Updates

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY: HOW DOES IT WORK?

Implementing employment equity involves some basic steps:

STEP 1: Workforce Analysis:

• Organizations examine their workforce to see if it reflects the diversity in the labour market.
• If the workforce’s make up does not reflect the external labour market, the organization must take steps to increase representation of the four designated groups. 

STEP 2: Employment Systems Review:

• Organizations also examine their “employment systems” – policies and practices relating to hiring, promotion, training, career development, retention, etc – to determine if there are barriers in place and to then address those barriers

The report reminds the government that the consequences of the Phoenix implementation are significant and ongoing and that the hardships imposed are unacceptable. 

“We commend the patience of public servants, who continue to provide professional service despite anxieties over their pay. We also commend the hard work and dedication of the Public Service Pay Centre employees who are trying to resolve hundreds of thousands of pay problems as quickly as possible.”

The Committee voiced its dismay that Phoenix proceeded with minimal, independent oversight and that no one has accepted responsibility or been held to account for its failure.

Failing to meet deadlines

During this round of bargaining, the employer was expected to come to the table ready to negotiate with new classification standards and job descriptions for the PA group. The employer has failed to meet that obligation, which has led to the filing of the policy grievance.

PSAC’s long-standing objectives on classification reform continue to be:

• replacement of the current, very outdated Treasury Board classification system;
• development of job evaluation standards and job descriptions that reflect current work realities and that are pay equity compliant.

Now that collective bargaining has resumed we will be addressing this issue at the negotiation table in addition to enforcing the existing contract.

The call centre established in the wake of Phoenix had been staffed through a temporary staffing agency. These untrained employees worked from scripts, with no capacity to provide any meaningful information to our members in need of support. This only served to exacerbate the frustration of those dealing with pay problems.

As a result of pressure from PSAC, the government committed to moving this work from the contracted-out call centre to the federal public service, and we continued to hold the government to account until the new system was implemented.

The webinars will take place on July 17, 2018, in French and July 18 in English and will cover two topics:

• Pay issues at 7 pm EST (register here)
• Claims process at 8 pm EST (register here)