Employees at Humber Polytechnic are waiting to hear about the possibility of layoffs as the school’s management evaluates the results of the voluntary employee exit program known as VEEP.
OPSEU Local 562 President Miloš Vasić says people are feeling unsettled over the undisclosed metrics Humber hopes to receive with the program.
"The last two weeks, I bet you, have been the least productive weeks in the history of Humber because this is all anyone's been thinking about," Vasić said. “Because the official line seems to be 'well there are no layoffs, we hope this will avoid layoffs' that scares the bejeebes out of me."
Humber Polytechnic introduced VEEP to full-time staff on Feb. 25 with an email statement from the president’s office.
The original deadline to apply was March 9, but outcry from faculty and OPSEU, Humber’s faculty union, convinced the college to push the deadline to the following day.
According to an email from Vice President of People(s) & Culture Jennifer O’Brien, the payout of the VEEP packages is 20 weeks’ worth of salary for staff with one to nine years of tenure, those with 10 to 15 years of service will get 30 weeks, and those with more than 15 years will get 45 weeks of salary.
The email said all approved employees will receive an additional 10 per cent and contingent benefits if the member is in a retirement position within 31 days of their exit.
The last day of faculty taking the package will be on June 26, the email statement said. For support staff and administration, the last day ranges between April 2 and June 26.
Vasić said Humber first offered a lump-sum package, but after faculty and union complaints, the payment will be split between 2026 and 2027.
Vasić said OPSEU was notified about the program hours before its official email announcement to the employees.
"Had they come to us first, we could have told them about the whole lump sum versus splitting up the payments thing. We could have let them know that that would have been an issue," he said.
A collective agreement requires Humber to notify OPSEU through the College Employment Stability Committee (CESC).
The agreement said CESC should be given 30 days to recommend the size of the layoffs or budgetary measures to prevent impending layoffs.
Vasić said the union would not have been opposed to the plan but would have assisted in its delivery and execution.
He said the union spoke with Humber’s administration, and its stance was that it did not need to give any notice because VEEP is not tied directly to layoffs.
"It's a proactive plan to avoid layoffs…Even those proactive plans should go through that committee," Vasić said.
Humber’s Associate Director of Communications, Emily Milic, said in an email the VEEP application results will be evaluated over the coming weeks, but would not comment further.
The Office of People(s) & Culture declined to comment.
In a follow-up email to employees, O’Brien urged people to consider VEEP instead of waiting for the results of the exit program.
That email also advised employees to keep in mind that the future is rarely certain.
"Everyone thinks Humber is coming for them, and if they don't take this package, their jobs are on the
line," Vasić said.
He said that Humber is not telling the union about the metrics it needs from VEEP to prevent layoffs.
"We've asked too many times. What's your target?" Vasić said.
The answer Humber gave the union was “‘We don’t know’, which I find hard to believe,” he said.
"What everyone is worried about is that this package, this VEEP package, is really just the first chapter
to layoffs," Vasić said. "Everyone is worried about that."
He said faculty who do not participate in the program and are subject to future layoffs will not receive the full benefits of VEEP but will instead receive a smaller severance package.
"People that have been here for over 20 years are really worried."
The VEEP announcement comes just after the province announced a $6.4 billion funding increase for post-secondary institutions over the next four years.
“If that big funding announcement is not enough to save colleges and universities, I gotta ask, is Humber's financial situation that bad," Vasić said.
Humber also enrolls 55 per cent of all domestic growth in the province, the funding announcement said.
It said Humber plans to continue to find other ways of cutting discretionary spending and implementing changes to services and programs.
