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Survey on the Use of the Official Languages at Work in the Federal Institutions in New Brunswick 1996 - Number 15

Table of Contents

3.4 Department's/Agency's Duties Towards Employees

This section of the questionnaire focused on the availability of internal services and working tools in the language of choice of the employee. As well, employees were requested to indicate whether they are satisfied with the official language used in their communications with their immediate supervisor.

These survey results are based on the responses to Questions 12-28 and are related to objective 3, i.e. to determine if federal institutions in New Brunswick are meeting their obligations in making available specific services in both official languages. (Official Languages Act, Section 36).

3.4.1 Internal Services

'Internal Services' were defined as services provided to employees, such as pay and benefits, administrative, legal and library services, etc..

About 5% (274 respondents) of respondents indicated that they do not use internal services. The following results are based on the number of people who use internal services.

Overall, 87% of the users of internal services are satisfied with the provision of internal services in either official language. However, only 74.4% of Francophone respondents are satisfied with the provision of internal services in either official language compared to 94.7% of Anglophone respondents who are satisfied, a difference of around 20%. Almost 1 in 4 (24.4%) Francophone respondents would prefer that more French be used in providing internal services.

TABLE 214: 'Q14 - Satisfaction With Provision of Internal Services in Either Official Language'

BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - 'Internal Service Users Only'

	*Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE*
*Q14 - Satisfaction with provision of internal services in either official language*	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
SATISFIED	94.7%	3359	74.4%	1534	87.2%	4893
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE ENGLISH	4.4%	155	1.3%	26	3.2%	181
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE FRENCH	1.0%	34	24.4%	503	9.6%	537
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3548	100.0%	2063	100.0%	5611
NOT STATED	44		21		65
GRAND TOTAL	3592		2084		5676

According to the survey results in Table 212 internal services are considered to be provided either 'always' or 'often' in English by over 90% of all respondents - 96.3% of Anglophone respondents, and 84.9% of Francophone respondents have this perception. This difference of around 11% can be accounted for in the 13.1% of Francophone respondents who reported that the provision of service is 'seldom' or 'never' provided in English.

TABLE 212: 'Q12 - Frequency of Provision of Internal Services in English'

BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - 'Internal Service Users only'

*Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE*
*Q12 - Frequency of provision of internal services in 'English'*	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
ALWAYS	80.6%	2832	34.8%	701	63.9%	3533
OFTEN	15.7%	553	50.1%	1011	28.3%	1564
SELDOM	1.3%	44	11.6%	233	5.0%	277
NEVER	0.4%	14	1.5%	30	0.8%	44
DON'T KNOW	2.0%	72	2.1%	42	2.1%	114
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3515	100.0%	2017	100.0%	5532
NOT STATED	77		67		144
GRAND TOTAL	3592		2084		5676

Conversely, Table 213 reveals that only around half (50.9%) of all respondents feel that the internal services are either 'always' or 'often' provided in French. About 2 of 5 (41%) Francophone respondents expressed the opinion that the internal services they use are 'seldom' (34.9%) or 'never' (6.1%) provided in French. Amongst Anglophone respondents, around 34% responded with the same opinion, while another 19% of Anglophone respondents just 'don't know' if these services are provided in French.

TABLE 213: 'Q13 - Frequency of Provision of Internal Services in French'

BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - 'Internal Service Users only'

*Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE*
*Q13 - Frequency of provision of internal services in 'French'*	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
ALWAYS	27.6%	858	16.4%	328	23.2%	1186
OFTEN	19.5%	606	40.4%	811	27.7%	1417
SELDOM	13.3%	413	34.9%	701	21.8%	1114
NEVER	20.6%	640	6.1%	122	14.9%	762
DON'T KNOW	19.1%	593	2.2%	44	12.5%	637
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3110	100.0%	2006	100.0%	5116
NOT STATED	482		78		560
GRAND TOTAL	3592		2084		5676

3.4.2 Availability of Computer Programs in Language of Choice

Most responding employees (85.9%) use computer programs at work. (From Table 215, Appendix IV).

Approximately 87% of all responding employees who use computer programs at work are satisfied with the availability of the programs in either official language. Almost all (95.8%) of Anglophone respondents are satisfied with this availability. However, only 72% of Francophone respondents are satisfied with this availability, and more than one-quarter (26.6%) of Francophone respondents would prefer to see more computer programs available in French.

TABLE 218: 'Q18 - Satisfaction With Availability of Computer Programs in Either Official Language' BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - Computer Program Users Only

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q18 - Satisfaction with availability of computer programs in either official language	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
SATISFIED	95.8%	2981	72.0%	1392	86.7%	4373
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE ENGLISH	1.6%	49	1.4%	27	1.5%	76
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE FRENCH	2.6%	81	26.6%	514	11.8%	595
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3111	100.0%	1933	100.0%	5044
NOT STATED	48		23		71
GRAND TOTAL	3159		1956		5115

Approximately 97% of users of computer programs stated that the computer programs they use are 'always' or 'often' available in English. The percentage, i.e. 97% indicating this opinion, is virtually the same among both Anglophone and Francophone respondents.

TABLE 216: 'Q16 - Frequency of Availability of Computer Programs in English' BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - Computer Program Users Only

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q16 - Frequency of availability of computer programs in 'English'	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
ALWAYS	93.3%	2925	81.4%	1583	88.8%	4508
OFTEN	3.6%	113	15.0%	292	8.0%	405
SELDOM	0.6%	18	1.8%	35	1.0%	53
NEVER	0.6%	19	1.0%	20	0.8%	39
DON'T KNOW	1.9%	59	0.8%	15	1.5%	74
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3134	100.0%	1945	100.0%	5079
NOT STATED	25		11		36
GRAND TOTAL	3159		1956		5115

On the other hand, as illustrated in Table 217 below, about 37% of all responding computer users stated that the computer programs they use are 'seldom' or 'never' available in French. Amongst the responding Francophone computer users just over a half (53.4%) of them expressed this opinion while about 27% of responding Anglophone computer users felt this way. Another 38.3% of Anglophone computer users simply don't know if the computer programs they use are available in French.

TABLE 217: 'Q17 - Frequency of Availability of Computer Programs in French'

BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - Computer Program Users Only

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q17 - Frequency of availability of computer programs in 'French'	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
ALWAYS	21.9%	643	18.8%	363	20.7%	1006
OFTEN	13.1%	386	21.3%	411	16.4%	797
SELDOM	12.1%	356	26.8%	518	18.0%	874
NEVER	14.5%	426	26.6%	513	19.3%	939
DON'T KNOW	38.3%	1125	6.5%	126	25.7%	1251
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	2936	100.0%	1931	100.0%	4867
NOT STATED	223		25		248
GRAND TOTAL	3159		1956		5115

3.4.3 Availability of Work Instruments in Language of Choice

Around 91% of responding employees use work instruments (e.g. documents such as directives and circulars provided by the department/agency) in the course of their work (From Table 219, Appendix IV).

Almost 90% of responding employees who use work instruments are satisfied with the availability of these instruments in either official language. However, comparing the Francophone respondents to the Anglophone respondents there is a difference of nearly 16% in the percentage of responding employees who are satisfied with this availability - 79.7% of the Francophone group are satisfied with the availability of work instruments in either official language versus 95.5% of the Anglophone group who are satisfied.

TABLE 222: 'Q22 - Satisfaction With Availability of Work Instruments in Either Official Language'

BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - Work Instrument Users Only

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q22 - Satisfaction with availability of work instruments in either official language	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
SATISFIED	95.5%	3229	79.7%	1581	89.7%	4810
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE ENGLISH	3.3%	111	2.6%	52	3.0%	163
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE FRENCH	1.2%	40	17.7%	351	7.3%	391
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3380	100.0%	1984	100.0%	5364
NOT STATED	35		13		48
GRAND TOTAL	3415		1997		5412

Furthermore, a combined 96.7% of Anglophone respondents are 'satisfied' or 'dissatisfied but prefer more French', i.e. relatively few are hampered in using their first official language. Amongst Francophone respondents, 82.3% are either 'satisfied' or 'dissatisfied but prefer more English' - 17.7% would prefer to see more French.

Table 220 on the next page shows that practically all (98.8%) of the users of work instruments have the opinion that the work instruments they use are 'always' or 'often' available in English. By comparison, according to the results in Table 221 on the next page, about 4 of 5 (79.2%) work instrument users stated the opinion that the work instruments they use are 'always' or 'often' available in French.

Nearly 80% of Francophone respondents think that the work instruments they use are 'always' (43.9%) or 'often' (34.9%) available in French. Comparatively, virtually all (99%) Anglophone respondents have the opinion that the work instruments they use are 'always' (93.5%) or 'often' (5.5%) available in English.

TABLE 220: 'Q20 - Frequency of Availability of Work Instruments in English'

BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - Work Instrument Users Only

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q20 - Frequency of availability of work instruments in 'English'	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
ALWAYS	93.5%	3166	78.3%	1552	87.9%	4718
OFTEN	5.5%	185	20.3%	402	10.9%	587
SELDOM	0.1%	5	1.1%	21	0.5%	26
NEVER	0.1%	5	0.2%	3	0.1%	8
DON'T KNOW	0.8%	26	0.3%	5	0.6%	31
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3387	100.0%	1983	100.0%	5370
NOT STATED	28		14		42
GRAND TOTAL	3415		1997		5412

TABLE 221: 'Q21 - Frequency of Availability of Work Instruments in French'

BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - Work Instrument Users Only

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q21 - Frequency of availability of work instruments in 'French'	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
ALWAYS	60.7%	1937	43.9%	871	54.3%	2808
OFTEN	18.7%	597	34.9%	692	24.9%	1289
SELDOM	4.1%	132	17.1%	340	9.1%	472
NEVER	3.3%	104	3.4%	67	3.3%	171
DON'T KNOW	13.1%	419	0.7%	14	8.4%	433
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3189	100.0%	1984	100.0%	5173
NOT STATED	226		13		239
GRAND TOTAL	3415		1997		5412

3.4.4 Availability of Professional Training Courses in Language of Choice

Close to 80% of respondents have attended a professional training course provided by their department/agency in the last two years (See Table 223, Appendix IV).

In total, approximately 86% of professional training course attendees are satisfied with the availability of these courses in either official language. However there is a difference of 25.5% between the percentage of satisfied Anglophone respondents (95.1%) versus satisfied Francophone respondents (69.6%). Nearly 30% of Francophone respondents would prefer greater availability of professional courses in French.

TABLE 226: 'Q26 - Satisfaction With Availability of Professional Training Courses in Either Official Language' BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' - Course Attendees in Last Two Years Only

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q26 - Satisfaction with availability of professional training in either official language	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
SATISFIED	95.1%	2756	69.6%	1199	85.6%	3955
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE ENGLISH	2.9%	84	1.1%	19	2.2%	103
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE FRENCH	2.0%	59	29.3%	504	12.2%	563
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	2899	100.0%	1722	100.0%	4621
NOT STATED	52		20		72
GRAND TOTAL	2951		1742		4693

From the results in Table 224 on the next page, practically all (97.1%) of the respondents who attended a professional training course provided by their department/agency in the last two years believe these training courses are available either 'always' or 'often' in English. By contrast, Table 225 on the next page reveals that about half (50.9%) of the respondents perceive that the courses are available either 'always' or 'often' in French.

Of all the Francophone respondents, about 47% offered the opinion that these professional courses are 'seldom' (33%) or 'never' (13.5%) available in French. Conversely, just about all (98.3%) of the Anglophone respondents expressed the opinion that the professional courses provided by their department/agency are available 'always' (91.8%) or 'often' (6.5%) in English.

TABLE 224: 'Q24 - Frequency of Availability of Professional Training Courses in English'

BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' Course Attendees in Last Two Years Only

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q24 - Frequency of availability of professional training courses in 'English'	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
ALWAYS	91.8%	2693	69.8%	1205	83.6%	3898
OFTEN	6.5%	191	25.5%	440	13.5%	631
SELDOM	0.6%	18	3.2%	56	1.6%	74
NEVER	0.4%	13	0.9%	15	0.6%	28
DON'T KNOW	0.6%	19	0.6%	11	0.6%	30
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	2934	100.0%	1727	100.0%	4661
NOT STATED	17		15		32
GRAND TOTAL	2951		1742		4693

TABLE 225: 'Q25 - Frequency of Availability of Professional Training Courses in French'

BY 'Q2 - First Official Language' Course Attendees in Last Two Years Only

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q25 - Frequency of availability of professional training courses in 'French'	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
ALWAYS	30.0%	820	20.9%	358	26.5%	1178
OFTEN	20.8%	568	30.0%	515	24.4%	1083
SELDOM	9.3%	253	33.0%	565	18.4%	817
NEVER	8.6%	235	13.5%	231	10.5%	466
DON'T KNOW	31.3%	854	2.6%	45	20.2%	899
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	2730	100.0%	1714	100.0%	4444
NOT STATED	221		28		249
GRAND TOTAL	2951		1742		4693

3.4.5 Official Language of Communication with Immediate Supervisor

Approximately 92% of responding employees are satisfied with the official language used in communicating with their immediate supervisor. Nevertheless, about 15% of Francophone responding employees would prefer to see more French used in communications with their immediate supervisor.

TABLE 228: 'Q28 - Satisfaction With Communication With Immediate Supervisor in Either Official Language' BY 'Q2 - First Official Language'

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q28 - Satisfaction with communication with immediate supervisor in either official language	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
SATISFIED	96.8%	3537	84.1%	1754	92.2%	5291
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE ENGLISH	2.2%	81	0.6%	13	1.6%	94
DISSATISFIED - PREFER MORE FRENCH	1.0%	37	15.3%	319	6.2%	356
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3655	100.0%	2086	100.0%	5741
NOT STATED	141		68		209
GRAND TOTAL	3796		2154		5950

As shown in Table 227 on the following page, Just more than three-quarters (77.4%) of responding employees communicate with their immediate supervisor 'in English only' or 'mostly English'. Communication with the immediate supervisor 'in French only' or 'mostly French' was reported by just 14% of respondents. The remaining respondents (8.7%) reported that the communication was 'in English & French equally'.

Communication with the immediate supervisor 'in English only' or' mostly English' was offered as a response by about 95% of Anglophone respondents. Among Francophone respondents, close to 46% stated this opinion. The remaining Francophone respondents reported that communications with their immediate supervisor are either 'in French only' (16%) or 'mostly French' (20.3%) or 'in English & French equally' (17.9%).

TABLE 227: 'Q27 - Official Language Used in Communicating with Immediate Supervisor'

BY Q2 - First Official Language'

Q2: FIRST OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
Q27 - Official language in communications with immediate supervisor	ENGLISH		FRENCH		TOTAL
	%	n	%	n	%	n
ENGLISH ONLY	82.8%	3076	28.7%	603	63.3%	3679
MOSTLY ENGLISH	12.4%	460	17.1%	358	14.1%	818
FRENCH ONLY	0.3%	10	16.0%	336	6.0%	346
MOSTLY FRENCH	1.0%	37	20.3%	427	8.0%	464
ENGLISH & FRENCH EQUALLY	3.6%	133	17.9%	375	8.7%	508
TOTAL RESPONSES	100.0%	3716	100.0%	2099	100.0%	5815
NOT STATED	80		55		135
GRAND TOTAL	3796		2154		5950

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