Congratulations on making it to the end of a difficult term. We hope you’ve managed to stay safe and healthy – both physically and emotionally – and that the coming break will be relaxing and enjoyable. Having said that, we wanted to send a quick end-of-term email to inform you of a few important things.

Holidays

Please note that paid holidays to which you are entitled include any business days that fall on or between December 25th and January 1st. Such days are without loss of pay and do not come out of your annual vacation day entitlement below. While we’re at it, here is your annual vacation entitlement:

Please note that accrued and unused vacation time from the current entitlement year is payable upon the end of the PDF’s appointment. This means that vacation days that you do not use in the last year of your appointment are paid out when your appointment ends.

“Grey Zone” Lockdown Closure

As you may have seen, the province has recently announced that Hamilton will be entering the grey-lockdown zone as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, December 21. The University has posted this update to the community. What does that mean for you?

In the event that you are not already working from home and are not engaged in research on campus that is permitted under the new protocols, we expect that supervisors will work with you to address opportunities for remote work where at all possible.

If such work is not made available and you are informed that you will not be paid, please reach out to us immediately so we can help to address the situation.

Homewood Health Counselling

This past semester has been tough for all us for a variety of pandemic-related reasons. We wanted to remind you that you have free and confidential access to the Employee Family Assistance Program (through Homewood health). Homewood offers you free and confidential and professional counselling on depression, stress, bereavement, relationships and more, as well as counselling for careers, work-life balance, and health.

Log-in details and information guides on using the new homeweb.ca website are located on McMaster’s Employee and Family Assistance Program webpage here.

Dental Plan Information

For those of you enrolled in the Unit 1 dental plan, the $1000 in single coverage (or $2,000 for family coverage) per calendar year will re-set as of January 1, 2019. Unused money does not carry over, but all members enrolled in single coverage will now have $1000.00 for 2019 (and $2,000 for family coverage), in addition to any claims from eligible dental procedures done in 2018.

Office Closure

Lastly, please note that the “online office” is now closed and many 3906 email accounts will not be monitored and messages won’t be addressed until the New Year. If, however, you have any emergency emails, please direct them to staff@cupe3906.org and someone will respond accordingly.