How does alternation work? 

Alternation is available to workers during certain stages of the workforce adjustment process. It allows an opting or surplus employee to remain employed by exchanging positions with a non-affected employee willing to leave, thereby preserving employment opportunities within the public service. It is the employer’s obligation to facilitate alternation, and management cannot arbitrarily or unfairly deny alternation requests. 

Can different classifications alternate?  

According to the WFA Appendix, 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. 

Who can participate in alternation?

Only opting employees or employees who are in the 12-month surplus period under Option A can alternate with non-affected employees. Opting employees have 120 days to decide on one of three options, or to alternate with an employee who has not be given an affected letter. Opting employees who choose Option A, 12-month surplus status, will continue to have access to alternation until the end of their surplus period (or until they accept a reasonable job offer during the surplus period).

If I am opting and want to alternate with a non-affected employee, who can I switch jobs with?

• Someone in the core public service: All departments must participate in the alternation process, but alternation can only take place within the core public administration. This means that employees in public service departments such as IRCC and ESDC cannot alternate with employees from separate agencies (such as Canada Revenue Agency), or Crown corporations (such as Canada Post).
  
  
• Someone at the same group and level, or at an equivalent level (no more than 6% higher maximum salary).
  
  
• You must meet the qualifications for the position you want to alternate into, including language requirements.
  
  

How do I find a match for alternation?

If you are an opting/option A employee and want to alternate, or if you are an unaffected employee and want to leave the public service, you should consider:

• Immediately advising your manager in writing that you are interested in alternation. Request in writing that your employer provide you information on the process for alternation presently in place and how they intend to facilitate and assist you in finding a match.
  
  
• Using the departmental alternation forum on the intranet and the public service-wide alternation forum administered by the Treasury Board to look for potential matches.

What do I do when I find a potential match for alternation?

Once you have found what looks like a good match, we encourage  each matching employee to notify their manager and their local union representative, in writing, about the possible match and in which department the other employee (alternate or opting) resides.

In this email, alert your manager or Human Resources officer and request: (1) that the employer meet their obligations under 6.2 of the WFAA and (2) that the manager/HR officer contact their counterpart in the home department of the other (alternate/opting) employee. This request should include a reasonably short time limit (i.e. 2 or 3 days) for a response. Opting employees only have 120 days within which to alternate, so timeliness is important.

The union representative should report the details of the possible match to their leadership representatives in the region, or to the union representative(s) on the regional or national Workforce Adjustment Committee, so that they are aware of it and can also monitor the progress of the potential match.

Can a request to alternate be refused by the employer?

The potential new employer of the opting employee can refuse the alternation on the grounds that the proposed match or alternation isn’t likely “to result in retention of the skills required to meet the ongoing needs of the position and the core public administration” or if the opting employee is not qualified for the position.  The employer must demonstrate why they have refused the alternation, and why some retraining couldn’t address the perceived gap in qualifications.

The potential new employer cannot simply say that they refuse to participate because they want to take care of their own employees first, or because it doesn’t match their HR planning. Alternation is an obligation under the collective agreement.

If I am a non-affected employee, is there a deadline to submit my interest for alternation? Once I have put my name forward, can I withdraw from the alternation process?

If you are a non-affected employee, you can submit your interest for alternation at any time.  If change your mind, you can withdraw your request at any time prior to exchange postings with an opting employee.

Once I become an “alternate”, am I eligible for ALL options listed under 6.3 of the WFA?

Alternating employees will only be entitled to either option B (transition support measure) or option C (education allowance).

What is the union’s role in the alternation process?

Discussions around alternation and proposed alternation opportunities must be addressed at WFA committees, union-management consultation committees or whatever union management consultation forum is in place and works.

Union representatives on WFA committees or other union representatives can provide some information and assistance in alternations but the process is largely between the employees and their managers.

If you have been denied an alternation request, contact your union representative.

What happens if an opting/option A employee who chooses alternation doesn’t find a position similar to theirs or doesn’t like the options?

If an opting employee does not find a match within the 120-day opting period, they must make their choice as to which of the options they wish to take.

If they choose Option A, the 12-month surplus period, they may continue to look for possible alternations during their surplus period. If, by the end of their 12-month surplus period, they have not found an alternation or accepted a reasonable job offer, they will be laid off.

Opting employees who choose Option B, C(i) or C(ii) will no longer be eligible for alternation once they have notified the employer of their chosen option.