Partial Load
If you teach 7 to 12 hours per week, you are classified as a partial-load member. You are a member of the bargaining unit and therefore covered by the Collective Agreement.
There are three categories of contract faculty at Ontario colleges:
| Category | Teaching Hours Per Week | Unionized |
| Part Time (PT) | fewer than 7 hours/wk | No (explanation) |
| Partial Load (PL) [1] | 7-12 hours/wk | Yes |
| Sessional (S) | more than 12 hours/wk | No (explanation) |
We recommend that you sign a membership card so that we can contact you and that you can fully participate in the union.
Wages
The College determines pay by the number of teaching hours per week. It deems this hourly rate to cover out-of-class preparation and marking time (CA 26.02 A). Viewed in this way, the effective hourly rate isn’t nearly as high as what the CA says. The union is committed to securing better rights and better pay for all contract faculty.
In the early 90’s, the union used pay equity legislation to negotiate rights for partial-load faculty. The hourly pay rate was calculated to include a portion for vacation pay as well as an amount for evaluation and preparation. However in the years since those negotiations took place, increases in class size have distorted the pay method. Every time that the full-time salary has been increased, the same percentage increase has been applied to the partial-load faculty.
Progression on the grid is available and the formula is set out in 26.10B. Service is credited at 50%, so progression on the salary gird requires 20 months of on-the-job experience to one year of service and to progress one step on the wage grid (Article 26.10C).
Extended Health Benefits
Sun Life, OPSEU and the Council have prepared a special benefits booklet exclusively available for partial load. It is available here.
The College is required to pay 100% of all partial load extended health benefits. It is to your benefit not to opt out. Even if you have a spouse with benefits, you can use coordination of benefits to cover what your spouse’s plan does not.
There is a waiting period for all benefit plans (see booklet) however if you are rehired on a partial load contract within one year the waiting period is waived.
The benefit level is the same as full-time for all insurance plans.
Like full-time employees, you have 31 days to make changes to your plan if you have a change of circumstances, for example, marriage, death, birth, divorce, etc.
You are also entitled to access to Dental, Vision, Hearing, Critical Illness/Catastrophic Event Insurance, and Life Insurance but you must pay 100% of the premium.
Partial load employees may continue benefits between contacts see Article 26.06D of the Collective Agreement.
Sick Leave
Partial load employees are eligible for sick leave coverage (see table at 26.08B for calculation details.) We can review your calculations if you like.
Statutory Holidays
If you worked on your normal working day prior to a stat holiday and on your first working day after a stat holiday you are entitled pay if the stat holiday follows on a day you would have worked.
Accessing SunLife Information
On myFanshawe under Employee Services–>Human Resources–>Benefits and Compensation–>Benefits Information on the “Benefits General” tab you will find the following:
- New Sun Life health and dental claim forms with the updated mailing address for claims
- A CAAT Group Insurance Benefits Communique in regard to health and dental paper claims
- You can register for an Access ID and password to logon to the Sun Life Plan Member Services website at www.sunlife.ca/member. Once registered, you will be able to:
- Have claim payments deposited directly into your bank account
- Update your personal information and address
- Print personalized claim forms
- View and/or print details of your claims
- Print pay-direct prescription cards
- Print out-of-province travel cards
- Check the status of your recent health and dental claims
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Contract Faculty
A Frequently Asked Questions page for partial-load faculty can be found here.
NOTE: this material summarizes and simplifies language in the Collective Agreement (CA). For a complete picture, please refer to the CA itself.
[1] Technically there are two categories of partial-load faculty: professors and instructors, but Fanshawe does not use the instruction category, so all full-time and partial-load faculty at Fanshawe are categorized as professors.