Are RSU execs working their full hours?

By Madi Wong

Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) executives are being questioned for not working their full 40-hour weeks as mandated in the bylaws.

At Wednesday’s Board of Directors (BoD) meeting, a motion moved by RSU president Vanessa Henry was passed to “hold the executive team” accountable for not working their full 40-hour work weeks.  

“When you have students who become managers and CEOs…We’re in charge of project management and holding ourselves accountable,” Henry said in an interview with The Eyeopener. “But a lot of the time, that means [people] not showing up and no one can tell you [you need to be at work] because it’s this idea of ‘I’m my own boss.’” 

According to the motion, executives have been asked “three times” to work at the RSU’s hours of operation from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. but “many of them refuse to abide by this rule.” In addition, executives have argued that they are “flexing their hours” which is not permitted under their agreement. 

Flexing hours is when employees vary their hours of work outside of their contracted hours. This typically involves employees altering their clock-in and clock-out timings that change from day-to-day in comparison to a traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. work schedule. 

According to Henry, from the day the execs entered office on May 1 until now—excluding holidays—each executive should have a minimum of about 930 hours worked. 

Vice-president student life and events Joshua Wiggins has over 1,000 hours, the most out of all six executives, said Henry. 

“We’re [paid] salary so that’s why this motion was really important…So [Wiggins] working a 70-hour week compared to someone working a 12-hour week and we all get the same amount of money that’s not fair,” she said. 

Now that the motion has passed, even if an executive is enrolled in classes, they are still expected to fulfil the full 40-hour week. 

In addition, the executives will be brought to the BoD for impeachment if they break the RSU bylaws including: not gaining the president’s approval for vacation time and not completing their 40-hour work week. 

“When you’re not even doing the bare minimum, it makes people frustrated because [others are] not sleeping, our mental health is obviously not the best,” said Henry. 

“[At] every place of work…Not everyone is going to get along, conflict is healthy but do your job.”