United Food & Commercial Workers Union
Local 1400

Health &Welfare Plan

Western Grocers

For all Members/Employees of Western Grocers (Westfair Foods Ltd.) who are not covered by the Company Group Insurance Plan.

The Board of Trustees of the Westfair Foods Ltd./United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1400 Health & Welfare Plan, are pleased to announce that all Employees who started to accumulate hours as of September 1, 2005 are now eligible for  benefits for absences due to illness or injury that occur on or after September 1, 2006.

Information updated; revisions effective July 1, 2007.  View the revision update Bulletin.

Member/Employee Only

Eligibility
A Member/Employee shall be eligible for benefits on the first day of the month immediately following a six (6) month waiting period (previously 12 months) during which the Member/Employee has accumulated at least 500 hours in his/her Hour Bank.

Hour Bank Operation
A member/Employee shall accumulate one (1) sick day credit for every 500 hours accumulated in the Member/Employee’s Hour Bank up to a maximum of four (4) sick day credits or 2,000 hours.

Any hours reported for a Member/Employee by the Employer, in excess of 2,000 hours, shall be transferred to the general reserves of the Trust Fund.

A Member/Employee’s Hour Bank shall be reduced by 500 hours for each sick pay credit paid in accordance with the Benefit Plan.

Benefit Period
Benefits shall commence on the first complete day of absence from employment due to physical conditions and shall be paid for each such day up to the number of sick day credits accumulated in the Member’s/Employee’s Hour Bank or until recovery or death, whichever occurs first.

Sick Pay Benefits are payable according to the following scale:

If your hourly rate of pay is: Sick Pay Benefit:
Less than $8.00 per hour

$30.00 per day
(previously $25.00 per day)
$8.01 to $16.00 per hour $40.00 per day
(previously $35.00 per day)
$16.01 and higher per hour $50.00 per day
(previously $45.00 per day)

Claim Forms
A supply of benefit forms should be available at your store.  If additional benefit forms are required, please contact the Saskatoon office at 384-5787 within Saskatoon or 1-800-274-4036 outside of Saskatoon or the Administrator (refer below).

For more information and for claim submission purposes, The Administrator is as follows:

Coughlin & Associates Ltd.
P.O. Box 764
 Winnipeg, MB  R3C 2L4
 Toll free:  1-800-665-0122
Fax:  (204) 943-5998
E-mail:  webmaster@coughlin.ca  

For a Downloadable Adobe .pdf/Printable version of the Western Grocers Claim Form, click here.   Please Note:  Whenever possible, this form should be submitted on a Yellow Claim Form.