FAQs for PIPSC Members: Term Employees: Job Cuts and Non-Renewals

Term employees are members of the bargaining unit and are covered by their PIPSC collective agreement. This includes vacation leave, sick leave, other leave and the grievance procedure. Term employees are eligible for the Public Service Health Care Plan if appointed for more than 6 months or after 6 months of continuous employment. However, a term employee’s employment ends when the specified period of employment expires (Public Service Employment Act, s. 58(1)). Term employees are not covered by the Work Force Adjustment Appendix.

Under the Treasury Board Directive on Term Employment, managers must give term employees:

• one month’s written notice of the renewal or non-renewal of their term (s. 4.2.6); and
• one month’s written notice if the term will end before the originally specified end date (s. 4.2.7).

In exceptional circumstances, the deputy head may reduce the notice to one week for term employees hired in emergency situations (Policy on People Management, Appendix C, s. C1.6).

A term employee who has worked in the same organization for a total of 3 years, without a break in service longer than 60 consecutive calendar days, must be appointed indeterminately at the same group and level (Directive on Term Employment, s. 4.2.1), unless an exception applies. For example, a written exclusion under s. 4.2.3, as explained in question 2.

The current reductions result from 2 successive federal spending reduction exercises:

• Refocusing Government Spending (Budget 2023). According to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, public service reductions began in 2024–25. About 9,800 employees left because of this initiative and attrition.
• Comprehensive Expenditure Review (CER, Budget 2025). Organizations were asked to propose savings of 7.5% in 2026–27, 10% in 2027–28 and 15% in 2028–29. The CER is expected to reduce the public service by about 16,000 full-time equivalents by 2028-29, bringing it to roughly 330,000 from a peak of about 368,000 in 2023–24 (TBS).

TBS has said that, when departments need to reduce spending, they will generally consider ending non-permanent employment, such as term employment, before reducing indeterminate positions (TBS). Current departmental data are published on the Workforce reductions in the federal public service page.

Some departments have also excluded further periods of term employment from the three-year calculation for conversion to indeterminate status. This is often called “stopping the clock”. The Directive allows this only if the deputy head has determined, under the Policy on People Management, that the work will end, or that conversion would result in a work force adjustment situation. For example, this could happen if the work is funded for a limited period. The employee and the bargaining agent must be informed in writing, and the decision must be reviewed at least once a year (Directive on Term Employment, ss. 4.2.3 and 4.2.4; Policy on People Management, ss. C1.2 to C1.4).

• Check the notice. Confirm that you received written notice at least one month in advance (Directive on Term Employment, ss. 4.2.6 and 4.2.7).
• Check the reason. Find out whether your term is simply expiring or not being renewed, or whether it is ending early because of a lack of work or the elimination of a function. An early end for these reasons is a lay-off under section 64 of the Public Service Employment Act. This affects severance pay and your options for challenging the decision (see questions 4 and 8).
• Contact PIPSC promptly. Grievance time limits under your collective agreement are short. A complaint about a lay-off must be filed with the Board within 15 calendar days (see question 4).
• Check “stopping the clock” notices. If you were told that your term periods no longer count toward conversion to indeterminate status, confirm that you and PIPSC were informed in writing and that the decision has been reviewed at least once a year.
• Resolve pay and leave issues. Submit any leave requests before your last day and report pay issues (leave balances, overpayments, outstanding pay) to the Public Service Pay Centre.
• Keep records. Save all communications related to the end or non-renewal of your term, including letters of offer, notices, emails and notes of conversations.

Your options depend on how your employment ends.

• Expiry or non-renewal. Your options for challenging the decision are limited. Employment ends automatically when the term expires (PSEA, s. 58(1)). This is not a lay-off or a termination that can be referred to adjudication at the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB).
• Discrimination. If you believe the decision was based on a prohibited ground of discrimination, such as disability, family status, race or sex, contact your PIPSC representative about filing a grievance under the no-discrimination article of your collective agreement, a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, or both.
• Early end by lay-off. If only some employees in part of the organization are selected for lay-off, an employee selected for lay-off may complain to the FPSLREB that the selection was an abuse of authority (PSEA, s. 65(1)). This applies to term employees (Public Service Commission). The complaint must be filed within 15 calendar days of the lay-off notice (FPSLREB). You cannot challenge the decision to lay off, the part of the organization affected, or the number of employees laid off (s. 65(2)).
• Collective agreement entitlements. You can grieve disputes about entitlements such as severance pay on lay-off, leave payouts, or allowance repayments within the time limits of your collective agreement.

No. The Work Force Adjustment Appendix applies only to indeterminate employees (see the Work Force Adjustment Appendix of your collective agreement). Term employees are therefore not eligible for WFA measures such as a guarantee of a reasonable job offer, surplus priority, voluntary departure programs, alternation or the Transition Support Measure.

Term employees are also not included in a Selection of Employees for Retention or Lay-off (SERLO) process (Public Service Commission). However, a deputy head may lay off a term employee before the end of their term because of lack of work or discontinuance of a function (PSEA, s. 64). Term employees who are laid off are not entitled to a lay-off priority or to participate in advertised appointment processes after lay-off (PSEA, s. 45).

If you met the three-year conversion conditions before an exclusion took effect, you should have been appointed indeterminately and would be covered by WFA. Contact your PIPSC representative if this may apply to you.

Internal appointment processes are open only to people employed in the public service who meet the area of selection. Once your term ends, you can generally no longer apply to new internal processes. However, you can apply to external processes open to the public on GC Jobs. Apply to internal processes that interest you before your term ends. If you applied while still employed, check with the hiring organization to confirm whether you can still be considered or appointed.

• Keep copies of your personal employment documents, including letters of offer, notices, pay stubs, leave balances, performance reviews and training records. Do not remove government information or records.
• Update your GC Jobs account and contact details with a personal email address and your current home address so you can receive your tax slips and pay information.
• If you have not received it, ask for written confirmation of your end date and the reason your employment is ending.
• If you contributed to the public service pension plan, contact the Government of Canada Pension Centre about your options.
• Apply for Employment Insurance as soon as you stop working. Do not wait for your Record of Employment.
• Explore other job opportunities on Job Bank and GC Jobs.

• Your term expires or is not renewed: No. Employment ending on the specified end date is not a lay-off.
• Your term ended early because of lack of work or discontinuance of a function: This is a lay-off under PSEA, s. 64 and the definition of lay-off in your collective agreement. PIPSC collective agreements provide severance pay on lay-off (see the severance pay article of your collective agreement). On a first lay-off, this is generally two weeks’ pay for the first complete year of continuous employment (3 weeks for 10 to 19 years, 4 weeks for 20 or more years), plus one week’s pay for each additional complete year. Any partial year is prorated.

To receive the maternity allowance or parental allowance (top-up), you agree to return to work in the federal public administration and work for a period equal to the time you received the allowance (see the maternity and parental allowance provisions of your collective agreement).

• No repayment is required if you are laid off, or if your term would have been long enough to meet the return-to-work obligation but ends early because of a lack of work or the elimination of a function.
• If your term simply expires before you complete the return-to-work period, you may owe a prorated amount: allowance received × (remaining period to be worked ÷ total period to be worked).
• You will not owe this amount if you are rehired in the federal public administration within 90 days and the new period of employment is long enough to meet the obligation.

• Vacation leave: You are paid for earned but unused vacation leave when your employment ends, as provided in your collective agreement. The Public Service Pay Centre processes your final pay (Public Service Pay Centre).
• Sick leave: Sick leave credits are not paid out. If you are laid off and reappointed in the public service within two years, your unused sick leave credits are restored, as provided in your collective agreement.