On January 29, 2025, CRA notified over 300 term employees, 212 of them AFS members, that they will be laid off before the end of their term contracts. This follows CRA laying off almost 600 term employees on December 13, 2024.
AFS term employees who have been with the Agency for more than 1 year are entitled to receive a minimum of 2 weeks severance pay on layoff, according to Article 19 of the AFS Collective Agreement. This increases by a week for every additional year of continuous service, and it is prorated for additional partial years.
Unfortunately, management has decided to not pay severance as they claim that these layoffs do not meet the definition of “layoff” in the collective agreement. We strongly feel that management’s interpretation of layoff is simply an attempt to save money at their employee’s expense.
We recommend that anyone with at least 1 year of continuous service with the Agency who is facing a layoff file a grievance demanding that they receive severance, per Article 19 of the AFS Collective Agreement. PIPSC has already filed a policy grievance, but an individual grievance is required if you are seeking to receive individual compensation.
Please seek the assistance of a local AFS steward when filing your grievance. These individual grievances must be filed before the layoff date.
Our AFS Group is also seeking to have CRA honour the tuition reimbursement promised for those employees who are unable to complete approved training prior to their termination date.
If you are having difficulties during this time, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is available for you and your family. You are eligible for up to 5 counselling sessions with the EAP provider, Homewood Health.
To schedule an appointment, please contact Homewood Health at 1-800-663-1124 or visit their website (CRA invitation code CRA536). If you wish to access EAP services, please do so before the date of layoff.
If you have any questions, please contact an AFS Executive member.