Staff can now apply for a buyout to leave their positions at Queen’s.
Queen’s University announced its Voluntary Exit Incentive (VEI) on March 26, allowing staff in the Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS) to exit their roles in exchange for a lump sum payment.
FAS staff who’ve been employed for a minimum of six months at the University and haven’t submitted a notice of resignation or retirement are eligible for VEI. The program isn’t available to FAS faculty and staff in research, grant, or contract roles.
VEI is more generous than the University’s severance packages, which are negotiated under union collective agreements. Under the VEI, FAS staff who have worked for more than 13 years will be given a payout equal to the severance payment—negotiated under the 2010 United Steelworker collective agreement with the University—which would be given to employees with over 25 years of service.
Like severance packages, the payment staff receive from VEI is dependent on years of service. The University is offering staff the equivalent of four weeks of regular salary for each year
worked at Queen’s. The minimum payment will be for eight weeks and a maximum of 52 weeks, which includes unused paid vacation days.
According to the FAS webpage, the faculty is hoping enough employee choose the VEI program and leave their positions voluntarily to minimize potential layoffs. If a FAS employee gets laid off, they aren’t eligible for VEI and will receive benefits outlined in their job contract or union agreement.
Staff don’t need permission from their managers to apply for VEI. The program was launched to address the faculty’s $37.4 million operating budget deficit, this revised number was confirmed at the Senate special meeting on Jan. 17.
Recipients of VEI retire by May 31 of this year, unless the University’s operational needs require them to stay in their position for longer. VEI applications will be approved based on the University’s operational needs. Once applications are submitted, they can’t be withdrawn.
Successful applicants are eligible for re-employment with the University three years after their resignation date. Applications close on April 30.
If the program contributes to balancing FAS’s budget, the University may expand it to other faculties.
“Should the pilot program effectively achieve cost savings, while minimizing impacts on people, the University will consider expanding the initiative to other parts of the University, if necessary,”Queen’s University said in astatement to The Journal.
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John Sherbino
I was told there was a fire.
Did I jump or was I pushed.
As I each window on the way to the ground I think ‘so far, so good’.