Eligible employees at TOM POWELL DESIGN are provided a wide range of benefits.

A number of programs including: Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), and Worker’s Compensation Coverage (WCB)) cover all TOM POWELL DESIGN employees in the manner prescribed by law.

The following benefits are also available to eligible employees: (Details of each follow)

A) Blue Cross

B) Non-Mandatory Days Off with Pay

   1) Float Day (Birthday)
2) Sick Benefits
3) Christmas – New Years Closure
4) Bereavement Leave

C) General and Other Holidays

D) Vacation Accrual

E) Other Leave Options

F) Employee Parking

Eligible employees are:

REGULAR FULL-TIME employees are those who are not in a temporary, contractor or probationary status and who are regularly scheduled to work full time (37.5 hours per week)and are eligible for TOM POWELL DESIGN’s benefit package, subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of each benefit program.

REGULAR PART-TIME employees are those who are not in a temporary, contractor or probationary status and who are regularly scheduled to work under 37.5 hours per week. Employees who work between 24 – 37.5 hours per week are eligible for TOM POWELL DESIGN’S benefit package, subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations of each benefit program and adjusted based on hours of work.

A) Blue Cross

TOM POWELL DESIGN recognized the need and offers a “mandatory” 50/50 cost shared group benefit plan administered by Blue Cross. Each employee will receive (or have access to) the Blue Cross standard booklet which outlines the group
benefits in more detail. Briefly, (and not a complete description) the plan includes basic group life insurance, accidental death & dismemberment, health benefits (80%, no deductible, example drug, eye exam, paramedical ($500/ year), etc),
dental (80%, no deductible ; max $1500 per year), weekly indemnity and long term disability benefits.

B) Non-Mandatory Days Off with Pay

Tom Powell Design, although not required under law, has elected to offer the following benefit of additional days off with pay.

1. Float Day

(Can be used for “Birthday Day Off” or for a different day): Float days are an additional
benefit depending on the employee’s length of employment. They are not cash redeemable or transferable.

If there is a special reason to carry unused float days into the next fiscal year,
it must be approved in advance.

The entitlement is based on full time employment. Employees who work less
than 37.5 hours per week will be pro-rated based on their average hours
of work per month.

Requests for this time off must be submitted a minimum of one week in advance
and approved based on business needs and time of availability. Half day increments
(3.75 working hours) may be scheduled.

2. Sick Benefits

TOM POWELL DESIGN provides paid Sick leave benefits to all eligible employees
for periods of temporary absence due to:

a) Personal Illness

b) Family Illness

c) Medical Appointments

Eligible employees will accrue Sick leave benefits at the rate of X days per year
or .5 of a day for every full month of service. Sick leave benefits are calculated
on the basis of a “fiscal year” to December 31st.

The first year of employment, sick leave will begin to accumulate after the 90 day probation period.

An eligible employee may use X of the X days to care for immediate family members.

Paid sick leave can be used in minimum increments of one-half day (3.75 hours).

Unused sick leave benefits will not be accumulated, paid out or carried over to the next fiscal year.

Personal or Family Illness – Employees who are unable to report to work due
to illness or injury should notify Diane Blahey, President as early as possible before the scheduled start of their workday.

Diane Blahey, President must also be contacted on each additional day of absence. Paid leave may be pro-rated to cover the year period.

Medical Appointments – Employees who have pre-scheduled medical appointments, must put a request in to Diane Blahey, President.

3. Christmas-New Years Closure

TOM POWELL DESIGN offices historically close at noon on Christmas Eve through to January 1st. This is not part of your holiday time and will be outlined, pending the following of dates each calendar year.

When the Christmas and/or New Year’s
Day falls on a weekend, it will be observed during the Christmas Week closure.

4. Bereavement Leave

Employees are entitled to take time off due to the death of an immediate family member and should notify Diane Blahey, President immediately. X paid days
off will be granted to the employee.

TOM POWELL DESIGN defines “immediate family” as the employee’s spouse, partner, (in-laws), parent,
(in-laws), child, grandparents, legal guardian or sibling.

Should an employee wish to take additional time off, they may do so
on an unpaid basis.

C) General and Other Holidays

TOM POWELL DESIGN will observe holiday time off to all employees
on the holidays listed below:

GENERAL HOLIDAYS

New Year’s Day (January)
Louis Reil Day (3rd Monday February)
Good Friday (Friday before Easter, (March/April)
Victoria Day (May)
Canada Day (July 1)
Labour Day (September)
Thanksgiving (October)
Christmas Day (December 25)

OTHER HOLIDAYS
(Tom Powell elects to pay employees for these days off)

Civic Holiday (1st Monday in August)
Remembrance Day (November 11) only when it falls on a weekday.
Boxing Day (December 26)

D) Vacation Accrual

Regular full-time employees

The amount of paid vacation time employees receive each year increases
with the length of their employment as shown in the following schedule:

• (2 weeks) Upon initial eligibility the employee is entitled to 10 vacation
days each year, accrued monthly at the rate of 0.833 days.

• (3 weeks) After 3 years of eligible service the employee is entitled to
15 vacation days each year, accrued monthly at the rate of 1.25 days.

• (4 weeks) After 6 years of eligible service the employee is entitled to
20 vacation days each year, accrued monthly at the rate of 1.667 days.

Accrual of initial holiday entitlement is based on the “vacation year” to the
employee’s anniversary date. 

Once an employee begins their employment, vacation time begins to be
accumulated and will be adjusted according to the schedule above,
based on years of service.

Paid vacation time can be used in minimum increments of one-half day
(3.75 hours).

Employees with three or more weeks vacation, two weeks are available
in succession. If more than two weeks in succession are requested,
prior management approval must be obtained.

To plan vacation time off, employees will be requested to submit preliminary
vacation preferences in February/March of each calendar year. Senior
employees will receive preference where time choice conflicts occur.

Requests will be reviewed based on a number of factors, including business
needs and staffing requirements and seniority.

Due to the increased year end schedules and fewer work days in December, vacation requests during this month should be avoided.

Vacation time must be taken within the vacation year.

E) Other Un-Paid Leave Options

There are eight unpaid leave options for employees

Type of leave Length of leave Purpose of leave

Maternity Leave 17 weeks for an employee expecting to give birth to a child

Parental Leave 37 weeks for parents to care for their new child

Family Leave 3 days for an employee to deal with family responsibilities
or personal illness

Compassionate Care Leave 8 weeks for
an employee to care for a very ill family member

Leave for Organ Donation 13 weeks for an employee to donate an organ or tissue

Bereavement Leave 3 days for an employee to deal with the death of a family member

Leave for Reservists When needed For an employee in the for service Canadian Forces Reserve  who needs time to serve

Leave for Citizenship 4 hours For a new Canadian to receive Ceremony their certificate of citizenship

Employees who have worked with the same employer for at least 30 days qualify
for this leave. The legislation provides three unpaid days per year as family leave. Many employers give greater benefits than those provided for in the legislation, such as more days off or paid leave. Family leave is to deal with family responsibilities or personal illness.

Jury and/or Witness Duty – TOM POWELL DESIGN allows employees to serve on jury duty or appear as a witness (other than for Tom Powell Design) when requested. Employees may request unpaid leave for the length of absence.

Employees must show the jury duty summons to Diane Blahey, President as soon as possible so that he/she may make arrangements to accommodate their absence. Employees are expected to report for work whenever the court schedule permits.

F) Employee Parking

TOM POWELL DESIGN leases a select number of parking spaces behind
the building for the use by “grandfathered” employees, clients and some specific
negotiated positions. “Grandfathered” employees were employed prior to 2017.