Practical information: overtime and retirement

The Act respecting the Government and Public Employees Retirement Plan (RREGOP) stipulates that only base salary is eligible for the calculation of the retirement pension. Overtime is not taken into account, even for a healthcare professional working overtime at a single rate for less than 40 hours a week.

Why isn’t overtime eligible?

RREGOP uses the average salary of an employee’s best five years to calculate their pension. By including overtime, which can vary from year to year, the calculation of the pension could be inequitable between plan members. So, a healthcare professional could work more or less overtime during her best five years and get a higher or lower pension than what she contributed during her career.

How is the base salary calculated?

For a healthcare professional with a regular 37.5-hour workweek and whose hourly rate is $40, the annual base salary is:

37.5 h x $40 x 52 weeks = $78,000

This is the base salary used to calculate the amount of the pension, nothing else.

A tip

Save a portion of your gross income above your base salary in retirement savings, for example with your financial institution or with the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, to balance your income throughout your life.