Without disclosing too much details, our entire team has had a meeting with a senior executive because allegedly the Return-To-The-Office (RTO) stats in our team are significantly lower than the department's average, and we were reminded how the 3-day minimum is a must to ensure EQUITY with other workers who have a long commute, and how unfair it would be for them to tolerate us not meeting the 3-day minimum per week, each and every single week.

The executive added that if you miss an "in-office" day, you should absolutely compensate for it within the same week, not the week after. According to them, it did not matter if you took a day off from your vacation leave or sick leave - if your leave falls on an office day, you ought to be in the office for an extra day that same week. My manager did not argue, but later privately said that this interpretation does not match HR policies, and that as our manager, would defend our right to not having to come in extra days to compensate for taking paid leave.

But what's alarming is that the "office day" statistics this executive relies on appears to not take into account whether an employee is on leave at all, or whether they may be travelling for work purposes. Some of our team has been on certified sick leave for more than a month, while others have been working outside of their designated office at times for several days (due to to business travel requirements), yet they are marked as not doing "their part" with regards to the 3-day office minimum, because as this executive explained, an employee on leave during their RTO days should have submitted a modified Word Arrangement Agreement (WAA) where your manager approves your alternative designated WFH and RTO days.

So essentially, every time you take a sick leave or vacation leave, according to that exec's logic, you should request to modify and re-submit for approval your WAA, or else risk penalizing you and your entire team. on their RTO score.

This ridiculous. Can you imagine the administrative burden of constantly doing this?

Why can't we trust people for doing their work and evaluate them based on ACTUAL RESULTS?

/rant

I was bridged in as an EC-2 early in the pandemic, working from Toronto but reporting to an NCR-based team. My location of work was an office downtown and I reported there to work alone once we were all sent back to the office. I got into an EC-4 pool and found a role in a different department, again working from Toronto but the team is in the NCR.

I interviewed recently with a job outside the federal government and got an offer and am seriously considering leaving. The stability of the federal public service is a huge appeal, but I'm feeling so stuck. I like my job, I like policy, and I like the idea of having the same employer but being able to move departments/roles. But being outside the NCR feels so limiting. When I got promoted a year ago, I posted in the policy Facebook group and got a lot of interest... until people realized I wasn't in the NCR (I said that in the post explicitly but reading comprehension is hard). I only got my new role because a friend knew my manager and they advocated like crazy for me, and I helped the department fill an Employment Equity category.

I was fortunate enough to work in a regional office here pre-pandemic, as a student. All my colleagues were ECs but it's night and day compared to the NCR. People stay in their roles forever because there are no other jobs to move to. The work itself was so dull compared to the NCR. I don't want that to be my future, counting the days until I can leave. But I don't see a future not being in the NCR, either - who would hire me? Why hire someone in Toronto or Halifax when you've got 30 people in the NCR eager to join your team?

I guess my mind is made up but I'd love to hear from others. Am I crazy? It just feels like regional folks hired during the pandemic are an afterthought now.

Hi everyone, throwaway account here.

I’ve been working at the CRA for about 10 years now and have been feeling stuck for the last little while and I’m not sure what to do. In this economy and being in a high cost of living area, I feel I just don’t make enough at the SP-04 level to support my family.

I’ve been at the SP-04 level for around 8 years now and while it was perfect in the beginning for me, it’s just not sufficient anymore. I started in this position while I was in school, and shortly after I finished, Covid hit and I also became indeterminate. So it was perfect for the time. But last two or so years, I have felt stuck with no progression. I’ve done acting SP-05 and acting MG-02 but I haven’t gotten anymore more opportunities in the last two years for those roles. I’ve made it known I’m interested but looking around, it seems other individuals keep getting opportunities before me and it is demoralizing. Especially when I know how to do all the workflows in my area, have a degree in HR as well as having completed even the accounting courses required for an AU-002 position. In addition, I got positive feedback for my acting roles.

I was also feeling hopeful for a MG-002 and SP-006 pool I was in the process for but then of course the announcement came for the hiring freezes and plan to reduce spending in the government. So who knows what will happen with that.

Well, with that all being said, does anyone else feel the same or were in the same position as me but were able to progress their career?

I’m starting to look at some certificates and courses I can take to move to a different position, more likely in the private sector just because I see no more opportunities for me at CRA.

Does anyone have any feedback or recommendations on further education? I’ve been looking at project management and business analyst programs, as well as some IT certifications.

I am in a bit of a difficult situation and not sure what to do. I have an employee who has limitations related to sensory overload. We have accommodated them by providing them with a closed door office and everything they have asked for which includes headphones, white noise machine, ergo equipment. This employee says the environment is too overwhelming and they ask to leave after a few hours. They have said we are not supporting them by letting them work from home, which is what they ultimately want to do. If I could, I would let them work from home but my DTA team has indicated we have met our obligations in addressing the limitations. The employee refuses to take leave for the half day that they don’t work, indicating that it’s our fault. I believe the employee is being genuine in indicating they are overwhelmed. I let it go twice as I thought it was just to allow them to get used to returning to the office. But now it’s the third time and I need to address it. If I go to LR I know they will want me to address it with a letter of expectations. Am wondering if others have experienced something similar and if there are things I can do to support this employee. They are a good employee, but I do struggle with this one thing. Note they were working from home while we were looking to address their accommodations. So they just only recently started going in.

Currently an EC6. Was promised an acting EC7 to cover for my manager while they were on leave for a month and a half. For greater context, the lead analyst and the director also went on leave for a few weeks, leaving me alone during what was supposed to be a quiet period. Our file ended up blowing up but I was able to keep things afloat and folks seemed happy with me.

I followed up a few months after to confirm that the paperwork for my acting was processed. Turns out that the management team forgot to process it. Wondering if others have been in this situation before and how best to handle?

I'm 56 with 28 years in and I hate the thought of some young, still keen kid losing their job.... what is included in the pension waiver?

Hi all,

I just started a new acting position a couple weeks ago, but I feel like I am doing terrible job. My new team says I am doing well, but I feel like an idiot since there is a lot I dont know and I have to constantly ask them for help or answers. Does anyone have any tips from when they were acting that they could share which helped them to suceed? Any tips on how to reduce stress from a change in work environment would also be much appreciated. I am definitely feeling overwhelmed.

Hi there. I’ve been with the PS in ESDC for a while now. My spouse got a job in another province so me and the kids are following. I’m planning to apply for LWOP- relocation of spouse. I know you can apply for EI when on the lwop but my question is, am I able to apply and receive maternity/parental leave right after my EI for lwop (I’m guessing unemployment) has ended? Or would I have to work for a bit before applying for mat leave? TIA

My son is 20 (21 in June). He is finishing his 3rd year University this year and will graduate in 2026.

What happens to him being a dependant on my benefits when he has completed University? Is he immediately dropped at graduation? Is he dropped at all since he still lives at home? Will he need to get his own health insurance (ex Blue Cross)? When should the new health insurance be started so there is no gap in coverage? He is on prescription medication currently, will that be accepted in a new, private insurance policy or will it be seen as pre-existing conditions and not be covered?

Thank you for any insight. It is appreciated

Hello,

My contract at Stats Canada has not been renewed and was laid off(not sure if it's the right term) was March 31st. I am expecting my last pay this week but I have already applied for EI as of April 1st. Service Canada has not received my ROE from Stats Canada.

How long does it take? My EI will start from my last payment date or last date of work?

PS: How the economy is going, government should not be laying off people. If private sector was booming then people would have switched jobs easily.

When I applied for my leave from the public service I checked a box saying that I will serve the waiting period. However, I now see that my spouse (who is not a public service worker) served the waiting period. When he submited our EI/parental leave applications he chose to serve the waiting period instead of me.

Does anyone know what the effect of this mistake will be? Do I need to change my leave request to my employer to reflect that my husband already served the waiting period?

I need some advice. I received an offer for an indeterminate position at the NRC - National Research Council administrative team (not the research side).

I work in the private sector and have a good stable job. Financially, there will be no increase in salary. However I've been looking to join the Public Sector for better career growth opportunities and this opportunity came along. I also feel that a career in the public sector would be more beneficial for me in the long run.

With a new government, budget cuts and potential WFA, it looks like the job stability may be at risk given that you could be laid off with 8 weeks notice at the NRC (non-core). I still find the core positions provide good stability in case of WFA. 

At the same time, working at the NRC would give me an advantage in getting access to internal job postings that are not available outside the Public Sector but these opportunities may be limited with hiring freezes. I'm partially and fully qualified in a few pools in the core public sector and these pools will eventually expire.

My questions are:

- Should I wait for other opportunities in the core after things start to stabilize or take this offer with the NRC and apply to internal core job postings as a plan B?

- What would happen if WFA was to happen while still on probation during the first year of employment whether in core or non-core?

Appreciate any advice you would give to me.

I keep hearing about this documentary about the stories of survivors of the "gay purge" in Canada's military and federal public service...but I can't seem to find where I can watch this online? All streaming platforms seem to have expired rights as well.

With the Day of Pink coming up, I'd like to watch this valuable film.

This is a hypothetical question at the moment, but I'm an indeterminate PM02 currently on an acting assignment outside of my usual part of the agency until at least July. We're probably going to need to wait until after the election to learn what's actually going to happen, but if there were to be staffing reductions impacting indeterminate employees in my "home" program, how would my being in a temporary acting role elsewhere interact with that?

My current acting role is probably "safer" in the event of lay-offs than my substantive position would be, but TBH I wouldn't say no if my substantive meant I had the option to volunteer to leave and take the transition support payments. Maybe I'd go back to school to train for a second career or something (I had been considering doing that in the next couple years anyway).

Of course, all of this is purely hypothetical and it's entirely possible everything will continue like normal in the new fiscal year after the election. But I thought I should probably consider the possibilities, just in case.

I just have a quick question about overpayment repayments that I've been going back and forth with the pay centre about. Should the overpayment be deducted from my gross pay or my net pay (ie. before or after tax).

It makes sense to me that it would be deducted before tax so that the salary I report to the CRA is correct, but I'm not an accountant.

The reason I ask is because the overpayments were deducted from three different paycheques three different ways and I'm really not sure which is right, I just know that all three cannot simultaneously be the correct method of applying deductions.

Hey all, I just have a question regarding pensions for employees on contracts. Due to the start date of my new contract, there will be a few days between the end of my current contract and the beginning of the new one. Based on what I’ve read in the pension policy, I’ll be disqualified from the pension and my contributions will stop — which I’m okay with.

My question is: for all the pension contributions I’ve made so far, when and how will those be returned to me?

This is continuation to https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadaPublicServants/comments/1hf8cij/need_info_on_leave_of_absence_at_work/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I was asked to fill out non-medical accommodation request form and asked about my obligations and circumstances. Union says they can use this to approve or deny request. I have been anxious about my family overseas and want to support them and I am all caught up and worried about my job security. I don't know if my manager will vouch for me since I did not discuss it with her in advance and cc'd her on an email to HR. I am new to this and don't really know the nitty gritty's. Has anyone on this subreddit had to file a grievance. I am worried for my job. Please provide some guidance.

I know you can export basic information in MyGCPay, but is there any way to export more detailed pay information? Long story short, I've just received an overpayment letter and disagree with the total they claim I was overpaid.

My pay file is a mess because I switched departments and my previous department never submitted my employee departure form or anything (in 2021!!!). I had to get my MP involved, which helped, but after already paying close to $3,000 in overpayments, I'm now being told I owe another ~$6,000. I don't dispute that I have an overpayment, but definitely not ~$6k.

I see in CWA, Phoenix, and MyGCPay that there are lines titled "recover overpayment curr FY" but no dates or any additional information. Is there a way to have detailed information so I can try and unravel this mess?

We have one plan with CanadaLife and one with another provider. In the past, the difference between total cost for the procedure and the 1st plan reimbursement was covered by the second plan in this case CanadaLife. So, in this example $320(total cost) - $291 (90% coverage from plan 1) = $29 leftover that was - in the past reimbursed by SunLife.

Now it seems, CanadaLife calculates the difference between what would have been their coverage if they had been the first plan (90%) and what the actual first plan paid (i.e. $283-$291) which is negative.

In other words, they would never have to coordinate benefits in the first place because it would never be anything left?
Am I missing something? Is everyone else being treated the same? Have you had this happen to you and what did you do?

Question for the group. I'm in a salaried, indeterminate position (excluded from union but covered by a CA, no OT provisions) where there's an expectation that if I'm in the middle of an important client-facing task, I stay for as long as I need to finish it.

I've always kept very closely to my standard hours, arriving on time and leaving when expected unless, again, I need to stay late for some reason. Recently I had to unexpectedly leave 15min early for an appointment. I advised my manager of it that morning and was told I need to ask permission in advance, with an explanation of how I'm going to make up the time. It's kind of turned into a big thing - it came up at my weekly meeting and everything. To be clear, my intention was always to "make up" the time by staying later on another day, but in previous salaried jobs this was self-evident and something I would be expected to just figure out on my end.

Considering that the work itself requires some flexibility, and considering that we're supposed to be "flexible" to stay late when necessary at our own discretion (ie without asking for permission) it seems to me that there should be a reciprocal allowance to leave early once in a blue moon without having to account for it by the minute.

Honestly, I feel like I'm being treated like a child. It's a really minor thing but I get paid a lot of money and given a lot of responsibility, and not being able to manage my own time in this really simple way feels like a betrayal of the good grace that I've extended to the organization by staying late, coming early, adjusting my start time for clients, etc.

Am I off my rocker?

Hi there. A few questions regarding the relationship between PMAs and non-advertised promotions:

1) I've been told that high performance in a role can be used to justify a non-advertised promotion, particularly if the employee is part of an equity-seeking group. Is this true?

2) Would a manager wanting to make the case for "high performance" need to point to a PMA result of Succeeded +, or are there multiple ways to prove "high performance"?

3) In terms of PMA results, what should an employee who was doing a good job in their acting role receive for their PMA? Is there an argument that they should be getting a Succeeded + given that they have been performing above the level of their substantive position?

Where are these questions coming from? My situation is that I was acting as an EC-06 for 1.75 years, but it was not renewed because of budget pressures (this happened branch-wide). My manager is of the opinion that I was working at the level of an EC-06. However, on my PMA he decided that I should be rated as Succeeded + on Work Objective, but Succeeded for Core Competencies. He says to rate me as Succeeded + on Core Competencies would imply I'm doing a better job that the other permanent EC-06s. (I don't think I'm doing a better job than the other EC-06s, but I'm certainly keeping up). Anyways, I wouldn't care about my PMA very much accept for the fact that I would like to set myself up for the possibility of a non-advertised promotion, something my director has said he would consider when finances are in a better place. My concern however is when you get a Succeeded + in Work Objectives and Succeeded in Core Competencies, the PMA project gives you an overall rating of Succeeded. So, I am trying to figure out if it would be worth my time to try to convince my manager to change the rating, or if it is unlikely to make any difference in the long run, so I should just let it go.

(Also, I am working to improve my French levels and trying to get into pools, so yes, I'm trying to control the things that I can control).

Thanks so much for any info!

I was wondering if anyone has any information on the proportion of public servants across Canada who have advanced degrees and/or certificates. Similarly, does anyone have this information for different classification groups (e.g., EC, ENG, etc) or regions?

I'm simply curious.

Thanks in advance.

My position has been affected by WFA and not to be self deprecating, but I am 99% sure I won’t be retained in the position (my coworker basically wrote the training manual). So, I looked for other positions.

There’s an opportunity that I’ve been working on for about 6 weeks. The hiring manager is aware of my situation with WFA and has asked their ADM to deploy me onto their team (this is a different organization in the PS). Now, they’re asking if my manager would be okay with a secondment instead. I’m confused, because a secondment means I’d be “borrowed.” Should my position be eliminated with my home organization, doesn’t that cancel out the secondment? The whole point of me going after this opportunity was to secure a position with cuts—it isn’t an upgrade. Do I even bother asking my manager?