RORY MACLEAN
News Editor

The library had been in breach of the Saskatchewan Labour Standards Act by failing to provide the minimum call-out pay to casual staff who had been working two-hour shifts in the library.

The minimum call-out law requires that all workers receive a minimum of $27.75 for being called into work or their wage for the number of hours worked, whichever is higher. Minimum call-out is equivalent to three hours pay at minimum wage.

According to Jill Mierke, human resources manager at the library, the library had been operating under the impression that university students were exempt from the minimum call-out act.

Technically, in the act, students are exempt. But the issue hinges on the definition of students.

“Up until two years ago university students were excluded from minimum call-out,” she said.

In June 2007, a court challenger successfully altered the definition to include only high school students.

“It was not communicated to the university or the union,” said Mierke. “We are now clear that university students are not exempt.”

Labour standards has indicated to the library that they are to pay wages owed as far back as 12 months. Mierke says this includes casual staff no longer employed at the library.

None of this would have come to light if it weren’t for one student employed at the Engineering Library, Katie Buck.

Buck says she was prompted to look into the wage issue after their shifts had been reduced to two hours, due to library-wide budget cuts.

“I thought something about that seemed fishy,” she said. “It turned out the minimum call-out wage was not being met. I approached my boss but she just told me I was wrong.”

Buck later approached Glenn Ross, the president of university labour union CUPE 1975, who looked into the issue for her and contacted the government.

Soon after, Buck and other library staff received an email from their supervisors saying that due to changes to the minimum call-out act, all staff would now be working a minimum of 2.25-hour shifts.

At the rate of pay for casual library staff, the minimum call-out pay is reached after two hours and nine minutes, but fifteen minutes were added on just to make it simpler.

According to Mierke, the whole matter is just a communication issue.

“It was never communicated, at least to any of us, that there was a change to the definition of a student and the Labour Standards Act has not been changed to reflect that. It’s very unfortunate that it took a student having to make a call to labour standards.”

The head of the law library did not even know, said Mierke.

“But they should know these things. We’re at a university,” said Buck. “If I hadn’t said anything would it just have gone unnoticed?”

It remains to be seen whether casual students working in other areas of the university have been affected.

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photo: Robby Davis