Faculty and staff FAQ

FAQs have been developed to address the most common concerns among students, please direct all inquiries to the strike information website or to UM’s Virtual Advising Help Centre.

UMFA members do not have university liability insurance coverage while engaging in strike related activities. However, they do have university liability insurance coverage while engaging in their normal duties (e.g., teaching, research, clinical, counselling activities). If these duties normally take place on university property, for example teaching, these duties must continue to take place on university property in order for university liability insurance to continue to apply. Also, if there is a legal agreement in place for the activity in question to be held off site that addresses matters such as liability, indemnity and insurance, no coverage is otherwise provided. 

Yes. For the pension plan, UMFA members on strike will receive no credited service nor contributions towards their pension plan while they remain on strike. UMFA has elected to pay both the employer and employee benefit premiums while their members are on strike, so coverage will continue for group life insurance, long term disability, accidental death and dismemberment, optional dependent life insurance, dental plan, supplementary health plan, health care spending account, and the employee assistance program. 

Yes. For example, research/study leave credit accrual and future top-up for maternity and parental leaves are dependent on continuous services, which will be interrupted for an UMFA member on strike. Maximum untenured periods may also be affected, since lapses in service are not included in the calculation. 

UMFA members will not be affected by strike action if they are on an approved sick leave, maternity/parental leave, or long term disability that bridges the term of the strike. In particular, they will continue to receive maternity/parental leave top-up or disability payments. If the period of leave or disability should expire during the strike and the UMFA member intends to continue with academic duties, they must submit a Notification of Intention to Continue All Employment form (PDF).

No, for days during which UMFA members are on strike, only members who complete the Notification of Intention to Continue all Normal Duties form and have returned to work will receive their standard compensation, staff benefits and pension contributions. The University will not provide back-pay or make pension contributions for members who have withdrawn their labour during the strike.

The academic schedule has been revised as a result of the strike. Please visit the important dates and deadlines webpage for all final dates.

When striking UMFA members resume teaching, no assignments will be due or exams held in interrupted courses within 72 hours of the first teaching session. This is to reduce any undue anxiety or hardship for students impacted by the strike.

A new exam schedule for courses that were interrupted by the strike will be made available after December 9. At that point, if students have any major conflicts, they should contact their instructor or the advising office of their faculty/college/school as soon as possible.

To maintain the integrity of the university’s courses and programs, and to ensure requirements for accreditation, the number of instructional days should remain at sixty-one where at all possible. Courses have minimum instructional hours determined by units and approved by the university Senate. Instructors carefully craft their courses to meet these requirements. It is important that instructors are provided with sufficient time to teach students and facilitate learning. All students have sufficient time to successfully learn the content in courses and compete the required assessments of their learning. Students must be insured that the original learning goals or outcomes for the courses and programs are met. If this does not occur, students may not be prepared for follow-on courses that have prerequisite requirements or have the necessary knowledge to progress effectively and safely to placements or other academic activities including laboratories. Also, some programs have strict minimum contact hours that are stipulated within national accreditation standards. If these standards are not met, programs can lose accreditation and students may be ineligible to meet professional standards for practice in the profession. Lastly, there is generally agreed to understanding of what constitutes a 3 credit hour course across institutions in Canada and more broadly. If the number of teaching hours is altered, there is a potential that other institutions may not accept the course or program from UM. This could have significant consequences for student course credits or even degree(s), when applying to enter other programs or seeking some types of employment.