AGREEMENT between Brewers' Distributor Ltd. and Local No. 300 of the Brewery, Winery & Distillery Workers.
WHEREAS the Company has entered into a Collective Agreement with the above-named Union.
AND WHEREAS the said Parties have agreed to make this supplementary Agreement which is to be a supplement to the said Collective Agreement, and any grievances arising out of the administration of this supplement may be dealt with under the Grievance Procedure of the Collective Agreement.
NOW THEREFORE the Parties agree to the continuation of the Guaranteed Wage Plan as hereinafter set forth with such continuation to become effective on the 21st day of November, 1985, or on any later date on which approval for continuation has been received from the Federal Government holding that:
1. Purpose
- The Plan meets the requirement of Employment and Immigration Canada with respect to supplemental Unemployment Benefit Plans;
- Payments by the Company pursuant to this Plan will be classed as deductible expenses for corporate income tax purposes, and
- The receipt by employees of the benefits provided by this Plan will not disqualify such employees from receiving any part of the Employment Insurance Benefits to which they would otherwise be entitled.
The purpose of this Plan is to provide a method of guaranteeing income to certain employees who are laid off.
2. Eligibility for Participation in the Plan
An eligible employee entitled to participate in the plan is a regular benefit status hourly employee who qualified for the Plan as of November 21, 1996.
Those employees who would otherwise have qualified for the Plan as of November 1997, shall only be entitled to GWP when they are on temporary layoff and have qualified for Employment Insurance (EI) and have completed the required two (2) week waiting period. GWP shall not apply to the two (2) week waiting period and shall only be used as a supplemental benefit to top-up employee's wages when in receipt of EI benefits while on temporary layoff.
3. Exceptions
This Plan has no application to and provides no benefits for:
4. Disqualification for Benefits
- Employees who have been laid off for disciplinary reasons and if such layoff is questioned under the Grievance Procedure of the Collective Agreement final disposition of any grievance will determine the employee's status under the Plan.
- Employees who have been laid off because of any strike, lockout, slowdown, picketing or other action either by employees of this Company or by employees of any other employer who are represented for collective bargaining purposes by the Brewery, Winery and Distillery Workers Local No. 300 or by the Interior Brewery Workers Local 308; or by any successor thereof.
- Employees who have been terminated because of a specific direction or decree from any Government authority which has the effect of curtailing any of the Company's operations.
- Employees who have been laid off because of any act of war or the hostile act of any foreign power or by any act of sabotage or insurrection or by any act of God.
- Employees who are laid off and who have arranged with the Company to take Leave of Absence without pay for a specific period in lieu of their layoff. These employees will be deemed to have opted out of the Plan for such period.
An employee who has been laid off and who would otherwise be eligible for participation in the Plan shall not receive any payments under the Plan for any week:
5. Definitions
- In which he has been on layoff and has failed to apply for E.I. benefits, or in which he has been disqualified or disentitled from E.I. benefits by any reason other than serving a two (2) week waiting period.
- In which he has been on lay off and has failed to keep himself registered for employment with the Canada Manpower Centre in those cases where such registration is necessary to qualify for E.I. benefits or for reduction of E.I. waiting period.
- In which he has failed or refused to accept employment deemed suitable for him by the Employment Insurance Commission.
- In which he has failed to accept and report for any appropriate work assignment of at least one [1] normal working day unless excused for reasonable cause.
- In which he is in receipt of a benefit provided by the Company's Disability Income Plan or Long Term Disability Plans.
- After he has become entitled to receive any pension under the Company or Government Pension Plan.
- In respect of which he is qualified for compensation from the Workers' Compensation Board for any compensable accident or illness.
For the purposes of this Plan:
"Wages" shall mean actual earnings for work performed and vacation pay, payment for any leave of absence with pay granted, e.g. jury duty, bereavement pay, payment for Statutory Holidays and call-in pay.
"Week" shall mean the Company's payroll week.
"Compensated and available hours" means as applied to any particular week for any employee.
"Week of layoff" means a week in which the employee's compensated and available hours are less the forty (40), or thirty-eight (38).
- All hours worked by the employee for the Company or for any other employer in such week, plus
- All hours not worked by the employee in such week but for which he received wages from any employer, plus
- All hours scheduled in such week for an employee who is not on layoff and which he has not worked for any reason other than lack of work, plus
- All hours scheduled in such week for an employee who is on layoff and which he has not worked for any reason other than lack of work after being given reasonable notice according to the established practice of the Company that such scheduled hours were available to be worked by him.
6. Benefits Provided for Laid Off Employees
Subject to terms and conditions of the Plan as herein set out each Eligible Employee who is laid off from the Bargaining Unit shall receive in addition to any wages earned in the week a benefit from the Plan for each week of layoff calculated by determining the product of items (a), (b) and (c) below and deducting from such product the sum of item (d) below.
7. Social Security Benefits During Layoff
- Seventy percent (70%) for eligible employees as hereinabove defined.
- The straight time hourly rate of the employee in effect as of time of layoff.
- The excess of forty (40) over the compensated and available hours of the employee.
- The actual benefit, if any, for which such employee is eligible under the Unemployment Insurance Act for such week.
An employee who is laid off continues to participate in the Social Security Plan of the Company applicable to employees in the bargaining unit to the end of the month following the last month in which he has worked in the bargaining unit, or until the end of the last month during which he has drawn a benefit under this Plan, which ever is the later. Social Security Plan for the purposes of this section does not include the Pension Plan or the Company's Disability Income Plan and Long Term Disability Plans which cover only indemnity for wages actually lost because of illness or accident.
An employee on layoff who, pursuant to the above, has ceased to participate in the Social Security Plan is restored to participation immediately upon completion of eight (8) hours work in the bargaining unit.
8. Duration of Benefits
The maximum benefit entitlement of an employee at any time shall not exceed that benefit established in accordance with Table "A". However, the employee's actual benefit entitlement will be less than the maximum benefit entitlement if he has used any benefits and has not subsequently restored them.
Weeks of benefits are restored based upon the formula of 1/10th of a week for each eight (8) full hours during which the employee earned wages from the Company up to the employee's maximum benefit entitlement set out in Table "A' below. Not credits towards future benefit entitlements are allowed for wages earned during any period in which the employee is already entitled to the maximum benefit set out in Table "A".TABLE A Completed Years of Benefit Service determined as of the Maximum November 21st Immediately Benefit Preceding his layoff Entitlement 15 years or more 78 weeks of benefits 10 years or more 65 weeks of benefits 5 years or more 52 weeks of benefits 4 years or more 45 weeks of benefits 3 years or more 35 weeks of benefits 2 years or more 25 weeks of benefits 1 year and more 15 weeks of benefitsThe maximum number of weeks benefits which an employee may use during any twelve (12) month period commencing November 21st shall not exceed his maximum benefit entitlement determined as of that November 21st in accordance with Table "A" above.
Each eligible employee's weeks of benefits shall be decreased by one week for each week in respect of which he is on lay off and in receipt of benefits for more than thirty-two (32) hours: and, by 4/5ths of one week for each week in which he is on lay off and in receipt of benefits for more than twenty-four (24) hours; and, by 3/5ths of one week for each week in which he is on lay off and in receipt of benefits for more than sixteen (16) hours; and, by 2/5ths of one week for each week in which he is on lay off and in receipt of benefits for more than eight (8) hours; and, by 1/5th of a week in which he is on lay off and in receipt of benefits for eight (8) hours or less; and, his weeks of benefits shall also be decreased by one week for each week in which he is on lay off but was disqualified for any of the reasons set out in subsections (a), (b), (c) and (d) of Section 4.
9. Deductions
Any payment made under this Plan shall be subject to any deductions required by Federal, Provincial or Municipal authority or by the provisions of the Collective Agreement, or by voluntary authorization from the employee concerned.
10. Applications
Employees shall be required to observe such rules and follow such procedures and make such reports and applications as shall be prescribed by the Company after consultation with the Union. The willful falsification of any fact material to the determination of an employee's benefit rights under the Plan shall result in the forfeiture of any benefit rights he may have under the Plan for a period of twelve (12) months subsequent to the discovery of such falsification, and this shall not preclude any other disciplinary action which may be imposed subject to the Grievance Procedure of the Collective Agreement.
11. Reporting
The Company will make periodic reports to the Union weekly while employees are laid off and receiving benefits under the Plan and quarterly if no employees are on layoff, giving the Union complete information as to the number of employees who have been laid off, the duration thereof, the payments made to each individual under the Plan, the number of ineligible and disqualified employees, and such other similar information as may be relevant.
12. Duration of Agreement
This Agreement shall continue until November 20th, 2007. During negotiations for renewal of the relevant Collective Agreement, the Union is free to request amendments to this Agreement which shall also be part of such negotiations, but on the understanding that any amendments to this Agreement will not take effect any earlier than November 21st, 2007.
13. OtherSigned this 17th day of May, 2007 on behalf of:
- Under no circumstances will the aggregate EI benefits plus weekly GWP benefit payable to an eligible employee exceed 95% of the employee's regular weekly wage.
- Pursuant to Section 4 of the GWP, an eligible employee only receives the GWP benefit in respect of a period in which he is actually in receipt of EI benefits with the only exception being the two week EI waiting period.
- The employees covered by the Collective Agreement have no vested rights in the GWP.
- Brewers' Distributor Ltd. pays GWP benefits out of its general revenue.
- Brewers' Distributor Ltd. uses either the E.I. cheque stub or the EI GWP Report to confirm the receipt of EI Benefits prior to paying GWP benefits to any eligible employee.
- Payments made out of the GWP do not operate to effect the amount of severance pay to which an employee is entitled pursuant to the Separation Pay provisions of the Collective Agreement.
- The Plan is applicable only for periods of temporary lay off.
Brewery, Winery and Brewers' Distributor Ltd. Distillery Workers Union, Local 300 Roy Graham Dave Grainger Gerry Bergunder Beau Pyatt Gord Deugau Frank Evans Graham Lee Tenille Jackson Bill Dryden Bowling Liu Bill Crozier Tony Nazaroff Ron Bethel