8. Termination

What to Do When a Member Terminates Employment

There are a number of steps you must take when a HOOPP member terminates employment. Here is an overview of these steps:

• Provide HOOPP with the last day the member was employed by your organization, the employment end date.

• If the member is 55 or older and eligible to retire and is interested in exploring retirement options, give them a copy of Planning for Retirement booklet, HOOPP's pre-retirement booklet. This booklet and additional information are available on hoopp.com.

• Submit a Termination event in HOOPP Insight within 30 days of the employment end date. The only exception to this is if the termination is being challenged or grieved. If the member wants to retire and immediately start their pension, submit a Retirement event instead. For more information, please refer to the Member Events section of the Employer Learning Centre.

Reporting a Termination

Submit a Termination event in HOOPP Insight to notify HOOPP of a member's termination of employment. You will also be required to submit Events Final Data information through HOOPP Insight for the member, including:

• Employment End Date

• Final weeks and contributions

• Pension adjustment

• Annualized earnings (if member completed a contribution waiver prior to January 2013)

• Leaves of absence (if applicable)

• Contributory leaves (if applicable) Retroactive contributions (Important! Retro contributions should be provided to HOOPP through the Remittance process before you submit the final data)

If Termination is Challenged or Grieved
If a termination is being challenged or grieved do not process the termination with HOOPP until the grievance has been resolved. Contact HOOPP immediately if a termination is challenged or grieved after you have submitted the termination information to HOOPP. Once notified of the grievance, HOOPP will put the termination process on hold until you confirm that the grievance has been resolved and you are certain that a bona fide termination of employment has occurred. All questions relating to grievances must be settled by the employer and employee. HOOPP is not party to the employment contract and cannot be bound by the terms of any grievance settlement.

If Member Receives a Severance Package
Not all types of payments a member may receive upon termination of employment are pensionable. See section 4.2 Pensionable Earnings (Click Here) and section 4.7 Contributions on Termination Payments (Click Here) for more details. If you are planning to offer a member a complex severance package, you may wish to contact HOOPP before finalizing the terms of the termination agreement to ensure that the terms of the package are consistent with HOOPP’s policies. Failing to do this could lead to problems later, particularly if the terms of the settlement conflict with HOOPP's provisions.

If Member Receives a Retiring Allowance
Retiring allowances cannot be transferred into HOOPP and HOOPP contributions cannot be deducted on these amounts as they are not pensionable earnings for HOOPP purposes. It is important that you carefully check the Events Final Data information submitted to HOOPP because any figures that are provided in error could result in the payment of an incorrect benefit to a member. HOOPP will validate the information provided and contact you if any questions arise.

When Not to Submit a Termination Event
Do not submit the member termination if:

• The member is aged 55 or older and wants to retire immediately; or

• The member is stopping contributions due to a change in employment status. You will not need to submit a termination event for a full-time member who changes to part-time status at your organization, and who is contributing to HOOPP at another employer on a full-time basis. The part-time employee can choose to stop making HOOPP contributions with their employer where they are employed part-time. Please submit the contribution status change information to HOOPP. It is important that the dates for "employment type effective date" and " contributory status effective date" match.
  If, due to a contribution status change request, the member will no longer be making contributions, the member should complete a Contribution Waiver (a sample HOOPP Member Contribution Waiver is available on HOOPP Insight) to acknowledge that they understand the rules regarding waiving contributions. Please keep the completed form for your records. Normal termination procedures (at the part-time employers) do not apply for these members and they will not get a termination or retirement benefit until they terminate or retire from their full-time employer as well.

• The member is part of a divestment (sale, assignment, or disposition of a business). Contact your Regional Manager for information.

Termination of Employment for Access to Benefits
We caution employers against engaging in re-employment arrangements with HOOPP members for the primary purpose of enabling employees to access their HOOPP benefit. This is inconsistent with the Plan terms and pension legislation. Employees may only access their options under HOOPP to transfer or start their pension following a legitimate (bona fide) termination of employment or retirement. For unionized employees, this will likely mean a break in seniority and potential loss of eligibility to other employment benefits, and treatment as a new employee upon subsequent re-hire. Termination of employment is usually documented through a Record of Employment and is subject to the requirements of the Employment Standards Act. All of the facts must support the determination that it is a valid termination or retirement, rather than an attempt to access HOOPP benefits while the member effectively remains continuously employed with the same organization.

No termination or retirement event should be reported to HOOPP in the following situations:

• An employee transfers from one position to another within your organization or an affiliate; or

• There is a pre-arranged offer, agreement or understanding to re-hire an employee following the reported event, particularly where the employee will be re-hired in the same or a similar position, regardless of whether it is a contract or permanent position.

HOOPP reserves the right to challenge a reported event to ensure compliance with the Plan. A member is only eligible to access their HOOPP benefits upon a legitimate termination or retirement.

Termination When a Member is Receiving Free Accrual
If a member’s employment is terminated while they are in receipt of free accrual, submit the necessary member termination information to HOOPP.

Calculating Final Weeks, Contributions, Other Amounts
For help calculating final weeks, contributions, and other required amounts, refer to section 4 Contributions (Click Here) - Contributions and the PA Guide.

HOOPP Will Contact the Member

After HOOPP is provided with a termination event notice for a member, HOOPP will send information to the member, including their termination options for their HOOPP benefit. A detailed booklet Leaving Your HOOPP Employer will be provided to the member as part of this information. This booklet and additional information are available on hoopp.com.

Termination Checklist

Remember to: