If you are going on unpaid leave of twenty working days or less, you must maintain your Desjardins Group Pension Plan (DGPP). You must pay your DGPP contributions. You cannot repeat a leave of this kind over more than four consecutive weeks.
For unpaid leave of more than twenty working days, if you wish to continue participating in the DGPP, you must meet the following two conditions:
- The unpaid leave must be approved by the employer. The total periodsrecognized cannot exceed five years (plus three additional years for family orparental leaves provided for by law). This limit applies for the duration ofthe employee’s career with any of the DGPP’s participating employers.
- The Employer explicitly agrees to take the employee back on the scheduled date of return to work.
Impact on Pension Plan
If your leave of more than twenty working days meets the two conditions above and you would like to continue your participation in the Desjardins Group Pension Plan (DGPP), you must notify your employer no later than one month after the start of your leave. Your contributions must be paid for the entire period you are on leave. Generally, you must pay both the employee and employer portions of the plan contributions. You and your employer will have to agree on payment terms.
The reference salary used to establish your contributions is your regular salary prior to your leave, if you are a full-time employee.
If you are not a full-time employee, your average salary for the last 13 weeks you worked, up to the number of regular hours for your job category, will be used to calculate your contributions. The credited service for this period is equal to the ratio of the number of hours of work for which you are required to contribute to the plan to the number of hours in your normal work week.
Continuous service is fully recognized.
If you decide before the start of your leave that you do not want to continue your DGPP participation, no credited service will be recognized, but your continuous service will be. You must advise your employer before your leave starts.
If you decide to maintain your participation in the DGPP but now wish to suspend it, no credited service will be recognized, but your continuous service will be recognized for eligibility purposes. However, you must immediately advise your employer of your decision.
You can buy back this period upon your return or any time before retirement. The cost may differ from what is would have cost had you maintained your participation during the leave. To learn more, visit the Buyback of Past Service page.