Earlier this year, we informed members that as indicated by OCHRO in their last bulletin, automatic cash-out of excess leave would be back in effect on March 31, 2022.
We are happy to announce that last week, ACFO-ACAF negotiated and signed a memorandum of understanding with Treasury Board lifting the moratorium on vacation leave cash-out due to ongoing issues with the Phoenix pay system for ACFO-ACAF members. The Employer will proceed with the payment of outstanding vacation leave starting March 31, 2022.
This MOU is designed to smooth out the payment of excess leave to reduce the payments for the Employer and to reduce the tax burden on employees for the cash-out.
Vacation leave cash-out details
For vacation leave this year and until 2026, the amount of leave you’ll have automatically cashed out will take place in two steps each year on March 31:
- 20% of the excess leave you have accrued in your bank beyond the 262.5-hour limit will be cashed out automatically
- Up to 100% of any unused vacation from that fiscal year will be cashed out based on what excess leave remains beyond the 262.5-hour limit.
The total amount of leave cashed out will never place you below the 262.5-hour limit in your bank. Also, when taking leave, employees first draw from the leave earned the current fiscal year before using their carry-over from a previous year.
Examples for 2021-2022 fiscal year cash-out
| Hours accrued in your leave bank as of March 31, 2022 | 20% cash-out from excess leave | Remaining portion of your leave earned in 2021-22 as of March 31 | Cash-out of unused vacation leave from the previous year | Total cash-out | Leave balance remaining for 2022-23 |
| 200 hours (62.5 hours under the 262.5-hour limit) | 0 hours | 1 week (37.5 hours) | 0 hours | 0 hours | 200 hours |
| 272.5 hours (10 hours over limit) | 2 hours (20% of 10 excess hours) | 4 weeks (150 hours) | 8 hours only (beyond 8 hours would leave you with less than 262.5 banked hours) | 10 hours | 262.5 hours |
| 272.5 hours (10 hours over limit) | 2 hours (20% of 10 excess hours) | 0 hours (all vacation allotment for 2021-22 was used) | 0 hours | 2 hours | 270.5 hours |
| 362.5 hours (100 hours over the limit) | 20 hours (20% of 100 excess hours) | 2 weeks (75 hours) | 75 hours (100% cashed out, since leave bank remains above 262.5 hours after complete cash-out) | 95 hours | 267.5 hours |
| 362.5 hours (100 hours over the limit) | 20 hours (20% of 100 excess hours) | 4 weeks (150 hours) | 80 hours only (beyond 80 hours would leave you with less than 262.5 banked hours) | 100 hours | 262.5 hours |
Additional information and questions
As always, members can still request a cash-out of their entire excess vacation leave balance. However, we encourage you to take the leave you are entitled to in the year it is earned, as leave is an important part of managing your mental health.
In addition, where issues with completeness or accuracy of an employee’s leave data exist, the Employer and employee can agree to pause the mandatory leave cash-out each year.
We will provide additional details on the application of compensatory leave cash-out shortly. For any questions about the MOU or leave cash-out, please contact labourrelations@acfo-acaf.com.
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