Hugo Pilon Larose
The Press
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The disparity of treatment clauses fix different working conditions to employees who do the same tasks on the basis of a hiring date. Prohibited in Quebec on subjects covered by a labor standard, they are also prohibited for pension plans and social benefits since the adoption of a law in 2018, which excludes existing ones.
During the last election campaign and several times since, the Legault government promised to abolish the disparity of treatment clauses still in force. Earlier this week, the Force jeunesse organization was worried that nothing would be announced, saying that “unless the Minister of Labor or the Prime Minister pulls a rabbit out of their hats by the end of the parliamentary session […] nothing indicates to us that this file will be settled”.
Reaching consensus
In interview with The PressJean Boulet confirms that he received an opinion this spring that he requested from the Labor and Workforce Advisory Committee (CCTM), on which employers and unions sit, and which defines a consensual way to abolish the clauses still present in collective agreements.
In this report, that The Press consulted, the CCTM recommends that Quebec give free rein to negotiations and take stock by 2027. The Minister of Labor understands for his part that the unions and employers are giving themselves “a five-year horizon to negotiate the elimination of “orphan” clauses […] with a view to intergenerational equity”.
«Le [comité] points out that the legislative solution is not appropriate. […] We have found an avenue that allows us to achieve our objective by consensus. I’m extremely happy with that. This allows us to respect our objective of ensuring fairness between generations and gradually eliminating disparity of treatment clauses. [toujours en vigueur] “, explains Mr. Boulet.
To the extent that there is a consensus, to the extent that everyone is going in the same direction, the risks [d’échec] are extremely thin. If there are any left after [2027]we’ll see what measures we have to implement, or what steps we have to adopt, but that’s a hypothesis that I don’t have in mind.
–
Jean Boulet, Minister of Labor
–
The CCTM also recommends developing equivalence criteria between the various pension plans and providing an exemption for workers soon to be eligible for retirement, in order to avoid a wave of hasty departures.
A way of passage
According to the most recent data from Retraite Québec quoted in an interview by the Minister of Labour, there remain to date nearly 80 collective agreements which still provide for disparity of treatment clauses relating to pension plans. In most cases, this means excluding new employees (often young workers) from a defined benefit pension plan, where the amount of the pension is fixed in advance, to offer instead a defined contribution plan, where the contributions are fixed, but the retirement income is not.
For Jean Boulet, the adoption in December 2020 of a law allowing the establishment of target benefit plans creates a way forward in future negotiations to abolish these disparities in treatment. The CCTM also states that this type of “middle” plan is a possible avenue that provides better protection for participants and a predictable contribution for employers.
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Hugo Pilon Larose
The Press
–
The disparity of treatment clauses fix different working conditions to employees who do the same tasks on the basis of a hiring date. Prohibited in Quebec on subjects covered by a labor standard, they are also prohibited for pension plans and social benefits since the adoption of a law in 2018, which excludes existing ones.
During the last election campaign and several times since, the Legault government promised to abolish the disparity of treatment clauses still in force. Earlier this week, the Force jeunesse organization was worried that nothing would be announced, saying that “unless the Minister of Labor or the Prime Minister pulls a rabbit out of their hats by the end of the parliamentary session […] nothing indicates to us that this file will be settled”.
Reaching consensus
In interview with The PressJean Boulet confirms that he received an opinion this spring that he requested from the Labor and Workforce Advisory Committee (CCTM), on which employers and unions sit, and which defines a consensual way to abolish the clauses still present in collective agreements.
In this report, that The Press consulted, the CCTM recommends that Quebec give free rein to negotiations and take stock by 2027. The Minister of Labor understands for his part that the unions and employers are giving themselves “a five-year horizon to negotiate the elimination of “orphan” clauses […] with a view to intergenerational equity”.
«Le [comité] points out that the legislative solution is not appropriate. […] We have found an avenue that allows us to achieve our objective by consensus. I’m extremely happy with that. This allows us to respect our objective of ensuring fairness between generations and gradually eliminating disparity of treatment clauses. [toujours en vigueur] “, explains Mr. Boulet.
To the extent that there is a consensus, to the extent that everyone is going in the same direction, the risks [d’échec] are extremely thin. If there are any left after [2027]we’ll see what measures we have to implement, or what steps we have to adopt, but that’s a hypothesis that I don’t have in mind.
–
Jean Boulet, Minister of Labor
–
The CCTM also recommends developing equivalence criteria between the various pension plans and providing an exemption for workers soon to be eligible for retirement, in order to avoid a wave of hasty departures.
A way of passage
According to the most recent data from Retraite Québec quoted in an interview by the Minister of Labour, there remain to date nearly 80 collective agreements which still provide for disparity of treatment clauses relating to pension plans. In most cases, this means excluding new employees (often young workers) from a defined benefit pension plan, where the amount of the pension is fixed in advance, to offer instead a defined contribution plan, where the contributions are fixed, but the retirement income is not.
For Jean Boulet, the adoption in December 2020 of a law allowing the establishment of target benefit plans creates a way forward in future negotiations to abolish these disparities in treatment. The CCTM also states that this type of “middle” plan is a possible avenue that provides better protection for participants and a predictable contribution for employers.
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