By now, you have probably received your JE classification from management. Are you unhappy about where you were slotted? Do you believe your new classification does not reflect the job you do? If so, the only way to make a change is to file a challenge.

You have 60 days from the date you received your letter from management to challenge (click here to download a form). Please file challenges electronically if possible.

And remember: your classification (eg. reporter/editor, trades technician or operations analyst) affects not only your pay, but could also affect your ability to remain at the CBC in the event of a downsizing.

You should challenge your slotting if you think another classification more accurately reflects the work you do or if there is no description that properly describes your work. In reading your classification description, you should recognize the broad outline of your job in the first paragraph and key aspects of your job in the list of tasks.

Your challenge should include as much detail as possible about your core duties and suggest the most appropriate classification, if one exists. Given that jobs evolve all the time in our industry, it is possible that no existing classification fits your work. If that is the case for you, please explain in detail.

Challenges will be heard by a joint union-management committee. It is intended that challengers get a ruling within 90 days of submitting their challenge. If it is dismissed, the slotting in the original letter from management remains. If the challenge is upheld, the employee will be re-slotted and retroactive pay will be recalculated.

If CBC management and the Guild do not agree on how to resolve a challenge, the CMG has the right to refer the matter to arbitration.

The JE program has been nearly ten years in the making. It is important to remember that JE is not meant to evaluate your individual performance on the job. It is about describing and ranking all CBC jobs in relation to each other using criteria set out in Pay Equity legislation. It is the first time that jobs from the former three unions (Guild, CEP and CUPE) were compared with each other.

JE was designed as an objective process by the CBC and its unions in the late 1990s and we only recently arrived at the final step: slotting individual employees into jobs. That step was the sole responsibility of management and errors may have been made because it involved thousands of employees. That’s why the challenge process is such an important part of the project. If you think you belong in a different classification according to the work you do, you must make an appeal within 60 days of receiving your letter.

Let’s not lose sight of the benefits of JE. The jobs of hundreds of employees are now compensated more fairly. No one’s base pay is being reduced. No one is being red circled. No matter where you are slotted, you will get general wage increases and, in most cases, a payment in lieu of retroactivity. Overall, $22 million will be paid out in retroactive payments to employees, mostly in the first pay period in February, and to recent retirees in April.

The Guild recognizes that JE has upset long-standing views about how jobs fit together at the CBC. Two Guild reps are available to handle your queries and explain the challenge process. You can send questions or concerns to je@cmg.ca or call the Guild office at 416-591-5333 or 1-800-465-4149.

More details about Job Evaluation can also be found at www.cmg.ca/cbcbranchjobevaluationEN.shtml.