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Part IV
Retraining

4.1 General

4.1.1 To facilitate the redeployment of affected employees, surplus employees, and laid-off persons, departments or organizations shall make every reasonable effort to retrain such persons for:

1. existing vacancies,
   or
2. anticipated vacancies identified by management.

**

4.1.2 It is the responsibility of the employee, the home department or organization and the appointing department or organization to identify retraining opportunities pursuant to subsection 4.1.1.

4.1.3 Subject to the provisions of 4.1.2, the deputy head of the home department or organization shall approve up to two (2) years of retraining.

4.2 Surplus employees

4.2.1 A surplus employee is eligible for retraining providing:

1. retraining is needed to facilitate the appointment of the individual to a specific vacant position or will enable the individual to qualify for anticipated vacancies in occupations or locations where there is a shortage of qualified candidates;
   and
2. there are no other available priority persons who qualify for a specific vacant position as referenced in (a) above.

4.2.2 The home department or organization is responsible for ensuring that an appropriate retraining plan is prepared and is agreed to in writing by the employee and the delegated officers of the home and appointing departments or organizations.

4.2.3 Once a retraining plan has been initiated, its continuation and completion are subject to satisfactory performance by the employee.

4.2.4 While on retraining, a surplus employee continues to be employed by the home department or organization and is entitled to be paid in accordance with his or her current appointment, unless the appointing department or organization is willing to appoint the employee indeterminately, conditional on successful completion of retraining, in which case the retraining plan shall be included in the letter of offer.

4.2.5 When a retraining plan has been approved and the surplus employee continues to be employed by the home department or organization, the proposed lay-off date shall be extended to the end of the retraining period, subject to 4.2.3.

4.2.6 An employee unsuccessful in retraining may be laid off at the end of the surplus period, provided that the employer has been unsuccessful in making the employee a reasonable job offer.

4.2.7 In addition to all other rights and benefits granted pursuant to this section, an employee who is guaranteed a reasonable job offer, is also guaranteed, subject to the employee's willingness to relocate, training to prepare the surplus employee for appointment to a position pursuant to section 4.1.1, such training to continue for one (1) year or until the date of appointment to another position, whichever comes first. Appointment to this position is subject to successful completion of the training.

4.3 Laid-off persons

**

4.3.1 A laid-off person shall be eligible for retraining providing:

1. retraining is needed to facilitate the appointment of the individual to a specific vacant position;
2. the individual meets the minimum requirements set out in the relevant Selection Standard for appointment to the group concerned; and
3. there are no other available persons with a priority who qualify for the position.

4.3.2 When an individual is offered an appointment conditional on successful completion of retraining, a retraining plan shall be included in the letter of offer. If the individual accepts the conditional offer, he or she will be appointed on an indeterminate basis to the full level of the position after having successfully completed training and being assessed as qualified for the position. When an individual accepts an appointment to a position with a lower maximum rate of pay than the position from which he or she was laid-off, the employee will be salary protected in accordance with Part V.

Part V
Salary protection

5.1 Lower-level position

5.1.1 Surplus employees and laid-off persons appointed to a lower-level position under this Appendix shall have their salary and pay equity equalization payments, if any, protected in accordance with the salary protection provisions of this Collective Agreement, or, in the absence of such provisions, the appropriate provisions of the Regulations Respecting Pay on Reclassification or Conversion.

5.1.2 Employees whose salary is protected pursuant to section 5.1.1 will continue to benefit from salary protection until such time as they are appointed or deployed into a position with a maximum rate of pay that is equal to or higher than the maximum rate of pay of the position from which they were declared surplus or laid off.

Part VI
Options for employees

6.1 General

6.1.1 Deputy heads will be expected to provide a guarantee of a reasonable job offer for those affected employees for whom they know or can predict employment availability. A deputy head who cannot provide such a guarantee shall provide his or her reasons in writing, if requested by the employee. Affected employees in receipt of this guarantee would not have access to the choice of options below.

6.1.2 Employees who are not in receipt of a guarantee of a reasonable job offer from their deputy head have one hundred and twenty (120) days to consider the three (3) Options below before a decision is required of them.

6.1.3 The opting employee must choose, in writing, one of the three options of section 6.3 of this Appendix within the one hundred and twenty (120)-day window. The employee cannot change options once having made a written choice.

6.1.4 If the employee fails to select an option, the employee will be deemed to have selected option (a), Twelve (12)-month surplus priority period in which to secure a reasonable job offer at the end of the one hundred and twenty (120)-day window.

6.1.5 If a reasonable job offer which does not require a relocation is made at any time during the one hundred and twenty (120)-day opting period and prior to the written acceptance of the Transition Support Measure or the Education Allowance Option, the employee is ineligible for the TSM or the Education Allowance.

6.2 Alternation

6.2.1 All departments or organizations must participate in the alternation process.

6.2.2 An alternation occurs when an opting employee who wishes to remain in the Core Public Administration exchanges positions with a non-affected employee (the alternate) willing to leave the Core Public Administration under the terms of Part VI of this Appendix.

6.2.3 Only an opting employee, not a surplus one, may alternate into an indeterminate position that remains in the Core Public Administration.

6.2.4 An indeterminate employee wishing to leave the Core Public Administration may express an interest in alternating with an opting employee. Management will decide, however, whether a proposed alternation will result in retaining the skills required to meet the ongoing needs of the position and the Core Public Administration.

6.2.5 An alternation must permanently eliminate a function or a position.

6.2.6 The opting employee moving into the unaffected position must be, to the degree determined by the Employer, able to meet the requirements of the position, including language requirements. The alternate moving into the opting position must meet the requirements of the position, except if the alternate will not be performing the duties of the position and the alternate will be struck off strength within five (5) days of the alternation.

6.2.7 An alternation should normally occur between employees at the same group and level. When the two (2) positions are not the same group and level, alternation can still occur when the positions can be considered equal. They are considered equal when the maximum rate of pay for the higher paid position is no more than six-per-cent (6 %) higher than the maximum rate of pay for the lower paid position.

6.2.8 An alternation must occur on a given date, i.e. two (2) employees directly exchange positions on the same day. There is no provision in alternation for a "domino" effect or for "future considerations".

6.3 Options

6.3.1 Only opting employees who are not in receipt of the guarantee of a reasonable job offer from the deputy head will have access to the choice of options below:

1. 1. Twelve (12)-month surplus priority period in which to secure a reasonable job offer: should a reasonable job offer not be made within a period of twelve (12) months, the employee will be laid off in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act. Employees who choose or are deemed to have chosen this Option are surplus employees.
   2. At the request of the employee, this twelve (12) month surplus priority period shall be extended by the unused portion of the one hundred and twenty (120)-day opting period referred to in 6.1.2 which remains once the employee has selected in writing Option (a).
   3. When a surplus employee who has chosen, or who is deemed to have chosen, Option (a) offers to resign before the end of the twelve (12)-month surplus priority period, the deputy head may authorise a lump-sum payment equal to the surplus employee's pay for the substantive position for the balance of the surplus period, up to a maximum of six (6) months. The amount of the lump sum payment for the pay in lieu cannot exceed the maximum of that which he or she would have received had they chosen Option (b), the Transition Support Measure.
   **
   4. Departments or organizations will make every reasonable effort to market a surplus employee during the employee's surplus period within his or her preferred area of mobility
   or
2. Transition Support Measure (TSM) is a cash payment, based on the employee's years of service in the public service (see Annex "B") made to an opting employee. Employees choosing this Option must resign but will be considered to be laid-off for purposes of severance pay.
   or

**

3. Education allowance is a Transitional Support Measure (see Option (b) above) plus an amount of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for reimbursement of receipted expenses of an opting employee for tuition from a learning institution and costs of books and mandatory equipment.
   Employees choosing Option (c) could either:
   1. resign from the Core Public Administration but be considered to be laid-off for severance pay purposes on the date of their departure;
      or
   2. delay their departure date and go on leave without pay for a maximum period of two (2) years, while attending the learning institution. The TSM shall be paid in one or two lump-sum amounts, at the employee's request over a maximum two (2)-year period. During this period, employees could continue to be public service benefit plan members and contribute both employer and employee share to the benefits plans and the Public Service Superannuation Plan. At the end of the two (2)-year leave without pay period, unless the employee has found alternate employment in the Core Public Administration, the employee will be laid off in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

6.3.2 Management will establish the departure date of opting employees who choose Option (b) or Option (c) above.

6.3.3 The TSM, pay in lieu of unfulfilled surplus period and the Education Allowance cannot be combined with any other payment under the Workforce Adjustment Appendix.

6.3.4 In the cases of: pay in lieu of unfulfilled surplus period, Option (b) and (c)(i), the employee relinquishes any priority rights for reappointment upon acceptance of his or her resignation.

6.3.5 Employees choosing option (c)(ii) who have not provided their department or organization with a proof of registration from a learning institution twelve (12) months after starting their leave without pay period will be deemed to have resigned from the Core Public Administration, and be considered to be laid-off for purposes of severance pay.

**

6.3.6 All opting employees will be entitled to up to six hundred dollars ($600) towards counseling services in respect of their potential re-employment or retirement. Such counselling services may include financial, and job placement counselling services.

6.3.7 An opting employee who has received pay in lieu of unfulfilled surplus period, a TSM or an Education Allowance and is re-appointed to that portion of the Core Public Administration specified from time to time in Schedules I and IV to the Financial Administration Act shall reimburse the Receiver General for Canada by an amount corresponding to the period from the effective date of such re-appointment or hiring, to the end of the original period for which the TSM or Education Allowance was paid.

6.3.8 Notwithstanding section 6.3.7, an opting employee who has received an Education Allowance will not be required to reimburse tuition expenses, costs of books and mandatory equipment, for which he or she cannot get a refund.

6.3.9 The deputy head shall ensure that pay in lieu of unfulfilled surplus period is only authorized where the employee's work can be discontinued on the resignation date and no additional costs will be incurred in having the work done in any other way during that period.

6.3.10 If a surplus employee who has chosen, or is deemed to have chosen, Option (a) refuses a reasonable job offer at any time during the twelve (12)-month surplus priority period, the employee is ineligible for pay in lieu of unfulfilled surplus period.

6.3.11 Approval of pay in lieu of unfulfilled surplus period is at the discretion of management, but shall not be unreasonably denied.

6.4 Retention payment

6.4.1 There are three (3) situations in which an employee may be eligible to receive a retention payment. These are total facility closures, relocation of work units and alternative delivery initiatives.

6.4.2 All employees accepting retention payments must agree to leave the Core Public Administration without priority rights.

6.4.3 An individual who has received a retention payment and, as applicable, is either reappointed, or hired to that portion of the Core Public Administration specified from time to time in Schedules I and IV to the Financial Administration Act or is hired by the new employer within the six (6) months immediately following his or her resignation, shall reimburse the Receiver General for Canada by an amount corresponding to the period from the effective date of such re-appointment or hiring, to the end of the original period for which the lump sum was paid.

6.4.4 The provisions of 6.4.5 shall apply in total facility closures where public service jobs are to cease, and:

1. such jobs are in remote areas of the country,
   or
2. retraining and relocation costs are prohibitive,
   or
3. prospects of reasonable alternative local employment, whether within or outside the Core Public Administration are poor.

6.4.5 Subject to 6.4.4, the deputy head shall pay to each employee who is asked to remain until closure of the work unit and offers a resignation from the Core Public Administration to take effect on that closure date, a sum equal to six (6) months' pay payable upon the day on which the departmental or organizational operation ceases, provided the employee has not separated prematurely.

6.4.6 The provisions of 6.4.7 shall apply in relocation of work units where Core Public Administration work units:

1. are being relocated,
   and
2. when the deputy head of the home department or organization decides that, in comparison to other options, it is preferable that certain employees be encouraged to stay in their jobs until the day of workplace relocation,
   and
3. where the employee has opted not to relocate with the function.

6.4.7 Subject to 6.4.6, the deputy head shall pay to each employee who is asked to remain until the relocation of the work unit and offers a resignation from the Core Public Administration to take effect on the relocation date, a sum equal to six (6) months' pay payable upon the day on which the departmental or organizational operation relocates, provided the employee has not separated prematurely.

6.4.8 The provisions of 6.4.9 shall apply in alternative delivery initiatives:

1. where the Core Public Administration work units are affected by alternative delivery initiatives;
2. when the deputy head of the home departmentor organization decides that, compared to other options, it is preferable that certain employees be encouraged to stay in their jobs until the day of the transfer to the new employer;
   and
3. where the employee has not received a job offer from the new employer or has received an offer and did not accept it.

6.4.9 Subject to 6.4.8, the deputy head shall pay to each employee who is asked to remain until the transfer date and who offers a resignation from the Core Public Administration to take effect on the transfer date, a sum equal to six (6) months pay payable upon the transfer date, provided the employee has not separated prematurely.

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