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Proactive Disclosure
Compensation Web Applications (CWA) Sample Communications Package (Human Resources)
What follows is some of the marketing materials you can use that are intended to promote the use of the CWA to employees. Use them as they are, or make adjustments to suit your audience.
CWA marketing material
This section provides marketing material such as the registration and enrolment instructions and communications that can be modified to suit your audience.
What Insurance Coverage Do You Have?
Use the page entitled "What Insurance Coverage Do You Have?" as a guideline to show how using the CWA can simplify their understanding of the Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement sent to all active pension plan members.
Don't Forget to Register for the Compensation Web Applications
A summary of all the benefits and features of the CWA, which you can circulate to promote their use, has been compiled under the heading "Don't Forget to Register for the Compensation Web Applications".
CWA and retirement
Use the Pension Calculator as a hook to promote registration for CWA. Show employees how planning for their retirement can be enhanced by using the Pension Calculator in the CWA to do pension forecasts.
CWA signature block enhancements
Promote registration for the CWA by encouraging employees to add a bilingual phrase to their email signature block. Those who have registered and are benefiting from using the Tools are very likely to want to promote their use to others.
That's an awful lot of paper to shred
Appeal to the environmentally aware and concerned - here is a marketing tool that challenges each department to enrol in the CWA.
Increase Your Future Pension Benefit
Use the Service Buyback Estimator to attract employees with previous service, outside or inside of the Federal Government, to enrol in the CWA.
Manager's Network
Use this set of guidelines to inform managers of the impact of the CWA upon their operations. It focuses on the positive results achievable by using the CWA as a planning tool.
Calculate Your Next Promotion
Use this material to encourage employees to use the CWA Gross to Net Regular Pay Estimate Calculator to provide an estimate of their salary increase. When you input the new salary rate into this calculator, it will estimate the amount that would get deposited into their bank account based on this new salary.
CWA marketing material
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Registration and Enrolment Instructions
The below section will provide you with the enrolment instructions for myKEY and the Compensation Web Applications (CWA).
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Sample Communiqué
The below is a sample communiqué sent to departments and staff for the purpose of advising them of changes to the registration and enrolment process for CWA. This document can be updated as required for all audiences.
From [enter department and service]
Changes in Accessing the Compensation Web Applications (CWA) using myKEY
The purpose of this communiqué is to inform you that there is a new procedure to access CWA. This new method will require employees to obtain an Identification (ID) based credential named myKEY (commonly known as Internal Credential Management (ICM) credential or Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Profile). This will replace the Anonymous-Online profile (username and password) that was previously used to access CWA.
What is the Compensation Web Applications (CWA)?
CWA is a suite of secure Web-based Pay, Pension and Insurance applications available through the intranet.
Once you register and enroll to CWA, you will be able to:
- View and access your pay, insurance and pension information;
- Conduct pension projections and obtain an estimate of your net pension amount;
- Perform calculations using the Service BuyBack Estimator;
- View and print your pay stubs and tax slips;
- Manage your insurance coverage under the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP) applications;
- Manage voluntary deductions, such as federal tax changes within allowable limits and Alterna deductions, and
- Estimate your regular net pay based on various career options.
Why will employees need to obtain a myKEY?
As of January 2011, myKEY will be the only accepted credential to access CWA.
Who should obtain a myKEY?
- New CWA users who do not already have an ID-based credential (commonly known as ICM credential or PKI profile).
- Returning CWA users who access CWA through the Anonymous-Online profile.
How to obtain a myKEY and to enroll to CWA?
Please follow the enrolment instructions in the link below:
Assistance
Your Departmental Help Desk is available if you are having difficulty accessing the Compensation Web Applications page or if you are having difficulty registering. Please contact the [enter department] Help Desk at [enter phone #] for assistance.
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Paperless Pay Stubs Memo
The below is a sample communication piece sent to employees to advise them of changes coming to the printing of their pay stubs. This document can up updated as required for all audiences.
At a Glance
October 6, 2010
Paperless pay stubs for [ insert department ] employees - new initiative 2011
Starting April 1, 2011, [ insert department ] employees will no longer receive paper pay stubs. As part of our efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our Department, we are moving towards paperless (or electronic) pay stubs.
What's going to change?
You will no longer have a paper pay stub delivered to you every two weeks. Instead, you will simply have to login to your Compensation Web Applications (CWA) account to view your pay stub online. You will also be able to view or print them, if necessary, up to two days before pay day.
Some employees, such as those on long-term leave or those paid by cheque, will continue to receive paper pay stubs. A full list of exemptions will be communicated to you shortly.
For more information about the paperless pay stubs initiative, please consult the frequently asked questions.
How do I register?
The attached enrolment instructions provide you with step-by-step instructions for registering to CWA.
If you have trouble registering for the CWA, please contact the Information Technology (IT) Service desk at [ insert your departmental help desk telephone number ].
What Insurance Coverage Do You Have?
Do you know what insurance coverage you have as a federal Public Service employee? If you have indeterminate status or contribute to the pension plan, you should have received "Your Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement", which provides pension and other benefit information. Do you find the Statement difficult to understand? If you answered "yes", the Compensation Web Applications (CWA) can help.
Once registered for the CWA, you can view your Statement on-line and activate all the help text available to assist you. The Statement is easy to follow by navigating the left-hand menu. The "Group Benefits Plans" section will indicate your current insurance coverage. If you require more information regarding your coverage after perusing the on-line guides, contact your compensation advisor.
The paper copy of the Statement is only provided to you once a year (unless you opted for the paperless record keeping), but you can access the on-line version, updated monthly, as often as you wish. You even have the option of printing the complete Statement, or parts thereof, through the "Your Statement" option on the menu.
To access this useful tool, click on the Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement link located under the Pension Services heading at the Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) Compensation Sector's Web site. Once you have selected the application, read the message and press the "Continue" button. Login to the CWA and navigate using the left-hand menu.
If you have not already done so, register now for the CWA, and familiarize yourself with the applications available.
Don't Forget To Register For the Compensation Web Applications
Have you registered for the Compensation Web Applications (CWA) yet? By now you should have received an email inviting you to sign up for these innovative new tools.
Maybe you've been wondering about your benefits package or leave with income averaging? Are you curious to know the cost of buying back service? Looking for a more convenient way to view your pay stub and use less paper? The CWA can help you with all this and more!
The CWA gives you access to self-service tools to view, use and modify your personal information in a private and secure environment. These on-line tools provide you with instant access to pay, benefits, insurance and pension information, as well as tools to calculate pension-related projections and leave with income averaging. These on-line services include:
- Statement of Earnings (Pay Stub) and Tax Slips
- Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement
- Pension Calculator
- Service Buyback Estimator
- Gross to Net Regular Pay Estimate Calculator
- Voluntary Deductions (application to adjust your voluntary deductions, e.g. Alterna Savings, additional provincial or federal tax)
Once you've enrolled, you can request to receive only the electronic version of your pay stub and "Your Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement". Let's help the environment by using less paper.
For more information about the CWA, visit the PWGSC Compensation Sector Web site and stay tuned for other featured highlights.
CWA and Retirement
Counting down the days to retirement? We have the tool for you!
Ah, retirement! Some days it seems like it can never come soon enough. For many of us, retirement is an event that is greatly anticipated but often inadequately planned. Now, retirement planning has just gotten a lot easier with the Compensation Sector Web Applications (CWA). This tool quickly calculates the financial consequences of any retirement scenario you can think of.
What if.?
- What if you can retire at age 60, but you want to work for another year or two?
- What if you wanted to retire nine months early - what would the penalty be?
- What if, in the lead-up to retirement, you want to take a few months of self-funded leave?
Using your current and personalized information, the Pension Calculator in the CWA will give you the answers to all of these "what if" questions and more.
For most of us, our pension benefits will be our largest source of income at retirement. Once you know how much your pension benefits will be, you can plan your retirement and your financial future with more confidence. You won't have to speculate - you will know. Using the CWA is so easy, you will likely want to examine and re-examine your retirement scenarios over and over again.
Take the time to register for the Compensation Sector CWA now and help a colleague see the benefits of using the CWA!
The CWA offers a host of other great features , including the option to receive electronic pay stubs, a calculator to estimate your net pay if your income were to change, and an application to adjust your voluntary deductions.
CWA Signature Block Enhancements
These following are a few examples of bilingual phrases that can be added to email signature blocks in order to promote the Compensation Web Applications (CWA).
Your personal pay and pension information at your fingertips! Register for the Compensation Sector Web Applications (CWA)today!
Have you registered for the Compensation Web Applications (CWA) yet? Go to: Compensation Sector.
Have you heard about the Compensation Web Applications (CWA)? Your personal pay and pension information at your fingertips! You can register at: Compensation Sector.
See your personal pay and pension information on-line! Register for the Compensation Sector (CWA) today!
That's an awful lot of paper to shred
Every two weeks, most Public Service employees receive a paper pay stub, in a paper envelope.
Each October, Public Service employees receive the document entitled "Your Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement".
That's an awful lot of paper. And that's an awful lot of shredding to do too, since we can only keep this paper hanging around for so long.
Wouldn't it be great if you could have access to your pay stub
and ² Your Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement ² electronically, so you can reduce the amount of paper you use?
Well now you can! Using the new Compensation Sector Web Applications (CWA) you can stop the printing of both your pay stub and "Your Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement". No more wondering where to file that pension statement, or what to do with all of those pay stubs. All of your pay, pension and benefit information is available to you, at any time, right from the secure CWA site.
A challenge to all (insert department name here) employees
The Pension and Insurance Benefits Statement is printed every year beginning in October. Think how much paper we can save if everyone in (insert department name here) signed up for electronic versions of this statement instead of hard copies!
Now is your chance! Register for the Compensation Sector CWA today , and sign up to view your monthly statement electronically rather than in hard copy. While you're at it, sign up for electronic pay stubs too!
If you've already registered for CWA, help a colleague to do likewise, and spread the word about it.
Let's set a precedent for other departments by reducing the amount of paper we use and doing our part to be more environmentally friendly!
The CWA offers a host of other great features as well, including a personalized pension calculator, a gross to net regular pay estimate calculator (should your income be about to change), and an application allowing you to request an adjustment of your voluntary deductions.
Increase Your Future Pension Benefit
Do you have past periods of Public Service employment that don't count towards your pension? Did you start your career as a student, casual or short-term employee? If so, you might be able to increase your future pension benefit by electing to purchase your past service.
How much will it cost? How will you benefit? Use the Service Buyback Estimator to estimate the cost and benefit of adding additional service to your career. This tool estimates your service (years and days) and the cost of buying back prior pensionable service based on the information that you enter. It allows you to specify your service "From" and "To" periods, as well as your Years of Repayment or Buyback Cost to suit your budget.
To use this tool, choose the Service Buyback Estimator under the Personalized Tools title in the Pension Services section of the Compensation Sector Web Site . Click on the [Continue] button on the bottom of page and login to the Compensation Web Applications (CWA). Enter the information and press the [Calculate] button. Follow the instructions for further calculations.
You can get more information on Service Buyback and what it can do for you by visiting the Compensation Sector Web Site.
Manager's Network
Heads-Up: The CWA May HAVE AN Impact ON You!
Most of you have heard about the Compensation Sector Web Applications (CWA) by now. The CWA offers employees the ability to calculate their net pay based on various scenarios, including reduced work hours and leave with income averaging .
(Insert department name here) is encouraging all employees to register for the CWA. As a manager, you need to be aware that this may have an impact on you: as more employees learn about alternate work arrangements and their financial viability, they may ask to work fewer hours or to take leave with income averaging.
Looking at the "pros" rather than the "cons"
While your initial reaction may be to say "No way!" for operational reasons, why not look at the opportunities saying yes provides:
- It can be a great retention tool . Once you have agreed to part-time hours or leave with income averaging, the employee will be more likely to stay, since not all employers find ways to make it work.
- It can also be a great development tool . The employee who is taking the time off will need to be better organized and can train a more junior employee to take on additional responsibilities during this absence. Junior level employees benefit from the opportunity for development at set times of the year.
- Don't forget that a happy employee is a more productive and loyal employee .
All this to say, if your employees approach you about working something other than the standard 37.5 hours per week, don't automatically turn them down. There are advantages and disadvantages to consider. Encouraging work/life balance is one of the ways we can make (insert department name here) an exemplary work place.
For more information
- Learn more about leave with income averaging, including the official policy and questions and answers, from the Treasury Board Secretariat's Web site .
- Find out more about the Compensation Sector CWA and its many features.
Calculate Your Next Promotion
Do you wonder how much your net pay will change for that promotion you want, or as a result of changing from full-time to part-time? The Gross to Net Regular Pay Estimate Calculator on the Compensation Web Applications (CWA), can provide an estimate for you. When you input the new salary rate into this calculator, it will estimate the amount that would get deposited into your bank account based on this new salary.
This calculator is designed for full-time and part-time employees paid on either a bi-weekly or monthly basis; however, some restrictions apply to the different scenarios. Various reasons for which you may want to estimate a change in your net pay could include:
- Change to salary as a result of a promotion, a revision, an acting pay (beginning or ending), a conversion, a statutory or merit increase, a demotion and/or a change in your assigned work week;
- Reduction in regular pay as a result of a recovery of leave without pay, pre-retirement transition leave, leave with income averaging and/or the recovery of a gross overpayment.
- Stopping an existing entitlement as a result of a classification change that provides different allowances (for example: bilingual bonus, terminable allowance, expanded professional role allowance, nurse-in-charge allowance, supervisory differential, etc.).
To access this useful tool, login to the Compensation Sector CWA by choosing the Gross to Net Regular Pay Estimate Calculator in the Pay Services section, read and agree to the disclaimer, then choose which calculation you would like to perform from the left-hand menu.
If you have not already done so, register now for the CWA and familiarize yourself with the applications available.