Supporting Life Changes

Your employees may need help navigating life’s changes. We’re here to support you both!

• Purchase of service for authorized unpaid leave (e.g., maternity leave)

  We encourage all employers to inform plan members of the impact an unpaid leave of absence could have on their eligibility to retire and their annual pension benefits.

  You are encouraged to notify members that to be eligible to purchase their service from a leave of absence at a preferred rate, we must receive the request within 90 days of the date they return to work. We recommend that you notify members of this requirement when they are granted their unpaid leave, as well as upon their return to work.

  The preferred rate is the rate at which the member would have contributed to the Plan during their period of unpaid leave, had they been working. In situations where a member is eligible to purchase service at the preferred rate, the employer is required to pay a matching contribution.

  If we do not receive a request to purchase service within 90 days of a plan member returning to work, their cost to purchase the leave will be calculated based on the actuarial cost of the service. The actuarial cost is based on the predicted cost of crediting the service to the plan member during the predicted life expectancy of the member when retired. Factors influencing the actuarial costs include age, years of service, and interest rates. The employer is not responsible for any contributions if the request is received by Provident10 after 90 days.

• Long Term Disability

  We encourage you to talk with members who have been approved for long term disability (LTD) to determine what impact, if any, their pension benefits might have on the amount that they are entitled to receive under your LTD program.

  If you offer LTD benefits, we recommend engaging with your employees, so they are familiar with your LTD program and how it impacts their pension benefits.

• Workers’ Compensation

  Participating employers are responsible for familiarizing themselves with legislation governing WorkplaceNL as it relates to pension benefits. You can visit their website at workplacenl.ca for more information.