Arbitrator orders Ontario to pay half of pension buyback interest after enrolment failiure
February 10, 2025
An arbitrator has ordered the provincial government to cover half of the interest that one of its employees will incur as part of a plan to buy back pension under the OPTrust after his employer failed to enrol him.
According to the ruling, the employee only noticed his employer’s administrative error more than two years into his job after he was unable to gain access to OPTrust’s online portal. The plan advised him that he could buy back the pension service missed for $18,200, offering him the option to pay immediately or finance the cost over a period of up to ten years.
While the employer agreed to match the employee’s contributions, it objected to paying the $3,400 interest associated with the employee’s choice to spread the payments over the maximum 10 years, arguing that he should have noticed the problem earlier by looking at his paycheques or when completing his tax return with a T4 that showed zero registered pension plan contributions.
The arbitrator ultimately split liability for the interest down the middle, noting that the choice to spread the cost over 10 years was his alone, “and he must bear some of the burden of that decision,” the decision reads.
To read the decision, click on more information below:
