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Workday FAQ

(Last updated January 15, 2023)

**If you are not unionized through AGSEM, per provincial and federal law, you do not have access to AGSEM representation or AGSEM's grievance procedures with McGill. However, you still have rights! This includes that you must be paid within 30 days of starting your contract. You can file a complaint through the CNESST (if your rights have been violated) here.**

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Workday has posed ongoing issues to McGill employees and students, causing problems with hiring, paychecks, and more. Below, you will find information about your rights.

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Logging into Workday - McGill staff email now needed

Once you are receive a TA-ship offer from McGill, a staff email address (first.last@mcgill.ca) will be created for you.

You should use your McGill student credentials for student-related activities, and  your McGill staff credentials for staff-related activities, including logging into Workday. You will not be able to log into Workday with your student credentials.

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You need to connect to the McGill VPN prior to logging into Workday.

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Once you are offered the job, you will also receive a custom notification in Workday, which is also sent to your staff email (first.lastname@mcgill.ca) and your personal email (the one you used to apply for your position). The email will ask you to complete your onboarding activities on Workday within 72 hours, such as:

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  • Manage your direct deposit information

  • Complete Province Tax Elections

  • Complete Federal Withholding Elections

  • Change your emergency contacts

  • Review Documents on Policy on Harassment and Discrimination and Policy Against Sexual Violence

  • Provide your equity data

  • Edit your previous employment history


Additional information on obtaining your McGill staff login credentials is available at: https://www.mcgill.ca/hr/files/hr/obtaining_your_workday_log_in_credentials.pdf

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Please contact McGill IT Support if you have any technical difficulty.  

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Once you have your employee credentials, you can also consult resources from the McGill Academic & Administrative HR Knowledge Base.

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If you believe your rights were violated, please contact AGSEM. 

Workday compensation update – April 2022

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On  January 28, 2022, following a resolution from the AGSEM Delegates’ Council, the union signed a letter of agreement with the university resolving the issue of TAs not paid on time due to issues with Workday’s inefficient implementation. All TAs who experienced late pay will be entitled to a one-time compensation of $40.00 plus $20.00 for each delayed pay period. 

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AGSEM has sent its list of employees eligible for compensation to McGill. However, if your pay was delayed and you did not contact the union, you can still submit a claim directly to the university until 1 May, 2022 at hr.hr@mcgill.ca. You need to include the date your pay was finally processed on time, your employee ID (same as your student ID), and your current email address. Compensation will be paid via direct deposit for active employees. Please make sure that your banking information is up to date in Workday. For those that are no longer employees, you can send an email to hr.hr@mcgill.ca that includes your current banking information. This information must also be sent by 1 May 2022. If no banking information is sent, a cheque will be issued by the university and sent to the mailing address you provided. 

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Until all the issues with Workday are solved, AGSEM is requesting a task force that includes representatives from employee groups, power users and associations at McGill, as well as members of McGill's R2R team to work on system upgrades. We need to solve all issues, minor and major, in a systematic way: small and short term fixes are not sustainable. 

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If you have any questions or if you are experiencing any issues with Workday, please contact us, and don’t forget that if you are spending time trying to sort out any Workday issues, this should be reflected in your Workload form. 

What are my rights?

Payment later than 30 days: Article 17.03 of the AGSEM collective agreement and the Labour Standards Act require first payment within 30 days of starting work.

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Payment by cheque: Article 17.03 requires all employees to be paid by direct deposit. Cheques sent to the wrong address, lost in the mail, or kept at 688 Sherbrooke do not constitute payment of wages.

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Access to equipment and materials: Article 15.01 requires that TAs are provided with all necessary equipment and materials needed to fulfill duties. This applies to staff email, myCourses, and/or Zoom Pro that may not have been available because a TA appointment was not processed.

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Hours of work: Article 11.05 requires that TAs are compensated at the TA rate for all additional hours of work. The hours that a TA spends on training materials required for an essential component of their employment are the employer’s hours. Time spent assisting the employer in resolving his own administrative problems are the employer’s hours. This constitutes unpaid labour. If you are spending a lot of time on Workday issues, put these on your Workload form, and count them against your 

What should I do if I have problem with Workday?

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Still haven’t been paid? Missing a cheque? ​

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You’ve been paid, but! It was late, and you want compensation?

  • Contact the union to verify the dates you were paid and the payment you have received.

  • McGill is not capable of compiling accurate employment data, so we’ll give them a bill.

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You are having issues with your employee email, myCourses, Workday, or Zoom Pro?

  • Open a ticket with HR and/or IT.

  • If your ability to do your job effectively or to apply for a TA position is impacted, contact the union to discuss recourse.

  • If you have trouble applying for a TA position through Workday, submit a .pdf application to your department via email. ALL applicants have the right to apply via email. Copy grievance.1@agsem-aeedem.ca in case the department does not want to accept your application.

What is Workday?

Workday is an HR information system that replaced Banner, which cost millions of dollars. This shift is part of the R2R (“recruitment to retirement") program. Workday is a cloud-based system, been in planning for several years​. McGill did not consult with AGSEM or other unions on the shift to Workday.

 

The “go-live” August, 2020...the busiest time of year, during a pandemic.

 

​Workday, as a system has additional steps that it takes to hire people—this means additional time that local support staff have to spend on hiring and applications.

Media coverage of Workday at McGill

"Workday Means More Work (and No Pay) for TAs at McGill," Canada Newswire, December 22, 2020.

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"Fall 2020 TAs still missing payments as the semester nears end," Maya Mau in The McGill Tribune, December 1, 2020.

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"Unresolved issues with Workday HR system leave hundreds of TAs unpaid," Sequoia Kim in The McGill Tribune, October 27, 2020.

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"Hundreds of McGill University employees have worked without pay since August," Emily Campbell for CTV News, October 23, 2020.

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