“Several hundred” teaching assistants and sessional lecturers at the University of Guelph are facing a ton of uncertainty with their pay because of a technical glitch.
Those impacted – estimated to be at least 800 unionized members – are either getting overpaid, underpaid or not paid at all.
Grievances have been filed by the union representing those workers, who say the university is violating two articles of their collective agreement.
The university said the issues are related to "challenges" switching over
“This is a massive glitch that has put so many of our members into a state of anxiety that I don’t think they deserve.” said Scott Duchesne, president of CUPE Local 3913.
“If there is anything about this economic system that we should expect is that we get paid on time.”
He said when onboarding a new HR system, payroll should have been prioritized.
“I don’t know if they did it or not. I know something happened, and it’s now a disaster,” he said.
U of G has talked about implementing a new HR system since 2019.
Late last year and into early this year, Duchesne said the university would be bringing in the system in stages.
The first stage created a problem where PhD students eligible for a 50 per cent reduction in tuition fees were not getting those discounts. It was resolved.
Fast forward to the new semester, and the first pay date of Aug. 29 and at least 800 members experienced an issue with payment.
“For example, one of our members received one pay: $9,000,” Duchesne said.
“They said they knew that that was essentially their entire pay for their work assignment, so they knew it was going to be taken back. They just didn’t know (how much).”
A graduate teaching assistant work assignment is just over $6,700 for a semester.
A sessional member can get between $8,000 to $11,000 a semester, depending on seniority.
Workers are on a bi-weekly payment schedule, so there have been two pay periods that have passed since then.
He said it’s created a lot of uncertainty and anxiety among members, who rely on the funds to pay tuition, rent and food.
“We’ve been getting numerous messages about our members who are in various states of panic,” he added.
One of those impacted is a teaching assistant, who due to privacy reasons, preferred to be identified only as Sarah.
She said she did not receive a payment on Sept. 12 but did get a payment two weeks later, though the numbers didn’t make sense to her and were a bit “inconsistent” to what she usually gets.
“The main thing that’s scary is the unknown,” Sarah said. “How am I going to explain this, I’m always the type of person who pays their rent on time, and to work for the university for so long and for them to just have no regard for how this will impact other people was really kind of appalling to me, and to a lot of other students as well.”
Duchesne said the union is in regular contact with the university, giving them names of people impacted and working through things on a case-by-case basis.
The hope is to have a resolution to the problem soon.
“I just want to make it clear that we’re not mad at, or frustrated with the university administrators of various departments in the schools,” he said.
“We think, along with the university, that they’re doing incredible work trying to fix up this mess and as a union, we really thank them for their service during this time because it’s a lot of work.
“They’re working nights and weekends to resolve this.”
The union has a financial assistance fund, but it has its limits. A $500 bursary can be given to a member once a year when they apply for it.
Duchesne said over $47,000 has been given out in the last month, primarily for rent and food.
The other grievance has to do with the allocation of graduate teaching assistants.
The university has 15 days to respond in writing to the grievances filed.
“We recognize timely and accurate pay is crucial as it directly impacts everyone’s daily lives and well-being,” the university said in an emailed statement.
“Ensuring employees are paid quickly and completely is a top priority for the university.
It continues on by saying with the transition to the new HR system, like “with any major system transformation,” there have been “unforeseen challenges,” which were exasperated by “a large influx of new employees starting in September.”
It said any employee experiencing a discrepancy in their pay should submit a ticket through the HR website and notify their department administrator.
“We deeply regret any stress this has caused and are working to resolve these issues as soon as possible,” U of G added.
