Associated Ambulance & Services (Whitecourt) Ltd., Collective Agreement 2020-2025

Article 26: Layoff and Recall

1. Should it become necessary to reduce the work force or the hours of work at a station due to: 
   
   (i) A reduction in the number of Employees; 
   (ii) A reduction in the number of regularly scheduled hours to one (1) or more Employees; or
   (iii) Having been displaced by the lay-off of a more senior Employee.
   
   the Employer and the Union will meet and discuss the appropriate application of Article 26. The Employer will then notify the Union and Employees who are to be laid-off twenty-eight (28) calendar days prior to layoff.  The twenty-eight (28) calendar days notice shall not apply where the layoff results from an Act of God, fire or flood.
    
2. Payment of normal wages may be paid in lieu of all or part of the required notice period.
3. Layoff shall be in reverse order of seniority by station; however the Employer shall have the right to retain Employees who would otherwise be laid-off when layoff in accordance with this Article would result in retaining Employees who are not capable and/or qualified of performing the work required.
   1. Notice of layoff shall be delivered to the impacted Employee(s) in person or virtually. The Employee(s) shall be accompanied by a representative of the Union.
   2. Subject to operational requirements, full-time Employees who have received layoff notice shall be allowed time off for purposes of attending job interviews during the layoff notice period, any such request shall not be unreasonably denied.
   3. If the Employer proposes to layoff an Employee while they are on a leave of absence, Workers Compensation, or absent due to illness or injury, they shall not be served with notice under Article 26 until they have advised the Employer of their readiness to return to work. The Employee filling a temporary position for an Employee who is away from work as per the above circumstances shall be returned to their prior position (if one exists) before any layoff occurs.
   4. An Employee in receipt of a notice of layoff shall have the right to choose and shall have seven (7) calendars days from the date the notification is issued to advise the Employer in writing of one of the following options:
      1. Move into a vacant position for which they are capable and qualified to perform the work required;
      2. Displace a junior Employee by bumping the Employee with the least seniority at a station of their choice as long as they are capable and qualified of performing the work required; or
      3. As an alternative to displacing another Employee, the affected Employee may choose to be laid off and subject to recall; or
      4. Accept the amount of severance as calculated in Article 43.
4.  
   1. In the case of layoff, the Employee shall accrue sick leave and earned vacation for the first month in which the layoff begins. The Employees increment date shall not be adjusted for the first month from date the layoff begins. Thereafter, the Employees increment date shall be adjusted by the amount of time the layoff exceeds thirty (30) days and the new increment date shall prevail. Employees shall not be entitled to Named Holidays with pay which may fall during the period of layoff.
   2. In the case of layoff that is expected to be in excess of one month’s duration, the Employer shall inform the Employee that the Employee may make arrangements for the payment of the full premiums for applicable Employee benefit plans subject to the insurer’s requirements.
5. When a vacancy arises, recall shall be carried out in order of seniority provided the Employee eligible for recall is qualified and capable of performing required work.
6. The method of recall shall be by telephone and email, or if such is not possible, by registered letter sent to the Employee’s last known place of residence.
7. The Employee so notified shall return to work as requested, or within five (5) calendar days following either the date of the telephone call or the date the letter was registered.
8. In the event the Employer is unable to contact the Employee personally, recall shall be deemed to have been carried out five (5) calendar days after the return of the registered letter.
9. An Employee may refuse recall to a lower paying classification, or lower full-time equivalence than they were employed in at the time of layoff without adversely affecting their recall status.
10. The Employer shall offer casual shifts per the Employer’s normal notification process and will assign shifts at their previous station if available, in order of their seniority to qualified and capable laid-off Employees.  A laid-off Employee may refuse an offer of casual work without adversely affecting their recall status.
11. No new permanent, temporary or casual Employees will be hired until all qualified and capable Employees on layoff have been offered recall.
12. If an Employee accepts recall to a permanent position at a different location and should a position become available at the initial location within the original recall notice period, Article 13.13 (new) would not apply.  
13. An Employee shall, when laid off and thereafter provide the Employer with their most recent address.  Failure to do this may result in the failure of a recall request.
14. Except as provided under 26.09 above an Employee who does not respond to a recall request shall be considered to have abandoned their right to additional recall and to have resigned their employment with no recourse to the grievance procedure or application of Article 43.
15. An Employee will only be on recall for a maximum of twenty-four (24) months.
16. An Employee who declines a recall to the same classification, full time equivalency, and station or exceeds 26.15 shall be deemed to have resigned and be deemed a casual Employee.