GET READY SESSION CORRECTIVE ACTION AND REVOCATION

1
GET READY SESSIONCORRECTIVE ACTION AND
REVOCATION
May June 2005
2
Whats New and Different

• Recourse to the Public Service Staffing Tribunal
• New independent tribunal
• Can hear 4 types of complaints
• Internal appointments
• Revocation
• Corrective action
• Selection for lay-off
• PSC no longer has general power to investigate
  only in 4 specific circumstances
• External appointments
• Internal non-delegated
• Political influence
• Fraud
• Deputy Heads with delegated appointment authority
  also have authority to revoke and take corrective
  action on internal appointments they have made
• At deputy heads request, PSC can investigate and
  report findings to deputy

3
PSC Experience with Revocation and Corrective
Action

• There are about 150 allowed appeals each year
  corrective action taken to remedy the defect
  found (under new Act PSST)
• There are about 60 founded investigations each
  year of external appointments and other
  non-appealable appointments
• Revocation of appointments is a rare occurrence,
  but names are removed from eligibility lists and
  appointments not made.

4
Corrective Action and Revocation by Deputy Head

• Authority to revoke and take corrective action
  must be delegated to deputy head where
  appointment authority is delegated (s. 15(3))
• Deputy head must be satisfied that an error,
  omission or improper conduct affected the
  selection for appointment
• May only revoke after investigation
• Deputy head cannot sub-delegate the decision to
  revoke
• Person revoked may be appointed to another
  position if they meet the essential
  qualifications

5
Policy Highlights

• Policy Statement
• If the deputy head decides that corrective action
  or a revocation of an appointment is warranted,
  the deputy head provides any person(s) affected
  by the action a meaningful opportunity to present
  relevant facts and have their position fully and
  fairly considered.

6
Policy Highlights

• Policy Requirements
• Establish and communicate an organizational
  policy to ensure that
• Before deciding to take corrective action or
  revoke
• Persons affected have an opportunity to be heard
• Deputy head is satisfied that here has been an
  error, omission or improper conduct that affected
  the selection of person appointed
• Person to be revoked is informed in writing
• Effective date of revocation and reasons for it
• Whether they will be appointed to another
  position
• Right to complain to PSST that decision was
  unreasonable

7

• Policy Requirements
• Suspend an internal investigation and refer
  matter to PSC if appointment may have been
  subject to political influence or fraud
• Establish monitoring and review mechanism
• Other Requirements
• Deputy heads power to revoke appointments cannot
  be sub-delegated
• Remember
• -employees right to use official language of
  choice
• -duty to accommodate persons with disabilities
  (provision of accessible formats, etc.)

8
Guidance from the Staffing Recourse Working Group

• Context
• Under the new PSEA, recourse for unsuccessful
  candidates in an internal appointment process is
  to the Public Service Staffing Tribunal
• Deputy Heads have a discretionary authority to
  investigate staffing matters (which exists now
  but has not been widely used) as well as the new
  authority to revoke appointments, if appropriate,
  after investigation
• Steps to Follow
• Matters that may warrant investigation by the
  Deputy Head can come to his/her attention by any
  means (a person, via the media, an audit, etc.)

9
Guidance for Departments

• Once a concern has been brought to the attention
  of the Deputy Head, the Deputy may wish to
  consider the following questions in determining
  whether and how to investigate
• What is the nature of the concern?
• Does another body have the authority to address
  it?
• If the concern is found to be true, what would be
  the consequences?
• Is the concern limited to a specific situation or
  does it raise broader issues of Public Service
  values and the application of merit?

10
Guidance for Departments

• If the Deputy Head decides to conduct an
  investigation, decisions such as who will conduct
  it, the role of the employee, the role of the
  union, etc, would be addressed in the context of
  the specific concern
• Whomever the Deputy Head requests to conduct
  initial fact finding and/or the investigation
  should be considered objective by all parties

11
Support Products

• Guide to Establishing Policies Required by the
  PSC
• Guide to Implementing Corrective Action and
  Revocation Policy
• Considerations for Managers
• Best Practices in Investigations

12
Exercise

• It is November 2006. Six months ago, an
  appointment was made in the department to the
  position of Executive Assistant. The Deputy
  Minister asks to see you in his office. He has
  been advised by one of the Assessment Board
  members that inadvertently, the ability to
  establish work priorities and to work under
  pressure with conflicting demands and deadlines,
  an essential qualification, was not assessed in
  this advertised internal appointment process. The
  Deputy Minister asks you (as acting Chief of
  Human Resources) for your advice on what to do.