The provincial government has committed to increasing transparency by addressing the disclosure of compensation paid to a wide variety of public sector employees, appointees, physicians and other health practitioners. This legislation will allow Alberta taxpayers to see where their dollars are spent. The government will work closely with organizations affected by this legislation to support compliance.
The Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act became law on December 11, 2015 and requires the annual disclosure of names, positions, compensation (salary and benefits), non-monetary benefits and severance for all employees whose total compensation and/or severance payments exceed the annual threshold.
The Act applies to all public sector agencies, boards and commissions and requires Bow Valley College to comply.
Compensation means the total of all amounts paid and benefits provided in a year by a public sector body to an employee or member that are required for tax purposes to be included in that employee's or member's income for that year. This amount is shown in Box 14 of the T4 slip. Compensation does not include any amount of severance or pay in lieu of notice. A summary of amounts included are:
- All earnings
- Pay in lieu of benefits or pension
- Vacation payout
- Modifiers (as per collective agreement requirements for program chairs, 40 hour modifier, etc)
- Flex cash (from opting down or out of benefits)
- Lump sums and bonuses
- Honorariums
- Supplementary maternity EI top up payments
- Acting pay
- Weekend premiums
- Vehicle allowance
- Taxable benefits could include parking, Accidental Death and Dismemberment, tuition or Long Service Awards received as near cash
Non-monetary benefits include employer paid benefits for supplemental health, dental, employee/family assistance program, long-term disability, pension and workers compensation. Non-monetary benefits also include the employer's portion of CPP (Canada Pension Plan) and EI (Employment Insurance) contributions. The total amount of non-monetary benefits will be reported for all employees on the disclosure.
When we transitioned from being employees of the Government of Alberta to being employees of the College on April 1, 1998, the Government declared that we would stay in the two pension plans that we had previously been members of to ensure we had no loss of pension benefits. These two plans are identical to those of Government employees and each have different employer and employee contribution rates.
Information about employees with annual compensation and severance equal to or greater than the annual threshold will include:
- Employee's name;
- The position or appointment last held by the employee in the previous year;
- The amount of compensation provided to the employee during the previous year;
- The value of all non-monetary benefits provided to or in respect of the employee during the previous year;
- The amount of severance, if any, paid to the employee, or to which the employee became entitled, during the previous year.
The disclosure for each calendar year will be published by June 30 of the following year.
Each public sector body must publish the disclosure data on their respective organization's website. The Government of Alberta will facilitate public access by having a central web page that contains a link to our disclosure site.
The threshold of $125,000 was set in 2015 and is indexed to the Alberta Consumer Price Index and will be adjusted accordingly year over year.
People & Culture has been preparing for this by collecting data and information, reviewing the legislation and regulations, and establishing a process for complying with the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act on an annual basis. People & Culture is also liaising with other post-secondary institutions in the province to share information and develop standard approaches.
Compensation is the amount that is paid to an employee in a year and required to be reported on Box 14 of the T4 slip. The amount paid may differ from an employee's annual salary due to variables such as date of hire or termination in the year, leave plans (eg employee funded leave), unpaid leaves of absence, partial paid leaves, salary changes, overtime earned, additional teaching/appointments, additional taxable benefits, etc. The total amount of non-monetary benefits will be reported for all employees on the disclosure.
Severance is the total of any remuneration paid or payable to an employee in lieu of or supplementary to notice of termination of employment and any salary or remuneration paid or payable to an employee after permanent termination of employment. This number is reported in Box 66 and 67 of the T4 slip except for pay in lieu of notice, which is reported in Box 14.
The threshold for the Government of Alberta disclosure was set in 2012 at $100,000 and has been adjusted cumulatively from year to year by a percentage equal to the increase to the Alberta Consumer Price index.
Disclosure under the Public Service Compensation Transparency Act is permitted by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP).
Employees are given the opportunity to be exempted from having their compensation disclosed if disclosure could unduly threaten their safety. There are no other grounds for granting exemptions. Employees who believe the disclosure would put their safety at risk will be given the opportunity to apply to the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General for a personal exemption. Affected employees are informed of the exemption process prior to posting. It will be extremely rare that an exemption to disclosure is granted. Individuals whose exemption applications are denied are entitled to file an application for judicial review within six (6) months from the day after the decision was made. The individual’s compensation information must not be disclosed until the end of that six (6) month period.
Employees whose annual compensation exceeds the threshold will receive notification prior to the list being posted advising them of their inclusion.
Employees should feel no obligation to answer questions or defend their annual compensation. If members of the media contact you, please following the College's media policy and refer them to Shannon van Leenen Media Relations Officer at shvleenen@bowvalleycollege.ca or (403) 410-3455.
In accordance with Section 3 of the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act general regulations, compensation data disclosed must remain public for five (5) years from the date it was required to be disclosed.
All Board member names and amounts paid to them have to be disclosed on the list, and there is no threshold for the amounts paid. If Board members do not receive a payment, their names are disclosed with $0.00.
If you have additional questions, please email them to abatke@bowvalleycollege.ca or call (403) 410-1604.
