Workforce adjustment FAQS for indeterminate employees

WFA applies to indeterminate employees only. Term employees do not have protection under WFA provisions of the collective agreement. To see specific entitlements under WFA, employees can review the WFA appendix in their collective agreement.

• Formal notification of any/all WFA situations must be provided to the President of PIPSC
• An indeterminate employee must be informed in writing that their services may no longer be required beyond a specified date. When this formal notification occurs, the employee then becomes subject to the WFA provisions of the collective agreement and is considered an affected employee

Affected status means that you are part of a group of workers who may be workforce adjusted or surplus at a future date – it does not mean that they will be declared surplus. Essentially, this is advance formal notification of the possibility of surplus status.

When an employee is informed that they are surplus under WFA, there are two possible scenarios:

1. Where the employer knows or can predict that employment will be available, the employee will receive a guarantee of a reasonable job offer. Employees who are offered a guarantee of a reasonable job offer will not have access to the options available to an opting employee.
2. Where the employer determines that there is no likelihood of employment and cannot provide this guarantee, the employee will not receive a guarantee of a reasonable job offer. Instead, the employee will become an opting employee and will be given several options to choose from in order to help them make the transition to other employment. See “What if an employee is on leave when a WFA situation occurs in his or her department?” below or 6.4 of the WFA Appendix in your collective agreement.

A guarantee of a reasonable job offer is a guarantee of an offer of indeterminate employment within the Core Public Administration provided by the deputy head to an indeterminate employee who is affected by WFA.

Deputy heads will be expected to provide a guarantee of a reasonable job offer to those affected employees for whom they know or can predict employment availability in the core public administration. Surplus employees in receipt of this guarantee will not have access to the options available in Part VI of the WFA appendix.

Once a guarantee of a reasonable job offer is issued:

• the employee is formally declared surplus with the Public Service Commission
• surplus status confers a legislated entitlement to the employee for priority appointment to another position in the Core Public Administration for which they meet the essential qualifications
• an employee in receipt of a guarantee of a reasonable job offer does not have access to a cash payment (cash out/TSM)

The surplus priority is in effect until the employee receives a reasonable job offer and is indeterminately appointed to another position; until the surplus status is rescinded; until the date of lay-off or if the employee chooses to resign. There is no maximum time limit to the surplus period.

Being provided with a guarantee of a reasonable job offer means that the employee will remain surplus until he or she has been provided with at least one reasonable job offer.

Employees could receive a reasonable job offer as soon as the first day of their surplus period, or later, since there is no time limit. If an employee refuses a reasonable job offer, the employee can be laid off, providing the layoff occurs no sooner than 6 months from the start of his or her surplus status.

• An offer of indeterminate employment in the Core Public Administration normally at an equivalent level, but could include lower levels
• The employee must be both trainable and mobile
• Geographic area:
  • 1st zone: within the employee’s headquarters area, as defined in the NJC Travel Directive
  • 2nd zone: within 40 kilometres of the employee’s place of work or residence, whichever will ensure continued employment
  • 3rd zone: beyond 40 kilometres
• An offer from a FAA Schedule V employer (For AFS members, this includes Schedule I, IV, and V)

*In alternative delivery situations, a reasonable offer is one that meets the criteria set out in type 1 and 2 of Part VII of the WFA appendix.

** For the purposes of a reasonable job offer, terminable allowances do not form part of salary and are not a factor in establishing a reasonable job offer.

Surplus employees and laid-off persons appointed to lower level positions under workforce adjustment have their original salary and pay equity equalization payments (if any) protected until such time as that person is appointed to a position with a maximum rate of pay that is equal to or higher than the maximum rate of pay of the position from which they were declared surplus or laid off.

In the event an employee is appointed to a lower level position under workforce adjustment, salary protection ends if the salary-protected employee chooses to transfer from the position to which s/he was first appointed to as a result of the WFA.

Salary protection applies only to the initial appointment under the work force adjustment provisions. Salary protection does not include terminable allowances as terminable allowance does not form part of salary.

If you have been given a guarantee of a reasonable job offer, you will continue to be paid until you are offered and accept a reasonable job offer. Note that if you refuse a reasonable job offer, you will be laid off, in which case you will be paid until you are laid off.

If you are an opting employee, you will continue to be paid until you are laid off or choose to resign from the Public Service.

Yes, employees whose positions are declared surplus are expected to report for work. You may be asked to perform duties that are different from the ones you are accustomed to carrying out and for which you are qualified. You should also expect that you will be given sufficient time, tools and support to assist you in your search for alternate employment.

If an employee is declared affected because his or her work unit is to be relocated to another area beyond what is considered to be normal commuting distance, WFA agreements provide that the employee will receive written notice in the form of a letter advising that the work unit is moving.

The letter will also provide the affected employee with a period of 6 months during which to decide whether or not the employee wishes to move with the position or be treated as if they were subject to a WFA situation.

Should the employee decide not to move with the relocated position, the employee will be provided with either a guarantee of a reasonable job offer or access to the options and become an opting employee. It is possible at some point that the employee’s relocated position could be offered to the employee as a reasonable job offer, in the event that other employment cannot be found in the employee’s preferred location.

All indeterminate employees who are not in receipt of a guarantee of a reasonable job offer become an opting employee under the WFA provisions and are entitled to up to $1200 towards counselling services in respect of their potential re-employment or retirement.

In addition, an opting employee has 120 days to choose 1 of the following 3 options:

Option 1: Limited surplus status

With this option, you become a surplus employee with surplus priority status, which means that you have the same rights as a surplus employee in receipt of a guarantee of a reasonable job offer for priority appointment to another position in the Core Public Administration for which you meet the essential qualifications for a period of 12 months. Should you not receive a reasonable job offer within that period, you will be laid off.

If an employee chooses to resign prior to the end of the 12 month surplus priority period, the employee may be entitled to a lump-sum payment for the remainder of the surplus period, up to a maximum of 6 months.

Option 2: Cash-out

The employee choosing this option is entitled to the Transition Support Measure (TSM) which is a cash payment based upon the employee’s years of service in the public service, which varies from a minimum of 10 weeks pay to a maximum of 52 weeks.

Employees exercising this option must resign but will be considered to be laid off as they are also entitled to severance pay in accordance with the collective agreement in addition to the TSM cash payment.

Employees selecting this option relinquish their priority rights and are no longer employees of the public service.

Option 3: Education allowance

Employees may opt for a Transition Support Measure (option 2) plus an education allowance which pays a maximum of $17, 000 for tuition, books and mandatory equipment to attend a learning institution.

Employees exercising this option:

• must resign (but will be considered to be laid off)
• are entitled to severance pay in accordance with the collective agreement in addition to the education allowance

OR

• may delay departure, to a maximum of 2 years while attending the learning institution
• may receive the education allowance in one or two payments
• may participate in the benefits plan while paying both employer and employee shares
• will be eligible for severance pay at the end of this period, provided they have not secured alternate employment in the core public administration

Employees selecting this option relinquish their priority rights.

It is important to note that the opting employee:

• cannot change options once a written choice has been made
• will be deemed to have selected Option 1 if they fail to make a choice within the prescribed timeline of 120 days

Beyond a “recognized educational institution”, the WFA Appendix does not provide specific guidelines. Other countries may have different provisions for recognizing educational institutions, so it is important that employees review and consider those provisions.

Your employment status is tied to your substantive position, so the rights and obligations under the WFA appendix are not determined by your acting position.

If an employee is on leave when a WFA situation occurs in their department, they retain their rights under the WFA appendix. The department is responsible for informing the employee of the WFA situation and ensuring that they are given the same opportunities and options as other employees.

The department or organization must make every reasonable effort to contact the employee and provide the following:

• Official notification: The employee must be notified of the WFA situation and its impact on their position. The employee’s status (e.g., surplus or opting) must be clearly communicated in writing.
• Counselling and support: The department must counsel the employee on their rights, options (e.g., surplus priority, retraining, transition support), and opportunities for continued employment.
• Time to consider options: If the employee is declared opting (i.e., no guarantee of a reasonable job offer), they must be provided 120 days to choose among the options outlined in Part VI of the WFA Appendix: Twelve-month surplus priority period, Transition Support Measure (TSM), or Education Allowance.
• Access to benefits: The employee retains access to all applicable benefits and entitlements as if they were actively working.

The Employer is responsible for ensuring that employees affected by WFA situations are treated equitably and, given every reasonable opportunity to continue their careers as public service employees.

Departments are responsible to counsel and advise their affected employees on their opportunities of finding continuing employment in the public service and shall, to the extent possible, help market surplus employees and laid off persons to other departments or organizations.

Such counselling should include, but is not limited to, providing information to employees with regards to their rights and obligations, alternatives available to the employee (ex. retraining, lower-level employment, term employment with protection of their indeterminate status, retirement, transition support measures or education allowance, etc) and more. Employees should also be informed of their right to be represented by PIPSC in the application of the WFA appendix.

Union and management should establish standing workforce adjustment committees if they don’t already have one. Workforce adjustment committees are established by virtue of the collective agreement and are separate and distinct in purpose from labour/management consultation committees. While stewards may participate and act as a resource on these committees, it is critical that an Employment Relations Officer is recognized by the employer as the official representative of PIPSC in order to ensure that the collective agreement is interpreted and applied correctly.

The workforce adjustment committee is tasked with developing strategies for all potentially affected employees – not just those who are being workforce adjusted.

The goal is to create opportunities not limited to the following:

• Learning, training and development
• Inter-organizational mobility and placement
• Obtaining information from all available sources relevant to the department
• Obtaining information on employment opportunities/vacancies within the department
• Identifying and examining trends that lead to redeployment or re-skilling
• Developing plans and strategies to assist employees to transfer to future workplace needs
• Developing policies and strategies or revising existing ones to help ensure effective transition
• Ensuring plans and strategies are effective, equitable and applied consistently
• Reviewing and monitoring the implementation of transition initiatives
• Managing WFA issues on a national as well as regional level through the regional committees
• Ensuring that information sessions are provided about transition issues, WFA issues and specific issues impacting surplus employees and establishing local committees as required
• Ensuring employees impacted by WFA receive counselling and assistance throughout the process

Employees who are seeking redeployment share equally in the responsibility for resolving their situations. This means that they should actively participate in the redeployment process.

It is important that employees:

• provide timely information
• be available for job interviews
• give serious and thoughtful consideration to all job opportunities
• be aware of their entitlements and obligations associated with their priority status
• use departmental resources such as managers, HR advisors, and the Career Transition Centres

WFA forms part of the collective agreement and is enforceable within the grievance procedure if the terms of the collective agreement (their application and interpretation) are violated. Each situation will require an evaluation of the merits prior to determining the appropriate next steps or recourse to be taken.