Without prior consultation, the government has unilaterally announced plans to cut costs across the federal public service as part of the Refocusing Government Spending initiative.  

PSAC is concerned that these spending cuts will not only impact services but will also result in job cuts. PSAC will be fighting these cuts and protecting workers caught in the crossfire. 

PSAC collective agreements have protections against job cuts. Employers must ensure that employees are treated equitably and given every opportunity to continue their careers. This section of our website outlines your rights and options as a worker facing these challenges and contains more information about the process.  

What is workforce adjustment (WFA)?

Workforce adjustment (WFA) is the term used to describe a process for reducing indeterminate positions in the core federal public service, agencies, and separate employers. The process was negotiated by PSAC with your employer as an important job protection measure. Its main purpose is to protect the jobs of our members.

The WFA process is outlined in your collective agreement in the Workforce Adjustment Appendix. For the Treasury Board bargaining units, the WFAA is found in the following places:

• EB: Appendix B
• FB: Appendix C
• PA: Appendix D
• SV: Appendix I
• TC: Appendix T

How is WFA defined?

Workforce adjustment is a situation that occurs when a deputy head decides that the services of one or more indeterminate employees will no longer be required beyond a specified date due to one of the following: 

• A lack of work
• The discontinuance of a function
• A relocation of a work unit in which the employee does not wish to participate
• An alternate delivery initiative, including: 
  • the service is being transferred to another level of government
  • public-private partnerships (P3s)
  • contracting out and privatization of your work

Budget cuts most often take the form of a discontinuance of a function, which refers to the elimination of a specific job function or activity within a federal department or agency. Positions associated with the discontinued function may be declared surplus. Employees occupying these positions could be affected by the workforce adjustment process. 

What does the WFA Appendix oblige the employer to do? 

Departments and organizations must:

• Advise and consult with the union as soon as possible.  
• Maximize employment opportunities for indeterminate employees.  
• When possible, provide alternative employment opportunities and give employees every “reasonable opportunity” to continue their careers in the public service.  
• Treat employees equitably.  
• Establish joint workforce adjustment committees.  
• Review the use of private temporary agency personnel, consultants, contractors, term employees and all other non-indeterminate employees and where practicable not re-engage them when it will facilitate the appointment of surplus or laid off persons.  
• Identify opportunities for retraining to help workers continue their careers in the public service.  
• Notify employees in writing about their status and any change to it.  
• Establish voluntary departure programs for all WFA situations involving five or more affected employees working at the same group, level, and work unit.  
• Actively cooperate with the Public Service Commission and other departments/ organizations. Interdepartmental cooperation is essential to maximize employment opportunities, although an organization’s first priority is to find jobs for workers in-house.  
• Assign a counsellor to all affected employees who have not secured indeterminate employment. 

Additional employer obligations can be found in Part I of the WFA Appendix. 

What does the WFA Appendix oblige workers to do?  

Employees facing workforce adjustment must take a proactive approach to exploring other potential employment opportunities within the federal public service. Once it’s clear that a workforce adjustment is inevitable, you should:  

• Collaborate with your department and the Public Service Commission to find new roles.  
• Gather information about your entitlements under the WFAA.  
• Provide resumes or other relevant information to assist the employer in securing new work for you.  
• Ensure you can be contacted easily.  
• Consider training and job opportunities.  
• Be aware of timelines and proactively consider options when you are required to make decisions. 

What does it mean to be an “affected”, “surplus” or “opting” employee?

Refer to the glossary for definitions of important terms or the WFA guide to learn more about the WFA process. You can also refer to the WFA Appendix in your collective agreement.  

How do I read and understand the WFFA?

The Work Force Adjustment Appendix is organized around key decision points. Some parts may apply to your work force adjustment situation. Other parts might not. It is comprised of a general section that outlines the objectives and definitions followed by these seven parts and three annexes: 

• Part 1 outlines the roles and responsibilities for departments and organizations, Treasury Board, the Public Service Commission, and employees.  
• Part 2 outlines the process for departments and organizations to notify the union. It is important that the union knows when a work force adjustment situation is going to occur so that it can actively represent members impacted by the situation. 
• Part 3 outlines the process that the employer must follow when there is a relocation of a work unit. The employer has unique obligations when a whole work unit is being relocated. 
• Part 4 outlines the employer’s obligations to provide retraining opportunities. There are different obligations for affected, surplus, and laid-off employees.   
• Part 5 outlines when the employer must provide salary protection when employees are appointed to lower-level positions as the result of workforce adjustment.  
• Part 6 outlines the choices members need to make if they are not provided with a guarantee of a reasonable job offer. This part spells out how the process works in general; the role that the voluntary departure program plays; how the alternation process works; and the options that members must choose from, including a one year paid surplus priority (Option A), a lump sum departure payment called a transition support measure (TSM), (often combined with a Public Service Superannuation Pension waiver), or an education allowance combined with a TSM (Option C). 
• Part 7 contains special provisions regarding alternate delivery initiatives, where work is being devolved or contracted out to an organization outside the federal public service. These are unique obligations that are in most cases separate from those found in Parts 1 to 6, unless otherwise specified.  
• Annex A contains a Statement of Pension Principles that applies to Part 7 Alternate Delivery Initiatives.   
• Annex B include a chart outlining the number of weeks of transition support measure available to opting employees based on years of service who choose Option B or C.   
• Annex C describes some of the roles of the Public Service Commission with respect to the Work Force Adjustment Appendix and the Public Service Employment Act.  

Download the Key Elements of the PSAC Workforce Adjustment Appendix flowchart. 

How do I know if I am subject to WFA?

Indeterminate employees must be notified in writing by their department or organization that they will be impacted by a work force adjustment.   

The deputy head must notify you in writing that your services may or will no longer be required, depending on the situation. The notice will indicate that you are officially “affected.” The notice may also include whether you: 

• Will receive a guarantee of a reasonable job offer, or 
• Are eligible to participate in a voluntary departure program, or 
• Will be required to participate in a process for determining who in your work unit at the same group and level will be laid off, or 
• Have access to the opting provisions in article 6.4.1 of the WFA Appendix.  

Where applicable, the notification should also provide the information relative to the employee’s possible layoff date. 

Other important notices must also be issued during the process. These notices include surplus letters, job offers, opting decisions, requests for resumes, and other personal information, as well as job interview notices. Many of these will specify timelines for responding or making a choice. 

It is very important for you to respond to the notices by the deadlines provided.   

What is the process for determining who is laid off?  

If you essentially perform the same functions as others, a process for determining who will be retained and who will be laid off must be administered. In this case, affected members will be retained or eliminated subsequent to that process.  

During the Harper Conservative government's Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP) from 2012 to 2015, the Public Service Commission implemented a flawed system called the Selection of Employees for Retention or Layoff (SERLO) to determine which employees would be retained or laid off. We are very disappointed the Commission has recently amended the Public Service Employment Regulations to confirm the SERLO process will continue to be used to determine who is laid off. PSAC continues to push the government to implement a fairer system.   

As part of the SERLO process, the manager must use several criteria to determine which employees will be retained and which will be declared surplus. Unlike traditional appointment processes, merit is no longer used as a selection criterion. In the past, hiring and retention decisions were based on an overall assessment of candidates' qualifications according to the merit principle. Today, selection is based primarily on specific criteria related to essential qualifications, organizational needs, and operational requirements.    

Here are the main criteria considered:  

Essential qualifications: Only employees possessing all the essential qualifications deemed most relevant to the work to be performed can be retained. This includes official language proficiency, which must be assessed objectively and cannot be considered a mere asset.  

• Abandoning the merit principle means that decisions are no longer based on a comparative assessment of candidates, but rather on their fit with the qualifications and requirements established for the positions to be maintained. 
• Organizational needs in terms of employment equity, diversity, and inclusion: When a gap is identified in the representation of groups designated by the Employment Equity Act (women, Indigenous people, people with disabilities, and racialized people), the manager may consider this as an organizational need in their decision-making.   
• Operational requirements: This involves determining the organization's current and future needs, based on strategic objectives and operational constraints. These requirements may include the need for specific technical expertise or the ability to work flexible hours.  
• Asset qualifications: The manager may also consider additional qualifications that could benefit the organization in the short or long term. These qualifications must be related to the evolving needs of the position or department.  

What do I do if I hear about a WFA situation or I am notified of one? 

When you are first notified about a workforce adjustment situation, or even if you believe you may be subject to one in the near future, please follow these general guidelines: 

• Union protections and processes are the most important resource assisting you through the job loss or transition process and you have the right to representation throughout, from before the process starts until after it ends.  
• Ensure you can be easily contacted by both the union and your employer. 
• If you are deemed surplus and your choice is to remain employed by the federal government, you must actively seek alternate federal government employment and seriously consider all job offers. Be assertive in questioning your departmental human resources advisors about what they are doing to help you find new employment in another department or agency. 
• Ensure that you respond to requests from the employer within the specified deadlines. Understandably, you may just want the whole situation to disappear because the decisions you are forced to make are so difficult. Unfortunately, not doing anything will make the situation worse and potentially force you to accept an option that isn’t the best one for you. 
• After becoming informed, seriously consider all the options available to you with particular emphasis on what the best option is for you, given the situation. The WFA Appendix requires you to make difficult choices, and the choice that each person makes depends on your individual circumstances.  
• Do not to make any rash or quick decisions. Instead become informed and ask questions about your situation and your options from both the union and the employer. 
• Keep local and national union leadership and PSAC regional staff advised about what you are hearing. This way your union may raise the issues at a union management committee meeting or a standing joint workforce adjustment committee meeting, to verify the claims.  
• Don’t trust hearsay propagated by individual managers and supervisors.  

Specific employment situations 

What does WFA mean for term employees? 

Term and casual employees are not covered by the Workforce Adjustment Appendix. Term employees are entitled to a 30-day written notice period if their term isn't renewed or is terminated early. 

Section 51 of the Public Service Employment Act and the Treasury Board’s Directive on Term Employment specify that term employees who have been employed in the same department for a period of three continuous years, without a break of 60 consecutive calendar days or more, must be appointed as an indeterminate employee at the level of their substantive position. Unfortunately, when a WFA is called departments can invoke an exception that allows them to stop the accumulation of service toward the required three years to become indeterminate.   

If your term rollover to indeterminate is paused due to WFA, it should be credited when the workforce adjustment is over, if you are still on strength.   

What happens if I am on leave or was set to go on leave soon?   

Any approved leave remains approved unless otherwise communicated by your manager. See the relevant article of the collective agreement pertaining to your leave, to understand how and when management may cancel an approved leave.  

Employees on paid or unpaid leave are under no greater or lesser risk of being given an affected status notice under the WFA policy. However, being on leave could mean that management fails to properly notify you, or maintain communication with you throughout the process, which could give rise to legitimate complaints against the employer. Consult your union steward if you feel management has failed to meet its notice obligations under the WFA Appendix.   

What happens if I am in an acting position and my substantive has been affected by WFA?   

Your rights and obligations, and those of the employer, remain the same regardless of your acting status. In the eventuality that your substantive position is eliminated due to WFA, you will no longer be eligible to occupy your acting assignment because your employment status remains attached to your substantive for the duration of the acting assignment.  

You will have the same rights as any other employee to all provisions of the WFA appendix, depending on if they are applicable, including a voluntary departure program, a guarantee of a reasonable job offer, alternation, and the options in Article 6.4 (including surplus priority for securing a reasonable job offer, a transitional support measure, and/or education allowance). 

Voluntary departure programs

What is a voluntary departure program?  

A department must establish a voluntary departure program (VDP) for all WFA situations involving five or more affected employees working at the same group and level and in the same work unit. The VDP allows affected employees to leave their public service employment by selecting among options in the WFA Appendix. Those options are a transitional support measure (TSM) lump-sum payment (see 6.4.1(B)), or a TSM with an additional education allowance (see 6.4.1(C)). You may be eligible for a pension waiver. Those participating in the VDP are also entitled to severance as per your collective agreement. 

Do I have to participate in the voluntary departure program? 

It is an entirely individual decision to participate or not participate in the VDP. It is important that you access whether the WFA entitlements are of benefit to you. If you decide VDP is not right for you, then you must wait to learn whether a Selection of Employees for Retention and Layoff (SERLO) process will take place, whether you will be given a guarantee of a reasonable job offer, or whether you will be made “opting” with access to the option in Article 6.4 of the WFA Appendix. 

It is important to note that if there are more volunteers than there are positions to be cut, the volunteers are selected in order of seniority with the most senior granted voluntary departure.  

If I leave voluntarily, do I have access to EI?   

If you participate in a voluntary departure program (VDP) and resign, you are deemed to have been laid off and are therefore eligible to Employment Insurance regular benefits. However, your transition support measure and any severance must first be allocated based on your normal gross weekly earnings, delaying your first week of entitlement to EI benefits accordingly. There are further conditions to demonstrate eligibility for EI benefits in any given week, and you should consult Service Canada for more information.  

Guarantee of a reasonable job offer

What is a guarantee of a reasonable job offer?   

If an employee is affected and declared surplus, they may receive a guarantee of a reasonable job offer, which they can accept or reject. 

The definition of a reasonable job offer, specific to Part I to VI, is: “an offer of indeterminate employment within the core public administration, normally at an equivalent level, but which could include lower levels. Surplus employees must be both trainable and mobile. Where practicable, a reasonable job offer shall be within the employee’s headquarters as defined in the Travel Directive.” 

A reasonable job offer is also an offer from a separate federal agency, providing that: 

• The appointment is at a rate of pay and an attainable salary maximum not less than the employee’s current salary and attainable maximum that would be in effect on the date of offer. 
• It is a seamless transfer of all employee benefits including a recognition of years of service for the definition of continuous employment and accrual of benefits, including the transfer of sick leave credits, severance pay, and accumulated vacation leave credits. 

If employees receive a guarantee of a reasonable job offer, they are put on surplus priority and paid until their home department fulfills their guarantee of a job. If required, they must be willing to be trained and they must be mobile. 

Will I be compensated for the difference in salary should I find a new position that is at a lower level?   

If you are given a reasonable job offer at a lower classification level, you will be salary protected at your prior substantive classification level for the duration that you occupy the new position. This salary protection is known informally as “red circling.”  If you deploy out of the position (at any pay level), or resign and later return to the public service, you are no longer entitled to the salary protection. In rare cases, your new classification level may move above the value of your prior classification, in which case you would be entitled to eliminate your salary protection and benefit from the new, higher rate.  

Will the employer cover my relocation costs if I am given a reasonable job offer in another location?   

In the event you secure a reasonable job offer that is located more than 40km from your prior home office, you are entitled to relocation costs under the National Joint Directive on Relocation.    

Opting provisions

When does the 120-day opting period start?   

The 120-day period begins on the date of receipt of the letter notifying the employee that they are deemed an opting employee.  

It does not begin when the employee receives the notice of affected status letter, unless the letter states that the employee is being made opting then. However, often this determination is made following a series of other steps including determination of whether you are to receive a guarantee of a reasonable job offer, voluntary departure programs, and a SERLO process. Only after the notification of opting status does the 120-calendar day period start.  

If the employee fails to communicate their choice within the stated timeframe, they will be deemed to have selected option 6.4.1a, to be placed on the surplus priority list for a period of 12 months for staffing purposes, after which they will be laid off if no employment has been secured.  

What does it mean to be on a surplus priority list?   

If you select Option A in Article 6.4.1 of the WFAA, you will have a 12-month surplus priority period. This means that for any job for which you meet the essential merit criteria, your candidacy is identified to the hiring manager through the priority list, and you are entitled to the position above all other non-priority candidates. In the event of multiple qualified priority candidates, further assessment may be warranted for selection.  

While this process is automated, you still share responsibility in locating suitable work and bringing to the attention of the priority list managers job opportunities that you would like to be considered for. You are removed from the priority list as soon as you find alternative work, whether it arises from the priority list, a pool you freely qualified in, or any other deployment.  

If I find a job elsewhere in the government, can I take it? If I find the job while I am in surplus, can I take it?  

If you believe you have a suitable alternative job available, for example through a qualified pool, you could choose Option A of WFAA Article 6.4.1 and pursue the employment opportunity with surplus priority status. However, you should be cautious about any informal or verbal commitment and seek appropriate counselling before making your decision. The employer is obligated to provide counselling under the provisions of the WFAA.  

How is the amount of my transitional support measure calculated? Is it in addition to severance?   

In Annex B of the WFAA, you will find the years of service calculations for the amount of the transitional support measure (TSM).   

The severance article of your collective agreement provides a calculation of severance in the event of layoff and is additional to the TSM.   

You are also entitled to a payout of any vacation balance outstanding in your account, prorated to the month of your termination.  

When will I receive my transitional support measure?   

The TSM is issued no sooner than the effective date of the employee’s notice of resignation and can be paid in one or two lump sums over a maximum two-year period. See Article 6.4.1b) of the WFAA. 

What can I use an education allowance for?  

The collective agreement does not limit the tuition reimbursement to specific institutions or types of study. There are no limits on what you can study as long as it’s a program at a recognized educational institution, such as a college or university. It can also be used for multiple programs. You must provide receipts to be reimbursed.  

Alternation

How does an alternation work?  

Alternation is a process available to workers during workforce adjustments. It enables a surplus employee to remain employed by exchanging positions with another employee willing to leave, thereby minimizing involuntary job losses within the public service.  

It is the employer’s obligation to facilitate alternation, and management cannot arbitrarily or unfairly deny alternation requests. Surplus employees are permitted to alternate during the 120-day decision period as well as during the 12-month period when they are surplus priority, for those who have chosen option 6.4.1a) of the WFAA. 

Can different classifications alternate?   

According to Appendix D, Article 6.3.7, an alternation may occur between employees at the same group and level. When the two positions are not in the same group and at the same level, alternation can still occur when the positions can be considered equivalent. They are considered equivalent when the maximum rate of pay for the higher-paid position is no more than six per cent higher than the maximum rate of pay for the lower-paid position.  

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