Shhh. Don't let the cat out of bag.
From the Ottawa Sun:
Ridiculous.
According to the government's little-known guidelines, employees who work for cabinet ministers and ministers of state are eligible for rich departing rewards that come close to a full year's pay.
A chief of staff who has worked on Parliament Hill for 10 years and draws an annual salary of up to $155,600 could collect a cool $137,000, while a communications director is eligible for a sweet $100,000 for voluntarily pursuing job prospects outside government.
"Employees have a right to severance pay when they end their services voluntarily, are dismissed, die or are laid off owing to lack of work or discontinuance of a function," reads the Treasury Board policy.
"Severance pay stays the same, whatever the circumstances of termination, that is the amounts will be the same for resignation, death, dismissal, layoff and
retirement."
'SEPARATION PAYMENT'
Severance is calculated at two weeks' pay per year of service, with no ceiling on the number of weeks to be paid. Departing staffers are also eligible for an dditional "separation payment" up to six months' pay at the minister's "discretion."
Lise Jolicoeur, spokeswoman for Treasury Board President Reg Alcock, said the policy is designed primarily for those who lose their jobs due to electoral defeat or
cabinet shuffle. But there is also flexibility to reward loyal staffers for years of hard work, she said.
"As a staffer in the minister's office, you give more than the deemed 37.5 hours which is stipulated in the guidelines, so I guess it's a sort of compensation for the time that you have worked on the Hill and the extra time that you've put in."
Tory MP John Williams called it "a form of legitimized corruption" and noted that there's no other organization in Canada where employers generously reward their "friends" when they quit their jobs.
Ridiculous.
