ARCHIVED CD 2007-012

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July 11, 2007 (Revised October 10, 2007)

SUBJECT: Royal Canadian Mint Commemorative Coins Campaign for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games -- Payroll Deduction

1. PURPOSE

1.1 The purpose of this directive is to provide information concerning a new payroll deduction program for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games Commemorative Coins Campaign by the Royal Canadian Mint (the Mint).

This directive applies to all federal public service employees paid through the Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) Regional Pay System (RPS).

1.2 A notice of information to employees concerning the above campaign has been included with this directive and will also be posted in the "Who are you? - Public Service Employee" page of the Compensation Sector Web site.

2.1 The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia. To commemorate this special event, the Mint is offering federal public service employees the opportunity to purchase a series of gold and silver coins through regular payroll deductions.

3. POLICY

3.1 The campaign commences with an enrollment period that runs from July 11, 2007, to September 14, 2007. Payroll deductions will commence effective November 1, 2007, and will end on October 28, 2009. PWGSC will process a bulk stop of deductions effective November 1, 2009.

3.2 Indeterminate employees and employees appointed for terms of more than six months are eligible to participate in the payroll deduction program. Casual employees (including casuals with more than six months of service), students, and employees on leave without pay (LWOP) or temporarily struck off strength (T- SOS) status during the enrollment period are not eligible to participate through payroll deduction, but may purchase coins as direct customers of the Mint.

The coins will also be on sale to members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP members) and the Canadian Forces (CF), as well as members of the general public. The Mint is responsible for making separate arrangements with the RCMP and the CF.

3.3 During the enrollment period, the enrollment form and additional information on the campaign will be available by accessing the Mint's Web site at Royal Canadian Mint. A handout will also be distributed to employees in July 2007, with the exception of Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) employees.

3.4 The number of coin sets purchased may only be increased or decreased during the enrollment period. It should be noted that the payroll enrollment form will be removed from the Mint's Web site at the close of business on September 14, 2007, the last day of the enrollment period.

The payroll deductions will be processed through the RPS at the end of the enrollment period.

The remittances will be forwarded to the Mint and credited towards the employee's account.

3.5. Coin Sets

3.5.1 Employees will be able to purchase one or more sets of coins from the following series:

  • The Sterling Silver Hologram series that includes a set of fifteen (15) coins at $69.95 each, for a total of $1,049.25, plus applicable provincial sales tax.
  • The Gold Coloured series that includes a set of nine (9) coins at $389.95 each, for a total of $3,509.55, plus applicable provincial sales tax.

3.5.2 Deductions will be based on the total cost of all purchases, including applicable sales tax, and proportioned over the deduction period, November 1, 2007, to October 28, 2009, (a total of forty-eight (48) pay periods).

3.5.3 A complete price list with calculations for biweekly rates, including sales tax for each province (where applicable), is available on the Mint's Web site. The provincial sales tax will be determined based on the employee's delivery address at the time of purchase, and the prices will be guaranteed by the Mint for the entire 2010 campaign.

Sales tax is not applicable for First Nations employees who are registered under the Indian Act. First Nations employees are required to contact the Mint directly and provide proof of their Indian status. When submitting the enrollment form to the compensation advisor, employees should provide written confirmation that they have provided the necessary information to the Mint.

A separate table of rates for First Nations employees is provided on the Mint's Web site.

3.5.4 If provincial sales taxes should increase during the campaign, the Mint will absorb the increased cost. If taxes should decrease, the Mint will refund the difference. Additional information will be provided on the Mint's Web site, should a change in sales tax for any province occur.

4. PROCEDURES/INSTRUCTIONS

4.1. Enrollment Form

4.1.1 A two-page enrollment form will be available on the Mint's Web site at Royal Canadian Mint during the enrollment period only. Page 1 of the form will include a nine (9) character reference number that will be generated at the time the enrollment form is printed by the employee from the Web site.

Once employees access the Mint's Web site and locate the section for enrollment, the first step will be for employees to insert the information requested on the data capture screen. This information will be automatically captured on both pages of the enrollment form. Employees are to complete, sign, and date both pages of the enrollment form, then send both of these pages to their compensation advisor by close of business September 14, 2007.

4.1.2 Compensation advisors are to retain page 1 of the form, and forward page 2 to the Mint at the address indicated below, as soon as possible but no later than October 5, 2007:

Royal Canadian Mint
320 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G8
Attention: Federal Payroll Program Officer
E-mail: payrolldeduction@mint.ca
 

4.2. Deductions

4.2.1 The new deduction code, 5E6, will be available in the RPS effective October 16, 2007. Compensation advisors will have from October 18, 2007, to October 31, 2007, to input the pay transactions. Deductions must be commenced effective November 1, 2007, and transactions are to be entered without an end date.

4.2.2 To commence the deduction, the compensation advisors will be required to review the form and input the following information using deduction code 5E6:

  • Effective from date,
  • Rate base "6",
  • Specified amount per month (add the amounts per pay for the gold and silver sets, and multiply the value by two); and
  • Reference number (Field 71). Use leading zeros to fill all nine spaces; for example, 000000113.

The on-line pro forma feature described in Compensation Directive 2001-016 and in the job aid available at the following Internet site On-line proforma can be used to enter the transactions in the RPS.

4.2.3 The effective from date must be the first of the month. The system will automatically divide the monthly payment into equal amounts to be taken for each regular bi-weekly pay, excluding the pay period plus (PP+). It is important that the reference number be included in the data entered to enable the Mint to identify each purchaser.

PWGSC will process a bulk stop of deductions effective November 1, 2009.

4.3. Arrears and Refunds

4.3.1 The deduction code 5E6 is reversible but not refundable. Therefore, compensation advisors will not be able to input arrears transactions and no automatic arrears will be generated for cancelled payments (current year and previous year), intercepts and recalls.

Refunds will not be generated by the system when T-SOS and struck off strength (SOS) accounts are finalized.

Should one or more deductions be missed due to the late start of deductions, the affected employee will be allowed to request that the compensation advisor increase the deduction amount over the corresponding number of pay periods to compensate for the missed deductions.

4.4. Requests for Cancellation

4.4.1 Employees will be able to cancel their subscription at any time by submitting a request, in writing (e-mail acceptable), to their compensation advisor. The compensation advisor will then take the necessary action to cancel the deduction in the RPS.

4.4.2 The employee is also responsible for advising the Mint in writing of the request to cancel the payroll deduction. The cancellation request must include the employee's full name, home address, department, pay list, number of coin sets being cancelled and the effective date of the cancellation. The Mint will issue a refund of any amounts paid up to the date of cancellation for coins not shipped.

4.4.3 It should be noted that if an employee subscribes to more than one set of coins and wishes to cancel part of the purchase, it will be necessary to cancel all subscriptions and make arrangements directly with the Mint for the outstanding balance.

4.4.4 Employees will not be permitted to restart cancelled payroll deductions.

4.5. Termination of Payroll Deductions

4.5.1 Should one or more payments be missed as a result of movement of accounts between different employers done via SOS and taken on strength (TOS) transactions, or in situations of LWOP, SOS and T-SOS, the deduction will automatically stop and the employee will be terminated from the payroll program . The employee should contact the Mint directly to make arrangements for refunds or outstanding payments.

Compensation advisors should ensure that the deduction is not restarted on retaken on strength (RE-TOS).

4.5.2 When a T-SOS (including Pending "Y" status) is updated to the Master Employee Record (MER), the deduction will stop and the system will automatically generate a pay action code (PAC) 16 S 5E6 for audit trail purposes.

4.6. Employee Change of Address

4.6.1 Given that the coins will be shipped to the delivery address specified by the employee, employees must advise the Mint immediately of any address changes. The information provided should include the employee's full name, new address, department, pay list number and the effective date of the address change.

5. INQUIRIES

5.1 Any inquiries on the information contained in this document should be addressed to your Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) Compensation Services Office.

5.2 General information concerning the Olympic coins campaign can be found at the following Web site address: Royal Canadian Mint. Individual inquiries concerning existing coin purchases should be directed to the Mint at its toll free number, 1-877-242-9066, or at the mailing and e-mail addresses indicated in 4.1.2.



Original Signed by
Rosanna Di Paola

Brigitte Fortin
Director General
Compensation Sector
Accounting, Banking and Compensation


Reference(s): CJA 1270-1-10