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At the Time of Hire

At the time of hire, you are required to provide each of your employees with a copy of the member information booklet The HOOPP Handbook, which provides useful information about HOOPP. This booklet must be given to all new employees, even those part-time (and other non full-time) employees who choose not to join the Plan, within 30 days of starting work.

It is important that you advise new full-time employees that participation in the Plan is a compulsory condition of employment and that they will be enrolled in HOOPP immediately. Also, it is important to ask a new hire if they:

• Are already a member of HOOPP at another employer, or

• Have already elected to retire and are receiving a pension from HOOPP, or

• Were a member of a pension plan at their former employer and if they are interested in exploring the possibility of transferring benefits into HOOPP.

Defining an Employee

You are responsible for distinguishing between employees and non employees. You must also determine whether an employee is a full-time or part-time employee for the purpose of participating in HOOPP, and the full-time equivalent (FTE) hours for their position. Local or collective agreements may define each.

For administrative purposes, HOOPP defines an employee as a person who is employed in Ontario on a regular, full-time or part-time basis by a participating employer (or filling a permanent and continuing position on a contract basis).

Any person who is paid under contract on a fee for service basis or other arrangement to perform a specific, narrowly defined duty for a specified period of time who is not considered to be an employee of your organization is also not an employee for the purposes of the Plan. These individuals may be independent contractors, not employees. As a result, that person cannot participate in HOOPP because they are not employed by your organization.

By contrast, a person hired under a contract of employment, whether on a permanent or fixed-term basis, is eligible to join HOOPP. For example, if the contract worker is receiving the same salary and benefits as other non-contract employees in their class, the worker would be subject to the same HOOPP eligibility rules as permanent employees because the worker meets the key criteria of HOOPP's definition of employee.

In general, a full-time employee must join HOOPP and begin making contributions as of the date of hire. Guidance for certain situations is provided below.

Hired Before Employer Joined HOOPP
Full-time employees hired before your organization joined HOOPP do not have to join the Plan unless your organization made enrolment compulsory for all employees or certain classes of employees. They may join the Plan on the date the employer joined HOOPP, or on any subsequent date.

Weekend Workers
A class of full-time employees known as "weekend workers" includes employees who typically work 30 hours per week, but are paid (and contribute on) the equivalent of 37.5 hours of pay, and thus are treated as full-time employees. A new employee hired as a "weekend worker" must enrol in the Plan immediately. Contributory service will be earned at the full-time rate.

Part-time to Full-time
When a part-time employee who has not already enrolled in HOOPP becomes employed in a full-time position, they must join the Plan as of the date they become employed in a full-time position.

Full-time to Part-time
When a full-time employee who already joined HOOPP becomes employed in a part-time position, they can continue to be enrolled in HOOPP and to make contributions to build their pension benefit. The Plan also permits these employees to elect to stop making contributions, as follows:

• Have the member complete a Contributions Waiver (a Sample Contribution Waiver is available from HOOPP Insight), keep a copy for your records and you do not need to submit a copy to HOOPP.

• You must submit the employment and contribution status change in HOOPP Insight using the Member Basic Data data.

• The member’s election to stop making HOOPP contributions is effective on the date their part-time position begins.

• This option is based on the member’s change in employment status. If the member is employed at a part-time position by more than one employer and elects to stop making contributions, this election applies to all HOOPP employers where they are employed part-time and the member is expected to notify all of their part-time employers.

• If they want to resume contributing while working part-time, the member can make this election anytime. Submit the contribution status change information to HOOPP in HOOPP Insight using a Member Basic Data data collection. Once the member restarts their contributions, they will not have the option to stop again.

Enrolment in HOOPP is optional for part-time employees (and other non full-time employees) on the first day they start work at a HOOPP employer. Enrolment is not mandatory for these employees, it is up to the employee to decide if they want to join HOOPP or not.

Part-time employees who do not enrol immediately may join HOOPP on any subsequent date. Part-time employees include part-time, contract, temporary, casual and all other employees not classified as full-time by their employer. There are several situations in which an employer will classify employees who are working full-time hours as a part-time employee for the purposes of joining HOOPP. For example, if an employee is hired on a temporary contract or is hired on a temporary basis to fill a permanent and continuing position (i.e. to backfill for a parental leave) and their employment is not expected to continue beyond the end of the employment contract, the employer may choose to classify the employee as part-time.

All part-time employees must be given a copy of the member information booklet The HOOPP Handbook, even if they choose not to join the Plan, when they are first hired by you.

If a part-time employee chooses to join HOOPP they must continue to make contributions as long as they are employed by you. They can only stop making contributions at an employer where they work part-time if they become a full-time employee at another HOOPP employer.

If a part-time employee chooses not to join HOOPP you do not have to notify HOOPP of this decision. However, for your own records HOOPP recommends that employers have part-time employees who choose not to join HOOPP sign a waiver to ensure that the employer can show that enrolment was offered. Please refer to the Sample Enrolment Waiver for Part-time and Other Non-full-time Employees document for some sample wording (available from HOOPP Insight). It is important to note that this is sample wording only, HOOPP strongly encourages employers to determine what documentation they require from an employee and to prepare their own forms to meet their needs.

If a part-time employee does not join HOOPP on their date of hire they can still choose to join the Plan at any time in the future while employed by the employer

Since September 1, 2017, part-time employees can make independent enrolment decisions at each of their part-time employers. This provides members with flexibility regarding their level of participation in HOOPP. You are required to offer enrolment in HOOPP to all non-full-time employees, but this change means that you are no longer required to automatically enrol part-time employees who contribute to HOOPP at another employer.

Part-time members are able to access benefits by retiring or terminating from employers where they were enrolled in HOOPP. They do not have to terminate any other part-time positions where they were not enrolled in HOOPP, even it that employer is a HOOPP participating employer.

A part-time employee who is subsequently hired as a full-time employee with another employer may elect to stop making HOOPP contributions at the employer where they work part time. This option is based on the member’s change in employment status.If the member is employed at a part-time position by more than one employer, they must stop making contributions at all employers where they are employed part-time.

Members who participate in the Plan at more than one employer will:

• Build contributory service in the Plan each year at all employers where they work (up to the 52 week annual limit)

• Have their annualized earnings for pension purposes calculated by HOOPP based on their total contributions on pensionable earnings up to their full-time equivalent at each of their employers, and by blending the annualized earnings from each employer in proportion to the amount of contributory service built at each employer

• Will be able to start their benefit from HOOPP when they terminate their employment at all employers where they’ve enrolled in HOOPP.

Once an employee is enrolled in HOOPP they are required to remain enrolled and continue contributing to HOOPP until that employment ends, with a few limited exceptions which are set out below.

New employees who are receiving a HOOPP pension when they are hired have two options. They can:

• continue to collect their pension while they work, and not re-enrol in HOOPP; or

• temporarily suspend their pension and re-enrol in HOOPP

If a retired member chooses to continue receiving their HOOPP pension and does not want to re-enrol then no action is required on your part. If a retired member chooses to re-enrol then they must resume making contributions at your organization on the first day of the month following their last pension payment, regardless of whether they are working on a full-time or part-time basis. During their re-employment period, their pension will be suspended and will resume when they terminate employment or when they decide to cease making contributions and resume their pension payments, if earlier. If a retired member is interested in suspending their pension and re-enrolling:

• Inform the retired member to contact HOOPP to discuss their options.

• You will be required to initiate an Enrolment event in HOOPP Insight if the retired member notifies you of their decision to suspend their pension and re-enrol in HOOPP.

Retired members need to be aware that they will not receive any pension payments from HOOPP during the period during which they resume making contributions. They are also not eligible to apply for HOOPP disability benefits or to buyback service. While the member will get a larger pension if they re-enrol – based on the benefits they were receiving before, plus their new period of service and earnings – it is possible that the value of the pension payments they forego may be more than the increase in their future pension.

Only Ontario employees, are eligible to participate in the Plan. Ontario employees include:

• Employees who live and work in Ontario

• Employees who live outside of Ontario and who go to work at a workplace in Ontario (e.g., individuals with addresses in Michigan or Quebec but who are employees working at hospitals or healthcare providers in Ontario)

• Employees who live outside of Ontario, who are not required to report to a physical workplace, but work for an employer in Ontario and are paid from the Ontario employer (e.g., a telecommuter, someone who works from home, etc.)

The following are not considered Ontario employees:

• Employees of a HOOPP employer who go to work at an office of the HOOPP employer in another province or country (even if the employee lives in Ontario)

• Employees of a HOOPP employer whose employment is not subject to Ontario pension legislation because their employment is federally regulated

• Employees who are transferred to a position with the HOOPP employer that is located outside of Ontario If necessary, HOOPP may request information to support

You can enrol members instantly by submitting an Enrolment event in HOOPP Insight. The enrolment process has the following purposes:

• To enrol the employee in HOOPP •

• To provide HOOPP with basic information about the employee and, if applicable, the employee’s HOOPP membership status

When to Enrol

• Full-time employees

• Part-time employees who choose to enrol

• New employees in receipt of a HOOPP pension who want to suspend their pension payments and re-enrol in HOOPP

When Not to Enrol

• Group enrolments resulting from a divestment or amalgamation. HOOPP will provide you with a special process to be followed if a group of non-HOOPP employees is joining your organization from another organization with a registered pension plan due to a divestment – a sale, assignment, or disposition of business. Please reach out to your Regional Manager if such a situation occurs at your organization.

• Part-time hires who choose not to enroll

• New employees in receipt of a HOOPP pension who do not want to suspend their pension.

Making up Contributions

If, due to an oversight, an employee's contributions do not begin on the correct date, part of the responsibility for the error must be shared by the employee for failing to notify you that pension contributions were not being deducted from their pay. You should inform the employee of this responsibility when submitting the member enrolment information to HOOPP. The employee is responsible for making up their entire share of the missed contributions. Your organization must also make employer contributions, at the prescribed rate, on any contributions the employee makes. For more information on this process, see Missed Contributions in section 4.7.

HOOPP keeps members informed about their pension through a comprehensive website at hoopp.com, HOOPP Connect (a secure member portal); and various publications (like The HOOPP Handbook). HOOPP also offers webinars, seminars and member education sessions and provides members with an annual statement of benefits. The HOOPP Handbook that you will provide new employees contains information about these options. We ask that you encourage new members to sign up for HOOPP Connect.

Confirm if your new hire previously contributed to HOOPP, contributed to a pension plan with a nonHOOPP employer, or is part of a group transfer. If your new hire has previous pension plan transfer or buyback opportunities, they should be advised to contact HOOPP to obtain more information.

When new members receive their Welcome package from HOOPP it will include instructions to contact HOOPP to name a beneficiary or beneficiaries and to inform HOOPP if they have a qualifying spouse.

Under provincial pension legislation, a member's qualifying spouse is entitled to receive spousal benefits upon the member's death. If the member has no qualifying spouse, spousal benefits have been waived, or both the member and spouse have passed away, the member’s designated beneficiary(s) will be entitled to any remaining benefit. Members should complete the beneficiary designation and spousal declaration process to instruct HOOPP who should be entitled to any benefits in the event of the member’s death. Information about these survivor benefits and the process of designating beneficiaries is found in The HOOPP Handbook and on hoopp.com.

Members are asked to keep their beneficiary designation and spousal information up to date and can do so any any time, through HOOPP Connect or by using the forms available on hoopp.com.