June 2, 2008

UNDE EVP REPORT

UMCC HUMAN RESOURCES SUB-COMMITTEE

Acceptance of Previous Minutes and Agenda/Acceptation du compte rendu de la dernière réunion et de l’ordre du jour.  The agenda (attached) was amended to include three (3) items previously submitted by UNDE – Foreign Service Allowances, the Canada(at)150 Project, and Smart Shop.  UNDE EVP stated that UNDE would prefer to have these issues dealt with as agenda items because items raised in round table are not afforded the same degree of information in the minutes.  The minutes of the March 7, 2008 meeting were accepted.

Old Business

Para 14 – Pay Above Minimum on Appointment – UNDE EVP advised that a voice message had been left stating that the matter raised by UNDE had been looked into and that no irregularities were found.  UNDE EVP stated that UNDE would still be interested to hear the rationale for the way this staffing action was administered.

Para 27 – DGADR advised that the Conflict Management for Senior Leaders was piloted in Esquimalt and the overall feedback was positive.  Three union representatives participated (UNDE, PIPSC and FGDTLC-W).

Secretarial Note:  Brother Mark Miller, UNDE VP BC, participated.  Brother Mark’s feedback to national office mirrored that of the comments UNDE had previously provided to DG ADR when the training package was initially presented for comment.

Para 28 – Collective Work Descriptions (WD) – Ms St-Jean advised that DND has received funding for the Collective WD project which will be headed up by Ms M. Schultz.  Ms St-Jean stated that CF Health Services currently has 88 collective WDs and eight (8) more underway.  A full action plan on the way ahead and the communications tools will be shared at the upcoming September 2008 meeting.

Compensation Update / Mise à jour de la remuneration.  (PDF attached) The transfer of functions to PWGSC will be an ongoing initiative.  Some pension related functions have already been transferred; pre-employment information on pension issues, for example pension transfers from another employer to a government pension plan is to be transferred in the near future; and buy-back of past service will be transferred by December 2008.  By December 2011, everything pension related will be administered by PWGSC.

Direct deposits for supplementary payments (PDF attached) – the issue of concern to some UNDE members – came into effect April 30, 2008;

Following the presentation, UNDE EVP requested confirmation that employees can opt out of direct deposit for supplementary payments.  It was confirmed that if the employee is grandfathered they can request in writing to continue to receive paper cheques for supplementary payment or they can identify a separate bank account.

Secretarial Note:  follow up with the region raising the original concern identified that this response does not satisfy the UNDE members who were hired after September 1992 and who have enjoyed supplementary payments.

National Civilian Recruitment Strategy & Apprenticeship Framework / Stratégie nationale de recrutement et cadre d’apprentissage des civils.  (PDF attached)  Ms St-Jean gave an update on what has been done so far.  She advised that DND may be looking for employees to participate in a video.  GL and SR are still identified as shortage groups.  Ms St-Jean stated that it is hoped that the proposed DAOD and the program guidelines will be published this fall.  UNDE EVP asked when the unions would be brought in for their input since they have not been part of the current working group?  Ms St-Jean stated that consultation will take place this fall also.

An updated recruiting package was circulated.

http://www.civ.forces.gc.ca/index-eng.asp

Ms St-Jean stated that approximately 10% of the requested funding had been satisfied in previous years.  The new allocation is $20 million for each of the next four (4) years.  Commands will still have to submit a business plan to substantiate their requested funding with a follow up report on how the money was actually spent.

ADM HR Civ and the bargaining agent representatives thanked Ms St-Jean and her staff for the excellent work done so far.  UNDE EVP stated that she hoped that neither the employer’s recent wage offer of 1.5, 1.5, 1.2 and 1.2 and or the non-consideration for the elimination of zones would not have a negative impact on the department’s recruiting initiatives.

Foreign Service Allowances.  UNDE EVP stated that UNDE had been advised by their bargaining agent representative that the allowances were being discussed at the NJC Committee.  UNDE EVP identified that in comparison, there was little difference in the allowances received by deployed civilian employees and military personnel.  However, UNDE recently became aware that the contract workers in Afghanistan benefit from an income tax break on salary earned in-theatre similar to that of the deployed military personnel.  UNDE EVP requested that the department follow up to secure this same benefit for deploying civilian employees.

DGLRC stated the exemption for civilians has been pursued previously and was denied.  In lieu, Treasury Board has increased allowances to Level 5 to compensate.  DGLRC also stated that employees on short term deployments (less than four (4) months), who would not normally be entitled to the various allowances, are now covered in the Foreign Service Directive and the Military Foreign Service Instructions (MFSI).  It was confirmed that the exemption is granted in the Income Tax Act based on function/trade.

New Business

Smart Shop.  UNDE EVP advised that an email had been received from the field identifying that bargaining agent representatives can attend “Smart Shops”.  UNDE EVP asked about the who, what, when and where?  And who determines that the participant is a bargaining agent representative.

DGLRC advised that the Public Service Commission (PSC) offers the Smart Shop sessions on various subjects.  The sessions are typically offered to Human Resources persons, however, any interested person can go to the PSC website and apply for the workshops.

http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/plcy-pltq/smrtshop-atelfute/regis-eng.htm

DGLRC stated that there is a session coming up on Political Activities.
(from the website - a two-hour session that focuses on the rights and responsibilities of federal public servants related to political activities, as defined in the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA)).

Canada(at)150.  UNDE EVP stated that an email had been received from the field containing CANFORGEN 084/08 232019Z APR 08 (Word doc attached) and asked for further information.  The Committee was advised that this is a Privy Council driven initiative, part of the renewal program.  Overall, 1700 applications were received from which 165 were selected; 72 applications were submitted by DND employees, of which six (6) will participate -  the successful applicants are employed within VCDS, CDI and one (1) from HR Civ employee in Trenton.  UNDE EVP confirmed that there were no successful military applicants.  Participants’ time and travel expenses will be borne by the home department.  The bargaining agent representatives voiced concerns that the qualifications were excessive and excluded the majority of the members we represent.  Concerns were also voiced about the age restrictions and the 5-years time in service.  Discussion ensued with agreement that varying perspectives would result in various results.

Round table / Table ronde:

DGCESP/DGSPEC:  Ms St-Jean provided the following appointment statistics for the period 1 April 2006 – 31 March 2008 stating that the trends continue to be the same; Ms St-Jean also advised that the comparison statistics requested by UNDE could not be provided at this time because the information is not available through the computerized reports and would require manual research with limited staff resources available:

Medical Priorities:  Total number of appointments of CF members medically released during the period 31 December 2005 – 13 May 2008 was 281.

Number of medical/disabled priorities currently in the system (as of 1 April 2008): 
231 CF members (an increase of 25 since March 2008 report)
4 civilian employees (no change since the March 2008 report).

Staffing activity by region, the following was provided (in order of highest activity):

External Advertised          External Non-Advertised           Internal Advertised
GL, GS, SR, CR, EG           CR, GL, EG, GT, AS                  AS, CR, EL, EN, GL

Atlantic                               NCR                                             NCR
Prairies                               Prairies                                         Prairies
Ontario                               Ontario                                          Atlantic

Ms St-Jean advised that there is currently a monitoring review ongoing for non-advertised processes.
UNDE EVP voiced UNDE disagreement that military applicants do not have to possess the necessary trades certification/licenses as civilian applicants when applying for public service positions.  And that as yet the same “equivalency” has not been identified for civilian applicants.

Employment Equity (EE).  Ms St-Jean reported that an employment systems review – a Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) mandated process to determine EE barriers that exist within a department – is ongoing.  Train-the-trainer sessions for Employment Equity and Diversity for Managers and Supervisors Course are planned.  And Ms St-Jean provided the following statistics in regards to the current workforce:

EE Group                                          DND               Labour Market Availability
Women                                              40.3                            40.6
Visible Minorities                                 5.7                              6.2
Aboriginal                                            3                                2.3
Members with Disabilities                     7.2                              3.9

EAP.  Ms St-Jean reported that there were three (3) Referral Agent (RA) Courses held during this past fiscal year resulting in 60 new RAs, and that one (1) course was currently ongoing in Cornwall.  Ms St-Jean thanked the unions, and in particular Brother Doug Pike, for their continued support to the EAP Program.

DG ADR.  Mr Ford reminded the committee members that the Federal ICMS meeting was coming up on June 17 and that the DG ADR Advisory Committee will meet on June 18.

PIPSC:  Brother Perry raised three (3) issues:  (1) PIPSC is receiving information of plans not to extend terms past two (2) years in some regions, apparently because of funding issues and not lack of workload.   Brother Perry will follow-up with HR to discuss as more information becomes available; (2)  He is receiving more reports of employees being directed that part of their normal work responsibility is the training of new co-workers (CF and Civilian), with little or no relevant experience. This responsibility is apparently not being capture or reflected in the Work Descriptions.  Brother Perry will follow up with HR as more becomes available; and (3) PIPSC has formally requested ADM (HR-Civ) revoke all delegated authority from the regions allowing them to do classification reviews and activities for the Computer Services Classifications, and requesting that all Computer Services Classification activities be done in Ottawa by the DCCO.  Louise St-Jean advised that a response to the letter was being prepared for the ADM (HR-Civ) signature and a plan was being developed to address the concerns raised in the letter from ADM HR Civ COS.  Ms Francoeur advised that the next issue of Civilian World will be issued soon and the subject of discussion is “Retention”.

DGLPD.  Ms Poliquin reported that there were 61 applicants for this year’s civilian scholarship program and that scholarships will be awarded on June 16.

Secretarial Note:  Sister Debra Nadeau, UNDE VP Ontario, attended the selection committee deliberations this year on behalf of UNDE.

DGLRC.  Ms Paquin stated that the pilot Labour Relations Training for Managers and Supervisors is finished, with good feedback received.  She also stated that with upcoming municipal and provincial elections, it is timely to remind employees about their obligations around political activities under the new legislation.
In closing, although not formally discussed, it was confirmed that the Committee’s Terms of Reference has been agreed to as discussed at the March 2008 meeting.

Next Meeting – September 2008 (to be confirmed)

In Solidarity,
Mary L. Chamberlain
UNDE EVP