Over the past few weeks, institutions have begun processing the payment of salary retroactivity related to the changes in bonuses and allowances resulting from the 2023–2028 renewal of your conditions of employment.

We are currently receiving a large number of questions on this matter. For full details regarding the changes made to bonuses and allowances, we invite you to consult our webpage dedicated to the 2023–2028 Renewal. Please note that this section is currently available in French only. If you have any questions, you may contact the Legal Affairs and Labour Relations Department (DAJRT) at dajrt@agesss.qc.ca.

If you would like clarification regarding the amounts paid by your institution in connection with this matter, we recommend that you contact the “Service aux cadres” of your institution.

CLARIFICATIONS REGARDING SALARY RECOVERIES

Some of you may notice deductions and adjustments on the pay statement(s) corresponding to the payment of amounts related to this matter. This may result from adjustments to amounts previously paid under the former provisions, followed by the payment of amounts under the new provisions.

For example, the allowance for a manager working in youth services is now 10% (previously, it consisted of individual bonuses of 3% or 4%, or the combination of both allowances for a total of 7%). In such a case, the institution will subtract the amount of 3%, 4% or 7% paid during the period (shown as a negative amount on the pay statement) and will then pay the 10% allowance for that same period (shown as a positive amount on the pay statement).

This approach is compliant and generally does not cause any issues.
We have also observed that in certain cases, institutions recover other amounts directly from the retroactive salary payment owed. If you agree with the amount being recovered, no action is required on your part.

However, we would like to draw your attention to Article 6.0.30 of your conditions of employment, which sets out the procedures applicable in cases where salary has been overpaid:

« An employer who discovers that salary has been overpaid to a manager must notify the manager of the error. The employer may only recover salary overpaid during the six (6) months preceding this notice.

The employer must reach an agreement with the manager to determine the terms of repayment of the overpaid salary.

If no agreement is reached, the employer shall deduct the overpaid salary from each pay at a rate of 10% of that salary until the full amount has been recovered.

The employer must provide the manager with an explanatory statement detailing the overpaid salary prior to recovery. »

We are aware that this article is not always applied by institutions (particularly the requirement to provide an explanatory statement). Please be assured that AGESSS will continue its representations with Santé Québec to ensure that institutions apply best practices in compensation administration.

RECOVERIES RELATED TO REMOTE WORK

As part of the 2023–2028 renewal, and despite the representations made by AGESSS, several bonuses and allowances were modified to specify that:
“A manager who, through remote work, directly supervises one of the activity centres mentioned in the first paragraph or supervises the quality of practice may not receive this allowance.”
These changes came into effect in summer 2025.

It is therefore possible that your institution may recover amounts related to hours worked remotely over the past few months. This recovery is consistent with your conditions of employment, subject to the procedures outlined in Article 6.0.30 mentioned above.