Sessional Instructor Contract

Background

Sessional Instructor appointments are guided by the TSSU Collective Agreement. Sessional Instructors appointments are concluded by the Dean (or delegate).

Authorities

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RSBC 1996, c. 165)

• • s.31 requires that personal information used to make a decision that directly affects an individual must be kept for at least one year.

BC Human Rights Code (RSBC 1996, c. 210)

• • • s.12(5)(a) requires that a grievance related to wage discrimination be brought within 12 months of the employees termination. 
    • s.22 establishes that time limit for filing grievance as (1) within one year of the alleged contravention or (2) if a continuing contravention is alleged in a complaint, the complaint must be filed within one year of the last alleged instance of the contravention. 

Employment Standards Act (RSBC 1996, c. 113)

• • s. 28(2)(c) stipulates that "payroll records must be retained for 7 years following termination of employment. While this requirement is generally covered by the retention of Financial Services Payroll Files it is prudent to apply this retention period to all employment files. 

Limitation Act (RSBC 1996, c. 266)

• • s.3(5) stipulates that any action not specifically provided for in the act shall not be brought after the expiration of six years after the incident.

SFU Policy A 10.02, Procedure for Appointment of Sessional Instructors.

• • (1) The appointment form FFP 4b shall be completed by the Dean's Office.
  • (2). Copies 1 and 2 shall be sent to the appointee for signature, with the following: TSSU Collective Agreement, TSSU dues form to be completed and returned, TD 1 to be completed and returned, FPP7 to be completed and returned.
  • (3) The appointee signs both copies; keeps copy 2 and returns copy 1 with the completed forms.
  • (4) When the signed copy 1 of the appointment form is returned, the Dean's office shall distribute as follows: copy 1 remains in the Dean's Office, Copy 3 sent to TSSU + last copy of completed dues form, Copy 4 sent to payroll + completed forms, Copy 5 discarded, copy 6 sent to Human Resources, Copy 7 sent to department. 

Collective Bargaining Agreement: TSSU

• • Article XIX: Employment file states that "an employment file shall be kept for each bargaining unit employee."  The section includes detailed information about which documents should and should not be kept on the employee file. For example (A) the file shall include the department copy of the normal appointment document(s), a current curriculum vitae... (B) except for regularly conducted evaluations by students, no anonymous communication shall be placed in the employee file.
  • Article X: Disciplinary Action, Suspension, Termination and Resignation states that (C)(1) "On the request of an employee any written disciplinary or adverse reports shall be removed from the employee's file and destroyed provided that twenty-four (24) months have elapsed since the issuance of the report and no other adverse reports have been received."

RRSDA's

Personnel Files

1999-045 - Personnel Files: Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) Employment Files

Description, Purpose and Use of Documents

• • Records documenting the employment history of employees belonging to the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) bargaining unit.
  • Records are organized as individual case files and may include letters of appointment and appointment forms; resumes and CVs; evaluations of the employee performance by faculty supervisors; disciplinary notices and reports; correspondence, memoranda, and email.
  • The following employees belong to the TSSU bargaining unit: teaching assistants, sessional instructors, and distance education tutors, markers, and (when not faculty) supervisors.
  • The current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the TSSU stipulates that:
    • no records relating to the employee's academic performance or standing are to be kept on his or her employment file (CBA 1998-2001: Article XIV, section C);
    • no records relating to a grievance are to be kept on the employment file (CBA 1998-2001: Article XIV, section D).
  • Do not apply this schedule to the evaluation forms completed by students assessing the course and the TSSU instructor's performance. These records are scheduled separately under RRSDA 1999-006, Instructor / Course Evaluations: TSSU Employees.

Total retention period

CY of last employment contract + 7 years

Competition Files

1999-024 - Competition Files: Academic Appointments

Description, Purpose and Use of Documents

Records relating to competitions for academic staff positions.

• • Records may include, but is not limited to, job postings, job descriptions, lists of candidates, letters of application, resumes and CVs, statements of teaching philosophy and research interests, reference letters, teaching evaluations and material, correspondence, evaluative memoranda, interview questions and answers, reference checks, eligibility criteria, scoring and ranking sheets.
  • Academic staff positions include: tenure-track faculty, lecturers, lab instructors, librarians and archivists, limited term appointments, sessional instructors, teaching assistants, adjunct professors, and other academic positions covered under SFU Policy A 10.01.
  • Appointment procedures vary depending on the position, and may be concluded by the President, the Vice-President Academic, or a Dean. This schedule applies to all departments involved in the appointment procedure. Records relating to the successful candidate will be incorporated into the employee’s Academic Personnel File.

Total retention period

CY competition completed + 1 year

Documents for Review

Electronic Folders & File Naming Conventions

The electronic folder can be labelled as the sample below:

Sessional Instructor Appointments

Payroll Documents

2021 Appointments

Spring 2021 CMPT

File Naming Convention

Lastname_Firstname_ApptType_DocType_Dept/Faculty_YYYYMMDD

e.g. Doe_John_ASP_CV_Beedie_20210714

Business Cases for Document Retention

(TBD - to discuss with FERM Working Group - note for reviewers, post your business cases in this section as to rationale for retaining documents and a length of time to keep them if known)

FoE: If a Sessional Instructor is hired for a long period of time, TSSU Collective Agreement requires the faculty to offer Limited Term Lecturer position (Faculty Association position). Record retention schedule for Personnel Files: Academic Employees (Non-Continuing) 1994-002 is under review. (FoE)

Working Group Questions

Questions to be explored when reviewing the document checklists:

• Are there any documents missing in the list? SIN letter for non-Canadian (FoE).
• Do SI's ever receive appointment letters in addition to the forms? Only offer letter. No appointment letter. (FoE) (FASS CWoo: Each department is different, but in remote environment, offers are issued as email.)
• Are any of the documents above mandatory for SI appointments such that we can ensure the personnel file's completeness? CV. Offer letter. Appointment form. (FoE).  How long should CV's be kept? CY of last employment contract + 7 years as in 1999-045 Retention scheduling. (FoE).
• Who in the department or Dean's office will be responsible for ensuring the files completeness? Undergraduate Programs (FoE).
• Should unsuccessful application information be treated differently than successful candidates information? Yes (FoE).
• What are the requirements to keep these? e.g. legal requirement? base on experience? request from Dean or any other people? Base on legal requirement and University record retention schedules. (FoE).
• Any other business cases to justify the retention period of the documents e.g. how long it has to be kept? Unknown. If a Sessional Instructor is hired for a long period of time, TSSU Collective Agreement requires the faculty to offer Limited Term Lecturer position (Faculty Association position). Record retention schedule for Personnel Files: Academic Employees (Non-Continuing) 1994-002 is under review. (FoE)
• Who else hires SI's that may not be in a Faculty? (ie. Library, Lifelong Learning, CEE?) 
• Who can see these documents? If the SI is in FoE, can FASS can see these documents too? Undergraduate Programs (FoE).
• Will all documents under this section be shared or limited to the appointment form and letter? We would appreciate hearing from other departments/faculties as to the benefits of sharing documents (FoE).
• Who should have access to these documents - either during the process or after it is concluded and someone is hired? Would they have different roles during the process? Undergraduate Programs does everything from advertising the positions to appointments being made for undergraduate courses. Payroll needs the appointment form, Assignment of Wages form, Personal Data Forms, void cheque, TD1 and TD1BC for payment. After all appointments are made, TSSU needs copies of Assignment of Wages Form and appointment form. (FoE)

Access Control Questions

• Will there be any centralized control over folder trees or will this be driven entirely by the original owner/creator? See the folder structure, without seeing the file. See all SI appointments. Centralized structure can help.
• If an SI becomes a TL or continuing Faculty who retains access over the original SI appointments? The original department or the new department? How will new ownership be assigned? Files usually stay in the department, can get access to it
• How will accesses be maintained over time as stakeholder positions at SFU  change? same as above
• If an SI is working across Faculties, who should have access to their contract documents? Payroll documents? co-owners, expertise of the original department, don't want to lose that information, retain historical lineage

Retention Questions

• If someone (e.g. SI or term faculty) has been inactive at SFU for a period long enough for their documents to have exceeded the RRSDA for that category, and then comes back to SFU in the same or a different capacity, will those documents be accessible/reactivated?

Office of Primary Responsibility

• Dean (or delegate)

File Managers/Responsibility of Records

• Department or Program are responsible for the files (uploading files in process, digitalizaion of historical process files)