Working part-time

Eligibility

If you are working a minimum of 12 hours per week, you could be eligible to participate in the public service pension plan.

The following groups do not participate in the public service pension plan:

• Part-time employees working an average of less than 12 hours a week;
• Part-time employees who have been employed in the public service since July 3, 1994, and who have not chosen to contribute within the prescribed period;
• Employees working on an “as and when required” basis;
• Seasonal employees and employees appointed for a term of six months or less, until they have completed six months of continuous service; and
• Employees who have reached the age of 71 or 35 years of pensionable service.

Some employees, such as sessional employees and employees of certain commissions, must meet certain eligibility conditions.

Pension contributions

Your pension contributions are based on the actual salary you receive while working part-time.

Years of service

To determine if you have the years of service required to receive a benefit such as an immediate annuity or an annual allowance, one year of part-time service counts as one year of pensionable service.

Calculating your pension

When calculating your pension, the period you work part-time is pro-rated to reflect the assigned hours of work compared to the full-time hours of the position.

To calculate your pension based on part-time hours, use the annual lifetime pension formula with the following adjustment for the period of part-time work:

Reducing work hours as you near retirement

Pre-retirement transition leave is a special working arrangement where you may request to have your workweek reduced by up to 40% – or up to 2 out of 5 working days – if you are within 2 years of being eligible to retire with an unreduced pension.

Please note that you will be considered on leave without pay during the hours and days not worked, rather than becoming a part-time employee.

To learn more about pre-retirement transition leave and the conditions that apply, please visit the Directive on Leave and Special Working Arrangements and the Leave without pay information package.

For more information

Please contact the Pension Centre if you have any questions regarding working part-time.

Visit Public service group insurance benefit plans for information on benefits.