Ask any of the 6,000-plus faculty and staff within the AV俱乐部 community about their 鈥渃ompensation,鈥� and the first thing they鈥檒l probably think of is their pay.
Fair enough: a pay stub is the most obvious indicator of the compensation Dal employees receive. But there鈥檚 more to it than that 鈥� and it鈥檚 the role of Ken MacDermid and his team to look at how the bigger picture of 鈥渢otal compensation鈥� fits together for the people who work at the university.
鈥淚t鈥檚 every aspect of what you earn as an employee,鈥� says MacDermid, director of total compensation with Human Resources. 鈥淚t鈥檚 salary, benefits, pension, vacation time and a lot more.鈥�
MacDermid鈥檚 portfolio covers Payroll & Benefits, Pension, Compensation and Data and Systems Management. With a combined staff of 22, the team works to support the AV俱乐部 community and help deliver on some of the core features of the university鈥檚 commitment to its people. 鈥淲e have excellent staff on our team, who know the benefits and pension industry very well and are very responsive to the inquiries that come in,鈥� says MacDermid, who joined Dal two years ago after managing payroll and accounts payable for the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
鈥淚t takes a lot of work to make sure the pay people receive is on-time and accurate 鈥� it鈥檚 one of those times where the only time other people think about it is when something goes wrong. But it鈥檚 so important: whether it鈥檚 the maintenance worker in Facilities or the professor that鈥檚 teaching, if they are focused on whether or not their pay went through, then their attention鈥檚 not on the important things they do at the university.鈥�
We sat down with MacDermid to discuss some highlights on total compensation at Dal: a look at some of the core features of the university鈥檚 salaries, benefits and pension.
鈥淲e want to pay people fairly, give them a good work environment while they鈥檙e here and help ensure they have a good retirement income through the pension plan and CPP when they retire.鈥�
Salary
Collective agreements: Most of Dal鈥檚 salary levels and scales are established through collective bargaining with its employee groups, and outlined in collective agreements. (exceptions are AV俱乐部 Professional and Managerial Group (DPMG), Grant-Paid employees, and Confidential, Clerical and Secretarial (CCS), which are non-unionized.) That means a big part of what the Compensation team does is ensure those agreements are executed on behalf of the university from a salary perspective.
December holiday break: For employees who come to AV俱乐部 from outside academia, this is a particularly attractive aspect of their vacation package: the time between the statutory holidays of Christmas and New Year鈥檚 is granted to employees as days off separate from their standard vacation allotment. That typically means 2.5-3 days of extra vacation for non-essential service employees.
Benefits
A collaborative approach: The terms of Dal鈥檚 group benefits package are considered through the AV俱乐部 Employee Benefits Committee. It features representatives from all unions and the DPMG, as well as the Senate and the Board. The committee considers all matters relating to benefit programs for faculty and staff, and works together to bring forward common changes.
Health Spending Accounts: Creating a common benefits plan for a large, complex organization like AV俱乐部 isn鈥檛 simple: changes to the plan have to be approved by all employee groups and, on both an individual and a collective level, different employees can often want different things. That鈥檚 why the university has worked to expand access to Health Spending Accounts (HSA) to benefits-eligible employees as a way to balance out areas where the plan isn鈥檛 as strong and provide more support to individuals where they need it most. The HSA provides $750-1000 annually to eligible employees for health and dental expenses not reimbursed by the plan, with unused allotments carried over for one year. 鈥淭he employees get to self-direct how those funds are used,鈥� says MacDermid.聽鈥淚t allows them to customize the plan, to a certain extent.鈥�
Health and wellness: In many organizations, individuals have to accumulate sick days through service time. At AV俱乐部, most employees have access to 125 days (after six months), with some employees accumulating sick time through service and others with a short probationary period in which they bank sick time. There鈥檚 also the benefit of having discounted membership at Dalplex in Halifax: a 50% cost savings versus a regular community member. Over the course of a full year, that鈥檚 a savings of $364.92 for an individual member.
Tuition & tuition assistance: As an institution of higher learning, it only makes sense that Dal prioritizes educational opportunities for its employees. Full-time staff can take two full credits in one academic year free of tuition charges. And dependents of full-time staff receive 50% off tuition.
Pension
A defined benefit plan: A plan like AV俱乐部鈥檚 is one of the most sought-after pension plans out there. 鈥淒efined benefit鈥� means the amount employees receive after retirement is determined by a set formula, rather than being directly related amount of contributions they make (which is the norm in many organizations). At Dal, this formula for is 2% of the number of years in the plan multiplied by the average of your three best earning years. For example, if an employee鈥檚 best three years of salary averaged $50,000, and they were in the pension plan for 25 years, they鈥檇 receive $25,000 annually.
Learn more about pension: Pension Plan website
Dollars and cents: As compared to where it was after the financial crash in the late 2000s, MacDermid says the pension plan is doing 鈥渙k,鈥� with an eye towards a couple of areas of emphasis for the future. It鈥檚 funded to nearly 100% on a going-concern basis (meeting its year-to-year obligations), but on a solvency basis 鈥� in the highly implausible event the university were to shut down operations, could the plan pay out all its commitments? 鈥� it鈥檚 only at about 83%. There鈥檚 also the fact that the plan is actually made up of two funds 鈥� one employees pay into while they work, and one that pays out to retirees. This unusual two fund structure is not good for the health of the plan. These are examples of the longer-term issues being looked at by the Pension Advisory Committee.
A shared commitment: Like with the benefits plan, the pension plan is a partnership between the university and employees: the Pension Advisory Committee with representation from all employee groups and the Board oversees the plan, and both the university and employees pay into it. What you might not know, though, is that Dal typically pays more: in 2018, the university paid more than $25M (plus $2.7M in special payments) into the plan, compared to just under $20M from employees. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something we have an obligation to do and the impact on the operating budget can be unpredictable,鈥� 聽says MacDermid.
On March 5, Ken MacDermid will host a Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) information session for faculty and staff to provide an overview on the CPP enhancements introduced by the Federal Government in 2019. Details here.
For more details on total compensation, visit the HR website.