Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Chapter 4 - Classification Grievances Policy
To provide a redress process for employees who
are dissatisfied with the classification of the duties they
perform as assigned by the Employer.
All classification grievances received will be
thoroughly reviewed by qualified persons who were not involved in
the making of the classification decision being grieved. They
will make a recommendation to the deputy head or the nominee of
the deputy head whose decision will be final and binding.
The policy applies to all departments and other
portions of the Public Service listed in Part I of Schedule I of
the Public Service Staff Relations Act.
Deputy heads will respond to all classification
grievances and will make decisions in accordance with Treasury
Board classification policy and standards.
The senior departmental officer chosen to act as
the deputy head's nominee for classification grievances must be
formally appointed by the deputy head (see Appendix A).
Employees presenting classification grievances
must do so within 25 working days after the day they were
notified of any action or circumstance giving rise to the
grievance, or if not so notified, after the day they learned of
such action or circumstance.
The deputy head or nominee must respond to the
grievance in writing within 60 working days after it is received
by the immediate supervisor or local officer-in-charge. If this
deadline is extended by mutual agreement, such agreement must be
confirmed in writing between the deputy head or nominee and the
employee or the employee's representative, if applicable.
Deputy heads must also ensure that mandatory
procedures and requirements of Appendix B are met.
Departments will implement appropriate methods to
monitor the application of this policy and ensure that the
required timeframes are met.
Compliance with this policy will be based on the
outcome of classification grievances in relation to Service-wide
norms and whether:
- procedural requirements and prescribed timeframes are
observed; and,
- decisions are fully documented.
Public Service Staff Relations Act,
Section 7 and Part IV, Sections 91 - 100.
Public Service Staff Relations Board
Regulations and Rules of Procedure, Part VIII, Sections
71-72, 74-75.
Treasury Board Minute 821755 of 23 June
1994.
Classification Grievance Procedure, 1 June
1994.
Enquiries from management and personnel staff
concerning this policy should be routed to departmental
headquarters.
For an interpretation of this policy,
departmental headquarters personnel should contact the:
Classification, Equal Pay and Pay Administration
Division
Human Resources Policy Branch
Treasury Board Secretariat
3rd Floor, West Tower
L'Esplanade Laurier
300 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0R5
The format may vary but must contain the
following information.
1. I hereby appoint (name and official title of
appointee) to act on my behalf in rendering final and binding
classification grievance decisions, effective (date).
2. (The nominee) shall exercise this authority
for all occupational groups and levels for which I have
classification authority except for those cases in which the
unanimous recommendation of the grievance committee is being
rejected. (This clause may be made more restrictive, at the
option of the deputy head).
3. The following types of classification
grievance results shall be brought to my attention before final
and binding decisions are made:
(a) those which
- could have a significant effect on the classification or
level of other positions under my jurisdiction;
- could have an effect on similar positions in other
departments;
- may substantially affect program management or
union/management relations; and/or
(b) those in which minority/majority
recommendations have been made and the minority recommendation is
being accepted or a new decision is being made.
Signature of Deputy Head Date
Signature of Nominee Date
Notification of Classification
Decision
The departmental classification organization or
delegated manager must officially notify the employee when a
classification decision has been rendered against his or her
position.
Employee
A complainant wishing to be represented by a
bargaining agent or another person of his or her choice must
inform the bargaining agent or other representative.
"Classification" does not include the work
description or effective date. These matters are resolved through
the Staff Relations Grievance Process.
Notification
The deputy head or nominee shall inform the
bargaining agent or other representative and the complainant of
the date and time of the hearing. The complainant, bargaining
agent, or other representative shall be given at least 15 working
days notice of the hearing.
Management
The employee's immediate supervisor or local
officer-in-charge must acknowledge receipt of the grievance by
signing and dating the form on the date it is received, and send
a copy of the grievance to the deputy head or nominee.
The classification grievance process is the
employee's means of redress. Therefore, differences of opinion
between levels of management, or management and classification
staff concerning the classification of a position must be
resolved using the department's internal dispute resolution
process, if necessary. If an employee submits a grievance it will
then clearly be the employee's grievance against a decision for
which the deputy head is responsible, and management must not
further advocate against that decision.
Grievance committees
Classification grievances against the operational
classification decisions of the department must be examined by
committees convened at departmental headquarters, and composed of
three people who must meet the following criteria:
- they did not participate in the classification decision being
grieved;
- they are neither supervising the position in question nor in
a position of potential conflict of interest; and
- they are knowledgeable about classification techniques and
experienced in the use of the relevant classification
standard(s).
Grievance committees must be chaired by an
accredited classification specialist. If the grievance concerns a
position for which the department has classification authority,
an accredited classification officer (normally from the
department in which the grievance occurs) must chair the
committee, assisted by a representative of the TBS, and one other
person, preferably a line manager, experienced in the application
of the classification standard(s) being used. If the grievance
concerns a position for which the department does not have
classification authority, a representative of the TBS must chair
the committee, assisted by two members.
Employees and/or their representative must be
given the opportunity to appear before the commitee and state
their views on the classification of the position. They must
withdraw from the meeting once their presentation is complete.
Representations by the complainant or his or her representative
may also be submitted in writing. All aspects of the decision
being grieved, i.e., group and sub-group allocation, level and
ratings (where applicable) accorded to all factors, must be
examined even though, in some instances, not all are being
challenged.
If invited to appear before the classification
grievance committee to provide information on the assigned duties
and responsibilities, management must withdraw once the committee
has completed its questioning.
Deliberations occur "in camera". The
committee must try to reach consensus on the evaluation of the
position. Majority and minority reports must be prepared in the
event of a disagreement. The committee makes a recommendation on
the classification of the position being grieved to the deputy
head or nominee. The recommendation will be either:
- that the current classification decision be confirmed;
- that the current group and level be maintained with a change
in the evaluation; or
- that the position be reclassified to a higher or lower level
within the same or a different occupational group.
Normally, the effective date for the
recommendation must be the date, certified by management, on
which the duties were assigned to the position.
Deputy head or nominee
In cases where the department is the
classification authority, the deputy head or nominee will
either:
- confirm the committee's recommendation;
- make a decision in cases of minority/majority reports;
or
- make a new decision.
In cases of minority/majority reports, if the
minority report is accepted, the nominee must so advise the
deputy head. If the unanimous recommendation of the grievance
committee is rejected by the nominee, the new decision must be
personally approved by the deputy head. In such circumstances,
the deputy head must report to the TBS the reasons for
non-acceptance, with specific reference to the rationale used by
the grievance committee in arriving at its recommendation.
In the following circumstances, the deputy head
or nominee may render a final and binding decision, based on the
recommendation of a classification grievance committee that does
not include a TBS representative:
- when a grievance submission is identical to another
grievance decision against a departmentally recognized generic
position; and
- in the case of a previously grieved decision and the work
description submitted is identical to the previous
one.
In such circumstances, the deputy head or Nominee
shall examine all information available in support of the grieved
position and render a final and binding decision. All such
circumstances must be reported to the Treasury Board
Secretariat.
In all cases, the grievor and/or his or her
representative must be invited to make a presentation.
In cases where the Treasury Board Secretariat is
the classification authority, the deputy head or nominee must
immediately forward the grievance to the Treasury Board
Secretariat.
Status of a classification grievance
decision
The decision rendered on a classification
grievance is final and binding.
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