Questions and Answers: Changes to Maternity and Parental Provisions for the Public Service Alliance of Canada groups (EB, PA, SV, TC)

The provisions outlined in this Information Bulletin apply to the following Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) collective agreements signed in 2020 and the excluded groups that follow the terms of these agreements:

• Education and Library Science – EB
• Program and Administration Services – PA
• Operational Services – SV
• Technical Services – TC

As members of one of the above noted bargaining units, employees are eligible for entitlements under the new maternity and parental provisions as of the date of signing for each of these collective agreements.

Note that some exclusions apply to employees who are residents of Québec and who therefore fall under the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP). Please refer to Question 14.

The following changes were negotiated with the PSAC in the context of the 2018 round of collective bargaining to align with recent changes to the Employment Insurance (EI) Plan, which now provides parents with more flexible parental benefit options.

• Maternity Allowance (Top-up)

  (New) For the purposes of the return to work obligation as it applies to the maternity allowance, the list of organizations that an employee can return to after their maternity or parental leave without pay has been expanded to any organization listed in Schedule I, Schedule IV or Schedule V of the Financial Administration Act.

• Parental Leave without Pay

  Under the provisions on parental leave without pay, employees will have the following two options which are identified as "Standard" (37 weeks) or "Extended" (63 weeks):

  • Standard parental leave without pay: a single period of up to 37 consecutive weeks in the 52-week period beginning on the day the child is born or comes into the employee's care; or
  • (New) Extended parental leave without pay: a single period of up to 63 consecutive weeks in the 78-week period beginning on the day the child is born or comes into the employee's care.
• Parental Allowance (Top-up)

  Employees who apply for parental benefits under EI will have two options under the parental allowance (top-up) provisions and extra weeks of parental allowance (top-up) when sharing parental benefits.

  1. Two options for parental allowance (top-up) for employees under the EI Plan:
     1. Standard Option: top-up of up to 93% of an employee's weekly rate of pay for a maximum of 37 weeks; or
     2. (New) Extended Option: top-up up to 55.8% of an employee's weekly rate of pay for a maximum of 63 weeks.
  2. (New) Extra weeks of allowance (top-up) when employees share parental benefits:
     • Standard Option: Employees can now share up to 40 weeks (5 extra weeks) of parental allowance (top-up).
     • Eligible employees who choose the Standard Option are entitled to a maximum combined, shared, maternity and Standard parental allowances (top-up) of up to 57 weeks for each combined maternity and parental leave without pay; or
     • Extended Option: Employees under the EI plan can now share up to 69 weeks (8 extra weeks) of parental allowance (top-up).
     • Eligible employees who choose the Extended Option are entitled to a maximum combined, shared, maternity and Extended parental allowances (top-up) of up to 86 weeks for each combined maternity and parental leave without pay.

  Details on the revised provisions are as follows:

  • Option 1: Standard parental allowance top-up (Employment Insurance Plan):
    • Employees on parental leave without pay who have elected the Standard EI parental benefits (a maximum of 35 weeks) will receive a top-up to these benefits to 93% of their weekly rate of pay.
    • Where an employee has received the full 35 weeks of Standard EI parental benefits and thereafter remains on parental leave without pay, that employee is eligible to receive a further parental allowance for a period of 1 week at 93% of their weekly rate of pay, unless the employee has already received the 1 week of allowance contained under the maternity allowance provisions for the same child.
    • (New) When sharing standard EI parental benefits, an employee is eligible for an additional 5 weeks of standard EI parental benefits for a total of up to 40 weeks. However, no employee can receive more than 35 weeks under the Standard option.
    • Where these provisions apply, when two employees have shared the 40 weeks of Standard EI parental benefits and either employee thereafter remains on parental leave without pay, that employee is eligible to receive a further parental allowance for a period of 1 week at 93% of their weekly rate of pay, unless the employee has already received the 1 week of allowance contained under the maternity allowance provisions for the same child.
    • (New) Maximum combined shared maternity and Standard parental allowances payable shall not exceed 57 weeks for each combined maternity and parental leave without pay.
  • Option 1: Standard parental allowance top-up (Quebec Parental Insurance Plan):
    • Employees will receive a top-up to these benefits to 93% of their weekly rate of pay.
    • Where two employees have shared the parental leave and have received 32 weeks of parental benefits and 5 weeks of paternity benefit or have shared 37 weeks of adoption benefits, and either employee thereafter remains on parental leave without pay, that employee is eligible to receive a further parental allowance for a period of up to 2 weeks at 93% of their weekly rate of pay.
    • (New) Maximum combined shared maternity and standard parental allowances payable shall not exceed 57 weeks for each combined maternity and parental leave without pay.
  • (New) Option 2: Extended parental allowance top-up (applicable only to Employment Insurance Plan):
    • Employees on parental leave without pay who have elected the Extended EI parental benefits (a maximum of 61 weeks) will receive a top-up to these benefits to 55.8% of their weekly rate of pay.
    • Where an employee has received the full sixty-one (61) weeks of Extended EI parental benefits and thereafter remains on parental leave without pay, that employee is eligible to receive a further parental allowance for a period of one (1) week at ninety-three per cent (55.8%) of their weekly rate of pay, unless the employee has already received the one (1) week of allowance contained under the maternity allowance provisions for the same child.
    • When sharing Extended EI parental benefits, an employee is eligible for an additional 8 weeks of Extended EI parental benefits for a total of up to 69 weeks. However, no employee can receive more than 61 weeks under the Extended option.
    • Where these provisions apply, when two employees have shared the full 69 weeks of Extended EI parental benefits and either employee thereafter remains on parental leave without pay, that employee is eligible to receive a further parental allowance for a period of 1 week at 55.8% of their weekly rate of pay, unless the employee has already received the 1 week of allowance contained under the maternity allowance provisions for the same child.
    • Maximum combined shared maternity and Extended parental allowances payable shall not exceed 86 weeks for each combined maternity and parental leave without pay.
• Other changes

  • For the purposes of the return to work obligation as it applies to the parental allowance (top-up), the list of organizations that an employee can return to after their maternity or parental leave without pay has been expanded to any organization listed in Schedule I, Schedule IV or Schedule V of the Financial Administration Act.
  • The formula for reimbursement of parental allowance has been amended to account for those employees who choose the Extended parental allowance option. When an employee does not fulfill their return to work obligation as required in their undertaking agreement, a calculation has been added to ensure that the repayment is proportional to the allowance the employee received during their absence.

All changes to maternity and parental provisions negotiated with the PSAC for the EB, PA, SV and TC collective agreements, including new leave without pay provisions and provisions related to parental allowance (top-up), will come into force on the date of signature for each agreement.

Yes, employees are eligible for the new parental allowance (top-up) provisions, provided that their parental leave does not begin before the date of signature of their new collective agreement and the weekly Employment Insurance benefit payments have not already begun.

The parental leave and allowance (top-up) provisions of the collective agreement in place at the time the employee starts their first period of parental leave without pay will determine the employee's eligibility for leave and allowances for the second part of their parental leave without pay.

If an employee ends their parental leave earlier than was planned, the parental allowance (top-up) will cease with the leave. The remaining portion of the top-up allowance that would have been paid had the leave not ended earlier than expected will not be paid to the employee.

The new parental allowance (top-up) provisions, which include changes to the top-up and additional weeks (5 weeks for the standard option and 8 weeks for the extended option) to account for the new parental sharing benefit, come into effect on the date of signature of each of the new collective agreements.

The provisions of the applicable collective agreement in effect at the time the employee submits their leave without pay request will determine the employee's eligibility for leave and allowances.

Employees will have to make their choice for Standard parental leave or Extended parental leave when they submit their leave without pay request - prior to the start date of the leave.

Once an employee elects the Standard or Extended EI parental benefits and the weekly benefit top up allowance is set, the decision is irrevocable and shall not be changed should the employee return to work at an earlier date than that originally scheduled.

Employees may only amend their choice for Standard parental leave or Extended parental leave prior to the start date of the leave provided the weekly Employment Insurance benefit payments have not already begun. Review Question 4.

It should be noted that the employee's option for a Standard or Extended parental allowance (top-up) is predicated on the employee's choice for Standard or Extended parental leave. Both options should be aligned.

Under the Employment Insurance (EI) Standard parental benefits, an employee is entitled to 35 weeks of benefits. Please note that the total number of weeks available under the EI Standard parental benefits is 40 consecutive weeks if two employees are sharing parental benefits, however, no employee can receive more than 35 weeks of benefits.

Under the basic Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), the total number of weeks of parental benefits available is 32 weeks, while adoption benefits are 37 weeks. There are another 5 weeks available for one of the parents under QPIP paternity benefits. No employee can receive more than 37 weeks of benefits.

Under the EI Extended parental benefits, an employee is entitled to 61 weeks of benefits. Please note that the total number of weeks available under the EI Extended parental benefits is 69 consecutive weeks if two employees are sharing parental benefits, however, the maximum number of weeks available per individual employee is 61 weeks of benefits.

Please note, only employees who fall under the EI Plan will be able to access these new provisions which come into effect on the date of signature of their new collective agreement.

Under the Standard parental allowance (top-up) option, the maximum combined, shared, maternity and standard parental allowance is 57 weeks, however no employee can receive more than 52 weeks. Employees who fall under the Employment Insurance (EI) Plan and the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) will be able to access these new provisions when they take effect on the date of signature of their new collective agreement.

Under the Extended parental allowance (top-up) option, the maximum combined, shared, maternity and standard parental allowance is 86 weeks, however no employee can receive more than 78 weeks. Only employees who fall under the Employment Insurance (EI) Plan will be able to access these new provisions which come into effect on the date of signature of their new collective agreement.

Employees who are residents of Québec and who fall under the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP), may request the Extended parental leave without pay provisions of the collective agreement (which come into force on the signature date of their collective agreement).

However, the QPIP does not provide for extended parental benefits and therefore the option to take the Extended parental allowance (top-up) is not available. The Extended parental leave benefits apply only to those in receipt of Employment Insurance available through Service Canada.

Currently, a contributor under the public service pension plan who is on leave without pay for any of the following reasons, would make the contributions that they would have paid if the contributor had not been absent (i.e., at a single rate) for the first 52 weeks of their absence following the day of birth or adoption of the child:

1. because of the birth of a child of the contributor,
2. in order to carry out parental responsibilities in respect of the acceptance of custody of a child for adoption, or
3. to provide a child of the contributor with care and custody.

For any portion of this leave that may extend beyond 52 weeks, the contributor would be required to contribute at a rate equivalent to twice the amount required had they not been absent (i.e., at a double rate).

Please note that:

• The contributor may elect not to count their period of leave without pay in excess of their first three months.
• In accordance with Income Tax Regulations, there are lifetime limits to the periods of leave without pay that may be counted as pensionable service.
• A period of absence due to the pregnancy of the contributor requires contributions at a single rate.

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) offers more information when considering taking a leave of absence from the federal public service and explains the pension implications of taking a period of leave without pay (LWOP) and the processes involved: Leave without pay information package

Employees should contact the Pension Centre for any information regarding the effect of LWOP on their pension and Supplementary Death Benefit (SDB) plan.