H7 – Vacation Carryover for Retirement Purposes

Originator: Vice President, Human Resources & Sustainability
Replaces: January 12, 2011

Purpose

This policy outlines the conditions under which employees may carry over unused vacation entitlement for pension purposes.

Authority

Civil Service Superannuation Act Section 35 (12)
Collective Agreement Article 26:05 (e)
Terms and Conditions of Employment for Staff Excluded from the Bargaining Unit 16:03 (a)

Application

This policy applies to all staff.

Employees approaching retirement should consider the impact of this policy on their retirement plans.

1. The Civil Service Superannuation Act permits employees to apply a maximum of two (2) years vacation accrual cash out to a maximum of fifty (50) days for purposes of calculating their final average earnings.
2. All vacation carryover requests to be paid out at retirement must receive Dean/Director or other appropriate level of approval. In the case of direct reports to the President, the President’s approval is required.
3. When deciding whether or not to authorize vacation carryover, the following will be considered:
   1. The maximum time period for carryover is five (5) years prior to the retirement date.
   2. An employee may only carryover a maximum of one year’s vacation entitlement from one year to the next.
   3. The total accumulated vacation that can be paid out upon retirement is the lesser of the employee’s vacation accrual in the two years prior to the retirement year, and fifty (50) days. The combined total of carryover and earned vacation credits to be paid out in the retirement year must not exceed fifty (50) days.
      1. Two years vacation accruals is equal to the annual accrual rate in the fiscal year of retirement plus the annual accrual rate in the prior fiscal year.
      2. Vacation credits that exceed the maximum total accumulated vacation that can be paid out upon retirement must be used prior to the retirement date.
   4. Management shall review the employee’s actual retirement date, the number of vacation days to be taken by the employee in the retirement year, and the vacation accrual rate of the employee to ensure carryover is kept to the minimum necessary to achieve the fifty (50) day cash out.
4. If an employee requests to change their date of retirement or requests to withdraw their notice of retirement, they must submit the request in writing including the reason for request to the Vice-President for approval.
   1. In the event the request is approved, the appropriate amount of vacation carryover for retirement purposes will be returned to the employee’s vacation balance, and a plan to use these days within the year must be determined with management.

Procedures

Human Resource Services will send an annual reminder for employees to submit their vacation carryover requests for retirement purposes early in each calendar year. The reminder will outline the process for employees to submit their requests.

Questions on this policy should be directed to Human Resource Services.