Our Recent Wins
Positive Performance Plan (PPP) Improvements: A Win for Fairness and Transparency
After months of dedicated advocacy, we’re thrilled to announce major improvements to Integral Care’s Positive Performance Plan (PPP) — a significant victory for fairness, transparency, and employee support! Through our work towards Just Cause employment status and the addition of an Employee Ombudsman, we found great inadequacies in the PPP policy and the Internal Dispute Resolution (IDR) policy. Our Union proposed changes to these policies to ensure that employees were given fair chance to dispute disciplinary action and terminations. This was incredibly necessary due to a pattern of retaliatory behavior by Integral Care managers and HR when employees made complaints towards managers or workplace culture. As well as, multiple instances of HR not honoring the right to Union representation during termination meetings.
These changes include the introduction of paid administrative leave during disciplinary actions when appropriate, providing employees with access to documents and evidence related to policy violations, and ensuring that the steps to challenge disciplinary actions are clearly explained. Supervisors are now required to hold follow-up meetings with employees after disciplinary actions to promote accountability and open communication. Additionally, there are now time limits for imposing discipline after an incident, and written details of specific policy violations must be provided to employees in disciplinary cases. To further support growth and development, supervisors must also document and share any additional support or training offered to help employees improve. HR will now provide the accommodations required to ensure Union representation is present during disciplinary meetings. Before termination, employees must receive written notice of potential reasons and have the opportunity to meet with HR to advocate for themselves, submit evidence, and provide a written response within 1–5 days of receiving the notice. Employee responses, evidence, and evidence against them will now be included in accessible personnel files, and termination notices must clearly state the policies violated. This evidence will be reviewed by HR and General Counsel, and then recommendations for next steps whether it be termination, suspension, or reversal of process will be made.
While these updates represent a major step forward, we are still advocating for additional changes. These include establishing an independent employee ombudsman, creating an appeals process outside of HR, allowing terminations to be appealed after they occur, and ending at-will employment for all employees. These improvements are a testament to the power of collective action and our commitment to creating a workplace that is fair, transparent, and supportive for everyone. Let’s celebrate these wins as we continue striving for even greater progress!