I am sharing some news that will come as a relief to many. The provincial government has provided direction for the public sector, including universities, that says that compensation and employment continuity will continue for our employees.

This is the key excerpt in the memo I received from the Public Sector Employers’ Council Secretariat:

For the immediate term of March and April . . . It is important to maintain employment and compensation continuity for employees whose work would not have otherwise been interrupted save for the pandemic response. Unless previously contemplated and planned as part of normal operations, or unless it is clear the specific circumstances cannot be mitigated, employee layoffs are to be avoided during this period.  This direction will be reassessed before the end of April and Public Sector Employers’ Council Secretariat (PSEC Secretariat) will provide updates as they become available.

We appreciate that circumstances and challenges vary by employer and sector. With this direction comes the expectation and recognition that employers will need to work collaboratively with their employers’ associations and the PSEC Secretariat team, funders and line ministries, unions, and other stakeholders to address the challenges and opportunities for modified service delivery, staff redeployment to productive work, and planning for the orderly return to services post COVID-19.

You may have questions regarding this, and we will provide more information once we have worked with a number of groups on campus, including our union leadership teams. 

Remote Working

Thank you for taking steps to work remotely in response to my March 18 update. For those who haven’t, please identify and set up remote work plans. We are not in a period of “business as usual,” and I want as many people as possible working remotely as quickly as possible. If you are at work, keep that two-metre buffer top of mind!

Critical On-Campus Operations

So far we have taken significant steps towards reducing face-to-face contact. We’re providing course delivery and assessment through alternate delivery modes, and a large number of our academic, research and administrative services are being delivered remotely.

Moving forward, however, I anticipate we will move to a phase in which we will only deploy the most critical in-person services and people to maintain our physical locations, student services, and academic mission. Last week the EOC team requested information regarding which units may require employees to continue coming to our campuses; if your unit hasn’t provided that, please do so at unbccommand@unbc.ca

Employment and Wage Continuity

As I mentioned above, we will discuss this matter further over the next couple of days, as some extraordinary circumstances may exist that require individual attention. In the meantime, please do not initiate any layoffs or reduce pay without checking with Human Resources.

Thank you again for all you are doing to support UNBC’s response during this unprecedented event. I continue to be amazed by all members of the UNBC community!

Geoff Payne,
Interim President and Vice-Chancellor