The Bulletin, Vol. 40, No. 1 September/October 1996 from the NL ...

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MINDING THE GROUP INSURANCE SHOP?A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITYby Barbara LewisIn early September, all members insured with the NLTA's Insurance Plan received through their homeaddresses details about changes to the various benefits effective October 1, 1996. These changes were theresult of an extensive review of the entire NLTA Insurance Program carried out in the last school year.During that review, through the means of a questionnaire, focus groups in various geographic areas,consultation with Branches and input from individuals at large, decisions were taken at AGM 1996governing how the various insured benefits will be funded and structured for the next few years. That workis now done and is NLTA history. Your Insurance Plan is on sound financial ground. All decisions are madeby teachers, for teachers. NLTA owns and operates this massive insurance business for you, the insuredteacher. It is one of the largest group insurance operations in the Atlantic Region.Who is minding the insurance shop? You, the teachers, are. No one else. Through a Board of Trustees (allNLTA members) appointed by the Provincial Executive, this complex financial enterprise of insuredbenefits includes coverage for full-time teachers, substitute teachers, teachers on leave, retired teachers,dependents of active and deceased teachers and dependents of retired and deceased retired teachers. Thepurpose of any group insurance plan is to meet the needs of its members, as determined by them, withinreasonable financial parameters. That has been accomplished through the review carried out last year andapproved by AGM 1996.With any group insurance plan, not all the insurance needs of each insured member will be met. That isunderstood. The plan is designed and funded for the group, not the individual. Living within the range ofbenefits negotiated for the most reasonable cost is the responsibility of us all. With any enterprise this largeand complex, human nature tells us that there will most probably be a few (very few, we trust) who do notfully comprehend that any abuse of the benefits structure will harm not the insuring company, but thefinancial stability of the plan, and hence the insured membership, as increasing costs to the members, notthe insuring companies, will be the result.The administrators of the Plan, Johnson Incorporated, who are under contract to the Group InsuranceTrustees to provide servicing of the benefits, from payroll deductions to claims payment, are obliged toadhere to the conditions of plan design and payment as in the underwriting agreements. They do not makethe governing decisions. They simply carry out the wishes of the NLTA as approved by the Group InsuranceTrustees, the Provincial Executive Council and the AGM, the latter being the Parliament of the Association.All insured members are expected to follow the benefit guidelines. Failure to do so will be considered notonly an act of bad faith against the Association and your fellow colleagues; but also a fraudulent action.So minding the NLTA's group insurance shop is the responsibility of all insured members. Only thosebenefits which have been approved by NLTA will be paid. In the Insurance Report accepted by AGM 1996,the following motion was ratified:Misuse of plan benefits by members will be addressed through a comprehensive education, communication,and monitoring program and, where misuse is identified, appropriate legal action will be taken.Attempts to defraud your Insurance Program are attempts to defraud your NLTA colleagues, no one else,since they, and only they, in the end, will bear the extra financial burden as insurance costs increase.Help keep your Group Insurance Plan financially healthy. It is your insurance shop to mind. Adhering to thebenefit guidelines for coverages is not only an individual, but also a collective responsibility.Barbara Lewis is Administrative Officer, Benefits and Economic Services, with the NLTA.
APPLICATION OF SENIORITYLAYOFFS AND RECALLby Wayne NoseworthyIn order to avoid inconsistencies in the application of certain aspects of Article 9 in the Provincial CollectiveAgreement and Article 48 of the Labrador West Collective Agreement, discussions were held during thewinter of 1996 between representatives of the NLTA, the Department of Education and Training, andTreasury Board, and the Newfoundland and Labrador School Board Association. The purpose of themeeting was to reach an agreement with regard to some common aspects of the application of seniorityrights with regard to layoffs and recall.As a result of discussions between the parties, the following procedures will apply:1. For the purpose of layoff, under Article 9.07 (a) (Provincial) and Article 48.08 (Labrador West), seniorityof teachers is to be determined as of the last day of the school year during which reassignment and or layoffdecisions are to occur. This means, for example, that for the 1996-97 school year decisions with respect tothe relative seniority of teachers in all boards will be based on the seniority that teachers would have as ofthe last teaching day in June of 1997. This will be the case, even though May 7 is the deadline for layoffnotices.2. For the purpose of recall in accordance with Article 9.11 (Provincial) and Article 48.06 (a) (LabradorWest), seniority shall be applied as measured at the point that a teacher's layoff from contract becameeffective. For example, if a teacher were laid off from a school board in the Province of Newfoundland andLabrador at the end of the 1994-95 school year (June 1995) then that person's placement on the seniority listfor the purpose of recall only, would be as measured on the last teaching day in June 1995. This applicationof seniority recognition does not in any way interfere with or negate any other understandings orapplications of seniority, or seniority accumulation, as referenced in either the Provincial or the LabradorWest Collective Agreement.These determinations were felt to be necessary since there have developed, from time to time, a widevariety of understandings and approaches to deciding at what point seniority should be measured relative toboth layoff decisions and application of recall rights.Inquiries with respect to the above may be referred to the Benefits and Economic Services Division atNLTA.Wayne Noseworthy is Administrative Officer, Benefits and Economic Services, with the NLTA.
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Page 15 and 16: SCHOOL BOARD CONSOLIDATIONSUCCESSOR
Page 17 and 18: LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR TEACHERSby Edw
Page 19: the NLTA office immediately to prov
Page 23 and 24: eformers, policy makers must establ
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Page 27 and 28: APEF EDUCATION INDICATORS FOR ATLAN
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Page 31 and 32: killed during the First and Second
Page 33: CalendarANNUAL PROVINCIAL WOMEN'S C

The Bulletin, Vol. 40, No. 1 September/October 1996 from the NL ...

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