Homewood Solutions at 1-800-663-1142 to schedule a face-to-face, over-the-phone or online counselling appointment.
The program is available to you, your spouse and your dependents.