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Model Clause on Compensation for Contract Academic Staff¹

The work of all academic staff members involves both the pursuit of knowledge through research and the dissemination of knowledge through teaching, public lectures, conference communications, publications, professional practice, artistic production and other similar activities.  In addition to these scholarly activities the workload of an academic staff member includes academic service.  Compensation for academic staff shall be commensurate with their experience and responsibilities.  Individual remuneration shall be pro rated and include compensation for research, course preparation, professional activity and service components of the academic job.

1

1.1
Each limited-term part-time position shall define the workload as a percentage of full-time employment.2 

1.2
All part-time positions shall be for either six or 12 months duration.3 Certain emergency circumstances might justify contracts for different durations.  All such exceptions must be approved by the association.

1.3
Total compensation provided in each part-time contract includes both a salary according to Art. 2 and benefits pro rated according to Art. 1.1 and 1.2.

2
Salary

2.1
The salary for academic staff shall be based on the full time salary scales pro rated according to 1.1 and 1.2 and shall reflect qualifications, experience and rank.

2.2
Each step in salary scale shall reflect the accumulation of experience and seniority as determined according to Art 3 and Art. 4.

3
Experience

3.1
When an individual is offered a first part-time contract the administrative officer4 shall determine his/her previous post-secondary-level experience according to Art.  [your clause which determines previous years experience for full-time and/or tenure-track appointments].

3.2
A member may request a reconsideration of the determination of previous experience within 20 working days of the beginning of their contract.  The administrative officer shall complete his/her reconsideration within five working days and make a final determination.

3.3
Any work performed for another employer subsequent to a member's first contract shall be evaluated by the administrative officer.  If found equivalent to post-secondary-level work the employer shall recognize such experience for purposes of placement on the salary scale.

3.4
A member’s placement on the salary scale shall reflect years of experience recognized in 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3.

4
Seniority

4.1
Each year of seniority recognized in Art. [Seniority]5 shall entitle the member to an additional step in the salary scale.

5
Benefits

Part-time contract academic staff members shall have access to the benefits provided in Art. [Benefits]6. All employer contribution rates and members’ benefits shall be adjusted on a pro rated basis according to Art. 1.1, for members working less than 50% of full-time duties. For employees working 50% or more of a full-time workload, benefits shall be provided at 100%.7

Approved by CAUT Council, November 2008.

Endnotes
1. To ensure that the salary scales for full-time tenure and tenure-track members apply equally to full-time contract academic staff, associations should consider putting a definition of full-time and part-time in their definitions clause. It is common practice outside the academy to have a definition which states that anyone doing 60 per cent or more of a normal workload shall be considered full-time.

2. If your bargaining unit operates on a per course model Art 1.1 should read "Each course taught by a contract academic staff member is equal to 1/n [where n is the number of courses taught by full-time staff] of full time employment."

3. If your bargaining unit operates on a per course model you might wish to alter this clause appropriately.

4. Normally this would be the dean in the case of teaching positions, the chief librarian in the case of librarians, or the immediate supervisor in the case of others. Individual associations might wish to specify more precisely who makes this determination.

5. Seniority and seniority credit systems differ from one institution to another. The generic language suggested here will have to be adjusted in each case to ensure that the equivalent of one-year experience translates into one salary step for part-time academic staff as it does for tenure and tenure-track full-time staff.

6. Ensure that your benefits clause provides inclusive language covering both full- and part-time members.

7. Given the wide variety of programs and benefits and pension clauses offered, this statement will have to be tailored to your particular agreement.