Others feel free to pipe in too, I just thought nej would be a good once to ask since she just wrote the PPE.
Here is the situation. We have a mountain of landfill annual reports that we are in the midst of preparing. I am responsible for 6 of them, which means I have been/will be either writing these reports or reviewing them before I leave in mid-January. These reports will all be completed in draft prior to me leaving; however, they can’t be finalized until later since they need operations data, which we don’t typically get from our clients until mid-February or so once they get recycling tonnages for 2008 from their contractors.
Is it ethical/legal for me to still sign the reports even though I will be technically an employee on leave when they are finalized and submitted? I know as a P.Eng. I can’t do work unless I am paid for it, but the preparation of these reports I have been paid for since they will be 98% done before I leave. My coworkers just need to slip in a couple recycling numbers once received and then they can be finalized. So, I was thinking it would be okay for me to come in for a half hour while I’m on leave to sign the reports… what do you ladies think? Is this okay from a legal standpoint?
14 comments:
If you've read through and reviewed it before signing, and since you did the work, I don't think it's an issue.
It would be different if someone else prepared the reports and they just wanted your signature.
I think you are good to go. A reasonable engineer would act that way under the circumstances I am sure. :)
Ya, that's what I figured. And I absolutely wouldn't sign if I hadn't either written or reviewed the work!
I just wasn't sure because I will not be on the payroll when the reports are dated and signed, that's all. I am still technically an employee for the company, just on leave.
So you're not on the payroll, even with the mat leave top-up?
I don't think that would matter. Is there no other engineer who could sign the reports on your behalf? If not, then I think you can and should still sign. If so, well then you can decide. I don't think there are any legal issues, since you aren't working for someone else.
You could always inquire with the PEO just to be sure. :)
I guess I'll wait and see what happens. Who knows, they may not ask me to sign the reports - but then another P.Eng. or P.Geo. would have to review them, which sort of spoils the point since they want me to finish the reports in draft before I go. They may not ask me to come in to sign them since I'll be at home with a new baby. I just wanted to be prepared in the instance that they do ask me to sign.
I guess I am still on the payroll, you're right, since they will be providing me with the top-up. Although EI is very clear that the top-up can't be pay for work completed since then the EI payments would be reduced by the amount paid. So, if I do any work for my company while on EI, I have to report it to EI and they will deduct my EI payments. But, I don't consider coming in for a half hour to sign some reports I worked on before I left as work that I would be paid for.
Nah, I wouldn't think of that as work either. You're just signing off on work you've already done.
Exactly. So, if they ask me to come in to sign these reports, I think I am okay with that, provided that there weren't any changes (other than adding the recylcing info as discussed). If there were other changes to the reports, then I would need to be made aware of those before I sign.
Thanks for talking through this with me!
No problem. Did you know you can pay reduced fees if you are on Mat Leave? There's something on the PEO website about it.
Thanks for the tip! I will definitely look into that, could be a good way to save some money since I won't be working during that time anyways, but I still want to keep my membership current.
Ordinarily, my company covers the cost of professional dues, but I wasn't expecting them to pay next year while I'm on leave.
Here's the info:
http://www.peo.on.ca//Fee&Records/reduced_fee_policy.htm
Reduced fee is $55, which is pretty good!
Blarg, I don't know if that posted properly, but if you search for "Maternity Leave" on the PEO website, it's the first link that shows up. :)
Just a note - you can earn a tiny bit of money while on EI/Mat Pay.
The first 15 weeks is considered maternity leave - during that time, earnings are deducted dollar for dollar.
After that, you are on parental leave - during that time you can earn $50 or 25% of your claim per week in additional earnings (which ever is higher); anything above that is deducted dollar for dollar.
thanks nej - found it!
Niki - I was aware of this. I am unclear on what the 'claim' amount is. Is it 25% of your EI payment amount (which is $435 per week, so 25% of that is just over $100 per week) or is it 25% of your earnings before leave?
I haven't read through all the comments yet, but could you sign something saying it is okay to use your electronic signature on the reports once they are finalized?
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