ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Former Nalcor executive vice-president John MacIsaac will get a large severance payment after leaving the Crown corporation earlier this month.
On Feb. 15, Nalcor CEO Stan Marshall announced MacIsaac had left the company due to changes in the executive structure of the company. A Nalcor spokesperson later confirmed that MacIsaac’s employment was terminated without cause, but stressed the changes were part of the regular business operations of the company.
Because MacIasac was terminated without cause, a severance payment was triggered. While Nalcor says the full calculation is not yet complete, they did release MacIsaac’s executive contract, which details what the final severance payment could look like.
Based on the contract, it’s estimated MacIsaac’s severance payment will total about $550,000 before taxes.
The contract says in the event of a termination without cause, MacIsaac is entitled to “twelve months salary, plus one month’s salary for each year of service with the Nalcor Group …. The total amount payable to (MacIsaac) shall be no greater than 24 months’ salary.”
MacIsaac’s base salary was $330,000, according to the contract. The contract was initially entered on Sept. 30, 2010, with amendments on Nov. 2, 2015 and June 20, 2016 due to changes in MacIsaac’s responsibilities. The contract doesn’t state what level of pay the severance calculation is based on, only providing the most recent $330,000 salary.
MacIsaac was also entitled to a $12,740 annual car allowance, along with health insurance and pension benefits.
The contract also notes that MacIsaac was entitled to an annual bonus of up to 24 per cent of his annual salary, through a short-term incentive program.
As those numbers are still being calculated by Nalcor, the full amount of additional benefits is unknown. The estimated $550,000 figure for MacIsaac’s severance is therefore not final, and subject to Nalcor’s own calculations.
The severance payment is not as large as the one former Nalcor CEO Ed Martin received for leaving Nalcor in April 2016. Martin’s initial severance payment was $1.4 million, with an additional $4.7 million in pension and other benefits paid upon Martin’s departure.
The payment also comes at a time when the provincial government is working to eliminate severance payments for public-sector workers. The most recent NAPE collective agreement eliminated severance payment for NAPE members, while CUPE and most recently NLTA members saw their contracts follow suit. The NLTA is expected to hold ratification votes on their tentative contract on Feb. 26.
The provincial government has stated it intends to eliminate severance payments for non-unionized government workers as well.
"As Nalcor has separate bargaining units from the rest of the provincial public service, it remains to be seen if severance provisions for Nalcor employees — including executive contracts — will be removed in future agreements,” the Department of Finance told The Telegram in May 2018.
Twitter: @DavidMaherNL
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