For locals: Article 14.1(d) of the CUPE Constitution requires per capita to be paid on “average regular monthly wages”.

For employers: Union dues should be deducted based on the local’s collective agreement, however, for reporting “regular wages” to CUPE National please refer to the information below.

Regular wages are all earnings of a regular nature for time worked, including:

  • Statutory holiday pay
  • Vacation pay
  • Sick leave pay
  • Sick days paid by the employer, but not those paid by insurance that kicks in after an employee is off sick for more than 5 days
  • Other leaves with pay
  • Union leaves with pay (even if the local union reimburses the employer)
  • Maternity/paternity/adoption leaves with pay (in cases where the employer pays only a portion of the salary to supplement maternity/paternity/adoption leaves, the top up salary is considered regular wages)
  • Employment Insurance: in cases where the employer pays only a portion of the salary to supplement E.I.; the employer paid portion, or the “top up”, is considered regular wages
  • Workers’ compensation benefits (if an employee maintained full salary from the employer, and the WCB payments went to the employer, the full salary is to be included in regular wages; if the employer pays an employee the difference between monies received from Workers’ Compensation and that employee’s regular salary, the difference is to be included in the total regular wages)
  • Retro pay or Pay Equity– we need notification of the period in which the retro was paid and the retro wage amount
  • Replacement or acting pay
  • Secondment or equalization pay
  • Jury duty or bereavement pay

Regular wages do not include the following, and as such no per capita should be paid for these types of earnings:

  • Overtime pay
  • Statutory holiday worked and paid at a premium
  • Shift premiums or weekend premiums
  • On-call premiums
  • Allowances for vehicle use, kilometres driven, tools, clothing, meals, etc.
  • Monies received in lieu of benefits
  • Severance pay
  • Vacation and signing bonus
  • Other types of extra pay, allowances or bonuses