AN ACT RESPECTING PENSIONS FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL NEWFOUNDLAND CONSTABULARY, THE ST. JOHN'S FIRE DEPARTMENT AND THE STAFF OF HER MAJESTY'S PENITENTIARY
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Uniformed Services Pensions Act.
1982 c49 s1
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Definitions
2. In this Act
(a) "Canada Pension Plan" means the Canada Pension Plan (Canada);
(b) "child" means a natural child, a stepchild or an adopted child;
(c) "commissioned officers" mean
(i) in relation to the penitentiary, the superintendent, assistant superintendents and captains,
(ii) in relation to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, the chief of police, the deputy chiefs of police, inspectors and lieutenants, and
(iii) in relation to the St. John's Fire Department, the fire chief, the assistant fire chief and the fire captains,
and other commissioned officers that may be designated by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council;
(d) "employee" means
(i) a member of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary as defined in the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act,
(ii) a member of the St. John's Fire Department as defined in the St. John's Fire Department Act, and
(iii) the superintendent and assistant superintendents and commissioned and correctional officers of the penitentiary,
employed on a full-time basis, but does not include a casual, part-time or contractual person;
(e) "fund" means the Province of Newfoundland Pooled Pension Fund referred to in the Pensions Funding Act;
(f) "minister" means the Minister of Finance;
(g) "month" includes a part of a month;
(h) "normal retirement age" means the retirement age as determined by section 15;
(i) "penitentiary" means the penitentiary as defined in the Prisons Act;
(j) "pension Plan" means the pension plan established by this Act;
(k) "pensionable service" means service credited and calculated in complete years that may be taken into account under the pension plan for the purpose of determining whether an employee has qualified for the award of a pension and the amount of it;
(l) "pensioner" means a person in receipt of a pension under the pension plan;
(m) "salary" means the remuneration earned for the normal working period of the employee, or other remuneration that may be prescribed, but does not include payments made on a fee basis;
(n) "spouse" means a person of the opposite sex
(i) to whom the employee is married at the time of the employee's death, or
(ii) who establishes to the satisfaction of the minister that the person has cohabited with the employee for at least 12 consecutive months immediately prior to that employee's death provided that the person and the employee held themselves out to the public as spouses of each other and there was no impediment to marriage between that person and the employee; and
(o) "year" means 12 months.
1982 c49 s2; 1987 c9 s3; 1990 c51 s3
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Plan to be for all employees
3. (1) All employees, including employees who immediately before January 21, 1983, are in the pension plan under the Constabulary Pensions Act, shall be pensioned under the pension plan and this Act shall apply to and in respect of them.
(2) An employee shall under this Act receive a pension as a matter of right.
(3) An employee under this Act is not an employee for the purpose of pension provisions in another statute.
1982 c49 s3
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Where pension prohibited
4. An employee may not receive a pension under the pension plan until he or she has been credited with not less than 10 years of pensionable service or while the employee is in receipt of a salary as an employee.
1982 c49 s4
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Pensionable service
5. (1) Pensionable service of an employee shall be counted from the date on which the employee starts making contributions to the pension plan but shall not include
(a) leave of absence without pay unless contributions are paid in respect of the leave; or
(b) service in respect of which contributions payable under this Act have not been paid.
(2) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may prescribe the types of leaves of absence without pay that may be considered as pensionable service and the salary base and rate of contributions that shall apply in relation to the payment of contributions respecting leaves of absence.
1982 c49 s5
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Credit for additional service
6. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may prescribe additional years of pensionable service that may be credited to employees, and the conditions upon which that pensionable service may be credited.
1982 c49 s6
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Pre-April, 1967 service
7. (1) A person who before April 1, 1967, served on a full-time basis during normal working hours as
(a) an employee;
(b) a temporary employee;
(c) an established civil servant under The Civil Service Act;
(d) an unestablished civil servant under The Civil Service Act; or
(e) a person to whom The Education Act, 1927 or The Education (Teachers' Pensions) Act applied,
and is an employee, shall be given credit for the purposes of this Act for full-time service accrued to that person as described in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e).
(2) Service referred to in subsection (1) shall not be credited as pensionable service unless the person pays to the fund
(a) a gratuity paid to the person under The Civil Service Act; or
(b) in the case of a person to whom The Education Act, 1927 or The Education (Teachers' Pensions) Act applied, a refund paid to the person under either or both of those Acts.
1982 c49 s7
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Post-April, 1967 service
8. (1) A person who after March 31, 1967 served on a full-time basis during normal working hours as a person to whom
(a) the pension provisions of the Teachers' Pensions Act apply;
(b) the pension plan under the Public Service Pensions Act applies; or
(c) the pension provisions of The Civil Service Act apply,
and is an employee, shall be given credit for the purposes of this Act for the pensionable service credited to that person under the appropriate Act.
(2) Service referred to in subsection (1) shall not be credited as pensionable service unless
(a) the person pays to the fund a refund paid to him or her under an Act referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) to (c), with interest at the prescribed annual rate compounded annually; and
(b) contributions made in relation to that person under an Act referred to in paragraphs (1)(a) to (c) are transferred into the fund.
1982 c49 s8
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No credit where pension received
9. Service referred to in section 7 or 8 shall not be credited as pensionable service where the person is receiving a pension in relation to that service.
1982 c49 s9
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Re-employment
10. (1) Where a person who was employed as an employee stopped being so employed and became an employee after March 31, 1967, he or she may be credited
(a) for service before April 1, 1967, with the pensionable service that may be approved by the minister, so long as a gratuity paid to the person for that service is repaid in full; and
(b) for service done by him or her after March 31, 1967, with the prior pensionable service that the person may elect to purchase on paying a contribution to be calculated, in accordance with the formula prescribed in section 11, on the annual salary paid to him or her at the beginning of re-employment together with interest on the contribution at the prescribed annual rate compounded annually to run from the date he or she exercised an election to the date of payment.
(2) Payments of contributions and interest on them for the purchase of prior service under subsection (1) may be made by instalments with interest at the prescribed annual rate compounded annually and the instalments shall be paid during a period, not to exceed the period of prior service purchased and not to extend past the date of retirement and upon the other terms and conditions that the minister may decide.
(3) An election to purchase prior service shall be made in writing to the minister.
1982 c49 s10
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Contributions required
11. (1) Employees shall make the contributions required by this section and under the other provisions of this Act.
(2) An employee shall, in the prescribed manner, pay from his or her salary for deposit each month to the credit of the fund
(a) a prescribed percent of the portion of his or her salary that is the employee's basic exemption under the Canada Pension Plan;
(b) a prescribed percent of the portion of the employee's salary in excess of the basic exemption referred to in paragraph (a) up to and including the Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings as defined by the Canada Pension Plan; and
(c) a prescribed percent of the portion of the employee's salary which is in excess of his Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings as defined by the Canada Pension Plan.
(3) Where an employee has accrued 30 years of pensionable service or has reached normal retirement age, whichever occurs first, the employee is no longer required to make contributions under subsection (2).
(4) Where contributions have been deducted in accordance with subsection (2) from the salary of an employee after contributions are not required under subsection (3), or where contributions have been deducted from the salary of an employee in excess of those as set out in subsection (2), those contributions shall be returned to the employee together with the prescribed annual rate of interest compounded annually.
1982 c49 s11
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Employer's contributions
12. The government of the province shall pay out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and pay into the fund
(a) an amount equal to the employee contributions made under section 11; or
(b) an amount that may be prescribed.
1982 c49 s12
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Former contributions credited
13. (1) Money deducted from the salary of an employee or paid by the employee under The Pensions (Premiums) Act, 1966-67, shall be retained in the Consolidated Revenue Fund and credited to the employee as if, in relation to the period to which they relate, they were deducted or paid under this Act.
(2) An employee who has paid contributions under The Pensions (Premiums) Act, 1966-67 or The Constabulary (Pensions) Act shall be considered to be in the same position in relation to those contributions as if those contributions had been paid under this Act.
1982 c49 s13
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Payments out of fund
14. (1) Pensions and other money payable under this Act shall be paid out of the fund.
(2) Pensions shall be paid on the dates on which salaries are paid unless the minister otherwise directs and shall stop at the end of the month in which the death of the pensioner occurs.
(3) Where an employee to whom the pension plan applies is not entitled to a pension under the pension plan, the contributions paid by the employee, together with the prescribed annual rate of interest compounded annually shall be paid
(a) where the employee is living, to the employee; or
(b) where the employee is not living, to the personal representative of the employee where
(i) the employee dies before having 10 years of pensionable service, or
(ii) the employee dies after being credited with 10 years of pensionable service but does not leave surviving him or her a person entitled to the pension under section 25.
(4) Where money is payable to the personal representative of an employee, the minister may, without probate or proof of title, pay an amount not exceeding the prescribed amount to 1 or more persons who appear to the minister to be persons beneficially entitled to the estate of the deceased employee.
(5) In determining the persons to whom the money shall be paid under subsection (4) and the proportions in which it shall be paid, the minister may have regard to expenses incurred by persons for or on account of the burial expenses of the deceased employee.
1982 c49 s14
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Normal retirement age
15. (1) An employee shall be awarded a pension
(a) in the case of commissioned officers, from the last day of the month in which the employee reaches the age of 60 years; and
(b) in the case of employees other than those referred to in paragraph (a), on the earlier date from
(i) the last day of the month in which the employee reaches the age of 55 years, or
(ii) the last day of the month in which the employee is credited with 25 years of pensionable service.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(a), employees who on January 21, 1983 are
(a) the superintendent or assistant superintendent of the penitentiary;
(b) the chief of police or the deputy chiefs of police of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary; and
(c) the fire chief or assistant fire chiefs of the St. John's Fire Department,
shall be awarded a pension from the last day of the month in which the employee reaches the age of 65 years.
1982 c49 s15; 1983 c14 s1
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Retirement age advanced
16. (1) An employee may request to have his or her normal retirement age reduced by up to 1 year as long as the contributions payable under this Act in respect of the period by which the normal retirement age is reduced are paid at twice the ordinary rate for contributions.
(2) Where an employee requests to have his or her normal retirement age reduced under subsection (1) and pays the contributions required by that subsection, the Minister of Justice shall, by order, approve the reduction, and the period by which normal retirement age is reduced shall be included as pensionable service.
(3) Where an employee requests to have his or her normal retirement age reduced under subsection (1) the employee shall designate a month, the last day from which shall be the beginning of the period by which the normal retirement age is reduced.
1982 c49 s16
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Optional retirement
17. (1) Where the fire chief or assistant fire chief of the St. John's Fire Department or the chief of police or each deputy chief of police of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary or the superintendent or each assistant superintendent of the penitentiary or other commissioned officer that may be designated by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council
(a) has reached the age of 55 years; and
(b) has accrued not less than 30 years of pensionable service,
he or she may elect to retire and receive from the last day of the month in which the elected retirement becomes effective, a pension calculated in accordance with section 22.
(2) Where a commissioned officer, other than a commissioned officer referred to in subsection (1), has not less than 25 years of pensionable service, the officer may elect to retire and receive from the last day of the month in which the elected retirement becomes effective, a pension calculated in accordance with section 22.
1982 c49 s17
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Compulsory retirement
18. An employee, where credited with at least 10 years of pensionable service, shall be awarded a pension calculated and paid in accordance with this Act
(a) when he or she reaches normal retirement age; or
(b) where the employee is unable to perform his or her duties efficiently owing to an incapacity which is medically certified to the satisfaction of the minister as likely to be permanent.
1982 c49 s18; 1985 c11 s24
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Employment after compulsory retirement
19. (1) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may offer to a pensioner who has not reached normal retirement age but is required to retire under paragraph 18(b) and later becomes fit to work a position as an employee not lower in rank and salary than the position from which he or she was so retired.
(2) Where a pensioner receives an offer of re-employment under subsection (1) within 12 months of becoming fit to work and refuses the offer without reasonable cause, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council shall suspend his or her pension and defer payment of it until the person reaches the age of 55 years.
(3) Where a pensioner accepts an offer of re-employment under subsection (1),
(a) the period during which the pensioner was in receipt of a pension while retired shall not be considered as pensionable service; and
(b) the pension shall be suspended during his or her re-employment and, subject to his or her making the required contributions during the period of re-employment, the period of re-employment shall be included in the calculation of the pension.
1982 c49 s19
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Employee's position abolished
20. Where an employee has been credited with at least 10 years of pensionable service and the position in which the employee was employed is abolished or his or her services are no longer required as a result of reorganization and employment as an employee not lower in rank, salary and emoluments is not offered to the employee within 1 month after the position is abolished or his or her services are no longer required, the employee shall immediately be awarded a pension calculated and paid in accordance with this Act.
1982 c49 s20
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Deferred pension
21. (1) An employee who has been credited with at least 10 years of pensionable service may elect to retire and defer payment of his or her pension until
(a) the employee reaches normal retirement age; or
(b) in the case of a commissioned officer, the employee reaches the age of 55 years and qualifies under subsection 17(1).
(2) Where an employee elects to retire on a deferred pension and later becomes an employee, the period between retirement and re-employment shall not be considered as pensionable service but prior pensionable service shall be considered and his or her pension calculated as if the employee had not elected to retire and defer payment of the pension under subsection (1).
(3) Where an employee who elects to retire on a deferred pension is later employed as other than an employee under this Act and is covered by a pension plan to which the Pensions Funding Act applies, that person may elect to negate his or her deferred pension and have his or her pensionable service under this Act transferred to that other pension plan.
(4) Where an employee elects to retire on a deferred pension and there is an increase in the rate of pension, that increase shall apply to the employee's pension, as if the employee were a pensioner on the 1st day of the month immediately following the election.
(5) Where an employee elects to retire on a deferred pension and dies before the deferred pension date under subsection (1), his or her pension shall be paid on the 1st day of the month following the employee's death in accordance with section 25.
(6) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the manner and time in relation to which an employee may make an election under subsection (1).
1982 c49 s21
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Calculation of pension
22. (1) A pension awarded to an employee under the pension plan shall be the amount calculated according to the 2nd column of the Schedule after the crediting of the number of years of pensionable service shown in the 1st column of the Schedule so long as
(a) in determining the number of years of pensionable service only complete years of service may be considered and a fraction of a year may not be considered; and
(b) the pension awarded to an employee shall not exceed the prescribed percentage of his or her salary earned on the date of retirement.
(2) The amount calculated under subsection (1) shall be reduced by the product of the lesser amount of
(a) 6/10 of 1% of the employee's annual salary at the date of retirement; or
(b) the average of the employee's Year's Maximum Pensionable Earnings under the Canada Pension Plan over the last 36 months,
multiplied by the number of years, including fractions of years, of his or her pensionable service credited after March 31, 1967, not exceeding 30.
(3) A pension of an employee shall be reduced under subsection (2) at a time which is the earlier of
(a) the 1st of the month following the month in which the employee reaches the age of 65 years; or
(b) the effective date of the payment of benefits to the employee under the Canada Pension Plan,
where the effective date of the reduction is before age 65 years, the amount of the reduction as calculated under subsection (2) shall be reduced by point 5% for each month the effective date as established under paragraph (b) is less than the date established under paragraph (a).
1982 c49 s22; 1987 c40 s2
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Payment to other than pensioner
23. A pension may not be assigned or given as security, but the minister may
(a) approve payment of the whole or part of a pension to a relative of a pensioner or to another person on the written authority of the pensioner;
(b) direct that payment be made of the whole or part of a pension to a relative or other person who maintains or who is responsible for the maintenance of a pensioner who is suffering from an incapacity; or
(c) direct that payment be made of the whole or part of a pension to a relative or other person who maintains or is responsible for the maintenance of a dependent child or children of a pensioner.
1982 c49 s23; 1988 c39 s16
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Pension may not be attached
24. Pension funds awarded under this Act shall not be liable to or be taken under attachment or execution.
1982 c49 s24
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Pension to survivor
25. (1) A pension equal to
(a) 55% of the pension being paid to a pensioner immediately before his or her death;
(b) 55% of the pension that an employee who dies before normal retirement age would receive, if the employee had reached normal retirement age and was then awarded a pension; or
(c) 55% of the pension that a former employee who has elected a deferred pension and who dies would have received,
shall be paid from the 1st day of the month following the month in which the death of the pensioner occurs to the spouse of the pensioner, employee or former employee.
(2) Where the pensioner, employee or former employee referred to in subsection (1) dies and
(a) does not have a surviving spouse; or
(b) the surviving spouse dies leaving children,
the payment under subsection (1) shall be made to the surviving children of the pensioner, employee or former employee
(c) who have reached the age of 18 years; or
(d) who have reached the age of 18 years but not the age of 24 years and who are in full-time attendance at a school or post secondary institution.
(3) Where a payment is made to a child under subsection (2) the payment may be made until the last day of the month in which the child reaches the age of 18 or 24 years.
1982 c49 s25
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Committee to help minister
26. The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may appoint a committee to help the minister in the administration of this Act and may prescribe the duties of the committee and designate the matters on which they shall make recommendations to the minister.
1982 c49 s26
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Appeal
27. (1) An employee or other person who is aggrieved by a decision of the minister or of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council in a matter related to, connected with or arising out of his or her entitlement to or the award to him or her of a pension or other money under this Act may appeal to a judge of the Trial Division.
(2) Where an employee or other person proposes to appeal under subsection (1), the employee shall, within 60 days after receiving the decision of the minister or of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, serve on the minister a written notice of his or her intention to appeal to the judge.
(3) The notice of appeal served under subsection (2) shall be signed by the employee or other person or by his or her solicitor or agent, and in the notice, the grounds of the appeal shall be set out, and the employee or other person shall file a copy of the notice in the office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court.
1982 c49 s27; 1986 c42 Sch B
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Regulations
28. (1) The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may make regulations for the purpose of carrying out this Act, including regulations establishing the conditions under which an employee or other person may purchase service that shall be counted as pensionable service.
(2) Regulations made under subsection (1) may be made with retroactive effect but in no case may the regulations come into force earlier than April 1, 1967.
1982 c49 s28
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Paramountcy of Act
29. Where this Act conflicts with
(a) the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Act;
(b) the St. John's Fire Department Act; or
(c) the Prisons Act,
or regulations made under those Acts, this Act prevails.
1982 c49 s29
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10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20%
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22%
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24%
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26%
14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28%
15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30%
16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32%
17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34%
18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36%
19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38%
20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40%
21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44%
22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48%
23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52%
24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56%
25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60%
26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62%
27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64%
28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66%
29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68%
30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75%