Managing: Work force adjustment

This section describes the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved in managing work force adjustment.

On this page

• Process description
• Employee responsibilities
• Manager responsibilities
• Deputy head or delegated authority responsibilities
• Human resources responsibilities
• Finance responsibilities
• Trusted source responsibilities
• Pay Centre responsibilities
• Pension Centre responsibilities

Process description

Work force adjustment happens when the deputy head decides that the services of one or more indeterminate employees are no longer needed beyond a specified date due to:

• a lack of work
• the ending of a function
• a relocation in which the employee does not wish to participate
• an alternative delivery initiative

More information

• Work force adjustment collective agreement provisions
• National Joint Council Work Force Adjustment Directive
• Archived: Directive on career transition for executives

Employee responsibilities

The deputy head may provide guaranteed reasonable job offers to affected employees. If the deputy head is unable to do so, they must communicate this fact in writing to affected employees.

If an opting employee (the employee who is being laid off) wishes to remain in the core public administration, they may be able to exchange (or “alternate”) positions with a non-affected employee who is willing to leave. This is called the “alternation process.”

If an opting employee does not receive a guarantee of a reasonable job offer from the deputy head, nor find another employee with whom to exchange positions, they then have 3 options. For more on the alternation process and employee options, consult with human resources or your applicable work force adjustment directive.

The employee is responsible for:

• contacting their manager to request information on their status
  • example: affected, surplus
• evaluating options presented to them by their deputy head and selecting an option
• communicating that option in writing to their manager within the required timelines

Opting status: Employees with no guaranteed reasonable job offers

If a reasonable job offer is unavailable, the employee will receive a letter confirming their status (affected or surplus). They will also receive information about their options.

If the employee selects option A (12-month surplus priority period) or option B (transition support measure) and wants a pension waiver (must be 55 to 59 years of age with at least 10 years of service), the employee is responsible for:

• completing a pension reduction waiver request form
  • pension reduction waiver request (2429) (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) for employees of the core public administration
• sending the form to human resources

Manager responsibilities

The manager is responsible for:

• contacting human resources before initiating any communication with the employee
• communicating information to the employee affected by work force adjustment
• addressing any concerns raised by the employee
• referring the employee to human resources to obtain information and clarification on work force adjustment options

The manager will inform human resources if the employee is declared surplus or provided with a guaranteed reasonable job offer.

The manager will provide:

• the employee’s termination notice to human resources
• the employee’s termination notice. under cover of a pay action request form, through a trusted source by encrypted email, fax or mail to the Pay Centre Mail facility

If required, the manager will assist with the alternation process.

Deputy head or delegated authority responsibilities

The delegated authority is responsible for authorizing leave without pay to pursue education when this option is available to the employee.

Either the deputy head or the delegated authority is responsible for confirming that the employee:

• has not received an educational allowance
• was not in receipt of either a reasonable job offer or a guaranteed reasonable job offer

Human resources responsibilities

Human resources is responsible for:

• being the first point of contact for managers and managers
• communicating and sharing information with managers and employees on work force adjustment
• coordinating information-sharing to employees between the department, finance and the Pay Centre with respect to the employee’s options
• entering information into the Human Resources Management System

Guaranteed reasonable job offers

If there are guaranteed reasonable job offers, human resources is responsible for informing the employee of the different options associated with the guaranteed reasonable job offers.

No guaranteed reasonable job offers

If there are no guaranteed reasonable job offers, human resources are responsible for:

• issuing affected or surplus letters to employees
  • sending copies, under cover of a pay action request form, by encrypted email, fax or mail to the Pay Centre Mail Facility
• explaining the terms of option A
• coordinating information-sharing if employee selects option C
• maintaining and providing a list of names of surplus employees or alternates to the Pay Centre
• validating whether a section 34 manager also has staffing delegation to sign an affected or surplus letter

Alternation

Alternations must occur within 120 days of the other employee having been notified that their services are no longer required. Human resources is responsible for:

• issuing a letter of offer within the 120-day time frame
• sending the letter, under cover of a pay action request form, by encrypted email, fax or mail to the Pay Centre Mail Facility

Finance responsibilities

Finance is responsible for the section 33 authorization of the transaction in Phoenix.

Surplus or lay-off priority periods

In cases where the organization does not offer guaranteed reasonable job offers, finance is responsible for issuing related payments on their behalf. These related payments may be for travel, relocation, retraining, or any other authorized costs incurred by surplus employees and laid-off persons.

Trusted source responsibilities

Upon receipt of a termination notice, the trusted source is responsible for authenticating the signatures on paper requests before they are sent by a department to the Pay Centre, for example:

• the section 34 signature on all requests affecting the financial results or manager’s budget
• the human resources delegated signature on all requests

Pay Centre responsibilities

Where applicable, the Pay Centre is responsible for:

• performing the calculations for the Transition Support Measure and the options available to the employee
• processing severance pay
• processing the leave without pay for the employee and all activities related to this process
  • consulting Process temporary separation - Leave without pay greater than 5 days
• processing the termination for the employee and all activities related to this process
  • consult Managing departures
• certifying years of service
• reimbursing the costs of tuition fees and books

Pension Centre responsibilities

If the opting employee selects option A or B and wants a pension waiver, the Pension Centre is responsible for determining how to submit the pension reduction waiver request form.

Pension reduction waiver request (2429) (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) for employees of the core public service