HRUMCC Summary
Sept 15, 2017, 8:30 a.m. to 10:45 p.m.
Update on classification plan (mapping) - B. Marcoux
SSC classification aims to complete the classification of all positions within SSC by the end of fiscal year. The bargaining agents are a stakeholder in the classification process and are attempting to work proactively, with SSC, to address any issues.
PIPSC Classification has some concerns with job descriptions being borderline either AS or CS but there has not been much engagement and consultation as the process moves forward.
There are small pockets of positions that require Public Administration (PA) classifications but the groups are not large enough to justify developing work streams but need to be filled. There was also an identified need for ordering, business analysis and inventory work stream/classifications.
There has been progress made on mapping positions in Corporate Communications and CITS with over 180 positions.
Development of work streams are being looked at to allow employees to progress into CS positions. More engagement with employees needs to occur as there is concern about protection of positions. Some workgroups do not have uniform levels of CS positions. Other groups do not have CS-02 or CS-03 positions.
Specifically, there is a question of what is happening with Winnipeg and Moncton AS positions. Approximately 30 positions will be moved to the CS classification and a staffing meeting will be held to inform employees in the fall. PIPSC asks that the bargaining agents be at the staff meetings to answer members’ questions.
Update on Staffing - B. Marcoux
A regular staffing update was requested by PIPSC during the last HRUMCC. There was some growth in indeterminate positions. From April 2017 to July 2017 there was an increase of over 130 positons, based on PeopleSoft data.
SSC continues to utilize aspects of legislation to fill positions. Staffing activities are being tracked by groups, branches and whether positions are Indeterminate/acting. Acting positions continue to shrink as pools become available. SSC IT FSWEP inventory will become available in the fall for managers to utilize. A large number of departures from SSC was noted by PIPSC and we inquired if the nature of the departures was known. PIPSC is happy with the results of student recruiting goals as students are seen as great staffing resources. Student bridging continues and student inventory is being created for former students.
PIPSC would like to see long-term acting assignments addressed. It is not well understood why these are as common even though numerous pools exist. Some employees are being told to qualify on any staffing process and they would be pulled from the pool.
There is concern about the length of staffing processes at SSC and number of individual competitions being run when pools exist. Any actions taken to streamline the length of processes is greatly appreciated. The number of pools and innovative approaches will help to reduce the number of long term processes. Generic statement of merit and job descriptions could be used to further shorten the time it takes to staff positions.
PIPSC is asking that updates on specific staffing processes be provided. A list of competitions could be provided with further details. Bargaining agents asked that Equity statistics be provided on staffing updates to ensure goals are being tracked.
Performance Management - R. Kattackal
A performance management assessment was undertaken based upon details provided by PeopleSoft and Phoenix. An overview of PMA and Learning plans was provided but a challenge was that Phoenix problems have affected much of the data. There remains a question about the strategy to deal with staff that surpass or do not meet goals.
There was a question about percentage of Learning Plans that have courses in them or plans that have been completed. A dashboard will be provided examining the progress of learning plans and statistics on talent management.
Onboarding - R. Kattackal
Now that staffing has increased, a draft of a more in depth exercise for the onboarding of new staff has been developed. SSC is open to feedback from bargaining agents with emphasis upon intake for new employees. An overall approach is being taken but each branch is expected to tailor their requirements.
Onboarding will track the entire employee lifecycle from start to when they leave. There is no mention of meetings with bargaining agents that occur within 30 days of a new hire. GSU indicated that they would like to consider having their own onboarding. PIPSC currently has wording that specifies the requirement to meet new employees and has raised that it should be included as part of any departmental onboarding program.
Grievance update –- C. Laframboise
There are currently 203 active grievances ongoing. Given the situation in SSC, classification and pay grievances are the greatest in SSC. SSC has an MOU with PIPSC to resolve all classification grievances at the final level.
A list of grievances is being requested to compare with bargaining agents lists. PIPSC noted that there are fewer pay grievances than expected. It was noted that pay grievances have increased within the past 6 months.
EAP Results –- C. Laframboise
An EAP update was provided as requested by bargaining agents in December. SSC has a utilization rate of 5.4% which may not include those employees who are embedded in another department and using the host departments EAP service. SSC also has agreements with outside subject matter experts who may have to come into the workplaces to assists in incidents. SSC continues to work with Communications to promote EAP as a priority.
Technical and Operational staff were an identified category in the EAP report and PIPSC asked for clarification between these two broad categories. A response will be provided later. There is a noticeable trend in technology workers and a higher usage of EAP. The top three EAP issues are family related, mental health and workplace issues.
Bargaining Agent asked for greater promotion of EAP at the staff level as well as more in-depth statistics of EAP utilization.
Round Table – All
An issue was raised about the Enterprise Command Centre (ECC) requesting shift work of employees who are normally not shift workers. Bargaining agents want further information to ensure provisions of the collective agreements are respected and employees are taken care of.
PIPSC stated that reference documents for future HRUMCCs should be sent with greater lead time. There was an issue that prevented this in advance of this HRUMCC but would be addressed to ensure timely sending of reference materials going forward.