90 Days’ Notice Required For Retirement

Getting close to retirement age?

Be sure your employer has at least 90 days’ notice of your intent to retire.

Since 2005, HOOPP has been advising members and employers to submit Retirement Notices at least 90 days in advance of the date the member wants the pension to start. Other pension plans, notably the Canada Pension Plan, require even longer notice periods – CPP requires six months’ notice.

What this means is that effective June 30, 2007 in order for a pension to start on the desired date of Nov. 1, 2007, the Retirement Notice – which is completed by your employer – would have to be received by HOOPP no later than July 31, 2007.

Upon receiving your Retirement Notice from your employer, HOOPP will provide you with your personalized Retirement Kit. In order for your pension to start on the desired date, you will next:

• call HOOPP with your pension choices
• send in any required documents (such as proof of age, if not already on file),
• HOOPP will then send you a Pension Authorization Form HOOPP to confirm your pension choices, which you will sign and return.

What happens when less than 90 days’ notice is provided?

As you can see, your earlier direct involvement in the retirement process means that if less than 90 days’ notice is provided, you and HOOPP may not have time to perform all the steps, which means your pension may start late – although your first payment will include any arrears owing.

We are alerting all HOOPP employers to this change, and will make references to the 90-day deadline more prominent on all retirement-related forms, booklets, and website pages. Keep this deadline in mind to ensure a smooth transition from the working world to retirement, without any cash flow problems!

Summer 2007