The Teaching Support Staff Union, which represents all SFU teaching assistants, tutor markers, sessional instructors, and language instructors, has filed a policy grievance with SFU Human Resources over the failure to pay wages, claiming that some members still have not been paid for any work done this semester.

The grievance asserts that SFU has violated the right to timely payment of wages, and seeks immediate remedy, as well as future compliance with those rights and redress for damages.

The TSSU’s issue lies with one clerical process of SFU Finance’s Payroll department. The first payday of the semester was Sept. 6, the second was Sept. 20, and the third Oct. 4. After three paydays, several TSSU members remained unpaid for the semester, having not received a paycheque for their work for over a month.

According to TSSU spokesperson Derek Sahota, who personally didn’t receive a paycheque for the semester until after the second payday had come and gone, approximately 18 per cent of TSSU members were not paid on the first payday. Six per cent of members remained unpaid on the second payday and, based on the members who have contacted the union since the third payday, approximately three per cent of members have still yet to see a paycheque.

The problem, according to Sahota, starts with SFU departments delaying making hiring decisions until right before the start of semester, which delays the process of setting up TSSU employees with Payroll.

“[The departments are] supposed to make those [decisions] three weeks before semester starts,” said Sahota. “In a lot of cases, they don’t do that until the day the semester starts.” The largest concentrations of TSSU members who were not paid on the first pay day work within Computing Science, Beedie School of Business, and Mathematics.

If you’re not paid, the employer has to sort it out. It’s not your responsibility.”  

– Derek Sahota, TSSU spokesperson

The BC Employment Standards Act requires employers to pay employees at least twice a month, and within eight days of a pay period. A pay period cannot exceed more than 16 days.

Sahota stated that the issue of members not receiving payment has been ongoing for years, but that this year the problem is more widespread among the membership. Another problem he pointed out is an extra step that has been added by SFU Payroll to resolve the issue of non-payment.

“In the past, what was done is you would go to Payroll, say ‘I didn’t get paid,’ and they would cut you a manual check and it would be ready within 24 hours,” said Sahota. “They’ve added in an extra layer: there’s a deadline now to get the manual check, and they get run once per week. So if you don’t get in by that deadline, then you’re waiting another week, which puts you to the next pay period anyways.

The extra layer is a form that unpaid members are required to have signed by their department, and then return to Payroll. “It seems like there are just a bunch of somewhat arbitrary rules they’ve put in, that make it hard for people to get paid,” Sahota observed.

He continued, “From the whole Employment Standards Act perspective, if you’re not paid, the employer has to sort it out. It’s not your responsibility,” Sahota said that the TSSU will be looking into possible damages incurred by members due to the lapse in pay, including interest earned on bills or lapsed payments for living expenses.

SFU, in accordance with their media policy towards ongoing union issues, declined to comment on the filed grievance.