3.3 Part-time Employees and Concurrent Members

Enrolment is not mandatory for newly hired part-time (and other non-full-time employees), but they must be informed that they have the option to decide if they want to join HOOPP unless your organization made enrolment compulsory as a condition of employment, in which case employment law considerations may apply.

• 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.

• Employers may classify employees who are working full-time hours as part-time employees for the purposes of joining HOOPP in certain cases.

  • For example, an employee hired on a temporary contract or hired on a temporary basis to fill a permanent and continuing position (i.e. to backfill for a parental leave) whose employment is not expected to continue beyond the end of the employment contract, may be classified as part-time for HOOPP purposes.

• Incorporated physicians are deemed to be full-time employees of their MPC for purposes of participating in HOOPP. See 3.2 Full-time Employees for further details.

Inform Part-time Employees They Have the Option to Join HOOPP

All part-time employees must be given a copy of the member information booklet The HOOPP Handbook, within 30 days from date of hire. See section 3.1 Getting Started for further details.

Your employees can visit hoopp.com/joinHOOPP anytime to learn more about the Plan, and try the Join HOOPP Tool. The Join HOOPP Tool provides your employees with personalized guidance, including more information about the Plan and an estimate of what their future pension could be if they joined, including estimates for buying back service and spousal pension options.

Contribution Requirements and Opting Out

Part-time employees who join HOOPP must contribute on their pensionable earnings as long as they are employed by you. Such employees can only elect to stop contributing at an employer where they work part-time if they become full-time employees at another HOOPP employer.

Waiving the Opportunity to Join HOOPP

There is no requirement to notify HOOPP if part-time employees choose not to join the Plan. However, HOOPP recommends that employers of part-time employees obtain waivers from part-time employees who choose not to enrol to ensure that the employer can show that enrolment was offered. Please refer to the sample HOOPP Enrolment Waiver for Part-time and Other Non-full-time Employees document (available from HOOPP Insight) as an example. HOOPP strongly encourages employers to determine what documentation they require from an employee and to prepare their own forms to meet their needs, as appropriate.

The waiver can be cancelled on a prospective basis by the part-time employee at any time as long as they are still employed by the employer by joining the Plan.

Part-Time Employee Already Contributing Through Other Part-time Employment

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. Each employer is responsible for offering enrolment regardless of any decision that the part-time employee has made with another employer.

Participating at More Than One HOOPP Employer

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

• Start their benefit from HOOPP when they terminate their employment at all employers where they have enrolled in HOOPP and are contributing. They do not have to terminate any other part-time positions where they were not enrolled in HOOPP, even if that employer is a HOOPP participating employer.

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.

Waiver of Contributions upon Change in Position 

There are limited circumstances in which a member can waive their right to make HOOPP contributions that are tied to an employment event. This provides the member with flexibility to adjust their Plan participation in line with their new employment status. By making this election, the member stops contributing to HOOPP, and ceases to build contributory and eligibility service for the employment(s), subject to the waiver.

A member may waive their right to make HOOPP contributions only in the following situations:

• Part-Time Member with New Full-Time Position
  A part-time member who obtains a second, full-time position with an employer (a new employer or an existing employer) and is enrolled in HOOPP for their new full-time position, may elect to cease making contributions in respect of their part-time position at the time they obtain their new full-time position. If the member is employed part-time with more than one employer, they can waive their contributions at one, or all of their part-time employments.

• Full-Time to Part-Time Employment
  A member who changes their employment status from full-time to part-time is eligible to waive contributions for their part-time employment(s). This can occur where:  

The option to cease making HOOPP contributions is based on the member’s change in employment status. The waiver effective date must be the date of the triggering employment event (i.e. enrolment at a different employer where they work full-time or change of status from full-time to part-time at your organization or at a different employer). A sample HOOPP Member Contribution Waiver is available from HOOPP Insight. Keep a copy for your records. You do not need to submit a copy to HOOPP.

The member may resume making contributions to HOOPP on a go forward basis by notifying their employer. The member will not be able to make up waived contributions later or to purchase the period of past service when contributions were waived.

A member who has elected to waive making contributions as described above can access their HOOPP pension provided they terminate their employment at all employers where they are enrolled in HOOPP and contributing.