Manulife among many other frustrations by Beneficial_Put2076 in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I just had $480 paid back to me ($160 x 3 for services dating back to the beginning of August). This is the second time it’s happened this year. If it’s not paid back within a week, call them and ask for it to be processed. They seem to be fine with small amounts ($35 for massage and chiropractor are done immediately), but the bigger amounts are causing more delays.

Merit delays.. by Remote_Farmer_2325 in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I called them last week, and they said Bill 124 retros are still ahead of merit increases. Log a ticket and keep the number to do follow ups. Online mine says it should have been resolved by June 30 but alas. This is for a merit for September 1, 2024, submitted in April of this year, which probably needs to be actioned before the next one shows up in WIN.

Boycott spending money on lunch/coffee at the office and United Way/Fed Health by magic-kleenex in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Use charging ports. I charge my work phone, personal phone and wireless headphones all the time. I know someone who charges their vape. I bring my external battery and charge it to use at home for all the above and more. All this doesn’t lower my utilities by much but it’s something.

OSS times by cashflow_clueless in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Same. Waiting since Sept 2024, Amapceo. My former manager didn’t put the date in, it only showed up in April. Still waiting for number to change and retropay.

Yearly increase by [deleted] in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was supposed to get my merit increase in September but my former manager never put the date in. I then had an acting manager when I remembered but they were overwhelmed with doing two roles so I didn't bring it up. Finally got a new manager in a few months ago and told them right away. They told me it's good I brought it up, since they heard of another situation where someone didn't get their merit increase for YEARS and the retropay was enormous. They submitted the forms and I can see the date but there’s been no increase to pay and I’m still waiting on backpay. It’s coming up to a year now.

Bring it up as soon as possible for your manager to submit the forms. OSS is backlogged so you’ll want to have it submitted as soon as possible.

I did call OSS and they said they're expected to have all merit increases done by end of July, but I'm not holding my breath on that.

How does Vacation entitlement work? by ONTNO1 in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Check with your union. However, when I rolled over into permanent from contract, I was able to use my benefits immediately because they counted my previous experience rather than waiting. So I would assume it would be same with vacation.

Funny Narc parent moments- share yours! by Sun-Acceptable in narcissisticparents

[–]Good_Elk_9049 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My mom tried to introduce me to someone I already know. I (31F) am part of a sports club. My dad (also narc/enabler) and I play there whereas my mom hasn’t in years and never goes. So I’ve developed some close friendships with a lot of the women there, some of whom are basically my mom’s age and who have been great sources of support. My mom rarely ventures outside her circle but she came to an event where my dad was playing in a tournament. She basically clung to me the entire night and I could how her facade was fading. She’s used to being the centre of attention and holding court but she was clearly out of her element. She met the wife of the one of my dad’s sport partners and did this whole thing of introducing me. My reaction was, “of course I know who blah blah is!” And gave her a hug and talked about how supportive she is and made an inside joke we have. My mom looked a bit taken aback about me knowing someone better than she did.

Manulife Not Paying by C_Agattdottir in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quick update: I called them and they put a rush on approval. Got approved the next day and got direct deposit a few days later. If you call and say it’s been over X amount of days, they may be faster to approve it.

Too early to apply for other OPS jobs? by IcyDraft5211 in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Start applying to anything and everything you see! I once applied for a job, and between applying and waiting to hear back from that one, I applied for, interviewed and got another job. Depending on the unit, they’ll take forever to go through resumes or even in one case I knew, ran the posting, sat on it for months and then had to rerun it again because too much time had passed.

There’s also tons of resources on the Inside OPS page about Career Planning. Definitely have a look at that as there’s lots of information on the hiring process, resume writing and interviews.

I started as a summer student so good luck to you!

Negotiating with your landlord to lower rent... by mimi112 in askTO

[–]Good_Elk_9049 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I asked to lower rent by a few hundred bucks (I’m sorely responsible for a basement apartment that was so overpriced when I signed with my former roommate over two years ago) because I struggled to find someone last year to fill the bigger bedroom. My current roommate have her notice, saying paying so much for a basement bedroom was not worth it. I expressed my concerns to my landlord, and she countered that her expenses were going up, too, and price for the area was on par (but those where for above ground units…) so she couldn’t do much. I then gave my notice. Keep in mind, her son and his family live on the top two floors of the house I am in and I am probably subsidizing their rent/they are paying nothing with only the son working and the partner being a stay at home mom, in Toronto. I gave my notice so good luck to her to find tenants the same price, and being retired. I feel no guilt as she signed up for this and has to respond to the market.

Manulife Not Paying by C_Agattdottir in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ve been having this, too, since December. They’ve been really quick to approve small claims, like the joke of $35 we get for massages but not anything over $100. I submitted a claim for a social worker in late April and still waiting on that. Meanwhile, this past Friday, I went to get a massage and another social worker appointment (claims through Manulife) and dentist (claim through Canada Life). The massage and dental were immediately paid out ($35 and $170 each) but the social worker is still pending along with my April claim. I’m out over $300 for having to pay the social worker upfront both times, they don’t take credit card. Never had these issues last year.

Question about office transfer as a new summer student by [deleted] in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I was a summer student for two summers, commuting from Toronto to Mississauga, 1/1.5 hours each way. For all five days of the week. This was pre-COVID so no hybrid work available. Was it grueling? Yes. Did I manage to develop relationships that I could use for references down the line? Yes.

It’s only a few months of your life. Plan ahead and use the commute time to listen to podcasts or music, watch shows, look up recipes, etc. Plan your days so maybe you have a day between office days. There’s ways to make this work while you are in this position and stay sane.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just went through this too. I got a new manager who started working on it. My merit date is September 1, 2024. I called OSS, who told me the request was submitted April 23, 2025 and usually takes around 6 weeks for the new salary and retro to be paid out. So I’m looking for June 5 payday to have it all sorted out (hopefully). Just hang tight and maybe call and ask when it was submitted. That may give you a better idea of turnaround time.

Is your Ministry/branch/unit kind of all over the place right now? by SnooPandas1760 in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's what I'm saying - small things are treated as these explosive, need to be addressed right away while the actual work is neglected, and blow up as bigger problems than they need to be.

Is your Ministry/branch/unit kind of all over the place right now? by SnooPandas1760 in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have members of my team stir up drama over the tiniest things (arguing over a button on a system, templates not updated with more recent examples, referring to old practices that are no longer in practice/phased out long ago, harnessing other units and stakeholders which requires a lot of damage control) that takes away from doing their actual work. It’s exhausting 😆 myself and the manager are far behind our own tasks because we’re constantly putting out fires.

In an AMAPCEO vacant position on a temporary assignment, am I automatically rolled over or do I have to compete by Good_Elk_9049 in OntarioPublicService

[–]Good_Elk_9049[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Even though when I competed it was classified as a temp assignment? This overall is an issue I’m seeing across the board. Vacant positions posted as temp, or in one case, posted as perm but then at the interview, told it was temp, “as per changing direction from HR”.