Educational Reimbursement

A grievance was won at the first stage of the grievance procedure, the grievance was centered around the Educational Reimbursement.



27.10 Education and Training

a) Upon submission of a passing grade report and original receipts for Payment employees will be reimbursed by the Employer for work related courses or general interest courses of the employee s choice to be taken at an accredited educational institution (determined by

Income Tax status) to a maximum of one thousand five hundred

dollars 1500.00 per calendar year. An employee must complete

any necessary forms prior to commencing the course and to claim the reimbursement. No reimbursement will be paid if the employee s employment has ended before the refund is made.



What this means is that if you can claim it on your income tax it will be approved.

The most obvious places to get approval would be Colleges and Universities both in Canada and the US.

The not so obvious would be online courses. If the course is accredited with the education system of the country it is from, and it is considered to be at the “post secondary” level then there it should be approved.

See the form below that you would have filed with revenue Canada for tax purposes as a foreign student (i.e. a US course).



An example, a member registered for an online course to be a personal trainer. The institution clearly stated it was accredited with the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) the global leader in distance learning accreditation.



The employer originally denied the course stating that it was not listed on the Canada Human Resources and Development web site.

It was shown to the employer that all that has to be proved is that the course is accredited and can be filed on our taxes. Any questions please see a steward.

Out sourced Valet at the Hilton

We have all heard what happened to Valet department at the Hilton. Something like that always causes fear in similar businesses. Does the potential exist in some form? Possibly, But their are many safe guards in place that would help avoid this.

The last time I read, the Gaming Control Act it stated that there must be an operational security department in place prior to a facility opening. Second, Article 2 of the collective agreement gives geographic location in or recognition clause. Third during our last set of negotiations , the employer made it very clear that any attempt to out source security would be a serious violation of the collective agreement, not to mention labour law. They stated themselves that any attempt to do so would be An Unfair Labour Practice Charge. Further to that it would be a Without Cause Termination, something that would be very difficult for them to explain at the Labour Board.
There are other things as well, let me know if you want me to carry on.

Hope this helps a little.