Frequently Asked Questions: 2025 Tentative Agreement
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If you have not yet read the Summary of Changes, please review that document.
As we get questions on the Tentative Agreement we will update this page with general information on general questions. If you a have a specific situation that you would like to discuss with a Member Services Officer, please make an advocacy appointment.
- SEB top-ups
- General Pay Adjustment
- Merit
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- Non-Monetary Items
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Frequently Asked Questions
This page will be updated with questions as they come in. You can submit your question through the form.
Q: Who is eligible for the additional Parental Leave SEB top-up?
A: If your parental leave has not started when the agreement is ratified, you will be eligible for the additional 10 weeks parental leave SEB. This includes birth parents who are on maternity leave at the time of ratification.
If you are receiving the parental leave SEB when the agreement is ratified, you will be eligible.
If your parental leave has concluded by the time the agreement is ratified, you will not be eligible for the additional 10 weeks SEB.
If you are past the first ten weeks of your parental leave (i.e. you are no longer receiving the SEB), you will likely not be eligible for the additional 10 weeks SEB, but we can look at this on a case-by-case basis.
Q: I took a 10-week parental leave already and received the top-up. Can I go on another 10-week Parental Leave to receive the additional 10 weeks?
A: You can only split your parental leave with the employer’s consent. Usually, this consent has only been granted with the understanding that you would not be eligible for the SEB for the second half of the leave. It is unlikely that this practice would change.
Q: When will the SEB top-ups for Compassionate Care Leave and Family Care Leave take effect?
A: July 1, 2026. These are new leaves and it will require a bit of time for the new leaves to be set up after the agreement is ratified.
Q: Are the new SEB top-ups for Compassionate Care Leave and Family Care Leave lifetime amounts or annual?
A: The SEB top-ups are for EI-eligible leaves, so you would have to qualify for those leaves under EI before being able to receive the top-ups. Therefore, it’s neither lifetime nor annual, but entirely dependent on your eligibility under EI.
Q: Who is eligible for Family Care Leave and Compassionate Care Leave?
A: Full eligibility for those leaves is dictated by the federal government, as one must be on leave through EI to be able to get the SEB top-ups for Family Care Leave and Compassionate Care Leave. In short, Family Care Leave is for providing care and support for a critically ill or injured child or adult dependent, and Compassionate Care Leave is for providing care and support for a child or adult dependent who requires end-of-life care.
Q: If I’m already receiving the Family Caregiver benefit or Compassionate Care benefit through EI before the tentative agreement is ratified, will I receive the top-up after ratification?
A: If you are already receiving the Family Caregiver benefit or Compassionate Care benefit through EI when the tentative agreement is ratified, the University will top up however much remains of your leave, but won’t top-up your salary retroactively.
Q: Is the 3% General Pay Adjustment per year or a total across 2025-2028?
A: The 3% General Pay Adjustment is annual. After ratification, there will be a 3% General Pay Adjustment retroactive to July 1, 2025, a 3% increase on July 1, 2026, a 3% increase on July 1, 2027, and a 3% increase on July 1, 2028.
Q: When will members see the retroactive General Pay Adjustment?
A: You will receive a General Pay Adjustment retroactive to July 1, 2025 after ratification. This increase will also apply to members who started working at UBC after July 2025.
Q: Will I still get my retroactive General Pay Adjustment if I’ve changed positions within AAPS?
A: Yes, you will still get a retroactive General Pay Adjustment if you’ve changed AAPS positions, for both positions.
Q: Will employees above midpoint/market rate receive a General Pay Adjustment?
A: Yes for July 1, 2025, but no thereafter.
Starting in July 1, 2026, Employees at or above midpoint/market rate will be eligible for merit increases. The minimum average percentage for merit will be the same as the General Pay Adjustment, which is 3%, subject to the following:
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Once an employee is at or above the midpoint/market rate, their salary cannot drop below the market rate. An employee at midpoint/market rate is guaranteed, at a minimum, the General Pay Adjustment (3% increase) annually starting July 1, 2026.
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An employee above midpoint/market rate is guaranteed, at a minimum, a salary increase to ensure that their salary does not fall below midpoint/market rate.
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Employees on maternity and parental leave will receive the General Pay Adjustment.
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Employees above midpoint/market rate who do not receive a performance review will receive the General Pay Adjustment.
Q: Does the agreement keep pace with inflation?
A: Before bargaining, AAPS retains an economist to advise on what General Pay Adjustments should be in order to ensure that wages keep pace with or exceed the rate of inflation. The 3% General Pay Adjustment exceeds the anticipated rate of inflation.
Q: Does the General Pay Adjustment impact both the pay scale and individual salaries?
A: Yes, the General Pay Adjustment will both increase salaries and the minimums, midpoints/market rates, and maximums of each pay scale.
Q: Why did the AAPS Bargaining Team agree to a new merit system that slows pay increases for members above the midpoint/market rate?
A: Collective bargaining involves a series of trade-offs. The University sought to slow the rate of pay increases for individuals earning above the midpoint/market rate and AAPS sought to improve the benefit package members receive for all members through significant increases in the Personal and Health Spending Accounts (PSAs and HSAs) and particularly for parents or those seeking to take leave to care for an ill or injured family member.
In addition, while merit pay has typically had a range of 0-3% at UBC, the University is free to set whatever range it wishes for merit pay. There is nothing in the 2022-2025 agreement or any future agreements based on this same model that would require UBC to provide merit at the 0-3% merit range, especially during times of fiscal uncertainty.
The new tentative agreement sets an average merit pay award of at least 3% and provides opportunities for AAPS to grieve both merit awards to individual employees and the average merit amount set by the University if we believe either of those are unfair.
Q: What does “average” mean in the context of the merit percentage?
A: It means that across the University, merit pay awards must average at least the same percentage as the General Pay Adjustment (3% for the life of this agreement). In any given year, there will be AAPS members who receive merit awards above the General Pay Adjustment and other members will receive merit awards below the General Pay Adjustment.
If AAPS believes that an individual member’s merit pay award is unfair, AAPS can file a grievance on behalf of the member.
Q: What does “market rate” mean?
A: Market Rate is a new term replacing the old “midpoint” as it was felt that it was a more accurate term to describe someone who possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for their position.
Q: Will people still get their retroactive merit payments for 2025?
A: Yes. We have an agreement in place with the University regarding merit pay for 2025. However, merit pay is applied after and General Wage Increases/General Pay Adjustments. Since the tentative agreement includes a General Wage Increase/General Pay Adjustment retroactive to July 1, 2025, merit will be applied after that General Wage Increase/General Pay Adjustment.
Q: Is it now the case that those eligible for merit increases will barely see an increase?
A: No. For the duration of this collective agreement, merit increases will have to average at least 3%, and will be subject to performance, with some receiving more than the average and some receiving less.
If you think your merit assessment is unfair or does not accurately reflect your performance, you have the opportunity to appeal your performance review or formally dispute your merit assessment through the grievance process. AAPS can assist with this.
Additionally, if you are at midpoint/market rate, on a job-protected leave like maternity or parental leave, or don’t get a performance review, 3% will be the minimum increase.
Q: Can employees receive a merit increase higher than the set average?
A: Yes. The merit average isn’t a cap on merit increases. If you are going above and beyond in your position and display superior knowledge and skills, you can receive a merit increase higher than the average to reflect your performance. The 3% average is also a minimum average. While it likely won’t be higher in the next year or two, if the financial position of the University significantly improves, nothing prevents the University from increasing that average. The tentative agreement now also gives AAPS the ability to file a grievance and argue that the merit average published should be higher based on the University’s financial situation.
Q: Is it possible to not receive a merit increase?
A: As is currently the case, employees on or above the midpoint/market rate whose service is determined to not be meritorious might not receive a merit increase. However, this is subject to an assessment of your performance and subject to the appeal and grievance processes. If you don’t receive a performance review, you will automatically get the average merit increase, which will be at least 3%.
The University will now be required to provide AAPS with a list of employees who received less than half the average increase so we can proactively contact members to check in and see if that is fair.
Q: If I’m just at midpoint/market rate, can I receive less than the General Pay Adjustment?
A: No. You must receive the amount required to not fall below midpoint/market rate, so if you are just at midpoint/market rate, regardless of your performance, you will receive a 3% pay increase.
Q: Has the criteria for determining merit changed? Will it now be harder to get a merit increase?
A: No. Merit increases have always been based on performance. Being above midpoint/market rate has always meant you were going significantly above and beyond in your position. The new system for how the increases work does not impact the criteria for how your manager decides who gets merit. In fact, some people’s merit awards could be larger than they had been before. There will be people who potentially get 4%, 5%, or 6%.
Q: Can you provide examples of how the new merit pay increase system would work for different members in different pay grades?
A:
Example 1:
Joe Cool, a Facilities Management employee in pay grade 7, is just above midpoint/market rate, making $90,000 per year. The average merit increase is 3%, thus the midpoint/market rate for pay grade 7 moves up by the General Pay Adjustment from $89,946 to $92,644. Joe Cool gets a minimum 3% pay increase, going from $90,000 to $92,700.
Example 2:
Lucy van Pelt, a Human Resources employee in pay grade 11, is between midpoint/market rate and maximum, making $135,000 per year. The average merit increase is 3%. She has been working exactly to her job description, no more and no less. She might get a 1% pay increase, going from $135,000 to $136,350, or a 0% increase, keeping her at $135,000.
Example 3:
Sally Brown, a Graphic Design & Illustration employee in pay grade 5, is between midpoint/market rate and maximum, making $82,000 per year. She has been working very hard, going above and beyond her job description and demonstrating superior knowledge. The average merit increase is 3%, her manager may decide to give her a 4% or 5% increase for her incredibly hard work. Her salary could go from $82,000 to $85,280 if awarded a 4% increase, or from $82,000 to $86,100 if awarded a 5% increase.
Q: You say that the merit system is flexible enough to allow faster salary growth if UBC’s fiscal health improves. What mechanism actually triggers that?
A: Every year, AAPS retains a public finance expert to review the publicly available financial documents for the University and provide us with a report analyzing UBC’s financial health.
If there is a year where UBC has a significant improvement in its fiscal health and UBC doesn’t take the initiative to increase the average merit percentage, we can now grieve the amount on the grounds that UBC can afford to increase that amount.
Q: Why do members above midpoint/market rate who don’t get performance reviews get the average merit award automatically?
A: A merit award is based on performance. The employer has an obligation to review an employee’s performance in a transparent and unbiased manner. A performance review is a significant step towards that. This encourages managers to give performance reviews in order to transparently evaluate employees and reward merit accordingly. It also removes any incentive for the employer to get around the merit assessment process by not doing performance reviews.
Q: Why do members on job-protected leaves like maternity leave get the average merit award automatically if they’re not working as much as others who aren’t on leave?
A: The law requires employees on maternity leave (and other job-protected leaves) to receive general wage increases that happen in their absence. Since the merit average will be at least 3%, in line with the General Pay Adjustment, people on maternity leave and other job-protected leaves will receive that same average increase.
Q: If I have 15 carryover vacation days in 2026 and am unable to reduce this to 10 days before 2027, when would I be paid out?
A: You would be paid out for the oldest carryover above 10 days after February 28, 2027. The goal is to encourage AAPS members and their managers to work together to make sure managers make the time to accommodate vacation requests.
Q: Do Health Spending Accounts and Personal Sending Accounts carry over if there is unused balance?
A: Unused balances will carry over for one year.
Q: My spouse is currently taking courses for their master’s degree. Does this agreement allow me to transfer my tuition fee benefits to them?
A: Yes. Under the new agreement, tuition fee benefits will be transferable to both undergraduate and graduate courses.
Q: Will employees at the maximum of pay grades 4 to 7 still receive the 1.25% pay increase?
A: No. As you cannot exceed the maximum of your pay grade, if you are already at maximum, you will not receive the 1.25% pay increase. However, the maximum of the pay grade will increase by the General Pay Adjustment of 3%.
Q: What does “blue-circled” mean?
A: “Blue-circled” means that your salary is held to the standard it was before a change. In the case of this tentative agreement, employees in salary grades 10-18 who are making over 120% of midpoint/market rate will have their salaries blue-circled, so their maximum will remain at 125% of midpoint/market rate and they will be eligible for merit increases to the blue-circled maximum.
Q: I’m starting a new role below midpoint/market rate. In my old role, my pay increases to midpoint/market rate fluctuated significantly year to year. Will that still happen?
A: Progression to midpoint /market rate will now be made in equal increments. In the old Collective Agreement, there was no set standard for how much each increment should be.
Q: Is the Indigenous support commitment limited to central HR, and does the commitment include providing support to Indigenous employees and their supervisors?
A: The position will be based in central HR, and like all HR roles, its focus is on providing advice and assistance to managers. Indigenous AAPS members who require advocacy or assistance should contact AAPS.
Q: What will the sustainable transportation fund do for members?
A: The parties will be discussing the specifics and rollout of the sustainable transportation program after the tentative agreement is ratified. Note that there has been an e-bike subsidy pilot at the Vancouver campus and a subsidized transit pass program at the Okanagan campus. One possibility is ensuring that AAPS members in lower pay grades at both campuses get access to comparable sustainable transportation benefits.
Q: My department has been considering telling some of us that we’re on-call. I saw this agreement has on-call language. How does it work?
A: The language added to the tentative agreement means that requirements for being on-call (“Routine Availability”) must be reasonable and clearly articulated. Where on-call arrangements are part of job, this must be stipulated at the time of hire. On-call requirements being added to a position require reasonable notice. There is also a requirement for compensation for time worked while on-call.
Q: Does the change to removal of documents that now requires that Letters of Expectation be removed from my file after 2 years apply retroactively?
A: Yes. Any Letters of Expectation currently on your file can be removed from your file after 24 months once the agreement is ratified. Please note that as is currently the case with disciplinary letters, you will need to request that the letter be removed. AAPS can assist with this process.
Q: Why isn’t there anything in the tentative agreement about hybrid or remote work arrangements?
A: In bargaining, AAPS submitted a proposal that would assign a financial cost to the University if it insisted on individual members working in person. It would have applied whether members were currently working in person or had hybrid/remote work arrangements that were being converted to in-person work. The University indicated that it was not prepared to consider anything that would provide further compensation for employees based upon an expectation of in-person work.
AAPS believes that the language in the current collective agreement provides protection for hybrid work arrangements. The language requires the University to be reasonable when it comes to approving hybrid work arrangements. We know that many folks have had their hybrid work arrangements altered over the last year or so. When we raised our concerns with the University, they indicated that there were valid business reasons for the decrease in remote work days. We were assured that AAPS members would ultimately be doing different work on campus than they would be when working remotely. The University asked us for time to allow changes to take effect so that it could demonstrate that those changes were reasonable.
We have provided the University with time for those changes to take effect and we are currently in the process of determining whether members are really doing different work on campus than they are when working remotely. If, when our research concludes, we determine that members are largely doing the same work whether it is done remotely or on campus, we will file a policy grievance on the matter.
Q: Can members give input on the agreement and make changes to it?
A: This agreement comes as a package deal, as that is how tentative agreements work. We received input from members through our bargaining consultations we conducted last year and took those concerns into consideration when bringing proposals to the table, as well as when the University brought their proposals to the table. As a package, members are not able to pick and choose what they like and don’t like from it.
Q: What does the ratification process look like?
A: Now that the tentative agreement has been recommended for ratification by the AAPS Board of Directors, members will have the opportunity to attend information sessions about the tentative agreement to ask questions and learn more about the agreement. Voting to ratify the agreement will open on April 23, 2026 and close on May 7, 2026. Voting will be conducted through UBC’s voting platform.
If the agreement is ratified by AAPS members, AAPS will notify UBC, and the Board of Governors will ratify the agreement at their next meeting. If the agreement is not ratified by the members, AAPS and UBC will return to the bargaining table to negotiate a new agreement.
Q: When will the tentative agreement come into effect?
A: The agreement will come into effect once it is ratified by the members and by the UBC Board of Governors. After AAPS’ ratification vote, UBC’s Board of Governors will vote on ratifying the agreement, normally at its next meeting. The next UBC Board of Governors meeting appears to be scheduled for June 18.