Overlapping Appointments Policy

Policy Statement

Overlapping appointments may be approved by the Deputy Minister, subject to budgetary considerations, for up to eight weeks where a position will become vacant due to an incumbent’s retirement, resignation, extended leave of absence, extended sick leave or injury on duty leave. The position to which an overlapping appointment is made must be permanent and require uninterrupted staffing or intensive on-the-job training for the successor. The Deputy Minister may request Treasury Board approval for overlapping appointment periods of more than eight weeks.

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Application

This policy applies to all employees of Government departments.

Bargaining unit employees should also consult their respective collective agreements and the provisions of the collective agreement shall prevail.

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Definitions

Incumbent: The employee currently occupying a permanent position who is scheduled to retire, resign or remain on an extended leave of absence.
Overlapping appointment: A period of time during which an incumbent and his/her successor are paid to occupy the permanent position concurrently.
Successor: The successful candidate of a merit-based competition who will assume a permanent position upon an incumbent’s departure.

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Responsibilities

Departments
It is the responsibility of the departments to:

  • identify positions that require uninterrupted staffing or intensive on-the-job training;
  • identify financial resources required for the overlapping appointment; and
  • develop a learning plan to effectively facilitate the transfer of essential knowledge and skills from the incumbent to the successor.

Employees
It is the responsibility of an employee to participate in any learning plan designed to effectively transfer essential knowledge and skills from an incumbent to a successor.

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Provisions

All recruitments into overlapping appointments shall be subject to a job competition based on merit.

The approval of overlapping appointments shall be subject to the availability of funds in the department’s budget.

Overlapping appointment requests submitted to Treasury Board shall contain detailed reasons for the appointment and indicate the required duration of the appointment.

The duration of an overlapping appointment will count toward the completion of any probationary period for the successor and toward the accumulation of service for both the incumbent and the successor.

Where the incumbent filling a permanent position is on extended sick leave, annual leave, paid leave or injury-on-duty leave prior to being placed on pension, the Deputy Minister may request approval from Treasury Board to fill the position on a permanent basis provided that the position requires uninterrupted staffing and that there is medical and/or other required documentation substantiating that the incumbent cannot return to the permanent position.

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Last Policy Update: July 25, 2014