Employment Equity - Annual Report 1996-97



Introduction

This first Annual Report on Employment Equity in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada highlights employment equity activities during the period 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997.

It also presents information on the representation of designated groups as at 31 March 1997.

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Enabling Legislation

The Auditor General Act , the Financial Administration Act and a variety of other acts and orders-in-council set out the duties of the Auditor General as they relate to legislative auditing and monitoring of federal departments and agencies, Crown corporations and other national and international organizations.

Independence from Government

We are different from departments and agencies through our independence from the government of the day and our reporting relationship to Parliament. Our independence is assured by a broad legislative mandate, freedom from certain controls over our budget and staff, and a ten-year term for the Auditor General. The first independent Auditor General was appointed in 1878.

Application of the Employment Equity Act to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada falls under the Employment Equity Act , section 4.(1)(c) as a portion of the Public Service of Canada - set out in Part II of Schedule I to the Public Service Staff Relations Act - employing 100 or more employees.

Our Vision and Mission

Our vision and mission statements guide the work of the Office.

Our Vision

We are committed to making a difference for the Canadian people by promoting, in all our work for Parliament, answerable, honest and productive government.

Our Mission

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada conducts independent audits and examinations that provide objective information, advice and assurance to Parliament. We promote accountability and best practices in government operations.

Our Work

The principal activity of the Office is legislative auditing - providing reliable, relevant and timely assurances and other information on financial and program performance to help legislators hold government accountable.

Our Organization

The Office is organized into three branches - Audit Operations, Corporate Services and Executive - along with the Office of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. Most of the staff work out of the head office in Ottawa. Regional offices are located in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax.

We have a specialized workforce, with roughly two thirds of our 520 employees at the middle manager and auditor levels.

Our Employment Equity Experience

Implementation of the New Legislation

Our strategy was one of communicating and consulting with our employees.

In our Office, the Human Resources Group is working to implement the requirements of the new legislation. In 1996-97, members of the Human Resources Group met with our employment equity committee on the subject of the new Employment Equity Act and, in particular, the need for a self-identification survey.

Our employment equity committee and its sub-committees, including a union representative, represent the interests of designated groups in the Office. This committee has existed in our Office for many years. Each year, it has organized events and activities to promote awareness of employment equity and diversity issues in the workplace.

The Human Resources Group also consulted with the Public Service Alliance of Canada on the self-identification survey.

During the year, the chairperson of the employment equity committee briefed the Office's Executive Committee and senior managers on the new legislation and the self-identification process. Senior managers then communicated this information to their staff.

As well, the Auditor General sent a memo to all staff explaining the legislation and provided them with the documents Public Service Perspective on the New Legislation and Key Questions and Answers, prepared by the Treasury Board Secretariat.

In order to collect the required workforce data, a self-identification questionnaire was sent to all staff in April 1997. Completion of this questionnaire was voluntary, and the information collected was confidential.

A number of measures were used to inform employees about the self-identification process ( see Figure 1 ).

Workforce Analysis

Working with the results of our self-identification survey, we completed a workforce analysis to determine the degree of under-representation of members of designated groups in each occupational group. The results are presented in this report.

Systems Review

We conducted a general review of our employment systems, policies and practices in order to identify any employment barriers. These barriers would be any policies or practices that might have an adverse impact on the employment opportunities of designated group members.

The review focussed on recruitment, promotion and training activities in our Office. The results will be examined in light of the workforce analysis that was completed. The objective is to find explanations for under-representation and to provide a reasonable basis for corrective action.

Employment Equity Records

We have implemented procedures for the maintenance of orderly and accurate employment equity records. We have also developed information vehicles and practices to keep our employees up-to-date on employment equity matters. For example, we now have an electronic bulletin board that provides all employees with easy access to current employment equity information.

Employment Equity Environment

During 1996-97, there were a number of Office activities to support designated groups and to promote an equitable work environment ( see Figure 2 ).

Employment Equity Numbers

The data in this report are as at 31 March 1997. These year-end numbers provide the starting point from which the Office will measure its progress in implementing the requirements of the Employment Equity Act .

In our second annual report, for the 1997-98 fiscal year, we will include an analysis of the numbers of employees hired, promoted and terminated and the degree of representation, in those numbers, of persons who are members of each designated group.

Our employment equity numbers have been prepared on the basis of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system, developed by Human Resources Development Canada. This system comprises 14 Employment Equity Occupational Groups (EEOGs) - as defined in Schedule II of the Employment Equity Regulations - and 522 NOC unit groups.

Classifying our employees under this system shows that we have a very specialized workforce:

The following comments highlight the data in the Appendix. We have compared our representation in each designated group to the most recent workforce availability figures provided by Human Resources Development Canada - the 1991 Employment Equity Data Report. We have used national figures for this comparison.

Women

Women represented 47.9% of our workforce at 31 March 1997. Office-wide, women are not under-represented.

Women are under-represented in three groups: senior managers (by 5.1%), middle managers (by 11.1%), and professionals (by 4.7%). In total, these groups are under-represented by 27 women.

Aboriginal peoples

Across the Office, aboriginal peoples are under-represented by 1.3%, or seven people. They are under-represented in all groups, except for administrative personnel and clerical personnel.

Under-representation is greatest in the professional group.

Persons in a visible minority group

Persons in a visible minority are under-represented in our Office by 5.1% or 26 people. This under-representation is most pronounced in the professional group (4.1%, or ten people).

On a percentage basis, under-representation is greatest for clerical personnel (9.3% or seven people).

Persons with disabilities

Office-wide, persons with disabilities are under-represented by 3.8%. This under-representation exists in all groups except middle managers.

The representation of persons with disabilities in the Office is concentrated in our two largest groups, middle managers and professionals. These are occupations for which the availability of persons with disabilities is significantly less than at the general workforce level.

Our Employment Equity Plan

In prior years, our employment equity committee developed an employment equity plan. This plan will be updated in light of the systems review and workforce analysis described in this report.

The new plan will specify our policies and practices aimed at providing opportunity to members of under-represented designated groups with respect to hiring, training, promotion and retention.

In a relatively small office, such as ours, the greatest opportunity for making progress on employment equity lies with our two largest groups - middle managers and professionals. We are focussing, however, on making progress, across the Office, in all designated groups.

Employment equity is an underlying value for the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. One of our guiding principles focusses on people, and includes the statement that:

We value the talent and diversity each individual brings to the Office.

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada is committed to employment equity ideals.

Our challenge is to reflect these ideals in both our workforce and our workplace.

APPENDIX - STATISTICS

Technical Notes

Report Coverage

This report contains information on our indeterminate employees and term employees of three months or more as at 31 March 1997.

Because of the rapid turnover of students and casual employees, no information is reported on them.

Employees who were on secondment to other organizations were asked to complete self-identification questionnaires, and are included in our numbers.

Employees who were on leave without pay from our Office at 31 March 1997 are not included in the population. These people will be given questionnaires on their return.

Data on People in the Designated Groups

All data, other than those for women, were obtained through self-identification, the process by which people identify themselves as being from one of the other three designated groups. The data on women were obtained from other human resources information.

The completeness and accuracy of employment equity data depend on employees being willing to self-identify and on being given the opportunity to do so.

Our self-identification process, including the questionnaire completed on a voluntary basis, began in April 1997. Employees who joined the Office since then were provided with the questionnaire when they began working.

At any time during the year, any employee may complete a self-identification questionnaire, available from our Human Resources Group.

List of Tables

Table 1 - Representation of Designated Groups in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Table 2 - Distribution of Employees by Designated Group and Region of Work

Table 3 - Representation of Designated Groups by Employment Equity Occupational Group

Table 4 - Representation of Women by Employment Equity Occupational Group and Two Largest National Occupational Classification Unit Groups

Table 5 - Representation of Aboriginal Peoples by Employment Equity Occupational Group and Two Largest National Occupational Classification Unit Groups

Table 6 - Representation of Persons with Disabilities by Employment Equity Occupational Group and Two Largest National Occupational Classification Unit Groups

Table 7 - Representation of Persons in a Visible Minority by Employment Equity Occupational Group and Two Largest National Occupational Classification Unit Groups

Table 8 - Distribution of Employees by Designated Group and Salary Band