CD 2011-010

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This information is only accessible from inside the Government of Canada network.

Subject: Government of Canada Pension Modernization Project - Release 2.0 - Impact on Systems, Policy, Business Processes and Procedures

June 8, 2011

1. Purpose

1.1. The purpose of this directive is to provide compensation advisors and Public Works and Government Services Canada's (PWGSC) regional pay offices with general information on the new pension system implemented on April 11, 2011, and to provide detailed instructions for reporting pension-related information.

1.2. Release 2.0 of the Government of Canada Pension Modernization Project (GCPMP), focused on the delivery of pension functionality related to the administration of active member (contributor) accounts. This release excludes the activities associated with leave without pay (LWOP), which will be implemented in a later GCPMP release. Until then, existing policies, processes and procedures apply.

2. Modification & Cancellation

2.1. As various Compensation Directives are in the process of being modified as a result of Release 2.0, there could be subsequent communiqués issued in the future.

3. Background

3.1. On June 13, 2007, Treasury Board granted approval to proceed with two transformation of pension administration initiatives: the Government of Canada Pension Modernization Project (GCPMP) and the Centralization of Pension Services Delivery Project (COPSDP). The objectives of these initiatives are to renew PWGSC's 40 year old pension administration system, transform business processes and centralize the delivery of pension services to PWGSC 's Centre of Expertise (COE) at the Public Service Pension Centre (Pension Centre), in Shediac, NewBrunswick.

3.2. The GCPMP was established to develop and implement the business transformation and information technology solutions for the renewal of the PWGSC pension systems and services. This project will provide a modern pension administration infrastructure through a phased adoption of commercial-off-the-shelf systems for both core pension administration and customer relationship management. The transition to these new systems will be carried out in parallel with the implementation of a rigorous plan to transform the business organization, functions and processes related to pension administration.

By the end of the COPSDP, PWGSC will have centralized twelve services to the Pension Centre. The centralization of the following services was implemented with Release 2.0: Pension Benefits Entitlements, Survivor Benefits Entitlements and Employer Support Services. While the first two are existing services, the Employer Support Services is a new service that enables PWGSC to work effectively with the departments, separate employers, territorial governments and Crown corporations whose employees are subject to the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA).

3.3. In Release 2.0, the new core pension system called Penfax was implemented. This release provided new tools for contributor accounts and introduced the functionality for the Employer Support Services, a new service to support employers with their pension-related activities.

4. Description Of Changes

4.1. Main Changes in Release 2.0

The Penfax system replaced many of the existing PWGSC legacy systems and applications.

4.2. Access to the following systems was removed for use by compensation advisors and PWGSC regional pay offices:

  • Pension Support System (PSS)
  • Contributor Verification System

As the Pension Centre is now responsible for the administration of pension benefit entitlements, client organizations no longer have online access to view or correct plan members' pension information.

4.3. Access to the following systems has been retained:

  • Central Index System (CIS)
  • Contributor System for the Public Service Dental Care Plan (PSDCP)

Compensation advisors continue to be able to search for and create Personal Record Identifiers (PRI s) for eligible employees using the CIS . In addition, they retain access to the Contributor System menu selection to verify employees' effective date of coverage under the PSDCP . Eventually, the Contributor System menu selection will be modified to display only the Dental Care Plan (DCP) option. Until then, please note that historical data in the Contributor System has not been updated since April 11, 2011.

5. Policy

5.1. This new system has been integrated with the customer relationship management tools, as well as workflow and imaging functions implemented in previous GCPMP releases. Penfax provides the Pension Centre, PWGSC regional pay offices and client organizations with the necessary tools to streamline and automate existing pension administration business processes.

5.2. Effective April 11, 2011, the Pension Centre is now responsible for the administration of pension benefit entitlements for plan members throughout their career in the public service. The Pension Centre is also responsible for survivor benefit entitlements and Employer Support Services that provide information to various departments, separate employers, territorial governments and Crown corporations whose employees are subject to the public service pension plan.

5.3. With the implementation of Release 2.0, all of the control notices previously produced by the legacy Contributor System have been replaced by correspondence generated from the Penfax system. This correspondence is directed to compensation advisors for action and follow-up. Some of the procedures and forms used prior to the implementation of the new system have been replaced or modified.

5.4. The Pension Centre is able to track plan members' careers in order to determine member eligibility to pension benefits entitlements and survivor benefit entitlements, including members who have dual employment or dual remuneration. This is based on the information provided to the Pension Centre via the data feeds from the PWGSC Regional Pay System (RPS) to the Penfax system and, to a much lesser degree, via written documents. As always, data integrity is critical if incorrect data is entered into the RPS and then subsequently transferred to the Penfax system, erroneous pension information and benefit estimates may be generated and relayed to plan members, survivors and/or legal representatives.

5.5. Under the new centralized model, compensation advisors continue to apply the public service pension plan rules of eligibility to commence contributions and to input the appropriate employee and pension type codes into the PWGSC RPS, including the Supplementary Death Benefit Plan (SDBP) contribution deduction, if applicable. Compensation advisors determine pension eligibility and update the RPS at various times during a plan member's career, such as at initial hiring, completion of the six-month qualifying period, where there is a change in employment conditions and/or status (e.g. a change in an assigned work week to less than 12 hours, or a change in employment status that would effect an employee's eligibility to the public service pension plan, such as being employed on an "as required basis").

5.6. Once the new Penfax system is updated with changes in employment conditions or status, the Pension Centre will communicate, in writing, to the plan member to inform him/her of any possible or potential impact on pension benefits.

5.7. As part of the employer pay function, compensation advisors will continue to answer questions from employees on their payroll deductions, and apply the pay administration rules for their respective Terms and Conditions of Employment, as well as enter the salary and service data into the RPS.

6. Employer Services To Client Organizations

6.1. Compensation managers within organizations paid by the RPS can contact the Employer Support Services at the Pension Centre to obtain information pertaining to their pension-related responsibilities, as well as to obtain general pension-related information.

6.2. Compensation advisors are able to contact the active member line at the Pension Centre indicated on the "Your Public Service Pension and Benefits Contact Us" Web pages located in the "Your Public Service Pension and Benefits" Web portal (Your Public Service Pension and Benefits - Government of Canada) for any pension question related to an employee's account.

7. Plan Member Services

7.1. When asked about the public service pension plan benefits, compensation advisors can advise employees to contact the Pension Centre or directing them to the "Active Member" or the "Contact Us" Web pages located in the "Your Public Service Pension and Benefits" Web portal (Your Public Service Pension and Benefits - Government of Canada).

7.2. The Penfax system and the Pension Centre's pension experts use plan member contact information to send pension plan information in writing to plan members. Where a plan member's contact information is not received prior to termination of employment, the Pension Centre will contact the departmental compensation advisors to obtain the contact information. If the plan member's contact information has not been received within two business days following the date of the request, the Pension Centre will escalate the request to the compensation manager.

8. New Business Process, Procedures And Instructions

8.1. Data Update and Correction

8.1.1. Member data has been populated in the Penfax system by importing data from the RPS . This data is used to maintain career information (e.g. eligibility, salary and service), support Web self-service, provide advice and estimates related to terminations/retirements, pension transfers and pension division, as well as to expand the automation of business processes that was begun in previous GCPMP releases.

8.1.2. In cases of discrepancies or errors, a Pension Centre pension expert may need to contact the compensation advisor or the PWGSC regional pay office pay and integrity officer. Additional information may be required such as the correct date of becoming a contributor to the public service pension plan or the correct entitlement to pension plan benefits. Upon confirmation from the Pension Centre of the correct data, the compensation advisor may be required to amend the data in the RPS to reflect the correct information.

8.1.3. When the Pension Centre notifies the compensation advisors of inconsistencies in pension or personal data, it is the responsibility of the compensation advisors to change the data in the RPS to reflect the required public service pension plan deductions and salary or service information in order to maintain data consistency between the PWGSC Regional Pay System and the Penfax system. Compensation advisors may also be asked to complete forms and forward them to the Pension Centre. Compensation advisors can contact the Pension Centre using the active member Your Public Service Pension and Benefits Contact Us line in order to obtain guidance related to pension data-reporting information for a specific plan member's account. RPS -related questions must be directed to the PWGSC regional pay office.

8.2. Contribution Variance (Integrity Test)

8.2.1. The Penfax system tracks and verifies the accuracy of key pension data by comparing salary, service and contributions. The integrity test uses salary and service data to calculate the estimated contributions. The estimated contributions are then compared to the contribution data received from the RPS to determine if the relationship between salary, service and contributions is valid and within acceptable tolerances. The Penfax system also automatically identifies any variance between the election payment schedules and remittances received from members either directly or via payroll deductions. The Pension Centre will investigate the cause of any discrepancies and may need to contact the compensation advisor or the PWGSC regional pay office, to have erroneous data amended.

8.2.2. The PWGSC regional pay office may need to recover pension contributions in the RPS from regular or supplementary payments, or refund monies to the plan member. Pension contributions that are originally recovered via payroll deductions should be adjusted by the regional pay office. If the contributions were paid directly to the Pension Centre by the plan member, the Pension Centre's Accounting section is responsible for making the required adjustment.

8.3. 35 Years of Pensionable Service

8.3.1. With the new Penfax system, the Pension Centre is solely responsible for confirming and validating the date of completion of the 35 years of pensionable service. The Pension Centre automatically notifies the compensation advisor by letter three months in advance of the date of completion of 35 years of pensionable service. The compensation advisor is responsible for ceasing current public service pension plan deductions within the pay period during which the effective date occurs. There is no longer a requirement to complete the form "Notice of 35 Years of Pensionable Service" (PWGSC-TPSGC 2019) nor to validate the plan member's service. The Pension Centre will notify the plan member directly that his/her 35 years of pensionable service date is approaching.

8.3.2. The PWGSC's regional pay offices continue to be responsible for adjusting any pension plan deductions and to adjust the pension adjustment amount (PA) starting from the date of 35 years of service, as per current procedures and in accordance with the data received from the compensation advisor.

8.4. Age 71

8.4.1. The RPS automatically identifies those employees who have attained age 71 during the current calendar year, which will result in no further public service pension plan deductions being recovered the following January 1. There is no follow-up action required by the compensation advisor or the PWGSC regional pay office.

8.4.2. The Pension Centre automatically notifies the plan member in writing three months in advance of the end of the year in which he/she will become 71 years of age, that public service pension plan deductions will cease the following January 1. However, deductions and coverage will continue for the SDBP.

8.5 Dual Remuneration with the Same Department and Same PWGSC Regional Pay Office

8.5.1. Dual remuneration occurs when an employee occupies more than one position of employment in the public service and receives a salary for each position. In cases where a plan member is employed in dual remuneration and has one or more non-substantive position(s) in the same PWGSC regional pay office and department, but with different paylist numbers, the compensation advisor is required to complete the new form "Dual Remuneration - Same Pay Office and Department" (PWGSC-TPSGC 598 - Dual Remuneration-Same Pay Office and Department This information is only accessible to federal government employees, and only to federal departments and agencies.) in order to record the second and any subsequent periods of contributory service.

8.5.2. In accordance with the current procedures noted in the Personnel Pay Input Manual, (PPIM) sections 4-4-01 "PAC 01 -- Taken On Strength (TOS)" and 14-8-1 "Taken On Strength -- Detail Screens", remark 8, dual remuneration is reported as an entitlement commence (ENC), code 027. This will identify and pay the second salary of an employee who is employed in a position and is appointed to a second position within the same department and the same PWGSC regional pay office. However, this payment is not tracked for pension-reporting purposes and this information must be sent to the Pension Centre via the PWGSC-TPSGC 598 - Dual Remuneration-Same Pay Office and Department This information is only accessible to federal government employees, and only to federal departments and agencies. form. The completion of this form, when reporting the ENC 027, is a new step in the process, however the pay input procedures remain the same. Failure to report and record the dual remuneration as such will result in errors in determining pensionable service and salary for benefit calculation purposes.

Example 1 for 7C accounts

  • Employment 1 SVC PO 36 Hire Date = 01-05-2010 (substantive)
  • Employment 2 SVC PO 36 Hire Date = 01-06-2010 (non-substantive)
  • Employments 1 and 2 have different paylists. Employment 2 will require completion of the PWGSC-TPSGC 598 - Dual Remuneration-Same Pay Office and Department This information is only accessible to federal government employees, and only to federal departments and agencies. form.

8.5.3. Part A of the PWGSC-TPSGC 598 - Dual Remuneration-Same Pay Office and Department This information is only accessible to federal government employees, and only to federal departments and agencies. form must be completed by the compensation advisor at the beginning and at the end of the period of dual remuneration. Part B is only required at the beginning of the period. Parts B, C and D are required anytime there is a change in salary, pensionable allowances, and status changes, or if the plan member goes on LWOP during the period of dual remuneration.

8.5.4. Once completed, the form should be sent to the following address or fax number:

Public Works and Government Services Canada
Public Service Pension Centre - Mail Facility
150 Dion Blvd
PO Box 8000
Matane QC
G4W 4T6

Fax: 418-566-6298

8.6. Pensionable Allowances Reported as a Percentage Rate Base P

8.6.1. In order to ensure that the Penfax system receives the necessary data to determine the correct salary for the average salary calculation, the Pension Centre contacts the compensation advisor each time a pensionable allowance is reported with a percentage rate baseP to obtain the lump sum amount and will request the completion of the allowance data portion of the form "Confirmation of Salary and Service" (PWGSC-TPSGC 2020).

8.6.2. The following pensionable allowances are reported as a rate base P:

  • 061 Premium Pay
  • 083 Pay Supplement - Translation Group
  • 343 Supplement Multilingual Service - Translation Group - PWGSC and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) only
  • 1B7 Meat Hygiene Allowance - Canada Food Inspection Agency only

8.7. Dual Employment

8.7.1. Dual employment occurs when an employee is on an extended LWOP and is appointed to another position, on a temporary basis, in the same or in another organization under the Public Service Labour Relations Act (PSLRA I-I). The Pension Centre will send a letter to the organization with the secondary position advising of the dual employment situation to ensure proper action is taken.

8.7.2. In accordance with current procedures described in the PPIM Section 5-10 "Miscellaneous Instructions", subsection "Dual Employment", compensation advisors are responsible for entering a struck off strength (SOS) transaction in a timely manner in the RPS on the appropriate employee's account. Failure to do so will result in errors in determining pensionable service and salary for benefit calculation purposes.

8.7.3. Compensation Directive 2010-021 "Year End Requirements", dated November 12, 2010, outlines the recurring activity of the department to report to the PWGSC regional pay offices, at the end of each calendar year, the plan members who were in a dual employment situation during the year and the number of pay periods and pensionable earnings that should not be counted in the pension adjustment calculation for the year. Compensation advisors should refer to the latest version of the Compensation Directive each year as it becomes available.

8.7.4. The PWGSC 's regional pay offices are responsible for entering the appropriate information in the RPS Other Pay Office elements for each account once they obtain the substantive employment data that confirms dual employment. This may require recalculation of the applicable low or high rate pension contribution.

8.8. Accounts Bi-weekly Arrears Positive 7A

8.8.1. In accordance with current procedures that are noted in the PPIM, Chapter 4-4-33 "PAC 33 -- Hourly Arrears - Regular Pay (Time summary)" and 14-10-1 "Time Summary -- Detail Screens", if a temporarily struck off strength (T-SOS) transaction is entered in the RPS and the employee will not be returning to work, the compensation advisor must enter an SOS transaction as soon as possible. If an SOS transaction is missing on a 7A account and the person is re-hired elsewhere, the Penfax system will track service erroneously. It is recommended that compensation advisors periodically review all 7A accounts to identify those that have been inactive for a prolonged period and to obtain confirmation of employment status.

Note:

For employees subject to the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA), hours reported should always be equal to double the assigned work week (AWW) as reported in Field 33 to ensure correct public service pension plan deductions. If fewer hours are worked, report LWOP (REC 301) or if more hours are worked, report as additional hours (ENC049). Refer to PPIM Section 9-5-2 for information in this regard. It is recommended that departments use pay frequency 7B for employees subject to the public service pension plan.

8.8.2. Compensation advisors are also reminded to enter a TOS transaction to reinstate service in cases where an SOS employee returns to work instead of reporting an Entitlement Commence code 049 for additional hours. Otherwise errors will result when determining pensionable service and salary for benefit calculation.

8.8.3. Compensation advisors are reminded to use the actual effective dates when entering a TOS or a SOS transaction rather than using the pay period start or end dates.

9. Forms To Certify Salary And Service

9.1. Whenever possible, PWGSC pension experts will use the salary and service information available within the Pension Centre. However, if there are discrepancies, the pension expert will contact the compensation advisor to request certification of salary and service information. This will reduce the requirement for employing organizations to complete forms.

9.2. The following forms are to be used by compensation advisors for this purpose:

  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2001 - Elective Non-contributory Pensionable Service Record
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2001-1 - Elective Pensionable Service Record for Operational Service
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2020 - Confirmation of Salary and Service
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2123 - Certification Leave Without Pay (for prior contributory service)
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2201 - Request to Certify a Salary Rate
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2471 - Certification of Operational Service - Correctional Service of Canada
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2493 - Pension Benefits Division - Certification of Leave Without Pay

9.3. The "Termination/Retirement Information" (PWGSC-TPSGC 2386) form must be completed within five business days of a termination of employment transaction, retroactive salary increase, when applicable, or upon request from the Pension Centre.

9.4. Compensation advisors are reminded that the certification of salary and/or service must be completed and returned to the Pension Centre in a timely manner. If the employing organization is unable to obtain the employee's file from a previous department, the PWGSC regional pay office or archives within the prescribed time frame, the Pension Centre must be advised, via a facsimile, of the unavailability of documents required to certify the salary and/or service.

10. Forms That Have Been Removed

10.1. Since the implementation of the Penfax system on April 11, 2011, the following PWGSC forms are no longer required to support pension processes. Access to these forms has been removed from the Compensation Sector Web site and the Electronic Forms (ELF):

  • PWGSC-TPSGC 51 - Certification and Reconciliation of Superannuation Contributions
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 61-03 - Pension Adjustment Reversal
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 110 - Contribution System - Correction Request (available for insurance purposes only)
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2007 - Requisition for Payment - Supplementary Death Benefits
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2008 and 2008-1 - Determination of Payee for Return of Contributions - Deceased Contributor with Less than Two Years Pensionable Service
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2008-1 - Determination of Eligible Survivors - Deceased Contributor with Two or More Years Pensionable Service
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2011 - Notice of Termination and Option for Benefit - Employees with Two or More Years of Pensionable Service
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2011-1 - Reason for Termination and Option for Benefit Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) Operational Service
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2011-2 - Option for Benefit - Operational Service, Correctional Service Canada
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2011-3 - Notice of Termination and Option for Benefit - Employees with Less than Two Years of Pensionable Service
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2013 - Screening Form for Public Service Corporations - Public Service Superannuation Act
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2015 - Form Letter - Acknowledge Receipt of Your Request
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2018 - Notification of Plan Membership
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2019 - Notice of 35 Years Pensionable Service
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2030 - Request for Estimate Service Buyback Paid to Date Transfer Value
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2031 - Request for Estimate - Transfer Value
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2037 - Form Letter - Locating Pension Cheques
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2053-1 - Tax Credit Input Form
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2055 - PBDA Information Request Worksheet
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2055-1 - PBDA Information Request Worksheet - Public Service Corporations/Operational Service
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2057 - Estimate of Cost for Service Buyback
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2068 - Arrears of Payment Calculation
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2075, 2075-1 - Request for documents
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2077 - Details of Transfer under a Reciprocal Agreement
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2090-1 - Disposal of Dormant Files Under the Public Service Superannuation Act Administration
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2093 and 2093-1 - Form Letter - Requesting Additional Information to Positively Identify a Person (contributor)
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2093-1 - Form Letter - Requesting Additional Information to Positively Identify a Person
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2096 - Supplementary Death Benefit Control
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2097 - Service Buyback Notice
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2120 - Employment or Termination Advice - Former Armed Forces or RCMP Personnel
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2170 - Supplementary Death Benefit Notice of Payment Due
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2171 - Statement of Earnings - Deceased Pensioner
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2219 - Superannuation Directorate - Production Control File Relocation System
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2219-2 - Production Control File Location System
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2241 - Superannuation Documentation Transmittal Slip
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2268-1 - Form Letter - Pensionable Employment With
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2276 - Contributor System - TOS Screening
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2287 - Control Notice
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2292 - Monthly Remittance of Superannuation Contributions (Public Service Corporation)
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2321 - Termination and Contributions Advice
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2343 - Contributor System - Public Service Corporations Annual Pro Forma
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2347 - Form Letter - Request for Screening Documents
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2355 - Form Letter - Beneficiary Card Invalid
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2355-1 - Form Letter - Designation of Beneficiary Card
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2355-3 - Form Letter - Naming or Substitution of a Beneficiary
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2364 - Daily Cheque Listing
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2388 - Form Letter - Outstanding Cheque
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2432 - Call Back Control Form
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2437 - Client Inquiry - Survivors Case Checklist
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2439-4 - Contributor Identification Card
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2459 - Proof of Contributor Effective Date
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2468 - Application for Certification of a Provisional Past Service Pension Adjustment
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2478 - Election to Become a Contributor to the Public Service Pension Plan
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2482 - Transfer Service Record
  • PWGSC-TPSGC 2577 - Request for Return of Superannuation Contributions

11. Publications

11.1. The appropriate manuals, directives, bulletins and national training courses will be updated in the coming months to incorporate the relevant information contained in this directive.

12. Instructions

12.1. Please provide plan members or potential plan members with the contact information for the Pension Centre.

13. Inquiries

13.1. Any inquiries concerning the information contained in this document should be addressed to the Pension Centre Employer Support Services.

Original Signed by
Jeff Marcantonio

Carrie E. Roussin
Director General
Compensation Sector
Accounting, Banking and Compensation

Reference(s): CJA 9006-24-0, 24-6, 29, CJA 9203-5(3.1)(b), 71(1)