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. There are ongoing discussions between APSA and the University about sick leave and compensation for this closure.
Use your Professional Development Expense Reimbursement
This policy supports employees in pursuing professional development opportunities or purchasing computer equipment to support their learning and development.
Eligibility
A Continuing Employee or a Temporary Employee with a minimum contract period of one year hired is eligible for reimbursement on the following January 1, following their start date.
If you are eligible, claims must be submitted to FINS by December 31 to be eligible for that calendar year. The University will process any claims sent after December 31, 2025, in the 2026 claim submissions.
Temporary APSA members:
$550 annually
Continuing APSA members:
$1,100 annually with a maximum cumulative amount of $5,500
Expense forms and an eligible item list are on the Support for Learning web page.
To find the balance for your professional development, visit my.sfu.ca (login, and under Staff Resources, click on Professional Development Expenses).
Addendum: Claims are no longer submitted to Human Resources; staff are encouraged to submit to FINS as of March 2025 (https://www.sfu.ca/human-resources/apsa/benefits/support-for-learning.html#:~:text=NEW%C2%A0%20%C2%A0MARCH,and%20development%C2%A0%20benefits)
Expenses should be submitted no later than December 31st, 2025.)
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.
To access your vacation entitlement balance, log in to https://myinfo.sfu.ca.
Help during the holidays
The Employee Family and Assistance Program (EFAP) offers free, 24/7 counselling services. 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.