I am pleased to introduce Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act. The staffing appeals process provides for public accountability of staffing within the GNWT public service. The proposed legislative amendments to the Public Service Act will enhance this accountability by enabling revisions to the staffing review and appeals regulations to strengthen the staffing appeals process by making it more independent and transparent.
The proposed changes to the Public Service Act include an appointment mechanism for staffing review officers as well as a more extensive regulation-making provision. This legislative change will enable further and more extensive work to be done on the staffing review and appeals regulations.
Currently, the Staffing Appeals Committee is comprised of three members: the secretary of the FMBS delegate; the president of the UNW delegate; and a mutually agreed upon chairperson. The public and employees frequently view this structure as giving either management or the union the ability to influence the outcome of an appeal.
In order to increase confidence in the staffing appeals system, it is the intention to remove union and management representatives from the process. It is proposed that independent staffing review officers from outside the government would conduct staffing appeal reviews and decide the outcome of staffing appeals.
Increased accountability will also flow from the proposed changes as the appeal process would be extended to competitions for excluded and management positions, below the assistant deputy minister level.
The current system of only allowing appeals for UNW bargaining unit competitions results in a widespread perception that there is no accountability in the staffing process for managerial and excluded positions. Subjecting management and excluded competitions to public scrutiny through the appeals process should change this perception.
Should these legislative amendments of the Public Service Act be approved, then the next stage of work of the staffing review and appeals regulations can begin in earnest. It is proposed that amendments to the regulations will include a requirement for the staffing review officer to complete written decisions, with reasons for upholding or denying the appeal, to be provided to the appellant. Currently, the report of the staffing appeal panel is not provided to the appellant or the proposed appointee. Instead, only the decision, whether the appeal is upheld or denied, is communicated to the appellant and the proposed appointee.
As you can appreciate, this type of an approach often leaves participants in the staffing appeals process wondering if their concerns have been heard. While providing written decisions for appeals will create greater understanding and confidence in the system, it will not make all candidates on a competition happy with a competition outcome. The very nature of the staff process is that only one person gets the job and the remaining applicants are disappointed that they did not get the job. In order to instil public confidence in the process, appellants require clear and reasoned justifications for the appeal decision.
While this proposal will provide for an independent review of an appealed competition, the staffing review officers would not have the authority to appoint individuals to positions. The staffing review officers' role is to determine if the staffing policy was adhered to on an appealed competition. Their appeal decisions will include directing the competition process be restarted at the point in the staffing process where the error was made. The hiring decisions would appropriately remain in the hands of the employer which is the case with the current staffing appeals process.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am prepared to answer any questions you may have.