ARTICLE 17
RETIREMENT BONUS

17.01 An employee shall be eligible to receive, as a retirement bonus, one (1) week's base pay per full year of employment up to a maximum of twenty-five (25) days' pay. This applies to employees who have completed a minimum of five (5) years of service at date of:

(a) Normal retirement - where an employee retires at age 65 or at the point when the sum of his/her age and his/her length of service equals 85 years;

(b) Deferred retirement - where an employee withdraws from service after having worked, with the consent of the University, a period beyond his/her normal retirement;

(c) Early retirement (other than an incentive early retirement program) - where an employee, with the consent of the University, withdraws from service prior to his/her normal retirement; or

(d) Disability retirement - where an employee is not qualified to receive long term disability benefits but has been medically certified that s/he should immediately withdraw from service in order to prevent further deterioration of his/her medical condition.

17.02 The retirement bonus may be either used as a pre-retirement vacation or paid out on retirement date.