Term employees at several departments have been informed that the employer will “freeze” the time being accumulated towards indeterminate status. 

We compiled this FAQ to help CEIU locals and members:

What are the rights of term employees?

Term employees are represented by the union and have access to paid vacation, sick leave, and the Public Service Health Care Plan (after 6 months of work). However, their rights are limited by legislation and policies.

Departments must provide terms with at least one month’s notice of the termination of their contract. The employer has the right to end term employment before the originally anticipated end date as long as the notice period is respected.

The Public Service Employment Act states that, at the end of their term, term employees cease to be considered employees of the public service. This means that the end of a term is not considered a layoff or termination under the public service legislation.

Managers have control and discretion regarding the length of term contracts, the renewal or non-renewal of a term, and the end date of their term, subject to these and any other legislative requirements.

Is there any formal recourse available to term employees upon expiry or non-renewal of their terms?

The legislation and policies governing term employment in Treasury Board departments give the employer significant discretion. The Federal Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board does not have jurisdiction to hear grievances based the expiration or non-renewal of a term contract. There are also no rights to file complaints under the Public Service Employment Act.

In cases where there is concrete evidence demonstrating that discrimination was a motive for the non-renewal of a term contract, an employee may contact their local union representative to discuss the possibility of filing a grievance and/or human rights complaint. The union will assess these grievances on a case-by-case basis and can only support those that show a clear connection between the identified protected characteristic and the employer’s decision to end the contract.

When can term employees become indeterminate? What does “term conversion” or “rollover” refer to?

The TBS Directive on Term Employment (“the Directive”) provides that managers must “[convert] term employees to indeterminate status after a cumulative working period of three years in the same organization without a break in service longer than 60 consecutive calendar days…” This ensures that departments cannot employ a term employee indefinitely without allowing them the ability to access indeterminate employment.

This conversion is not always automatic, however. Some periods of employment are excluded from this calculation; those are spelled out in the Directive Appendix (A.2.2.8.). As well, there is an exception that allows managers to suspend the accumulation of service towards the three years required (see the next question).

What does it mean when departments decide to “stop the clock” on the accumulation of service for the conversion of term employees?

The Treasury Board Secretariat Policy on People Management (C1.2.2.) allows departments to stop the accumulation of service toward the required three years to become indeterminate if, “after reviewing the department’s financial situation over the two‑to-three‑year planning horizon, the deputy head has determined that including further cumulative work periods towards the conversion of term employees to indeterminate status would result in workforce adjustment.” This means that the clock is stopped and there will be no further term rollovers until further notice.

In these situations, departments must notify term employees and the union, and subsequently provide employees with yearly updates whether the situation has changed.

Why is this happening now?

In the 2023 federal budget, the Government of Canada announced that departments would have to reduce spending. The most recent budget also requires departments to reduce overall employment through attrition (not hiring replacements when employees retire). These cost-cutting measures mean that departments are looking for ways to reduce their budgets, including stopping the conversion of term to indeterminate if that would result in a “workforce adjustment” situation.

For more information see:

• Public Service Alliance of Canada Warn of Job Cuts After Treasury Board Meeting
• Canada’s public services at risk: PSAC pushes back against cuts

What is the Workforce Adjustment Agreement? Does it apply to term employees?

Workforce adjustment is a situation where departments cut indeterminate employees’ jobs. The Workforce Adjustment Agreement (WFAA), which is an appendix to our collective agreements, spells out the process that departments must use once a workforce adjustment is planned. Only indeterminate employees have rights under the WFAA; term employees do not.

What is the union doing?

CEIU is advocating for the rights of our members, both term and indeterminate. We are urging departments to respect and adhere to their obligations in collective agreements, policies, and legislation. This includes working to ensure that members who are term employees are treated in a fair and transparent manner. We are also reviewing the impacts of this situation on employment equity and urging departments to consider fairness and equity when making decisions about any changes that affect employees’ job security.

The union will advocate for the resumption of service accumulation towards term conversion as soon as possible. We will also advocate for three-plus year term employees to be given indeterminate status before external staffing for equivalent positions is contemplated.

What can I do at the local level?

• Ensure the employer is abiding by policies in terms of required dates to extend contracts and to give notice should they not be offering a new contract.
• Inform your regional union representatives immediately if you hear the employer is permanently hiring positions affected by the freeze.
• Speak to your regional union representative if you become aware of any back-to-back, short-term renewals (for example, one-month contract extensions).
• Include discussion about workload, hiring, retention and budget spending at your local union-management meetings.
• Keep your regional union representatives appraised of issues in your local so they can bring them forward to CEIU National.

If you have further questions, please contact your local union representative.