For purposes of HOOPP administration, a leave is any period of time that a member has employer approval (or is permitted under the Employment Standards Act) to be absent from work.
An absence is any a period of time for which a member is absent from work and this time off is not an employer-approved leave (i.e. an unapproved leave), and does not fall under any of the other work absence situations addressed in the Plan, such as a strike or lockout. An example of an absence that may not be approved by an employer as a leave could include a disciplinary suspension or a period when an employee does not get permission from their employer to be off work or fails to work a scheduled shift. Contributions can be made if you, as the employer, agree to contribute but contributions are not mandatory during absences that are not approved leavespermitted during an unapproved absence. In addition, the member will not be able to purchase this period under HOOPP’s buyback provisions.
Health/Disability Leaves
Health and disability-related leaves are handled differently from other employer-approved leaves. See section 7 Disability Benefits (Click Here) for details.
Statutory Leaves
As required by the ESA, members continue to contribute for most statutory leaves, unless they choose in writing to stop contributing to the Plan. Employers are required to report start and end dates for all statutory leaves.
A statutory leave includes:
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If it is an approved leave then contributions can only be made if both the member and your organization agree to make them. If your organization does not agree to make contributions, the member may be eligible to buy back the service under HOOPP.
For more information how contributions for the leave should be determined, please refer to section 5.2 Employer Reporting – Reporting a Leave (Contributions) (Click Here) for details.
Strikes or Lock-Out Periods
Members may also choose to make contributions for strike or lock-out periods. If a member decides to contribute for these periods of time, your organization must also make contributions at the required rate.