Component 1: UBC Academic Workers
Your Rights at Work
basic employee rights under the Collective Agreement
This Guide is intended for quick reference only. In the event of any discrepancies or conflicts, the Collective Agreement shall prevail as the legally binding document. References to CA articles are in bold parentheses.
(This guide is for Component 1 Academic Workers at UBC. Are you a TA at UNBC? Click here for a guide to your CA rights!)
Quick Guides to basic employee rights
Your basic rights as an employee are outlined below. For a downloadable summary, click:
Salaries and wages
Here are the wages for the different classifications of TAs according to our collective agreement. Monthly and yearly wages are calculated based on the amount of hours in a full TA appointment outlined in the collective agreement. Please consult the collective agreement or read the section below for more details on the differences between the classifications.
The following salary scales apply to a full TA appointment (384 hours total across winter terms 1 and 2). Please note that many departments offer partial TA appointments; salaries will be calculated based on the number of hours in your contract and the pro-rated hourly wage. Regardless of the length of appointment, all TA positions are salaried.
As of September 1, 2024, the wages for Component 1 members are as follows:
| Classification | Hourly Wage | Monthly Wage (Full TA Contract) | Yearly Wage (Full TA Appointment) |
|---|---|---|---|
| S.T.A. | $42.95 | $2,061.53 | $16,492.24 |
| G.T.A. I | $40.16 | $1,927.54 | $15,420.32 |
| G.T.A. II | $38.65 | $1,855.33 | $14,842.64 |
| U.T.A. I | $26.40 | $1,267.34 | $10,138.72 |
| U.T.A. II | $24.44 | $1,173.16 | $9,385.28 |
Exam invigilators are paid $24.06 per hour, and senior exam invigilators are paid $28.91 per hour. Please consult the collective agreement.
Re-appointment and hiring preference
For TAs
Once you have been hired, the department is obliged to offer you future work opportunities (contingent upon departmental budgets)
Once hired, a graduate student is placed in a “pool of preferred candidates” (A 22.05). Departments are obliged to hire from these pools prior to hiring new employees in subsequent years (B 3.03 (a))
Masters students have two years of hiring preference. PhD students have five years of hiring preference. (B 3.01 (c) (i))
If you are an undergraduate student TA, the department must offer you employment for the following 2 years before they hire a new undergraduate student (B 3.03 (c))
For Exam Invigilators
Once you are hired, you are employed for both terms or the Winter or Summer Session that you are hired in (SCHEDULE B 5 A, D)
You will be canvased about your interest in returning the following academic year.
You will be rehired (if you want) in order of seniority.
Job Classifications
Senior Teaching Assistant (STA, SCHEDULE B 1 (b) (i), LOU B4) – A graduate student who either
1) Coordinates and/or guides other teaching assistants OR
2) Is focused on curriculum development, and has substantial teaching experience, professional development, and/or achievement as a TA.
Graduate Teaching Assistant I (GTA I, SCHEDULE B 1 (b) (ii)) – A graduate student who has two (2) years’ experience as a graduate student teaching assistant.
Graduate Teaching Assistant II (GTA II, SCHEDULE B 1 (b) (iii)) – A graduate student with less than two (2) years’ experience as a graduate student teaching assistant.
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant I (UTA I, SCHEDULE B 1 (b) (iv)) – An employee who has not yet earned an undergraduate degree in the posted discipline, and has “direct interaction with students on more than an incidental basis.” Such interaction includes giving feedback on assignments.
Undergraduate Teaching Assistant II (UTA II, SCHEDULE B 1 (b) (v)) – An employee who has not yet earned an undergraduate degree in the posted discipline; duties do not require knowledge of the discipline; student contact is limited to an incidental or transactional basis (like handing out exams).
Exam Invigilators at the Centre for Accessibility (SCHEDULE B 5 M (b) (i)) – Exam Invigilators check-in students for their exams, start and end exams, support students who have questions including contacting instructors for clarification, and provide ongoing invigilation during an exam
Senior Exam Invigilators at the Centre for Accessibility (SCHEDULE B 5 M (b) (ii)) - Exam Invigilators that are appointed to provide invigilation expertise during high-volume periods.
Hours of work
For TAs
A full TA appointment is 384 hours (minus 16 hrs vacation, B 5.01) per session. This is usually expressed as 192 hours per term. Vacation time of 16 hours, or 8 hours per term, is deducted from this on your allocation of hours form.
TA duties in a single day cannot exceed seven hours over an eight-hour period without your consent (B 4.03, B 4.04)
A full TA appointment works out to an average of 12 hours per week. Some weeks you will work more, and some weeks you will work less. However, you cannot be required to work more than 24 hours in a single week (B 4.01 (d))
You cannot be required to work before 7:30 a.m. or after 8 p.m. without your consent (B 4.01 (h))
You have the right to a 20-minute break every two hours (unless you are in the middle of a lab) (B 4.02)
You cannot be required to work 24 hours prior to one of your own final exams, including your oral defence (B 4.06)
For Exam Invigilators
Daily hours are a maximum of 8 hours (SCHEDULE B 5 E)
Weekly hours are a maximum of 40 hours
Shifts are normally 4 hours
Overtime rates of 2 times the normal rate are applied to hours in excess of the above maximums (SCHEDULE B 5 F)
What counts as TA work?
Any mandatory work that you do as a TA counts toward your paid hours, including orientations, class preparation, attending lectures, marking and recording grades, preparing/conducting labs and tutorials, meeting with students/TAs/ instructors, e-mail, administration of online classroom environments, invigilating, training, and photocopying.
You are never obliged to work for free.
Managing workload
At the beginning of the term, an Allocation of Hours form (B 2.02) must be filled out. Some faculty will fill this out with you during a meeting; other faculty will have it prepared prior to the beginning of the term. This form outlines your position, ALL of the duties expected of you over the term, and the number of hours you should be spending on your various duties. It should also account for time spent on training and vacation.
Allocation of Hours forms help:
Ensure that instructors are aware of the TA hours assigned to their course.
Ensure that instructor expectations are understood.
Provide an opportunity for TAs to provide feedback on expectations. (Is marking 45 essays in 3 hours realistic?)
If you anticipate that your workload will exceed the number of hours in your appointment, you should notify the instructor and/or departmental TA coordinator so that they can reallocate some of your work or attach additional hours to the appointment. Those are their only options. If a faculty member rejects your concerns, contact your shop steward, member liaison, or the Union Advocate.
You are never obliged to work for free. If you want to talk about how to approach these (sometimes awkward) conversations, contact your shop steward, member liaison, or the Advocate.
Vacation, holidays, and leaves of absence
Vacation for TAs
Each TA appointment includes vacation time (B 5.01). If you have a full appointment of 384 hours over the Winter Session, 16 hours are to be used as vacation time, typically between December 24 and the beginning of the next term (B 2.02). If you have a single term appointment of 192 hours, eight of those hours are paid vacation time, and should be taken at the end of that term. If you have less than a full appointment, these hours are prorated.
Vacation for Exam Invigilators
Due to the unevenness of shifts at the CfA, vacation time is compensated for as 4% of your gross earnings. This is paid out each payday (SCHEDULE B 5 I)
Sick Leave for TAs
A full-time TA position includes 12 hours of paid sick leave per term (B 6.06), prorated for partial appointments. TAs must notify their instructor that they are sick as soon as possible, in which case the instructor is responsible for finding a replacement TA. Unused leave can be carried forward to the next term, to a maximum of 24 hours banked (B 6.06 (b)). Paid sick leave means that you don’t have to make up missed time due to illness.
Sick Leave for Exam Invigilators
Invigilators are allowed sick leave as per the Employment Standards Act of BC. Currently, that means that, after 90 days of employment, employees can take up to 5 paid days and 3 unpaid days of job-protected leave per calendar year. The amount of pay you receive is an “average” day’s pay. This average is based on the amount you were paid for the last 30 days divided by the number of days you worked (SCHEDULE B 5 K (ii))
Other Types of Leave
Maternity/parental leave (B 6.05) is available for all members. This leave is unpaid, but you may be eligible for Employment Insurance or support from the Union’s Parental Leave Fund
Unpaid leave is available to attend conferences (B 6.10) or prepare for an academic defence or comprehensive examination (B 6.11). You should give the instructor as much notice as possible.
Any member who is addressing domestic violence (B 6.12) in their life will be provided up to 5 days of paid leave.
Paid compassionate leave of 5 full working days (B 6.03) is available to members who have experienced a recent death in their family (broadly defined).
Indigenous cultural leave of 2 days (B 6.13) is available to self-identifying Indigenous members for ceremonial, cultural, or spiritual events
Protection from harassment, discrimination and academic harm
Everyone has the right to work in an environment free of harassment (A 7.06)
Any threat to harm an employee’s academic standing or performance that is intended to prevent an employee from exercising their rights as provided for in this Agreement is a form of personal harassment.
Both UBC and CUPE 2278 are bound by the Human RIghts Code of BC.
It is prohibited to discriminate against an individual based on:
Age
Race, colour, ancestry, or place of origin
Political belief or religion, or membership, office, non-membership or activity in any political, religious, labour, or academic organization
Sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression
Marital or family status
Physical or mental disability
Criminal or summary conviction offence that is unrelated to the employment or to the intended employment of that person
Any other set of grounds that may be outlined in the Human Rights Code of BC in the future
All workers in BC who face barriers to participation in the workplace due to personal characteristics outlined in the Human Rights Code of BC must be accommodated by the employer, up to the point of “undue hardship.” The term “undue hardship” is a bit of a floating signifier, and you should talk to the Advocate about it if you need to assert your right to accommodation.