Managing departures

In this section

• Process description
• Employee responsibilities
• Manager responsibilities
• Human resources responsibilities
• Finance responsibilities
• Trusted source responsibilities
• Pay Centre responsibilities
• Pension Centre responsibilities

Process description

A termination severs the employer-employee relationship. A termination of employment can occur in the following situations:

• resignation
• retirement
• medical retirement
• abandonment of position
• release for incompetence or incapacity
• discharge for misconduct (suspension)
• rejection on probation

Employee responsibilities

The employee is responsible for:

• providing a letter of departure to their manager (on paper or by email) including the date and the reason of departure (for voluntary departure only)
• advising the Pension Centre that they are leaving the public service (in order to receive retirement benefits, if any)
• completing the departmental departure form (or equivalent) and providing the original to their manager (voluntary departure)
• ensuring all leave is entered in the Human Resources Management System
• entering all extra-duty pay using employee self-service in Phoenix

Manager responsibilities

The delegated authority is responsible for:

• contacting human resources about departmental processes and procedures to follow
• creating and signing an acceptance letter or other departure document, on paper or email (for retirement, resignation and medical retirement only). If the employee is on pre-retirement transition leave, the application serves as notice and is sufficient.
• providing signed acceptance of departure and employee’s departure letter including date and reason and the departmental departure form (or equivalent if non-voluntary termination) to the trusted source for authentication of the delegated authority signature and then submitting the documents to the following:
  • Finance department
  • the Pay Centre Mail facility by encrypted email, fax or mail, under cover of a completed pay action request
• ensuring all leave is up to date and approved in the Human Resources Management System
• ensuring all overtime is entered and approved in Phoenix
• contacting the Pay Centre to inform them of any changes in leave or outstanding leave balances
• identifying any departmental payments due from the employee (such as outstanding advances, recovery of value of unreturned government assets, or other)
• confirming return of government assets, inventory and other government items

Human resources responsibilities

Human resources are responsible for advising the manager of the departmental process and procedures for termination.

Finance responsibilities

Finance is responsible for:

• managing the departure forms that include asset management (the Pay Centre does not require confirmation of asset control by departments.)
• informing the Pay Centre of the amount of any outstanding debts owed to the Crown by encrypted email, fax or mail to the Pay Centre Mail facility, under cover of a completed pay action request form
• ensuring any amounts due to the employee or due from the employee are paid or covered prior to departure or final payment

If the Pay Centre or the Pension Centre have been unsuccessful at recovering monies owed, they should follow up with the employee for repayment.

Trusted source responsibilities

Upon receiving the signed departure letter, the trusted source is responsible for:

• ensuring that signatures on paper requests sent to the Pay Centre, are authenticated, for example:
  • the section 34 signature on all requests affecting financial results or a manager’s budget
  • the human resources delegated signature on all requests (excluding those sent directly by employees)

Pay Centre responsibilities

The Pay Centre is responsible for:

• checking the trusted source list
• ensuring all required documentation is provided
• ensuring that leave balances are updated in the Human Resources Management System
• ensuring the termination date and reason for termination have been recorded in the Human Resources Management System that integrates to Phoenix

Once the account is finalized, the Pay Centre is responsible for:

• providing the employee with the termination compensation standard benefits letter
• sending the Termination / Retirement Information form (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) to the Pension Centre, if applicable
• completing the Bargaining Agent Identification Notice of Change form and forwarding it to applicable union
• ensuring all entitlements or benefits are stopped as required
• sending severance options, if applicable
• ensuring the last pay for the employee is generated
• ensuring record of employment has been generated

Pension Centre responsibilities

Upon receipt of the Termination / Retirement Information form (accessible only on the Government of Canada network), the Pension Centre is responsible for:

• counseling the employee on benefit options
• sending the employee a retirement package
• processing the employee’s option for benefit, as per the Public Service Superannuation Act
• notifying the Pay Center to stop enrollment, indicating that the employee received a contribution refund

In this section

• Process description
• Manager responsibilities
• Human resources responsibilities
• Pay Centre responsibilities

Process description

This process involves recording casual, term or student end dates in the Human Resources Management System.

Manager responsibilities

Managers have certain responsibilities regarding early termination and non-renewal of terms.

Early termination

If a manager decides to terminate an acting appointment before the employee’s appointment end date or early end of assignment, the manager is responsible for advising the staffing advisor 30 days in advance. This will avoid delays in processing the request and will ensure there is enough time for the information to be sent to the Pay Centre.

Non-renewal of term employment

The manager is responsible for notifying the worker that their term employment will not be renewed as per their departmental Term Employment Policy or similar instrument.

Human resources responsibilities

Human resources is responsible for:

• entering the initial employee record into the Human Resources Management System
• modifying the end date when notified by the manager in the Human Resources Management System

Pay Centre responsibilities

The Pay Centre is responsible for:

• determining if benefits have to be stopped
• sending benefits letters and other applicable forms as needed
• cashing out leave where applicable
• ensuring record of employment has been generated

End of a term assignment

In exceptional circumstances only, the Pay Centre is responsible for creating or amending the end of a term assignment.

Termination: Death in service

Death in service is a type of termination. Because of the priority and sensitive nature of this transaction, the Pay Centre is responsible for treating this departure as urgent.

In this section

• Process description
• Employee responsibilities
• Manager responsibilities
• Human resources responsibilities
• Finance responsibilities
• Pay Centre responsibilities

Process description

A transfer-out is a permanent move by an employee from one organization to another. The organization from which the employee is leaving (current) processes the transfer-out.

Employee responsibilities

The employee is responsible for:

• accepting the letter of offer from the new organization (the transfer-in organization)
• providing a letter of departure (paper or email) to the manager in the current organization (the transfer-out organization), including the date and the reason for departure
• providing the letter of offer from the transfer-in organization to the manager in the transfer-out organization
• completing their departmental departure form (or equivalent)
• ensuring all leave is entered in the Human Resources Management System
• entering all extra-duty pay using employee self-service in Phoenix

Manager responsibilities

The delegated authority is responsible for:

• contacting human resources about which departmental processes and procedures to follow
• creating and signing the acceptance letter or other letter of departure (paper or email)
• providing the signed acceptance of departure and employee’s departure letter, including date and reason, to the trusted source for authentication of the delegated authority signature
  • sending the signed acceptance of departure and employee’s departure letter to the Pay Centre Mail Facility, under cover of a completed pay action request form
• providing the departmental departure form to the:
  • Finance department
  • Human resources department
• identifying any departmental payments due from the employee (such as outstanding advances, the value of unreturned government assets, or others)
• confirming the return of government assets, inventory and other government items
• ensuring all leave is up to date and approved in the Human Resources Management System
• ensuring all overtime is entered and approved in Phoenix

Human resources responsibilities

Human resources are responsible for:

• advising the manager on the departmental process and procedures for termination or transfer-out
• completing any outstanding actions unrelated to the departure in the human resources system (for example, ensuring that all acting assignments have been entered)

Finance responsibilities

Finance may be responsible for departure forms that include asset management. The Pay Centre does not need departments to confirm asset control.

Finance is responsible for:

• ensuring non-pay amounts due to the employee or due from the employee are paid or recovered prior to departure or final payment
• informing the Pay Centre about any outstanding debts owed to the Crown that were not recovered prior to departure or final payment
  • sending this information by encrypted email, fax or mail to the Pay Centre Mail Facility, under cover of a completed pay action request form

Pay Centre responsibilities

The Pay Centre is responsible for:

• checking the trusted source list
• ensuring that all the transfer-out has all the required documentation
• ensuring that leave balances are updated in the Human Resources Management System
• completing all pay-related transactions and finalizing the account in Phoenix
• identifying any salary overpayments
• entering the termination date and reason for termination in the Human Resources Management System, which then updates Phoenix (once the account has been finalized)

If finance provides information on debts owed to the Crown, the Pay Centre is responsible for:

• setting up the recovery
• communicating with the transfer-in organization to advise that the transfer-in is ready for processing

In this section

• Process description
• Manager responsibilities
• Delegated authority responsibilities
• Finance responsibilities
• Trusted source responsibilities
• Pay Centre responsibilities
• Pension Centre responsibilities

Process description

The employee’s spouse, next-of-kin or legal representative is responsible for providing the manager with the date of death, which may include a death certificate.

Manager responsibilities

The manager is responsible for:

• following the procedures for termination provided by the Pay Centre
• advising departmental finance of the death in service
• providing the departure documents to the trusted source who will authenticate the delegated authority signature
• sending the departure documents including the date of death (and death certificate, if available) as soon as possible by encrypted email, fax or mail to the Pay Centre Mail Facility, under cover of a pay action request form

The manager may also provide the death notice to the Pension Centre or refer the employee’s spouse, next of kin, or legal representative to contact the Pension Centre.

Delegated authority responsibilities

The delegated authority is responsible for:

• ensuring that all leave is up to date and approved in the Human Resources Management System
• contacting the Pay Centre to inform them of any changes in leave or outstanding leave balances
• adjusting time and labour entries in manager self-service if the employee passed away while on paid leave (for example, while on vacation)
• identifying any departmental payments due from the employee (for example, outstanding advances, value of unreturned government assets, or other)
• confirming the return of government assets, inventory and other government items

Finance responsibilities

Finance is responsible for:

• completing the departure forms that include asset management (the Pay Centre does not need departments to confirm asset control)
• informing the Pay Centre of the amount of any outstanding debts owed to the Crown by encrypted email, fax or mail to the Pay Centre Mail Facility, under cover of a completed pay action request form

If the Pay Centre or the Pension Centre has been unable to recover monies owed, finance is responsible for following up with the employee’s estate.

Trusted source responsibilities

The trusted source is responsible for authenticating signatures on paper requests before they are sent to the Pay Centre, for example, the:

• section 34 signature for all requests affecting financial results or the manager’s budget
• human resources delegated signature for all requests

Pay Centre responsibilities

The Pay Centre is responsible for:

• advising the manager of the process and procedures for termination
• checking the trusted source list
• contacting the employee’s spouse or estate representative to obtain a death certificate (if not already provided)
• referring the employee’s spouse or estate representative to the Pension Centre for information on pension benefits, if this has not already been done by departmental manager
• ensuring that leave balances are updated in the Human Resources Management System

Once the account is finalized, the Pay Centre is responsible for:

• entering the termination date and reason for termination in the Human Resources Management System that updates Phoenix
• providing the termination compensation standard benefits letter to the employee’s spouse, or estate representative and discuss the last pay entitlement or benefits and pay out options
• sending the Notification of death form and the Termination / retirement information form (accessible only on the Government of Canada network) to the Pension Centre with all required documentation
• finalizing the employee’s account to process their last pay and ensuring all entitlements or benefits (for example the Public Service Superannuation Act contributions) are stopped as required
• identifying any salary overpayments due from the employee
• ensuring record of employment has been generated
  • Create or amend the Record of Employment in exceptional circumstances
  • Create the Statement of Remuneration (T4) immediately and provide to employee’s spouse or estate representative

If finance provides information on debts owed to the Crown, the Pay Centre is responsible for setting up the recovery.

Pension Centre responsibilities

Upon receiving the Notification of death and the Termination / retirement information forms (accessible only on the Government of Canada network), and all required documents, the Pension Centre is responsible for:

• determining eligible survivors
• paying benefits to eligible survivors, including determining if a 5-year guarantee is payable to the estate
• paying the Supplementary Death Benefit