HSPBA: The Profile-Based Classification System

Health science professionals working under the HSPBA collective agreement will be moving to the new profile-based classification system by December 6, 2024, as part of the first major change to the classification system for health science professionals since 1988. 

Why Are We Doing This?

Over 18,000 HSA members work as health science professionals in over seventy different professions. The work is complex, and it’s getting more so with each passing year. For many health science professionals, the previous classification system did not kept pace with the change in their work.

For over twenty years, previous governments refused to modernize the classification system, but in the last round of bargaining, HSA and the employer struck an agreement to complete the design and implementation of the new profile-based classification system.

Improvements in the new profile-based classification system will recognize advanced practice work and supervisory/leadership work in the same manner for every profession, resulting in a fair and equitable system for all health science professions.

What’s Happened So Far?

In April 2022, Grade I/Staff level jobs started moving towards the new P1 salary structures. This was called the "P1 Phase-In" and resulted in significant wage increases for thousands of members. The "P1 Phase-In" ended on April 1, 2024; this is why Grade I/Staff level jobs are paid at the previous Grade 2/Sole Charge salary structures. Affected members saw their wage increase by at least 3.8% on top of the general wage increases of the 2022-2025 HSPBA collective agreement.

In September 2023, regular full- and part-time HSPBA members got their first look at how the employer had decided to match their jobs under the new profile-based classifications system. Members received their profile matches from the employer, and then used HSA’s online tool to review their match — this is what is referred to as the Classification Review. 

The next (and final) major step will take place when the new classification system goes live this winter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Click here to see the most frequently asked questions and answers about this process.

Implementation, Wages, and Retro Pay

The new profile-based classification will be implemented by December 6, 2024. When that happens, job classifications will move from the previous system (e.g. Grade I, Sole Charge) to the new profile-based system (e.g. P1, P2A, S2). New salary structures will also be effective on the implementation date.

Please click here for the wage schedules for health science professionals covered by the HSPBA collective agreement that will come into effect when the new system is implemented.

If your job is matched to the P1 Working Professional profile, like the majority of HSA members, you won’t see much of a change as you’ve been paid at the new P1 rate since April 1, 2024.
 
If your job is matched to a different profile (P2A, P2B, or S1 – S4), the salary structure of your job will likely change. The new rates are retroactive to April 1, 2024. If your job’s new rate is higher than your current rate, you will see that increase reflected on your December 6, 2024 pay statement. The employer has agreed to provide retro pay by February 28, 2025.
 
Some jobs in the P2A, P2B and S1 – S4 profiles will have a new wage rate that is lower than members’ current wage rates. These members will be “green circled” which means that they will continue being paid at their current rate, and receive all future general wage increases, for as long as they remain in the same position, i.e. they do not move to the new lower pay rate of their job. Affected members will receive written notification of green circling from the employer prior to implementation. You can read more about green circling in the FAQ below.

Working Professional Profiles

One request we’re hearing is for a simple, plain-language explanation of the new working professional profiles (also called P1, P2A, and P2B). Want to know what they are so you can consider which one best fits your job? Please click!

Where Things Are At

Please click on the headings below to see updates on specific topics related to the new profile-based classification system:

When the new profile-based classification system comes into effect, there are provisions that allow for your union to advocate to recognize new special procedures and techniques by adding them to the P2A Special Procedures profile. This is an exciting opportunity to recognize and compensate the specialized work of many members who have jobs that are currently matched with the P1 profile.

Special Procedures are defined as:

"A recognized level of expertise or competency in a specialized area of practice. This qualification is obtained through specialized education, training, and experience, which is over and above the full-scope working level and is required in order to carry out duties.”

If you think that your work meets the above definition and should be recognized as a new special procedure or technique, you should know that the P2A process is unique and does not require speaking to your steward or filing a grievance. Instead, please send us an email at redesign [at] hsabc.org letting us know your area of practice and your specialized education, training, and experience. Your union has heard from many members about their specialized areas of practice, but we are always ready to hear from more.

Staff in the classifications department are working to review submissions and build a case that shows how each proposed special procedure or technique meets the definition above. Your union intends to give notice as soon as possible after the new profile-based classification system is implemented; this will start the process to determine the special procedures and techniques that will be added to the P2A profile.

We will notify affected members, by profession, as work is added to the P2A profile. Members who perform this work will be coded up or reclassified, as appropriate, based on whether the special procedure/technique is performed for the majority of their work time.

When a new special procedure or technique is added, retroactive pay will be effective from the date that the union gave notice that the procedure or technique should be recognized as part of the P2A profile.

If you believe that your job has been matched to the wrong profile of the new classifications system, you need to wait for the new system to be implemented this winter. Once the system is implemented, please reach out to your steward for assistance with filing a classification grievance to correct your job's profile match.

This link will take you to a listing of reference documents for the new profile-based classification system, including all the profiles. In advance of contacting your HSA steward to file grievance, you may want to consider the information contained in the profiles and identify specific details of the duties, responsibilities and qualifications/requirements of your job that make it a match for the profile sought.   

While you may likely have skills and abilities above and beyond the job’s requirements, please remember that it is the job and not the employee that is being classified, i.e. it is the aspects of the job (the assigned duties, responsibilities and qualifications/requirements) that will determine the profile match. 

The classification review is now concluded.

As part of the HSPBA classifications review, HSA members who thought that the employer-assigned profile match for a job was incorrect were able to file an objection in the fall of 2023 through the online assessment tool.

That process closed in November 2023 and resulted in thousands of objections moving through the process agreed upon by the union and the employer. The outcome of each objection was decided by an appointed classification referee.

Reference Documents
 

The classification manual describes the rules for the new classification system, and the maintenance agreement lays out the process of classifying jobs. The maintenance agreement and classification manual, together with the professional groupings and profile, take effect with the implementation of the new classification system and replace the pre-existing classification provisions of the HSPBA collective agreement. Click here to view the maintenance agreement and classification manual.

The new classification system is based on profiles. Profiles are general enough to encompass all areas and levels of each health science profession within the bargaining unit, but specific enough to differentiate between them. This link will take you to a listing of all the profiles.

As you review the profile documents, know that the new profile-based classification system is based on “best fit”. This means that, though you may see some of your job duties listed on multiple profiles, your job should be matched as a “whole job” to the profile that best describes your overall assigned duties and responsibilities.

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