Frequently Asked Questions - Alternation

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  • 1. What is alternation, and when is it possible?
    • Employees who are not given a guarantee of a reasonable job offer (also known as opting employees) are eligible for alternation. Alternation refers to a provision within the workforce adjustment (WFA) agreements wherein an opting employee who wishes to remain in the core public administration exchanges positions with a non-affected employee (the alternate) willing to leave the core public administration with a transition support measure or an educational allowance.
    • The use of alternates provides departments with the necessary flexibility to minimize involuntary departures.

  • 2. Can a surplus employee participate in the alternation process?
    • Only an opting employee, not a surplus one, may alternate into an indeterminate position that remains in the core public administration.

  • 3. How does the alternation process work?
    • Alternation enables someone who has not received a guarantee of a reasonable job offer and has been declared an opting employee to remain in the Public Service by exchanging positions with another employee, who is not affected, but is willing to leave the Public Service with a transition support measure or education allowance.
    • Employees not in receipt of a guarantee of a reasonable job offer (opting employees) are eligible for alternation only during the opting period (90 to 120 days, depending on the Work Force Adjustment appendix to their collective agreement or on the National Joint Council Work Force Adjustment Directive).
    • Work force adjustment agreements specify that all departments must participate in the alternation process. It is important to keep in mind that it is up to management to decide whether to proceed with alternation. Considerations will include, for example, whether the alternation will result in retaining the skills and knowledge required to meet current and future needs of the core public administration.
    • The opting employee moving into the non-affected position must meet all the requirements for appointment to the non-affected position, including the language requirements.

  • 4. When can the exchange of positions be effective?
    • An alternation must occur on a given date, that is, the two employees must directly exchange positions on the same day, determined by the manager.
    • An alternation must result in the permanent elimination of a function or a position.

  • 5. What is the alternate entitled to?
    • The alternate must agree to leave the public service; therefore the options of the alternate are limited to the transition support measure (Option B) or educational allowance (Option C i).
    • Alternates are not granted the 120-day opting period to make a choice between the two options.
    • The departure date of the alternate is determined by management.

  • 6. Does alternation always occur between employees at the same group and level?
    • An alternation should normally occur between employees at the same group and level.
    • When the two positions are not at the same group and level, alternation can still occur provided the positions are considered equivalent.
    • Under the alternation provisions of WFA agreements, positions are considered equal when the maximum rate of pay for the higher paid position is no more than 6 percent higher than the maximum rate of pay for the lower paid position.
    • Employees cannot use salary-protected or acting rates of pay to establish equivalent groups and levels for purposes of identifying alternation opportunities.

  • 7. When the position exchange occurs, what is the staffing mechanism management must use to hire the alternate or opting employee?
    • If the employees who are alternating occupy positions at the same (or equivalent) group and level, they are deployed into each other's positions.
    • In certain instances, although both positions are considered equivalent under WFA agreements, appointments may be required as the movement does not fall within the meaning of deployment in accordance with Treasury Board regulations.

  • 8. What happens if an opting employee is appointed or deployed to a position which has a lower maximum rate of pay than the employee’s previous affected position?
    • The opting employee will receive the salary for his/her new position; salary protection provisions under WFA agreements do not apply in such a scenario.
    • This means that an opting employee could accept a slight salary decrease when accepting the new (unaffected) position.

  • 9. What happens if an alternate is appointed or deployed to an affected position which has a lower maximum rate of pay than their current substantive group and level? At what salary will the employee’s termination benefits be paid at?
    • The alternate will receive the salary for his/her new position.
    • Payments under the WFA agreements will be paid based on the group and level of the position declared surplus. This includes severance and transition support measure benefits.

  • 10. Can a non-affected employee alternate to an affected position for which he/she does not meet the requirements?
    • As per the Exclusion Approval Order and Regulations regarding alternation, an alternate moving into an opting position is excluded from the merit principle, including the education requirement.
    • An alternate must:
      • submit an irrevocable resignation that is accepted by the deputy head and that takes effect no later than five days following the date on which they are appointed or deployed to the position of the opting employee; 
      • shall not perform the duties of the position of the opting employee; and 
      • cease to be an employee on the date of their resignation.

  • 11. Can alternation only occur between two employees within the same Department?
    • Although alternation will often occur within departmental boundaries, alternations can occur between departments.

  • 12. Are Executives eligible to participate in alternation?
    • The Directive on Career Transition for Executives is silent on this mechanism. However, the Deputy Minister may offer alternation to executives.
    • An alternation occurs when executives who have been notified that their position will become surplus exchange positions with executives whose positions are not declared surplus and are willing to leave.

  • 13. During which timeframe can Executive alternations occur?
    • The alternation can occur between the date on which an Executive has been notified that his/her position will be declared surplus and the date on which the Executive must respond back to the Department on their choice of option under the Directive.

  • 14. Are employees participating in an alternation entitled to relocation expenses?
    • An opting employee moving into a non-affected position is entitled to relocation expenses in accordance with the National Joint Council Relocation Directive.
    • A non-affected employee (alternate) willing to leave the core public administration is not entitled to reimbursement of relocation expenses.
    • Questions in relation to relocation should be addressed directly to Relocation Services.

  • 15. If an opting employee is entitled to relocation, who pays the relocation expenses?
    • It is the home department or organization who is responsible for the relocation costs of the opting employee as per section 1.1.20 of the applicable Workforce Adjustment agreement.
    • The appointing department or organization may agree to absorb part of these costs.
    • Generally, relocations resulting from an alternation process are considered to be employee-requested in accordance with the provisions of section 12 of the National Joint Council Relocation Directive.
    • Questions in relation to relocation should be addressed directly to Relocation Services.