On September 15, we sent an email to all TAs about technical issues with activating or signing into their McGill employee email account (@mcgill.ca). We have followed up with McGill HR for everyone who has filled out that survey. Some issues have been resolved, but many are still outstanding.
Due to the number and variety of issues TAs are experiencing (see #1-5 below), the union does not have the capacity to follow up with everyone individually, but we have created a more comprehensive survey to help AGSEM / McGill Human Resources / McGill IT / McGill Workday address these issues in batches. In particular, we are concerned that many TAs are not going to receive their pay on time.
Filling out this survey is the best way to communicate to us that you are (still) experiencing any issues. You can fill this survey out multiple times to reflect any changes you are experiencing. Please fill out this form even if you have reached out to us by email or filled out our previous survey. Fill out the survey now.
For ease of transferring information and fast-tracking solutions to any of the issues you are encountering, all of the information you submit will be sent directly to McGill HR. Your information may then be forwarded to relevant offices in Workday and IT services. Anything about your working conditions that you wish to remain confidential can be emailed directly to us at president@agsem-aeedem.ca.
Urgent problems include, but are not limited to:
1. Not receiving pay: The most recent pay period is September 6-19, 2020, and this pay should have been processed by your department by September 23, and will appear in your bank account by October 1. You can check whether you will receive pay on time by logging into Workday > Pay > Payslips. You should have a pay stub that indicates that you will receive Teaching Assistant pay for this period. If you do not, there may be an issue with your pay and you should fill out the survey ASAP. Under our Collective Agreement, TAs must be paid within 30 days of starting work.
2. Unable to log into Workday and/or unable to update payroll information: Potentially related to #1. If you cannot log into Workday with either your @mail.mcgill.ca email or @mcgill.ca email (if activated), check that you have McGill’s VPN activated. If this does not solve your problem with logging into Workday, there may be another issue.
3. Not having Zoom Pro: TAs either need access to any Zoom Pro account, or specifically need access to Pro through an employee email to use the features they need for their job.
4. “Terminated”, unable to see TA position on Workday, have not signed a contract yet: This may be an issue at the departmental level, but we want to ensure that your rights are being respected and you are getting paid for your work.
5. Presently holding multiple contracts (either TA, RA, academic casual, non-academic casual) but one or more position does not appear on Workday and you are not getting paid for one or more. This is related to #1, #4, a Workday platform issue, and/or a departmental issue.
A less urgent problem that we are also tracking in the survey is access to the McGill employee email (@mcgill.ca). In the past, all TAs were able to activate their employee email, but that has changed this semester. We currently do not know whether McGill IT intends on bringing TA employee emails back for everyone. That said, McGill’s instructor license for Zoom Pro is activated through employee emails, and the union’s position is that as teaching staff, all TAs should have access to their account and all of the tools they need to do their work.
Some TAs appear to have workarounds to access all the features they need for Workday and Zoom this semester. Even if access to the employee email is not presenting you with any issues for your current TA position, do still let us know if the email is not activated by filling out the survey so we can try to prevent issues like this in the future.
Workday
At the end of July, McGill transitioned all employment data off of Banner (Minerva) to Workday. We have also received a number of questions about Workday itself, and we are working to find answers from McGill HR. At this point, we can tell you the following:
If you are off campus, you will need to log into McGill’s VPN to access all of the employee features of Workday—whether you are signing in with your student email or employee email.
All TAs must make sure their information is updated in Workday. As a TA, you must be paid within 30 days of the start of work, so make sure your information is updated ASAP. If you have not been paid within 30 days of starting your position, please fill out the survey.
As a TA, you are not required to submit timesheets to Workday. This has been confirmed to us by McGill HR. You have a fixed contract and are paid on a biweekly average. If you are approved to work additional hours above your contract, you will submit timesheets to Workday.
Departments are gradually transitioning all TA postings to Workday instead of CAPS/MyFuture. The Collective Agreement still applies in its entirety, however. This means that TA postings must follow the rules in Articles 12–13 of our Collective Agreement.
You must be paid for all hours worked. If you are doing unanticipated work due to the technical glitches of McGill’s systems, keep track of this time. These hours should be added to your Workload Form at the midterm review. We have prepared this document, which summarizes your rights related to workload and provides tools to help you track your hours.
Any additional issues or questions about Workday, Zoom, or your employee email can be sent to president@agsem-aeedem.ca