Staff employment policies

Our role in policy development

University policies governing staff terms and conditions of employment—Class S and FS policies—are the responsibility of the Staff Relations Committee (SRC).

Our representatives make up half of SRC; the other seven members are appointed by the administration. SRC is co-chaired by the UWSA president and the associate provost, human resources.

The policy development process

Policy 1 – Initiation and Review of University Policies outlines the procedure for creating and updating policies:

Step 1: Initiation – SRC calls for a new policy or for one to be updated.

Step 2: Development – SRC can draft policy itself, or set the terms of reference for the drafting committee (often jointly with Faculty Relations Committee).

Step 3: Approval – If a majority of both the UWSA and UW appointees support the new version of the policy, SRC recommends it to the University president. The president can approve it, or return the policy to the SRC for more work (or recommend it to the Board of Governors for approval, depending on the nature of the policy).

"FS" class policies, which affect both faculty and staff working conditions, go through this process with both SRC and FRC simultaneously.

Policies currently in development

  • 33 – Ethical Behaviour 
  • 57 – Employee Accommodations 
  • 12 – Compassionate Care and Bereavement Leave Benefits 

All three of these policies are "FS" policies, meaning they must also be approved by the Faculty Relations Committee.