The new Pay Plan Job Evaluation System is fully implemented. Like any system of this nature, there will be continuing changes to jobs and the need to constantly deal with those changes and re-evaluate the jobs that are changing. In addition, we are continuing to perform quality control checks across the government because this ensures that we have consistency in how jobs are rated. This ensures that issues that are raised by employees are addressed. We have a continuing quality control effort done interdepartmentally. That sometimes gives rise to job evaluation changes.
In addition, we have in our collective agreement a process whereby employees who have a concern with their evaluation, that management has not been able to resolve, they have the ability to call for an independent review by a committee that is headed up by an independent chairperson. The committee's decision will be binding on the government. We are encouraging employees who have remaining concerns with their evaluations to access that process and we are trying to work with the union to get that process working. We have already had appeal reviews with our excluded staff. That process is well underway.
We are very encouraged by the numbers of appeals that are rising. They are very low for a major initiative of this type. Many jurisdictions see job appeals when they introduce a new system anywhere from low to very high. I know of a couple of jurisdictions where the appeal rate was in the 20, 30, 40 percent range. We have been very fortunate at this time. We have about 50 appeals on about 4,000 job evaluations, which we are very encouraged by. We are proceeding to deal with those appeals with that independent appeal process I mentioned. There will continue to be, as with any new job evaluation system or any ongoing existing system, refinements as you go forward. This one is fully implemented. We are still ongoing with maintenance and quality control work, but largely it is a done deal.