Starting April 1: $800 per year bonus for loyal civil servants

The 1^is April will soon be a day of celebration for loyal civil servants. The Legault government will now pay a bonus of up to $800 on this date to government employees who have worked in the same department or organization for several years.

Quebec will reward the stability of its staff. The agreement on working conditions that was accepted Tuesday by the 27,000 members of the Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ) contains a “job loyalty” bonus for workers who do not spend their time changing chairs.

“It’s a thank you bonus that the government pays every 1^is April to tell people: thank you very much for staying with us. Because we know that after five years in the same position, a person is much more productive than after six months,” explains the president of the power station, Christian Daigle.

Starting next spring, employees who have accumulated three consecutive years of seniority in the same department or organization and who have provided “satisfactory performance” will receive a lump sum of $300.

And the bonus more than doubles when the employee has worked at the same place for five years or more. The most experienced employees will thus collect $800 on the 1^is April of each year.

The siren song of the private sector

With this measure, the employer obviously wishes to improve staff retention and avoid the continual movement of civil servants between different ministries and organizations.

It’s also a gain for workers. “People at our place wanted incentives and said: I’ve been here for 15, 20 years, maybe I’m entitled to a little thank you,” insists Christian Daigle. It’s [important] for staff retention, so that people do not go externally.” Particularly when salary conditions are attractive in the private sector.

Holidays as a bonus

The government’s approximately 35,000 professionals are entitled to a similar benefit. But in the case of members of the Syndicat des professionnels du gouvernement du Québec (SPGQ), the “loyalty measure” takes another form.

After three years of seniority in the same ministry, these state employees will be able to benefit from an additional mobile day of leave. On 1^is April, civil servants with at least five consecutive years in the same place will store three more days in their leave bank.

It should be noted that civil servants in ministries and organizations obtained the “same base” salary increase as employees of the Common Trade Union Front, i.e. 17.4% over five years.

“With the catch-up clauses as well,” specifies the president of the SFPQ. “If ever for the last three years, there was an increase in the cost of living greater than what we obtained, we can go and get 1% more per year. It’s a clause similar to the Common Front.”

Job loyalty bonus for civil servants

• As of 1^is avril 2025
• The employee who, at 1^is April, has accumulated 3 consecutive years of seniority in the same department or organization, during which period the employee has provided satisfactory performance, is entitled to a lump sum of $300
• The employee who, at 1^is April, has accumulated 5 consecutive years of seniority in the same department or organization, during which period the employee has provided satisfactory performance, is entitled to a lump sum of $800

Source: 2023-2028 collective agreement for civil servants affiliated with the SFPQ