Date Issued: 01/10/2002
Revision Date: 01/10/2002
Effective Dates
The program shall be effective October 1, 2003 until September 30, 2006 (i.e. the expiry date of the collective agreement).
Following September 30, 2006, the program is intended to continue in effect until the collective agreement is re-negotiated and continue during the term of subsequent agreements unless negotiated otherwise.
Continuation of the program beyond September 30, 2006 is subject to a renewal of program registration by Human Resources Development Canada.
Written notice of any change to the program will be given to Human Resource Development Canada within 30 days of the effective date of the change.
Eligibility
- Employees must apply for and have approved a Definite Leave of Absence in accordance with Article 18.2 of the Collective Agreement; and
- be in receipt of training and income support from Human Resources Development Canada under Employment Insurance legislation; and
- sign a note to promise to return to work for the employer (post - journeyperson status) for a period equal to two (2) times the number of weeks that top-up is received and to repay the amount of the top-up, or a portion thereof, should the employee not return to work for two (2) times the number of weeks that top-up is paid.
Benefit Amount
- For the Employment Insurance two (2) week waiting period, eligible employees will receive an Apprenticeship Training SUB program payment from the employer equal to 95% of regular salary for the two week period. If the two (2) week waiting period does not apply, program benefits will be paid as per b) below.
Note: For permanent full-time employees the payment is 95% of their bi-weekly salary rate in effect immediately prior to the commencement of the Definite Leave of Absence.
For all other employees the full-time employee calculation will be prorated by the proportion of full-time regular hours paid during the twenty-six (26) full pay periods preceding the Leave (or the period of active employment if less than twenty-six (26) full pay periods).
- For the remaining weeks that training and income support is received from Human Resources Development Canada under Employment Insurance legislation, eligible employees will receive an Apprentice Training SUB Program payment from the employer equal to the difference between 95% of regular salary (as calculated in a) above) and the gross Benefit received from Human Resources Development Canada.
Note: "Other" earnings subsequent to commencement of the leave (i.e. not associated with employment with executive government) which decrease the amount of the net training and income support benefit but do not affect the gross training and income support benefit, will NOT increase the amount of the SUB program payment.
In no case will the number of weeks that SUB program benefits are paid exceed twenty (20) weeks (i.e. maximum of two apprenticeship training sessions) in one (1) calendar year.
Documentation
Eligible employees will be required to submit documented proof of eligibility for training and income support from Human Resource Development Canada and amounts of gross payments received from Human Resources Development Canada (e.g. cheque stubs) prior to payment.
Deductions from Payments/Accounting for Costs
Payments will be processed through the payroll system to allow for deduction of income tax and Canada pension (as required by federal law) and union dues.
Note: This is a benefit payment, not a supplementary pay item. However, processing through the payroll system is required to process these deductions and for budget purposes.
As per Department of Finance direction, the cost of this benefit program will be paid through the payroll system and charged to normal salary budgets. Departments will be required to expense the cost of the benefit in the year the definite leave of absence started. If the total cost of the benefit is not paid to the employee during the current fiscal year, it will be necessary to accrue the remaining cost to recognize the expense in the correct fiscal year.
A separate record of SUB program payments will be kept.
Pension, Insured Benefits and Other Collective Agreement Provisions
Benefits will be handled in accordance with the normal provisions applicable to definite leaves of absence.
Implementation – October 1, 2002
Should an eligible employee be attending apprenticeship training on October 1, 2002, benefits of the program will be effective October 1, 2002. There will be no benefit paid for time spent in Apprenticeship Training prior to October 1, 2002.
Return Service Commitment
The application form (Appendix A) is a promise to return to work or to repay the benefits, which must be signed by all employees to be eligible to receive program payments.
Enrolment/Administrative Procedures
See Appendix B for detailed enrollment and administrative procedures.
Other Remuneration
As required by Employment Insurance, Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) program guidelines, payments under the plan will have no impact on other remuneration paid in accordance with the terms of the Collective Agreement.
Authority
This program is provided in accordance with Article 15.17 of the PS/GE Collective Agreement.
Policy Inquiries
For inquiries, please contact the Human Resource Service Centre.