Deferred Salary Leave Plan (1) The deferred salary leave plan enables Employees to take one (1) year of leave from the Public Service and to finance this leave through a deferral of Salary in previous years.
(2) Under this plan, participating Employees agree to defer a portion of their Salary for four (4) consecutive Academic Years and the Employer agrees to grant the Employee leave in the fifth year, and to use the amounts deferred in the previous four (4) years to pay the Employee's Salary during the period of the leave. Participation in the plan is subject to operational requirements.
(3) During the period of leave, Employees may engage in whatever activities they wish.
(4) The individual plan for each participating Employee is a six (6) Academic Year period consisting of the following:
(a) The first four consecutive years during which the Employee draws 80% of Salary earned in each of the four years and defers the remaining 20%;
(b) The fifth consecutive year in which the Employee takes the leave, and is paid from the amounts deferred above plus any interest earned on the deferred funds; and
(c) The sixth consecutive year in which the Employee returns to employment with the Public Service of Nunavut for a minimum of one year.
(5) There is no maximum number of Employees allowed to enter the plan.
(6) Executive Directors ensure that approved leaves do not impair the future operation of their School Operations.
(7) Employees make written application to their Executive Director. Applications should state the proposed start of the Salary deferral and the proposed period of leave.
(8) The Executive Director reviews the application and the requirements of the School Operations and notifies the Employee and the respective Department of Finance, Pay and Benefits Officer at least six (6) weeks prior to the start of Salary Deferral.
(9) Each participant will sign an agreement covering the details of the plan.
(10) In each year of the plan preceding the period of the leave, the Employee will be paid 80% of the applicable Salary. The remaining 20% of Salary will be deferred and this amount will be retained in trust by the Employer to finance payments during the period of leave.
(11) The deferred Salary will be placed in a trust fund by the Government and any returns on the investment of the trust will be used to pay the participant during the period of leave.
(a) The money held in trust will be pooled with other Government funds and the Employee will be credited with the average rate of return on those funds.
(b) Investments will be restricted to those eligible under Section 57(1) of the Financial Administration Act.
(c) A statement of the individual's account will be provided at each anniversary of the plan.
(12) During the period of leave, the participant shall receive, if on a one (1) year leave, one twenty-sixth (1/26) of the amount deferred plus any trust fund returns in each pay period, less applicable deductions. No additional payments to the participant can be made such as loans, subsidies, Allowances or Salary.
(13) Income tax will be deducted in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Act and its Regulations.
(14) During the first four (4) years of the plan, the Employer shall provide Employee benefits at a level equivalent to 100% of Salary. Benefits and premium recoveries for the period of leave will be governed by the rules for leave without pay. All benefits cease except Health Care Plan, superannuation, supplementary death benefit, disability insurance, and dental coverage. Premiums for these plans are payable by the Employee. Arrangements can be made to have deductions from pay for some of these benefits.
(15) Upon return from leave, the Department will place the Employee in the position held at the commencement of the leave.
(16) Returning Employees will have their qualifications re-assessed and placed on the appropriate pay scale.
(17) The Employer shall cancel participation in the plan and shall refund, within 60 days, the total of the deferred Salary plus earnings from the plan if the Employee dies or employment is otherwise terminated.
(18) Where operational requirements would not be met if the Employee proceeded on leave in the fifth year, or where exceptional changes in personal circumstances make the leave unfeasible, the Employer will give the Employee the choice of the following:
(a) withdrawing from the plan and taking a refund of the total in the deferred salary account; or
(b) deferring the period of leave to either the sixth or the seventh academic consecutive year or to some other mutually agreeable time.
(19) Upon withdrawal from the plan the total in the account will be repaid to the Employee within 60 days from the notification of withdrawal.
Maternity Allowance (a) An employee who has been granted maternity leave without pay shall be paid a maternity allowance in accordance with the terms of the Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) Plan described in paragraph (c) to (i), provided that she:
(i) has completed six (6) months of continuous employment before the commencement of her maternity leave without pay,
(ii) provides the Employer with proof that she has applied for and is in receipt of maternity benefits under the Employment Insurance or Québec Parental Insurance Plan in respect of insurable employment with the Employer, and
(iii) has signed an agreement with the Employer stating that:
(A) she will return to work on the expiry date of her maternity leave without pay unless the return to work date is modified by the approval of another form of leave;
(B) following her return to work, as described in section (A), she will work for a period equal to the period she was in receipt of maternity allowance;
(C) should she fail to return to work in accordance with section (A), for reasons other than death, lay-off, early termination due to lack of work or discontinuance of a function of a specified period of employment that would have been sufficient to meet the obligations specified in section (B), or having become disabled as defined in the Public Service Superannuation Act, she will be indebted to the Employer for the full amount of the maternity allowance she has received. Should she return to work but fail to work for the total period specified in section (B), for reasons other than death, lay-off, early termination due to lack of work or discontinuance of a function of a specified period of employment that would have been sufficient to meet the obligations specified in section (B), or having become disabled as defined in the Public Service Superannuation Act, she will be indebted to the Employer for an amount determined as follows: (allowance received) X (remaining period to be worked following her return to work) [ total period to be worked as specified in (B)] however, an employee whose specified period of employment expired and who is rehired by OSFI within a period of thirty (30) days or less is not indebted for the amount if her new period of employment is sufficient to meet the obligations specified in section (B).
(b) For the purpose of sections (a)(iii)(B), and (C), periods of leave with pay shall count as time worked. Periods of leave without pay during the employee's return to work will not be counted as time worked but shall interrupt the period referred to in section (a)(iii)(B), without activating the recovery provisions described in section (a)(iii)(C).
(c) Maternity allowance payments made in accordance with the SUB Plan will consist of the following:
(i) where an employee is subject to a waiting period of two (2) weeks before receiving Employment Insurance maternity benefits, ninety-three per cent (93%) of her weekly rate of pay for each week of the waiting period, less any other monies earned during this period,
(ii) for each week that the employee receives a maternity benefit under the Employment Insurance or Québec Parental Insurance plan, she is eligible to receive the difference between ninety-three per cent (93%) of her weekly rate and the maternity benefit, less any other monies earned during this period which may result in a decrease in her maternity benefit to which she would have been eligible if no extra monies had been earned during this period.
(d) At the employee's request, the payment referred to in subparagraph 17.02(c)(i) will be estimated and advanced to the employee. Adjustments will be made once the employee provides proof of receipt of Employment Insurance or Québec Parental Insurance maternity benefits.
(e) The maternity allowance to which an employee is entitled is limited to that provided in paragraph (c) and an employee will not be reimbursed for any amount that she may be required to repay pursuant to the Employment Insurance Act or the Parental Insurance Act in Québec.
(f) The weekly rate of pay referred to in paragraph (c) shall be:
(i) for a full-time employee, the employee's weekly rate of pay on the day immediately preceding the commencement of maternity leave without pay,
(ii) for an employee who has been employed on a part-time or on a combined full-time and part-time basis during the six (6) month period preceding the commencement of maternity leave, the rate obtained by multiplying the weekly rate of pay in subparagraph (i) by the fraction obtained by dividing the employee's straight time earnings by the straight time earnings the employee would have earned working full-time during such period.
(g) The weekly rate of pay referred to in paragraph (f) shall be the rate to which the employee is entitled for her substantive level to which she is appointed.
(h) Notwithstanding paragraph (g), and subject to subparagraph (f)(ii), if on the day immediately preceding the commencement of maternity leave without pay an employee has been on an acting assignment for at least four (4) months, the weekly rate shall be the rate she was being paid on that day.
(i) Where an employee becomes eligible for a pay increment or pay revision while in receipt of the maternity allowance, the allowance shall be adjusted accordingly.
(j) Maternity allowance payments made under the SUB Plan will neither reduce nor increase an employee's deferred remuneration or severance pay.
