Covenant Health Collective Agreement 2024-2028

LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING #27

BETWEEN

COVENANT HEALTH
(hereinafter referred to as the Employer)

- and -

HEALTH SCIENCES ASSOCIATION OF ALBERTA
(hereinafter referred to as the Union)

RE:  RURAL CAPACITY INITIATIVES

Effective the date of ratification, the Employer agrees extend the Rural Capacity Investment Fund (“the Fund”).

The Fund will be used to support initiatives aimed at addressing recruitment and retention challenges experienced by Sites/programs/positions deemed by the Parties to be “difficult to recruit to” primarily in the Covenant Health Rural Sites. This initiative is a joint venture between the Union and the Employer.

“Difficult to recruit to” may be determined by indicators such as:

• high vacancy rates;
• vacancies that remain unfilled for longer than ninety (90) days;
• high turnover; or
• mutual agreement of the Parties.

All initiatives approved under the Fund will focus on producing a stable workforce and sustaining that stability over the longer term. Funded initiatives may invest in rural education, target new Employees, focus on site/program-specific concerns, or address broader recruitment and retention challenges for the Employer. The Parties agree that payment of recruitment and retention incentives or reimbursement for relocation expenses under this Fund will be conditional upon completion of a return-for-service agreement as agreed by the Parties.

The Parties agree that the recruitment and retention initiatives may vary, depending on the
identified needs.

The Employer will endeavour to use the entire Fund within each fiscal year, however funds can be carried over from year to year within the term of the Collective Agreement.

At the end of the fiscal year, the Employer will provide the Committee with a breakdown of how the funds have been allocated in that fiscal year to address rural and remote recruitment and retention challenges.

Operation of the Fund

A Rural Capacity Investment Fund Committee (“the Committee”) shall be established within thirty (30) days of ratification.

The Committee shall be comprised of equal numbers of Employer and Union representatives.  One of the Union representatives shall be a member of the current bargaining committee as selected by the current bargaining committee. The Parties may mutually agree to add additional representatives as necessary.

The Committee shall meet within sixty (60) days of ratification and thereafter on a quarterly basis until the end of the term of the Collective Agreement.

The primary function of the Committee is to ensure appropriate and full use of the funds to address rural and remote recruitment and retention challenges and will include the activities listed below:

• To share information on the sites/programs/positions the Parties deem to be “difficult to recruit to" based on the indicators listed above;
• To review, consider and approve proposed initiatives;
• To assess the effectiveness of previous allocations of the Fund, identifying opportunities for further improvement, scaling and spreading of successful initiatives.   This may include negotiating the goals and terms of such initiatives, supporting implementation and continuing evaluation;
• Annual allocation of the available funds;
• To determine the portion of funds to hold in reserve to ensure the Fund can respond to recruitment and retention challenges that arise throughout the year; such portion must not be more than 25%;
• To decide between competing proposed initiatives or devise an appropriate solution when the parties have not been able to agree on a particular initiative;
• To assess allocations, funding status and initiatives quarterly in an effort to ensure the Fund is addressing recruitment and retention challenges as intended.  This includes adjustments to the allocations and reconsideration of initiatives previously denied and/or new initiatives submitted for consideration.

The Committee shall use a consensus-based decision making model. When deciding between competing initiatives the Committee shall give preference to incentives or initiatives that will make a meaningful impact on the experience of Employees in rural locations.

Where consensus is unable to be achieved, the Committee can refer the matter to be dealt with following the process as outlined in Letter of Understanding #15: Internal Grievance Mediation (IGM).

The annual allocation for fund dispersal shall be as outlined below:

FISCAL YEAR             ANNUAL ALLOCATION
2024                            $395, 200.00
2025                           $1, 100, 000.00
2026                           $1, 100, 000.00
2027                           $1, 100, 000.00

This Letter of Understanding will expire on March 31, 2028.