2012-13 Fall Training Sessions
Questions Answers
Regulations Changes and Sick Bank Liability
Q1 – Could you elaborate of the compassionate discretionary sick leave and what it comprises of?
A – If an employee with a long term illness does not have enough sick days in the bank to top up some of the 120 STLDP days paid at 90%, provided the employee has at least two unused personal leave days (out of the up to 5 that may be allocated each year), it is at the discretion of the board to allow up to two unused days to be used for top-up such that 20 STDLP days are topped-up to 100% salary.
Q2 – Where are the actuaries going to get the info for the Sick Bank template, (i.e. the probability of banking days)?
A – The 2011 -12 and 2012-13 sick leave usage data will be used by the actuaries.
Q3 – How does the one-time funding work?
A – The one-time funding will be part of the labour enhancement funding and will be based on the liability reported in the 2012-13 financial statements which will be included in the transfer payments from the Ministry after submission of the financial statements.
Q4 – If we have an employee starting work on June 1st, how are the credits to be applied?
A – The full allocation of sick leave credits will be provided. (O. Reg. 1/13, s.2)
Q5 – Do LTOs take the mandatory December 20th unpaid day?
The MOU states that all permanent regular day school members of a teacher bargaining unit will be required to take December 20th as an unpaid day. This provision in the MOU does not therefore apply to LTOs.
Q6 – With regards to the attendance recognition, how does the funding work and what is it based on?
A – The attendance recognition will be in effect as of 2013-14 school year and the funding will be provided on a one-time basis, to cover incremental costs relating to payments made to eligible staff that use less than 6 sick days. The ministry is still working on the funding and its implementation and will share information with the sector once a final approach is determined.
Q7 – In the Sick Bank Liability template, will actuaries have information on the sick leave usage for 2012-13?
A – Yes, the actuaries have already started their work with boards and are in the process of gathering this information.
Q8 – Is the Sick Bank Liability reported on EFIS? Where?
A – Yes, it is reported in EFIS in schedule 10G in the Compensated Absences line.
Q9 – With respect to the funding of Compensated absences, shouldn’t EFIS Section 17 report $5.5M (the new sick bank liability + the in-year expense related to the use of the 2 day top-up) instead of just the $5M in the example presented at the information session? Is there $500k for the 2 days top-up funded elsewhere (the real 2012-13 expense)
A – The one-time funding is only in respect to the liability for the sick days banked by the end of the 2012-13 school year. The usage of the 2 days in 2012-13 is to be addressed by boards through their operating funds since the benchmark funding reflects full teachers’ salaries with additional funding provided for supply teaching costs. Section 17 of the forms presented therefore correctly reflect the $5M.
Q10 – Will the one-time funding for the sick bank liability be for 2012-13 reporting year?
A – Yes, the funding will be for one year and will be based on the sick bank liability reported in 2012-13.
Q11 – Can the different sources of funding streams for each of the additional funding as a result of the labour enhancements be provided as well as the year the money will be received?
A - The $15M announced in May 2013 for payroll system and training to support implementation of new benefit plan provisions, the $10 million announced in December 2012 for payroll system and implementation to support the benefit plan reform from the PSFA 2012 and the funding for the first 16% of the amount needed for boards to offset the cost of the October 11, 2013 PD day will be funded through EPO. The funding for the remaining labour enhancements will be through the GSN. $15M announced in May 2013 for payroll system and training to support implementation of provisions, the $10 million announced in December 2012 for payroll system and implementation to support the benefit plan reform from the PSFA 2012 and the funding for the first 16% of the amount needed for boards to offset the cost of the October 11, 2013 PD day will be funded through EPO. The funding for the remaining labour enhancements will be through the GSN.
Unpaid Days & Health Care Benefit Plan Reserves
Q12 – For the offsetting measures, how will the 16% provided by the government flow to boards?
A – It will be funded through EPO funding Supports for Labour Implementation. Please review SB memo 2013: SB30 dated October 18th for more details regarding this.
http://faab.edu.gov.on.ca/SB_Memos_2013.htm
Q13 – Was the announcement of the 16% funding made before or after the budget?
A –The 16% was formally announced through Memorandum 2013:B20 on September 18, 2013.
Q14 – How is the 16% cost of the professional development day calculated? How can the savings be attained?
A – The 16% cost of the professional development day was calculated as the cost of 16% of one paid day. Other savings measures are expected to be met from VLAP days and incentives such as ERIPs and other savings that have been locally agreed upon.
Q15 – Could you clarify the differences between the voluntary unpaid leave of absence and an unpaid PD day?
A – Both the voluntary unpaid leave of absence and the unpaid PD days have been introduced recently. The voluntary unpaid leave of absence is where employees request an unpaid day off ahead of time in writing. The unpaid PD days are mandatory time off for teachers without pay that should be taken at specific dates.
Q16 – Why are we including non-teaching staff in the unpaid days template if the target is for teachers only?
A – The intent of the Unpaid Days template is to help determine the savings measures. The other savings are purely based on the agreement between the boards and their unions. Some union contracts include non-teaching staff in their bargaining agreements which is the reason non-teaching staff is included in the template.
Q17 – What is the deadline to determine the offsetting measures?
A – The boards should determine their offsetting measures before March 7, 2014 because teachers will need to be notified of this additional unpaid day if school boards do not meet their savings target.
Q18 – Can the Ministry provide examples of other savings measures that can be used for the Unpaid Days template?
A –It is up to the boards and their local unions to arrive at an agreement on what further savings measures may be taken. Further savings measures were included in the template to include any locally determined savings measures.
Q19 - There is an open cell under non-teaching staff on template for Early Retirement Incentive Plan (ERIP). Are Boards able to use ERIPs from non-teaching staff as an offsetting measure?
A - ERIP is only available to teachers per the MOU. The cells under the non-teaching staff should not have been open in the template. The template posted on the FAAB website has been updated to reflect this change.
Q20 – When will boards be receiving the funding adjustment payments for the Unpaid Days? Will it be in November based on the Revised Estimates or only in March?
A – In the Revised Estimates, although there is a line to report this, the amounts will not be available to the boards at that time. Payments will be made together with the 2013-14 base payments in March.
Q21 - How would a Board know the amount of 1 unpaid day per bargaining unit?
A - Individual boards (directors and superintendents) received an email communication from the Education Finance Branch (EFB) on June 14th, 2013 with the cost of 1 unpaid day per bargaining unit.
Q22 – Is the ERIP received eligible to be rolled over to a RRSP by the individual employee?
A – An ERIP may be paid out to an employee in a manner agreed upon by the board and the employee.
Q23 – Do school boards need to use separate templates for elementary and secondary (OECTA)?
A – Boards should send in one template per amount received. However, if the amount was allocated and paid between the two bargaining units, then more than one template may be submitted.
Q24 – Will there be any auditor involvement required in signing off these templates, either for the Unpaid Days or Health Care Benefit Plan Reserves?
A – The ministry will use the unpaid days template for the determination of the 2013-14 school year funding and the health care benefit plan reserve template implements the requirement in the MOU. Auditor involvement will not be required in signing off on the templates.
Q25 – Would the requirement to get approval from the Minister of Education for withdrawals from the Health Care Benefit Plan Reserves cover surpluses retained by the insurance provider, such as ASO plans?
A – Yes, all withdrawals from the plan should be sent to the Ministry for approval. Please refer to the approval process outlined in SB memo 24.
Q26 – If the Ministry establishes a provincial plan, are they going to take school board’s plan reserves away for the provincial plan?
A –This will be something for discussion in the provincial committee once established.
Q27 – Who are the members of the approval committee, how is it based and when will the committee be in place?
A – The Government was asked (during the negotiations of 2012/14) to create a Committee to study health care benefit plans to see if there are opportunities to go looking for higher savings by having one or more provincial plan(s) instead of the existing plans for 72 school boards. This Committee has not yet been created.The committee has not yet been determined.
Q28 – When is the approval process for the withdrawal of monies effective?
A – The July 2012 OECTA MOU contained a provision requiring approval for withdrawal from benefit plan reserves. It is in effect immediately and was mentioned in 2013: SB Memo 24 dated August 9th 2013 and shall remain in effect until August 31, 2014.
Q29 – Do the funds have an external restriction? What is the intent of this?
A – There is an external restriction on the benefit plan surplus. This is to ensure sustainability of the plans pending further discussions on the creation of one or more provincial benefit plan for the sector.
Q30 – What happens if the board has two separate rates? Or, if a rate reduction has already been done and changed?
A – The template should be completed with the new lower rate and it should be mentioned on the form that the change has already been applied.
Q31 – Does a board have to complete a template for both increases and reductions to premium rates? Do we need the Ministry’s consent for change in premium rates or is this for information purposes only? A reduction in premium rates doesn’t necessarily mean that the board is using reserves.
A –The template would need to be completed for any requests to reduce premium rates and / or withdraw funds from the reserves. The information reported on the template to be submitted by boards would help the Ministry identify if a use of reserves will likely be required to sustain the premium rate reduction(s).
Q32 – How do boards submit the template if different employee groups have different rates?
A – If there are different rates, identify this in the template and include an attachment with the different rates.
Q33 – Could the Ministry reject a request to withdraw funds and under what circumstances?
A –The Ministry may reject a withdrawal of funds if it is deemed that the benefit plan may not be fiscally sustainable without some reserves.
Q34 – Do we need to complete a template for each plan?
A –Yes, if there is a separate rate for each health benefit plan (i.e. separate rate for health and dental) then a separate template for each plan would need to be filled out.
Q35 – Are transfers from one LTD plan to another locked in plan?
A –No, LTD plans are not affected by the policy on health benefit reserves.
Major Changes to 2012-13 Financial Statements
Schedule 5.3
Q36 – At line 2.1.1 “Sinking Fund Interest to be Earned”, column 6 “amortization” is on a different basis than on tangible capital assets amortization expense.
A – The split between TCA amounts and sinking fund interest is required by the Capital branch. The EFIS team and the Capital branch are aware of the possible differences between the amortization duration for sinking funds and for TCA which is at the time not reflected in the forms. The EFIS team is currently working on the issue.
Q37 – At line 2.1.2 “Other Unsupported Capital Spending Pre-August 31, 2010”, we have a project that is included in this line that is now supported. How do we get the funding related to previous amortization amounts?
A – We expect that these situations are rare. You will need to work with your finance officer/financial analyst as well as your capital analyst in order to look into this particular situation and they will work with you to fix the situation.
Schedule 9
Q38 – Is year 5 of FDK going to be included in the GSN instead of EPO funding?
A – Upon full implementation, most ongoing program funding is rolled into the GSN therefore we expect the FDK program to be rolled into the GSN soon.