AFS GROUP EXECUTIVE RESPONSE TO CRA’s STAFFING GUIDELINE CHANGES
The AFS Group is very concerned with the CRA’s June 13. 2019 announcement of changes to some of the Agency Staffing Guidelines. We understand that the Agency is determined to make staffing faster and easier. However, the way they are doing this is detrimental to employee trust in the staffing system.
Our main concerns are with removing recourse from “low risk staffing”, such as lateral moves and short-term acting (under six months) and with providing managers with greater “flexibilities” by removing advertised staffing as the preferred method of Agency staffing. Our members want greater transparency and real recourse. The above two changes to the staffing guidelines do the opposite.
The erosion in recourse will mean more abuse of the staffing process. Allowing managers to use non-advertised staffing in more situations will mean less transparency and less trust in the process. Non-advertised staffing should not be an integral part of a merit based staffing process.
The Agency has to understand that a fair and transparent staffing process is of utmost importance to our members. The Agency should re-think its changes to the staffing guidelines just to make the process easier for the hiring Manager at the detriment to oversight, recourse and fairness.
As a result of Management not listening to our suggestions or dealing with our concerns over recourse, non-advertised staffing and external staffing, with proper action, we have decided to no longer consult on the staffing redesign project. We will not be a party to Management’s goal of making staffing less transparent and accountable, just to make it quicker.
Doug Mason
AFS President
On behalf of the AFS Executive