Resign before CPP application approved? or wait?

CPP Disability
1

I have a question about current employment and CPP Disability. I sent in my application, along with the Dr’s portion in August. Service Canada called in September, confirming that they received my application and they had no further questions at that time; my file would be forwarded to the Adjudicator and I would hear in approximately four months.

I know from reading this forum that the wait time is considerably more and my question pertains to my current job. I am on an unpaid leave of absence (I used the available EI and STD - the company has no LTD plan for employees) and continue to give them letters from my specialist/ every few months extending my LOA, pending the CPP decision. I’m physically unable to go back, but will resigning now hurt my CPP application? Does CPP contact my employer? Does CPP frown upon resigning prior to an approval (or appeal as the case may be)? It’s been a year total thus far that I’ve been away from work.

I ask because resigning now would give me some income that I haven’t had since August (unused vacation time, stat pays, etc., which would definitely help financially). I think they and I both know I won’t be back but wasn’t going to officially resign until I had a decision from CPP.

Thanks in advance

2

They usually contact your doctor and not your employer. CPP is based on prior contributions into the program. They know that you don’t contribute any more. I don’t think they even care if you are employed or not.

3

Is there a way you can access those payouts without terminating the employment contract just yet? End of their fiscal year payout maybe so they can clear their bookkeeping? Could there be a slight chance for you to go back if not approved for CPPD?

CPPD may contact them just to confirm there is no room for accommodating your illness i.e. change of job to a different department? but as long as you have supporting medical documentation for your inability to work it’s doubtful it will matter to them that you are no longer employed.

I had a dozen employees who went on CPPD over the course of my HR career and CPPD never once called to confirm their claim with the company.

4

Hi Marilyn,

Thanks for the response.

Unfortunately, when I asked my HR department after my STD ended, I was told they will only pay out stats/vacation upon resignation, or I go back to work and use the actual time as paid days off.

I was working in a LTC facility, where there’s no modified/accommodations that they were able to make prior to my LOA. I was also told that unless I get a full “zero modifications/zero accommodations” health check from my specialist (not going to happen), I can’t go back and they’ve already agreed my condition(s) do not realistically allow for retraining into another department, ie: dietary/nursing/housekeeping.

I guess it may be best to hold off resigning until the new year and see what January brings as far as CPPD’s response to my application. I’m seeing the specialist again this week and will have him extend my LOA through the next few months.

Thank you for reaching out!

5

I can’t really speak to your situation specifically, but as a general rule resigning employment has no impact on a CPP disability application. The criteria for approving the application have nothing to do with your employment status. CPP does sometimes contact employers (if you give them permission) but you don;'t have to be a current employee. They will contact former employers as well.

David Brannen

Disability Lawyer with Resolute Legal

The response posted above is based on the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with a lawyer, fully explain your situation, and allow the lawyer enough time to research the applicable law and facts required to give an adequate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full one-on-one discussion with a lawyer should be done before taking any any action. The information posted on this forum is available to the viewing public and is not intended to create a lawyer client relationship with any person. If you want one-on-one advice, please click here to request a free consultation or call toll free 1-877-282-5188 to speak with a member with our disability claim support team.

6

Rayven, do you get any other benefits from work that you use? Like extended medical, drug coverage, dental /glasses etc?

7

Mr. Brannen - thank you for your response. I did give them permission in my application to contact my employer if necessary, but haven’t heard if they have done so. I have had the same employer a little over 9 years now, so I didn’t include any previous employer information. My specialist appointment this week gave me a LOA extension to April, at which time I’ll hopefully have my CPP concluded (and approved), and resign at that time. Or, ideally, sooner than that and base my resignation letter off of the approval.

8

Caro - No, I have zero medical benefits with this job. That is to say, other than the short term disability, of which I used the full 15 weeks, that ended in August. So, from that angle, it’s not preventing me from leaving.

9

In to my old thread to ask questions about retroactive CPP-D payments and insurance providers. I tried looking for other’s experiences, but they all seem to relate to LTD, not STD. And, input about notifying work about resigning.

Background: CPP approval on June 3rd, and received my first monthly payment no problem.

I was told by the CPP person that called with my approval how much my retroactive payment would be. They said that they were reaching out to my STD provider, who had about 2 weeks to respond with what, if any, STD was due back as part of my CPP-retroactive payment. If the provider didn’t respond within that time frame, I would be paid the full retroactive amount & it would be up to me to deal with STD directly with regards to back-payments owed.

My employer didn’t provide LTD, so I had STD only for the maximum allowed, 17 weeks, in 2019. ( I erred said 15 weeks initially in this thread)

I reached out to the STD provider on Jn16th, the date that I received my approval letter in the mail, showing my monthly payment. They’d been asking for a copy of said letter since November of last year ( I applied initially in August 2019, signed the “Request to Deduct and pay a one-time retroactive payment to an insurer form” last year as well.)

STD emailed me yesterday saying they got the photo of my letter & they were recalculating my STD entitlements & a letter will be sent when completed.

Under “payment information”, no CPP-retroactive payment noted in MSC account online (if it’s supposed to? I have no idea.)

Further, with my approval, I’m believe I can resign from my position at work that I’m definitely not able to go back to. I have no medical benefits to keep me on LOA for the full allowed time (36 months max, I’ve been off 19 so far), only the STD that I used up last year. Ive been paying my union dues to the union directly, in case there was any issues, or my Dr’s thought there was a chance of going back, but that seems an unnecessary expense now too.

So with that, the following questions:

  1. When and how does the retroactive payment show up, if my benefits were approved on the 3rd, and I already received my first monthly payment on june 26? I don’t know the timeframe to expect

  2. CPP will send a letter explaining the retroactive payment before or after it’s in my account? or does this depend on dealing with STD, assuming they have already?

  3. IF STD is telling me they will recalculate and send me a letter, does that mean they didn’t reply in the time frame and CPP is going to send me the full retroactive payment, to then deal with STD myself? And if so, presumably I wait for STD’s letter? and write them a cheque? What if that shows up before the CPP payment?

  4. I know every policy is different, but is it dollar for dollar for the duration of the 17 weeks? Or simply the difference in the CPP amount for each of said weeks? ie: $975 x 4 months and a prorated amount of $975 x 1 week? I can’t find anywhere the formula for STD, their member guide booklet merely stated that over payments would be deducted

  5. Since I have no LTD, might I assume (wishful thinking?) that 15 months retroactive pay from CPP will not be wiped out with a 17wk STD repayment of $530 gross/week? I see so many people who lose the whole retroactive payment with overpayments going fully to their LTD carriers.

  6. Do others tell their employer they’re now receiving cpp-d as part of their resignation letter? As part of their reasoning for leaving?

TIA, sorry this is so long. I tried to outline the background/questions sections for easier reading. Ive ‘goodled’ ad nauseam for similar answers, but can’t seem to find them as they relate to STD vs LTD.

Ray

10

The retroactive never showed up on MSC.

Canada Post is unpredictable now.
I got the letter before it was paid directly to my insurer.

Nope it doesn’t mean that.
I doubt the letter from the insurer will show up before the Service Canada letter.
Try not to worry about what ifs.

The amount of retroactive is deducted per month it was for that it overlapped the payment from the insurance company.

I don’t know.
If cppd overlapped all the insurance payments then it seems likely they would get it all.

I don’t think many people resign.
I wouldn’t resign, just let them fire you or not.
I don’t see a reason to resign.
I wouldn’t tell them any medical information if you do.

11

Thanks for the response, Jammer. I appreciate you taking the time & breaking each of your responses down for me!

Talked to someone at SC, and they said they tried to contact the STD carrier on the 16th and again the 24th, without response, and no retroactive payment has been issued at this point. Im to contact them again in 15 business days if I haven’t heard from the STD people, or get anything from SC.

I’m thinking with 15 months cpp-retroactive vs 4.1 months STD, I should still have some retroactive money coming to me after all is said and done.

As far as the resignation, it’s more to avoid the necessity of continuing to pay monthly union dues while I’m off, as well as be able to cash out my unused vacation time. It will also allow the person in my position temporarily the job on a permanent basis, which would give them benefits they don’t currently get as a temporary f-t employee. If I know I’m not able to go back, dragging out the other half of LOA seems unnecessary. As for the letter, you’re right. If I do resign, it’s irrelevant to them the why’s, I think they’ll just be happy to have closure.

Thank you again! This site is the perfect sounding board for the unknown realm of CPP-D

12

I have an STD overpayment and it took the insurer a year to notify me I had one, and another 6 months to acknowledge the correct calculation of the money owed (of which I had to calculate myself and submit to them)
They took dollar for dollar on STD. You should have plenty of money leftover - don’t forget to calculate the tax deduction on the CPP lump sum for 2020.
If there are no financial benefits to you maintaining your union membership (ours had a slight pension contribution) then resign.

13

Hi Maryilyn, thanks for the response.

You gotta love doing the work for the insurer! I sent mine my calculations based on what I was told by CPP as well, but haven’t received an updated response.

I had gotten a previous statement from the STD and CPP about the overpayment, and it looks like just shy of $4k (about $950/month for the four 1/3 months that I had STD) , though they said they wont finalize the amount until they get the actual funds from CPP, but it looks like I will have money from CPP leftover. CPP sent more than the STD is saying I owe them, so maybe I’ll get something back from them as well. When you say dollar for dollar you mean the full amount of std over the duration of the entire time? like in my case, $9700?

My 2020 tax return should be interesting, but my DTC application has been received (so says my CRA account), so we’ll see how that goes - hoping it’s approved. I’m seeing mixed results as to which is more difficult to get - CPP or DTC

I did have tax deducted from my weekly STD payments, so I assume they are crediting me for those taxes already paid as part of their calculations, so i’m not being taxed twice.

I did ultimately resign, as all I was doing was paying union dues into a job that I wasn’t at for a year and a half and had no financial benefits like you mentioned.