1. FINANCIAL

All employees should benefit from financial compensation that is aligned with their skills, experience and market conditions. An employee’s total compensation statement also includes potential for salary increases and bonuses, retirement savings plans and life insurance.

SALARY TARGETS

• P50 of base salary target for employee pay*

• Individual placement against the target will be based on employee experience, education, performance, merit and tenure within the position.

  *P50 refers to the market pay position. Alberta Ballet with target the 50% (mid-market) point for salary competitiveness against its peer group within the Alberta sector.

RRSP/TFSA TARGETS

• Matching opportunities for non-union, non-academic employees at 5% of salary (formerly $80/bi-weekly)

• Matching opportunities of academic employees at 10% of salary

• Matching opportunity for Equity employees at $50/week

• IATSE employees receive 4% of their salary toward IATSE managed RRSP program
  
  

2. CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Career progression is important to every employee. Employees are entitled to regular, timely, and constructive, growth-producing feedback, which should translate into skills development plans. Each year, Alberta Ballet allocates a portion of its budget to employee professional development assistance, and this can take many forms, such as internal or external training programs and professional membership subsidization. Employees may find the next step in their career progression takes them outside of Alberta Ballet, and external resources are also available to support these transitions.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT OFFERINGS

• Professional Development at $500/person and professional membership subsidization

• External career coaching/mentoring

• Annual performance reviews for regular full-time, part-time and term contract employees within the organization.

3. PHYSICAL WELLBEING

Benefits are in place to help with medical, paramedical, prescription and dental coverage. Other support for physical wellbeing should also include ergonomic stations, onsite physiotherapy, bicycle storage, onsite fitness equipment or subsidized memberships. Our commitment to physical well-being should also mean all employees feel safe coming to work in and around their facilities, public transit is close by, and their belongings are secure. Given the location of many Alberta Ballet facilities, they currently do not meet an appropriate standard. We are working to rectify these issues, but solutions to geographical issues are longterm in nature: lease terms restrict our ability to up and move and finding appropriate ballet studios is a difficult feat.

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING TARGETS

• Onsite physiotherapist now on staff for both School and Company

• Continuation of Health Spending Account at $500/year for extended benefits coverage

5. SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES

An obvious benefit of working for Alberta Ballet is the ability to enjoy the Company’s performances and discounted School tuition for employee or family members. For Company performances, employees have access to two free tickets per production. Additional tickets and subscriptions are available to them at 50% off the regular price. Employees also receive 50% tuition for themselves or their children to take recreational or professional ballet classes. Other social events have included holiday parties, employee recognition or retirement events, summer barbecues and team-building activities. We hope to have a more robust social agenda going forward, and our new Wellness Committee will support organization-wide events and activities. 

We are also adding Alberta Ballet Town Halls to our staff schedules. These quarterly events are open to everyone at Alberta Ballet, provide opportunity to hear from Artistic and Administrative leadership and, going forward, will include multiple ways to submit questions to leadership. Staff are encouraged to ask questions during Town Halls, and we will also introduce avenues to submit questions anonymously. This will help ensure everyone can be heard in ways that are most comfortable. The Wellness Committee will work on formalizing awards-based programs to recognizing peers and determine anniversary milestones. Additionally, this committee will identify employee morale benchmarks and surveys, dress codes, and group/cultural training opportunities—all in the service of improving recognition and morale.

SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES

• Free and discounted ballet performance tickets and tuition

• Town Halls

• Peer and longevity awards

• Morale surveys

• Group training and team building activities

4. MENTAL HEALTH

Healthy workplaces are productive workplaces. Allowing employees to work in ways that optimize their productivity often means listening to needs for flexibility. Not all departments can implement the same flexibility. Most positions in a ballet company need to be done in-person with defined start and end times. Sometimes, these restrictions are built into collective bargaining agreements, which ensure enforcement. In such cases, these structures are in place to guarantee mental and physical well-being.

Alberta Ballet also provides personal days to employees facing difficulty in their personal lives as well as access to the Employee Family Assistance Plan (EFAP). Beginning in November 2021, Alberta Ballet is also launching a Wellness Committee. This committee will spearhead social activities, benefits review, matters relating to equity and diversity and employee recognition plans.

MENTAL HEALTH TARGETS

• New employee Wellness Committee

• Addition of Wellness Spending account of $500/year to encourage healthy and well-rounded lifestyles for our employees, includes:

  • Exercise memberships, personal development courses, hobby support, childcare expenses, vet bills, eldercare, travel & entertainment