20th BCGEU Main Agreement FAQs

Last updated on March 10, 2026

The BC Public Service Agency (PSA) is working to put in place the changes outlined in the 20^th Main Agreement. This includes pay and allowance increases, retroactive pay, leave adjustments, and modernized language updates.

This page is a summary of highlights. For a full listing of changes, please refer to the 20th BCGEU Main Agreement Memorandum of Settlement (PDF, 1.52MB). You can also use the How to read your pay stub page to understand entries on your pay advice.

If you have questions that are not addressed here, we kindly ask you to refrain from contacting AskMyHR and instead contact your executive or ministry HR team.

General wage increase

The general wage increases are effective the first day of the pay period following April 1 of each year:

April 6, 2025: 3 percent
April 5, 2026: 3 percent
April 4, 2027: 3 percent
April 2, 2028: 3 percent

2025 general wage increases for all active employees are complete.

The Salary look-up tool and Salary grids for 2025 have been updated on the Careers & MyHR pages.

Classification adjustments are not included in base pay and are not recalculated when general wage increases are implemented.

Employees receiving salary protection do not receive negotiated salary increases to their protected salary. Their base salary increases, based on the general wage increase, and their salary protection decreases an equal amount which results in the employee receiving the same rate. For more information, please refer to Salary protection.

To ensure the general wage increase was included in any substitution pay received after April 6, 2025, a new substitution pay form needs to be submitted by your supervisor for Payroll to process. Ensure there is a note included on the new substitution pay form stating, “This is a correction to a previously entered substitution pay request.” This applies to substitution pay paid through both Time and Leave as well as manual forms. For more information, please refer to Substitution pay.

Retroactive pay processing

Retroactive pay encompasses many different entitlements, such as retroactive general wage increases, market adjustments, allowances and premiums, component allowances, travel/per diem updates, substitution pay and more.

Retroactive 2025 General Wage Increases

Retroactive pay processing for 2025 general wage increases continues on an organization-by-organization basis.

The pay process is complex and unique to each employee. As a result, not all employees receive retroactive pay at the same time.

For some employees, retroactive pay may be processed by a number of transactions over multiple pay periods for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, employment in multiple ministries and leaves of absence since April 1, 2025.

Employees on lay off or who became inactive in 2025/2026 require manual review and entry by Payroll to process retroactive pay. This process is underway and communications will be updated to advise when all retroactive pay should have been received.

Retroactive pay for the general wage increase is pensionable and will be reported to Pension Corporation for the fiscal year 2025/2026.

Interest is not issued on retro pay.

Market adjustments

A market adjustment is an amount added to an employee’s salary when a job is hard to recruit for because of skills shortages. These adjustments are considered pensionable earnings and may be applied retroactively.

MOU 22 outlines many new market adjustments and their corresponding effective dates. A full listing can be found in Appendix B on page 44 of the 20th BCGEU Main Agreement Memorandum of Settlement (PDF, 1.52MB).

The Salary look-up tool for 2025 has been updated to reflect these changes.

Market adjustment salary increase updates continue to be processed.

Retroactive pay for market adjustments continues, with each case being manually calculated before it can be paid to employees.

Classification grid pay adjustments

A full listing of classifications receiving grid pay adjustments and effective dates can be found in Appendix 3C and 3G on page 45 of the 20th BCGEU Main Agreement Memorandum of Settlement (PDF, 1.52MB).

The Salary look-up tool for 2025 has been updated for affected positions.

These grid adjustments do not impact seniority.

Extended health care plan

Effective January 1, 2026, the annual combined maximum for counselling services under the extended health plan has been increased from $750 per person to $1,000 per person. The listing of professionals accepted to provide counselling services has been substantially expanded.

Gender Affirmation Coverage is effective January 1, 2026, with a lifetime maximum of $15,000 per person.

Effective January 1, 2026, vision care has been increased from $250 to $400 every 24 months for adults, and from $250 to $300 every 12 months for dependent children.

Additional coverage has also been expanded to include diabetic supplies, food substitutes/tube feeding and speech aids.

Leave entitlements

Time off for family illness changes took effect January 1, 2026. Specifically, a BCGEU employee is entitled to use a maximum of 3 days paid leave at any one time for this purpose.

As of April 1, 2026, supplemental leave may be attached to paid statutory holidays.

Full details on updates to leaves, pay and allowances are available in the 20th BCGEU Main Agreement Memorandum of Settlement (1.5MB).

Allowances and reimbursements

Implementation of updated isolation allowance and per diem living allowance rates is ongoing for eligible BCGEU and Schedule A employees.

Information about component allowances and reimbursements is available in the 20th BCGEU Main Agreement Memorandum of Settlement (1.5MB).

Examples include but aren’t limited to safety wear reimbursement, shift premiums and meal and vehicle allowances
Processing of updated rates and related retroactive pay continues for eligible employees

Other Important Information

Qualified Registered Professional Fees: Reimbursement of professional fees will be based on the fee schedule from the year prior to ratification (2024), but the reimbursable rate will be increased by 4 percent each year of the agreement.

Taxes: As with all large payroll applications, PeopleSoft comes pre-loaded with all taxation methods and formulas approved by Canada Revenue Agency. These formulas cover federal income tax, provincial income tax, contribution calculations to the Canada Pension Plan and premium calculations for the Employment Insurance program. Neither the Province of British Columbia nor TELUS Employer Solutions alters these formulas in any way.

Non-BCGEU, Schedule A, and excluded employees

The changes to the 20th Main Agreement are specific to BCGEU members. Information specific to other bargaining units will be released as it becomes available.

Supervisors of a BCGEU member are expected to understand the agreement enough to support their employees and contact the BC Public Service Agency (PSA) when additional clarification and support is required. More information for supervisors will be provided as it becomes available with updates sent every two weeks via email.

As per the Terms and Conditions of Employment for Schedule A (excluded positions with bargaining unit classifications), increases for employees in Schedule A positions with BCGEU classifications will follow the general wage increase provisions for BCGEU employees.

Determinations for in-range salary increases for excluded employees are not part of the implementation process for the 20th BCGEU Main Agreement. This will be determined separately, and more information will be provided as it becomes available.

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The B.C. Public Service acknowledges the territories of First Nations around B.C. and is grateful to carry out our work on these lands. We acknowledge the rights, interests, priorities, and concerns of all Indigenous Peoples - First Nations, Métis, and Inuit - respecting and acknowledging their distinct cultures, histories, rights, laws, and governments.

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