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News - February 2009

The headlines for news items published during this month are listed below.

Click on the headline of your choice to see the entire text of the article.

• Winnipeg PHAC member garners recognition from

the American Society of Administrative Professionals

• To retire or not to retire: that is the question

Winnipeg PHAC member garners recognition from the American Society of Administrative Professionals

Posted February 25, 2009

It's quite an honour. And it's very well deserved.     Melinda Patterson, of Winnipeg's National Microbiology Laboratory, has     received international recognition from the American Society of   Administrative Professionals.     ASAP, a professional development service association for administrative   professionals, named the NHU member its Administrative Professional of   the Month for December 2008.     Melinda, a member of Local 50012, is Liaison and Coordination Officer   within the Office of the Scientific Director General. She has spent nearly

seven of her 19 years as a federal public service worker with the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Juggling the need to understand current and emerging public health issues, react to swift-changing priorities while ensuring the smooth administrative flow of this important Office is, to put it mildly, challenging.  Nonetheless, she pulls it off with a capability and competence that drew the attention and admiration of the American publication

Despite the high demands of her current position, Melinda finds time to contribute to both the wellbeing of her community and her personal growth. Last year, she served as Chair of the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign for the Winnipeg United Way. And, now well on her way to a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University of Manitoba, Melinda hopes that her part-time studies will eventually lead her to a masters of Business Administration graduate degree.

The National Health Union is pleased and proud to acknowledge the many contributions Melinda continues to make to her workplace and community.

To retire or not to retire: that is the question

Posted February 11, 2009

Over the next few years many of our members will become eligible to leave the Public Service without penalty because they will have reached the age of 55 and have more than 30 years of service.

Are you in this situation? Are you toying with the idea of getting out of the rat race and enjoying life at a more leisurely pace? Well, here’s the best advice we, as your union, can offer you.

First, unless you are on some sort of predetermined program that has unalterably fixed the date of your retirement, make sure to obtain all possible information about your specific situation from your pay specialist BEFORE you publicly announce your retirement plan.

Here are some of the questions to put to your pay specialist:

           • What particular date should I used to calculate my pensionable service?
           • What is the average of my best five years for the purpose of calculating my pension?
           • What current benefits would I be eligible to keep, and would benefit levels be changed?
           • What would be the estimate of my monthly pension payment?
           • Could I cope with one pension cheque a month, rather than my current pay cheque every two

                 weeks?

You should approach the employer with an anticipated date of retirement ONLY WHEN (a) you have had a chance to digest all pertinent information, (b) have received any clarifications you may need, (c) have reviewed your personnel file to see if any further matters need to be addressed and (d) are certain that retirement is feasible and practical.

Please remember that once you propose a retirement date to the employer and it is accepted, unless duress is proven there is no reason for the employer to reconsider the date you proposed. The employer can always modify its position if you make a request to change the date. However, once again, unless you were forced to tender a letter of retirement there is no obligation for the employer to do so.

The bottom line? It is ALWAYS better to err on the side of caution. Inform the employer of your plan to retire only when you are satisfied that you have all of the answers to your questions and are certain you are financially and psychologically prepared to retire.

As an additional source of information, you may wish to consult the PSAC publication 'Retiring from the Public Service of Canada: Some Useful Tips' at:

http://www.psac-afpc.com/documents/what/retiring_from_ps_usefultips-e.pdf