COVID-19: SUPPORTING MEMBERS and EMPLOYERS

For Plan Rules, please visit the Admin Manual: Link

Supporting EMPLOYERS during the COVID-19 outbreak - Ontario State of Emergency ended effective July 24, 2020

We recognize that this is a busy, challenging and evolving environment for healthcare workers.

This environment has introduced some unique operational challenges for you, including:

introduction of two new classes of emergency leaves under the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA)
introduction of temporary pandemic pay
an increase in the number of retired employees rejoining the workforce
more employees requiring emergency leaves from work

Below you will find some key points to assist you in administering HOOPP during these challenges and information about changes HOOPP has made to provide additional support and flexibility for members and employers.

The Ontario state of emergency that came into effect on March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic ended July 24, 2020. As a result, we can confirm the full qualifying period to continue HOOPP benefits at no cost for unpaid emergency leaves is from March 17 to July 24, 2020.

What this means for members:
Any member on an unpaid COVID-19 related emergency leave, or within the first 15 weeks of an unpaid health leave, will receive contributory service at no cost to the member or employer for the eligible period occurring between March 17 to July 24, 2020.

Important: Please reach out to your employees whose emergency leaves continue after July 24 to discuss their contribution options.

As a reminder, to avoid any interruption in contributory service, members can:

Make contributions for the portion of their leave that continues after July 24.
Make contributions for up to 12 months from the end date of their leave.

Employees requiring emergency leaves

The government has announced two new classes of leaves to the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA):

Declared Emergencies
Infectious Disease Emergencies

If you have granted either of these types of leave for a member, please use the category “Emergency Leave” when you submit the leave information to HOOPP. For additional information visit the Continued HOOPP benefit for unpaid emergency leaves Page.

Recent update to Employment Standards Act (ESA) guidelines for non-union employees on leave
The Government of Ontario has introduced a new regulation under the ESA. Under this new regulation, a non-unionized employee whose employer has temporarily reduced or eliminated their work hours because of COVID-19 may qualify for a job-protected Infectious Disease Emergency Leave.

What this means for non-unionized members
Any non-unionized members that you have now placed on an Infectious Disease Emergency Leave may also qualify to receive contributory service at no cost to the member or employer. This benefit applies to eligible periods of unpaid emergency leave, or within the first 15 weeks of an unpaid health leave, that occurred during the declared period of provincial emergency (i.e. from March 17 to July 24, 2020).

Please review the leave information you reported to HOOPP and submit updates as needed. For example, if the leave was reported to HOOPP as an approved work schedule reduction or approved non-statutory leave (for a temporary layoff), this may now qualify to be reported as an emergency leave and member contributions may need to be refunded.

In the upcoming weeks, your Employer Services Specialist will be reaching out to you to collect leave of absence information for your qualifying members.

Continued HOOPP benefits for members on new unpaid emergency leaves

We understand members may experience disruptions in their regular work and want to ensure their pensions are protected and can continue to grow. For that reason, HOOPP will provide any member placed on an unpaid COVID-19 related emergency leave, or is within the first 15 weeks of an unpaid health leave, with contributory service at no cost to you or them.

This means members can continue building their pension based on what they normally would have earned in the Plan, during the unpaid leave. This benefit will be granted for the period of the unpaid leave that falls within the emergency declared by the government of Ontario that started on March 17th, 2020 to July 24th, 2020
You should continue to submit all leave information to HOOPP through the normal process. Later this year, likely in the Fall, or at the end of the declared state of emergency HOOPP will reach out to you to request a one-time data collection to determine eligible members. We will then apply the free service directly to the member record

Extended timelines to make payments when returning from a leave, or to complete a buyback

As part of our continued efforts to support our members, we are extending the timeline for members to make pension contributions following a leave of absence. The current timeline of 6 months from the end of a leave has been extended to 12 months and applies to all leaves of absence. For additional information visit the Extension of Member Contributions for leaves of absences Page.

You should continue to submit all leave information and payments to HOOPP through the normal processes.

In addition for members completing buybacks, we have extended the timeline for funds to be received to 6 months.

Extending deadlines for free accrual applications

We understand it may be difficult for members to have medical forms completed and signed in this current climate. To provide additional flexibility for our members we have extended the deadline for disability benefits applications to a maximum of six months. As a result, it may take longer for you to see when a member starts receiving free accrual.

We ask that you please continue to submit leave of absence information on time.

Retired members rejoining their employers

Retired members who rejoin the workforce at a HOOPP employer have two options

They can continue to receive their pension along with their employment income and not re-enrol in HOOPP; or
they can temporarily suspend their monthly pension payments and re-enrol in HOOPP.

In general, if a retired employee is returning to work for a few months, this will likely result in only a modest change to their pension. As such, they may prefer to continue to receive their HOOPP pension without re-enrolling in HOOPP.

However, if the employee is returning to work for a more extended period of time, it may be beneficial for them to suspend their pension and re-enrol in the Plan. In that case, we encourage employees to contact HOOPP directly and we will provide them with an estimate and assist them in making a more informed decision.