Changing Between Full-Time & Part-Time
From full time to part time
If you move from a full-time to a part-time position you remain a member of the Plan.
When you switch from full time to part time you can choose whether or not to continue contributing to the Plan while a part-time employee. This is only applicable if you are not an active member at another employer.
If you choose to stop contributing, you remain in the Plan, but accrue no contributory service. You become an “inactive” member, but remain in the Plan until you terminate, retire or die.
You can change this decision down the road and resume contributions to HOOPP immediately from that day forward.
Contributions cannot be made retroactively for the period when you were inactive, and a period of time when you were inactive is not available for past service purchase.
Continued contributions will help you build a larger pension benefit in HOOPP. Find out the other benefits of remaining a HOOPP member when moving to part-time.
From part time to full time
Once an inactive member chooses to become an active member or returns to full-time employment, HOOPP contributions must resume immediately.
Temporary reduction of full-time hours
If the reduction in hours is temporary, or affects only some employees in a position, HOOPP will consider you to have moved from a full-time job to a part-time job, even if your employer still considers you to be a full-time employee for other benefits.
For example, if the number of full-time hours in your work week changes from 35 to 32, you will build 32/35ths of the contributory service you would otherwise have built before the temporary change. When the reduction period ends, your contributory service will build at pre-reduction levels.
You can choose to “top up” contributions for the temporary period of reduced earnings with your employer’s approval. If contributions are topped up, service and contributions are based on your pre-reduction earnings. These “deemed earnings” must also include any subsequent pay increases.
