Employment in the federal public service

The following information is intended to provide you, the employer, with an understanding of the different types of employment in the public service.

On this page

• Employment defined
• Employment in the public service
• Types of Employment
  • Full-time
  • Part-time
  • Dual employment
  • Dual remuneration
• Types of appointments
  • Indeterminate
  • Term
  • Students
  • Seasonal
  • Casual
  • As and when or on call

Employment defined

Employment in the federal public service must be with a department or branch that forms part of the public service. It also includes employment in any of the boards, commissions or agencies that form part of the public service for pension purposes. This includes:

1. Any department which is (or was during its lifetime) presided over by a Minister of the Crown.
2. All other branches which are (or were during their lifetime) a part of the Executive Government.
3. The Senate and the House of Commons (excluding Senators and Members of Parliament).
4. The Library of Parliament.
5. Any board, commission, corporation or portion of the public service of Canada specified in Schedule 1 - Population Affiliation Report.

Employment in the public service

Prior to July 4, 1994

Prior to July 4, 1994, the effective date of becoming employed in the public service (for pension purposes) was the first day in which the employee received remuneration (salary or pay) as a full-time employee. An employee was considered to be full-time when the assigned work week (AWW) was equal to 30 or more hours per week.

On or after July 4, 1994

On July 4, 1994, the provisions for part-time employment (working at least 12 hours per week) came into effect, retroactive to January 1, 1981.

With these new provisions, the effective date of becoming employed in the public service for pension purposes is the earlier of:

• the first day in which the employee received remuneration as a full-time employee, or
• where the individual's first employment in the public service was as a part-time employee, the later of:
  • January 1, 1981, and
  • the first day which the employee received remuneration as a part-time employee.

Types of Employment

A person can be employed in the public service on a full-time, part-time, seasonal, term or casual basis.

In July of 1994 part-time employment was added to the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA), and the rules are broken down accordingly.

Full-time

Prior to July 4, 1994

Prior to the introduction of part-time employment, full-time employment was defined as employment requiring continuous service in a position where the employee was normally required to work an average of at least 30 hours per week.

On or after July 4, 1994

After the inclusion of part-time employment in the PSSA, full-time employment is defined as:

• Full-time in one position
  • Employment requiring continuous service in a position where the employee is normally required to work the full-time hours of their occupational group (that is, 40 hours per week).
• More than one position
  • Employment which consists of an employee actively working in two or more part-time positions where, the sum of the results obtained by dividing the number of hours the employee is assigned to work (Assigned Work Week - AWW) by the normal hours of work for the full-time position (Standard Work Week - SWW), is equal to or greater than 1.
    • Example:

      • 1st position: AWW 26.00, SWW 36.25

        2nd position: AWW 15.00, SWW 37.5

        26.00/36.25 = 0.7
        15.00/37.5 = 0.4
        0.7 + 0.4 = 1.1

        This employee is a full-time employee.

• Grandfathered at 30 hours or more per Week

  • Employees working an average assigned week of 30 hours or more as of the coming into force date in 1994 continue to be considered full-time for pension purposes and retain this grandfathering protection unless their hours of work go below 30 hours per week or there is a break in service of more than one day.

    If a grandfathered full-time employee has a break in service of more than one day, they are no longer grandfathered. The grandfathered service accrued prior to the break in service remains as full-time service. Should they become re-employed, their status is determined according to the new part-time or full-time provisions.

Part-time

Prior to July 4,  1994

When an employee was required to work an average of less than 30 hours per week, they were part-time employees and were not considered to be employed in the public service for pension purposes.

On or after July 4, 1994

As of July 4, 1994, part-time employment is considered employment in the public service, retroactive to January 1, 1981.

Part-time employment includes:

• Employment in a position where the employee is required to work an average of at least 12 hours per week but who does not work the standard (scheduled) full-time hours of the position (that is, 12 AWW / 37.5 SWW).
• Employment which consists of an employee occupying two or more part-time positions (with an AWW of at least 12 hours per week) where, the total of the two positions are less than a full-time position. The member is part-time if the sum of the results obtained by dividing the number of hours the employee is assigned to work (AWW), by the normal hours of work (SWW) for each position, is less than 1.

  • Example:

    1st position: AWW 12.00. SWW 36.25

    2nd position: AWW 15.00, SWW 37.50

    12.00/36.25 = 0.3
    15.00/37.50 = 0.4
    0.3 + 0.4 = 0.7

    This employee is a part-time employee.

• Grandfathered with more than 12 but less than 30 hours per week (non-contributors)

  • Employees engaged to work at least 12 but less than 30 hours per week as of the coming into force date of the part-time provisions in 1994 were able to opt out of participating in the pension plan (for example, continue to treat their part-time service as non-pensionable). They retain this status as long as their hours do not exceed 30 hours per week, make an option to become a contributor, or have a break in service of more than one day.

    Once the grandfathered protections are lost, the current PSSA rules are applied to any future periods of employment.

    Exception: Grandfathered part-time members may accept a short term acting appointment of less than 3 months with an AWW of more than 30 hours and retain their grandfathered status. Anything with a longer duration will result in the loss of the grandfathered protections.

Dual employment

Dual employment is when a plan member is on leave without pay (LWOP) from one department while working in a term position with another department. This does not include situations where the employee is actively working (for example, not on LWOP) in two positions or departments, which is dual remuneration.

While in a dual employment situation, the plan member will owe pension contributions on their second term appointment until that position ends and they revert to their LWOP status with the first department. While not dually employed, pension contributions are owed for the period of LWOP with the first department.

Note: Periods of employment where the employee was engaged to work for less than 12 hours per week, “as and when”, or “on call” are not considered to be dual employment or dual remuneration.

Prior to July 4, 1994

The plan member would only contribute to the pension plan on the second position if it was at least 30 hours per week.

On or after July 4, 1994

Contributions are collected based on the assigned hours of the second position (full-time or part-time).

The service will be credited based on the hours of the second position, even if the first position (LWOP) was full-time and the second (actively working) is part-time.

Dual remuneration

Dual remuneration occurs when a plan member occupies at least 2 positions at the same time and receives a salary, or remuneration, from each.

Although the plan member is actively working in two positions at the same time, each day in a dual remuneration situation will only provide one day of pensionable service. The total of the pensionable salaries received are counted in the member’s salary for the period, however, which means the member will pay contributions on both salaries.

Prior to July 4, 1994

Prior to July 4, 1994, members could not participate in the plan unless they were engaged to work at least 30 hours per week (full-time) in a position.

Members who occupied more than one full-time position were able to contribute to the plan for one position, but not both.

On or after July 4, 1994

Contributions are owed on both salaries as long they are not appointed to “as and when” or “on call” positions.

Types of appointments

Indeterminate

An employee who is appointed on a continuous basis. There is no preset end date to the appointment. The employee hired on an indeterminate basis is normally assigned to work a set number of hours per week, established at the time of hiring.

Term

An employee who is appointed for a limited or definite period of time. The two most common term appointments that we must consider in establishing eligibility are a term of more than six months and a term of six months or less.

Students

Students are allowed to contribute if they meet the basic eligibility criteria to contribute to the public service pension plan. The eligibility to contribute rules applies to students the same way they do for other employees.

Seasonal

A seasonal employee is an employee who in each year has one or more scheduled periods of lay-off of at least 3 consecutive months. The seasonal employee normally works the same season every year. For example, a person could be appointed for a 6 month period which extends from May 1 to October 30, be on lay-off status from November 1 to April 30 and start working a new season in May the following year and so on.

Seasonal layoff is the status of a seasonal employee during the "off season" when the seasonal employee neither performs the duties of their position nor receives a salary.

Casual employment

An employee who is hired as a casual worker and whose period of employment in the public service may not exceed 90 working days in one calendar year with any particular department or other organization. Employees who are offered a casual position of 12 hours or more per week, for a period of more than six months, must contribute under the pension plan from the date of their appointment.

Pension and benefits implications for casual workers

As and when or on call

An employee who is hired to work on an "as and when" required or "on call" basis (that is, only when needed there is no pre-established Assigned Work Week). An employee hired on this basis is not considered to be employed in the public service for pension purposes.