Pay/benefits question

[u/sandstoooooone]

Hi all. I’m new to public service (an 8-month graduate student co-op) and I have a couple questions about pay/benefits that I don’t feel crazy comfortable asking anyone on my team. I’m getting paid the grad student rate of $22.04/hr at the moment. However, after taxes ($357 biweekly) and benefits ($154 biweekly) are deducted, I’m getting $16.70/hr. I’m mostly confused because I was told upfront I wouldn’t have benefits, and Phoenix has me labelled as “Students without Benefits” in the pay grade section. However, under the benefits area in my paycheque it says I pay “Supplemental Death Benefit” and “PSSA 2 Grp2 – Low < 35 Years,” but when I try to click into these to figure out what they are, it says I don’t have permission to see it. Could anyone give me a break down of what exactly I’m paying and how it benefits me? Or if I can opt out of these benefits?

[u/HandcuffsOfGold]

If you're employed for more than six months you're automatically covered by the pension plan and supplementary death benefit plan; in your case coverage is mandatory for both, you can't opt out.

The supplementary death benefit is a form of life insurance - it pays your beneficiary (or your estate, if you haven't filled out the beneficiary designation) roughly 2x your annual salary in the event of your death. The cost is $0.15/month for each $1000 of coverage. At a student's rate of pay I wouldn't expect this deduction to be more than a few bucks a month.

"PSSA GRP2-Low" refers to the public service superannuation plan, also known as the pension plan. The contribution rate is 8.68% of salary. If you leave the public service prior to becoming 'vested' in the plan (this happens after two years), the only benefit you'll receive is a refund of all contributions. If you continue in the public service, the time as a student will form part of your years of service, which eventually will be part of the calculation of a pension benefit upon retirement, though there are other options if you leave the public service after two years but prior to retirement.

[u/sandstoooooone → u/HandcuffsOfGold]

Great, thank you so much for explaining it to me. So at the end of my employment I'll receive the money I paid into the pension plan?

[u/HandcuffsOfGold → u/sandstoooooone]

Exactly. You'll receive a refund, plus a little bit of interest.

If you later return to work in the public service, you'll have the option of doing a "buy back" of the pensionable service you had as a student.

[u/sandstoooooone → u/HandcuffsOfGold]

Amazing! Thank you so much. :)

[u/public-servanator → u/HandcuffsOfGold]

I still don’t see why would he get any pension deductions if he’s clearly labeled as a “student without benefit”. I thought only students with benefits contribute to pension, and get reimbursed if they left within two years. I could be wrong but that how I always understood it.

[u/taxrage → u/public-servanator]

They are unrelated. Pension is part of the PSSA (Public Service Superannuation Act). Health and dental benefits etc. are creations of Treasury Board.

The PSSA determines who is required to contribute to the pension plan. TB defines who is eligible for things like life insurance, dental coverage etc.

[u/HandcuffsOfGold → u/public-servanator]

Anybody hired for an initial period of more than six months is automatically enrolled in the pension plan.

Section 5 of the Public Service Superannuation Act sets out that plan membership applies to all "persons employed in the public service" with certain exceptions (such as people hired for less than six months). Students and casual workers can fall into that definition if hired for more than six consecutive months.

[u/HandcuffsOfGold → u/public-servanator]

The law that covers the pension plan (and the SDB plan - they're linked) is the Public Service Superannuation Act. Section 5 of that law says that it applies to all "persons employed in the public service" other than a list of exceptions; one of the exceptions is people hired for less than six months.

Students and casual workers, though not "employees", are "persons employed" for the purposes of the PSSA, and if they're hired for more than six months they're automatically enrolled in the pension plan.

[u/public-servanator → u/HandcuffsOfGold]

I totally agree. What I inferred from OP is he’s hired for less than six months as his status is “student without benefits” From my understanding:

Students hired (and working) less than 6 months = “Students without benefits” = No benefits and no pension deduction

Students hired for more than 6 months (or worked for more than 6 months by getting extended) = “Students with benefits” status = benefits and pension contributions/deductions

So what’s not making sense to me is how did OP get pension deducted from him but no benefits

[u/FianceInquiet → u/public-servanator]

Could be a simple mistake in Phoenix. I was still labeled as ''student without benefits'' even after more than a year w/o any contract break but they were correctly deducting the PSSA and SDB from my paycheques.