The glossary has been prepared to give you informal explanations for
common staffing terms.
These explanations are not meant to replace the technical/legal definitions.
| Term |
Explanation |
| Aboriginal person (as a designated group) |
North American Indian or a member of a First
Nation, a Métis or an Inuit. North American Indians or members
of a First Nation include status, treaty and registered Indians, as
well as non-status and non-registered Indians. |
| Accommodation |
Tailoring a work rule, practice, condition
or requirement to the specific needs of an individual. |
| Acting Appointment |
The temporary assignment of an employee to
the duties of a higher position where the difference in the maximum
rates of pay constitutes a promotion. Acting appointments of four
months or less are not subject to appeal. |
| Anticipatory Staffing |
Conducting a selection process to fill anticipated
future vacancies. Although you do not require priority clearance to
initiate the process, you do require clearance prior to making any
appointment. |
| Appeal |
The recourse process for an individual who
has not been selected for an appointment in a closed competition or
without competition. An appeal board determines if the appointment
was made according to merit. |
| Application |
Written information provided by a candidate
to be considered for a selection process. This can be done electronically
or in print form and may include such items as an application form,
a covering letter, a résumé, and other information required. |
| Area of Selection |
The geographic/ occupational/ organizational
parameters candidates must be within to be eligible for appointment.
In a non-competitive process, the area of selection indicates who
has the right of appeal. |
| Assignment |
New functions given to an employee for a
temporary period at the same level. Employees resume their former
duties at the end of the assignment. The term refers to an assignment
internal to a department. |
| Bilingual Position |
Positions requiring the use of both official
languages. They may be staffed on an imperative or non-imperative
basis. |
| Bona fide occupational requirement |
A requirement that is necessary for the accomplishment
of the job |
| Casual Employment |
An appointment to the Public Service for
not more than 90 calendar days. The person cannot work in one department
more than 125 days in any year nor enter closed competitions. |
| Closed Competition |
A competition open only to persons employed
in the Public Service. |
| Competition Notice |
The mechanism used to inform potential candidates
of vacancies (immediate or anticipated). A notice may be formal (poster/Internet)
or informal (electronic mail). |
| Conditions of Employment |
Requirements, such as medical and security
clearances, which must be met before appointment. Candidates may be
placed on an eligibility list before it is determined that they meet
such conditions, but they cannot be appointed until the conditions
are met. |
| Deployment |
The voluntary movement of an employee to
a new job that does not constitute a promotion or change of tenure
and cuts ties to their former position. |
| Deployment Complaint |
The recourse mechanism for a deployed employee
or any employee in the unit where they are deployed. The only grounds
for a complaint are that there was an abuse of authority or that the
deployment was not made in accordance with the PSEA. |
| Designated groups |
Under the Employment Equity Act, women, Aboriginal
peoples, members of a visible minority group and persons with disabilities |
| Disclosure |
The mandatory process where parties in an
appeal exchange pertinent information. |
| Diversity |
Refers to all the ways in which people are
different from one another; to honour these individual attributes
is to value and respect each other. |
| Double Banking |
The traditional wording used to describe
the appointment of more than one employee to the same position. |
| Duty to accommodate |
Your obligation to take appropriate steps
to eliminate discrimination against candidates in the selection process
and after an individual is appointed. A rule, practice or some other
barrier may inadvertently discriminate against individuals, for example,
because of their disability, family status or religion. Appropriate
steps would remove such barriers if to do so does not cause "undue
hardship" such as compromise safety or health, or cost too much |
| Eligibility List |
A list of qualified candidates created as
a result of a competition. |
| Employees Who Become Disabled - Priority
pursuant to the PSE Regulations |
The priority entitlement refers to employees
who become disabled (in the workplace or away from the workplace),
and are certified ready to return to work within two years of becoming
disabled. |
| Employment Equity Program |
A program of recruitment, development, promotion
or some other goal that specifically targets one or all of the designated
groups. |
| Imperative Staffing |
The requirement that the person about to
be appointed meet the language requirements of the position at the
time of appointment. |
| Individual Merit |
A person is assessed and found qualified
for appointment without being compared to others. Individual merit
appointments can only be made in the circumstances described in the
PSER. |
| Layoff - Priority pursuant to the
PSE Act |
The priority entitlement refers to employees
who have been laid off owing to lack of work, discontinuance of a
function, or the transfer of work or a function outside the Public
Service (alternative service delivery initiative). |
| Leave of Absence - Priority pursuant
to the PSE Act |
The priority entitlement refers to indeterminate
employees on leave whose position has been backfilled behind them
on an indeterminate basis, and to employees who have been appointed
or deployed indeterminately to the position for which leave has been
granted where the employee on leave is returning to the position.
(Note that Leaves of Absence are granted pursuant to the Financial
Administration Act or Collective Agreements, not the Public Service
Employment Act). |
| Member of a visible minority group (as
a designated group) |
Someone (other than an Aboriginal person
as defined above) who is non-white in colour/race, regardless of place
of birth |
| Members of Canadian Armed Forces and
RCMP Who Become Disabled- Priority pursuant to the PSE Regulations |
The priority entitlement refers to members
of the Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP who become disabled as a result
of service in a special duty area, are discharged for medical reasons
and are certified ready to return to work within two years of being
discharged because of the disability. |
| Ministers' Staffs - Priority pursuant
to the PSE Act |
The priority entitlement refers to a person
who was an employee of the Public Service immediately before becoming
employed in the Minister's office; or a person who, while employed
in the office of a Minister, qualified for appointment to the Public
Service under the PSEA; or a person who has, for at least three years,
been employed as an Executive Assistant, Special Assistant or Private
Secretary, or in any of those capacities successively. |
| Merit |
Merit involves the application of values
in our staffing actions. No formal definition exists for this term.
See Relative and Individual Merit. |
| Named Referrals |
The common expression used to obtain PSC
authority to hire a specific individual from outside of the Public
Service without the formal consideration of other candidates. |
| Non-imperative Staffing |
The action of filling a bilingual position
with a candidate who does not meet the language requirements but is
eligible for language training or is otherwise excluded. To be eligible
for language training, a person must demonstrate the potential to
become proficient in the use of their second official language within
the allowable training time and 24-month exemption period. |
| Open Competition |
A competition open to the public, including
persons employed in the Public Service. |
| Person with a disability (as a designated
group) |
Has a long-term or recurring physical, mental,
sensory, psychiatric or learning impairment and considers himself/herself
to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment, or
believes that an employer or potential employer is likely to consider
him/her to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that impairment.
This term includes persons whose functional limitations owing to their
impairment have been accommodated in their current job or workplace. |
| Priority Status |
A right given to persons identified under
the PSEA and PSER to be appointed to vacancies before others and without
competition. |
| Probation |
A period following the appointment of persons
hired from outside the Public Service when their performance is assessed.
Failure to meet expectations during this period results in termination
of employment. This period, established under the PSER, must be served
in its entirety even if the employee moves to another position. The
probationary period for a person with a disability does not start
until any required job accommodation has been made. |
| Promotion |
A temporary or permanent appointment to
a "higher-level position" as defined in the PSER. |
| Reinstatement - Priority pursuant
to the PSE Regulations |
The priority entitlement refers to surplus
employee, laid-off person and disabled employees who were appointed
to lower-level positions (full demotion), while in priority status.
The entitlement is for an indeterminate appointment back to the former
classification or equivalent. |
| Relative Merit |
A person is assessed along with other candidates,
found qualified for a position, and ranked in order of merit. |
| Relocation of Spouse or Common-law
Partner - Priority pursuant to the PSE Regulations |
The priority entitlement refers to employees
who relocate with their spouse or common-law partner. |
| Representation |
The number of employees from
a designated group, relative to the labour market availability. |
| Secondment |
New functions given to employees for a temporary
period at the same level. Employees resume their former duties at
the end of the secondment. The term refers to an assignment between
departments and requires a written agreement. |
| Statement of Qualifications |
A list of qualifications that a candidate
must possess to qualify for an appointment. Qualifications may be
for present or future needs and include knowledge, abilities/skills,
aptitudes, personal suitability, experience, education, occupational
certification, and official language proficiency. Some of these qualifications
are sometimes referred to as competencies. |
| Substantive Position |
The position in which an employee is the
incumbent. |
| Surplus - Priority pursuant to the
PSE Regulations |
The priority entitlement refers to employees
who have been declared surplus owing to lack of work, discontinuance
of a function, or the transfer of work or a function outside the Public
Service (alternative service delivery initiative). |
| Tenure |
The period of time for which a person is
appointed. This may be on a term or indeterminate basis. |
| Without Competition Appointment |
An appointment based on individual or relative
merit made without holding a competition. |
| Women (as a designated group) |
Considered a designated group where their
representation is below labour market availability in an occupational
group. |
| Work force adjustment agreements |
Agreements between the Treasury Board and
unions on how work force adjustment situations will be applied to
their members |
