Maritime Resident Doctors new collective agreement now in effect

We are pleased to announce that our new Collective Agreement, ratified in August, has now come into effect.

We are in the process of updating all of the Collective Agreement information on our website, and wanted to include some relevant information to you (including a full version of the new contract at the bottom of this email). The Collective Agreement with the province of Nova Scotia is a three-year deal, running from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2021. This agreement is largely the same as the previous one, with the exception of the following changes:

Compensation

Salary: A total wage increase of 5.5% over three years. The increases are as follows, 1.5% on July 1/18, 0.5% on June 30/19, 1.5% on July 1/19, 0.5% on June 30/20, 1.5% on July 1/20. (Clause to allow for a greater increase in last year if the nurse’s union gets more than a 1.5% increase). Retro pay will be paid out shortly (we have not had confirmation on a date).
Call Stipend: Call stipend increases to match the increases to salary. A total increase of 5.5% over three years following the same schedule outlined in salary. Call stipend to begin on date of signing (not retroactive).

Leave:

Paid Floating Leave: The addition of two days per year of paid floating leave. Officially, these are being implemented as one day off per six months, the first must be used by Dec. 31 (this includes this year, so you only have Oct, Nov and Dec to use your first day in 2018) and the second by June 30. Requests are to be made to the Program Director with as much notice as possible. Unused leave cannot be carried over or paid out.
Educational & Personal Development Leave: Up to five days leave with pay for education opportunities (e.g. to attend conferences, seminars, or fellowship interviews, etc.). Additional days may also be granted, if approved by the Program Director of the resident's home program.
Maternity Leave: No new benefit added. Changes in Federal law now allow maternity leaves to be up to 18 months long. Residents choosing an 18-month maternity leave receive the same total amount of top-up as a 12-month maternity leave, spread over the 18-month period.

Schedules

Duty schedules must now be published four weeks prior to their effective date (up from two weeks). All other language unchanged, including: There shall be no changes to a resident’s duty schedule within at least 48 hours of the date scheduled to be worked, without express consent of the resident.

Taxis

After working an in-house or upgraded call shift, residents will be reimbursed for a taxi home if they feel it is unsafe to drive home. You will also be reimbursed for a return trip to retrieve your vehicle, if required. Reimbursement is capped at $20 each way.

Useful Links

As always, if you have any questions concerning the contract, contact Sandi@mardocs.ca