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Evaluation of the
Employment Equity Audit Program
Management Summary - Final Report
September, 2002 ANNEX B Description of Elements and Structure of the Program Logic Model The following is a narrative description of the elements of the logic model for the Employment Equity Audit Program: Objectives The amendments to the EE Act in 1995 conferred upon the Canadian Human Rights Commission the authority and the responsibility to audit the performance of all employers under the Act’s jurisdiction. Specifically, under a section titled, “Compliance Audits”, the Act states that “The Commission is responsible for the enforcement of the obligations imposed on employers by sections 5, 9 to 15 and 17.” The objective shown on the logic model, “to ensure employers comply with the EE Act and Regulations”, is a reflection of this section of the Act and is wording that the EE Branch officers interviewed were comfortable with. Activities and Outputs The activities depicted in the chart are the major activities of the Branch which contribute to the satisfaction of the program’s objectives. As such, the chart does not show all of the work activities of the branch and, for example, it excludes strictly administrative activities such as staffing. There are two primary categories of activities: those directly related to the audit of individual employers and those not directly related to the audit of individual employers. Activities directly related to the audits of individual employers comprise the conduct of audits, the monitoring of EE plan implementation, the negotiation of undertakings, the recommendation for directions and the referral of cases to Tribunal. The primary activity of the program is the audit of employers. The chart shows audits being composed of desk audits, on-site audits and the analysis of data. While each of these activities are an integral part of the audit process, some Branch officers preferred to see the separate components distinguished in the model. It should be noted that the “analysis of data” activity includes not only the analysis conducted by Compliance Review Officers but also the statistical analyses that are conducted by the Statistical Analysis Unit. The outputs of the audit activity are the audit reports and advice. The audit reports include both interim and final reports. Compliance Review Officers also reported that they may also provide advice to the employers in the course of the audit on what is required to achieve compliance. The second activity shown in the chart is the monitoring of EE Plan implementation. Once employers are found to be in compliance through the audit process, the Commission intends to monitor their progress in implementing their EE Plans and achieving their hiring, promotion and representation goals. This will be done by reviewing the annual reports that private sector employers submit to Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), and the reports on federal departments obtained from TBS. Reasonable progress towards EE plan goals will be assessed and follow-up audits may be conducted if there are concerns about progress. This stage has not yet been reached because the emphasis of the Branch has been on audits and significant numbers of employers have only recently begun to reach the compliance stage. The output of the monitoring of EE Plan implementation has not yet been specified. It is expected that there will be some analysis produced but at this point the format and content has not been determined. The negotiation of undertakings is a critical activity in the achievement of the program’s objectives. Through this activity, employers make a commitment to change their practices to come into compliance with the Act. The output of this activity is the undertakings which employers sign. When an employer refuses to agree to undertakings or has not completed the work to which they committed in the undertaking, the Branch may recommend that a direction be issued compelling the employer to take compliance action. This activity may be considered to be an enforcement type of activity. The outcome resulting from this activity are the directions that are issued by the Commission. In cases where an employer does not comply with a direction, the Branch may recommend that the Commission refer the case to the EE Review Tribunal. If the Tribunal concurs with the recommendation of the Commission, it will produce an order to the employer which is the output of this activity. In extreme cases, when an order is not complied with, the Commission can have a tribunal order registered with the Federal Court. However, this is expected to be a rare occurrence and in fact has not yet occurred. For this reason, the activity of registering tribunal orders with the Federal Court is not depicted on the logic model. The remaining activities depicted on the chart are not directly related to the audit of individual employers but are still viewed as contributing to the objectives of the program. These other activities include: preparing the annual report; developing and delivering training; and, developing audit manuals, guides and tools. The Annual Report serves a statutory requirement but is also seen by Branch officers as influencing the behaviour of employers to be compliant with the Act. In preparing the Annual Report, non-compliers are highlighted and models for compliance are also described. The output of this activity is the Annual Report. The development of training and educational material is an activity conducted by both the Statistical Analysis Unit and the Policy and Legislation group. Training is prepared and delivered to employers, consultants, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and other interested parties. The outputs of this activity are the training sessions and educational material, including web site content. The development of audit manuals, guides and tools is also conducted by both the Policy and Legislation group and the Statistical Analysis Unit. These activities guide the audit activities and therefore are expected impact the effectiveness and efficiency of audits. The outputs of this activity are the manuals, guides, templates, tools, etc. that are developed. Outcomes In terms of immediate outcomes, the outputs of the audits and the monitoring of the implementation of employer EE Plans either lead to employers to be found compliant or to employers responding to the audit or plan analysis in some fashion. Similarly, the employer undertakings, directions and orders are expected to lead to the employer responding in some fashion. It is expected that the response to these outputs will subsequently lead to the audited employers taking compliance action. The training sessions and educational material are expected to make the broad population of employers subject to the Act more knowledgeable of the requirements of the Act and Regulations. By being more knowledgeable, it is expected that this will lead them to taking action to make themselves compliant. The annual reports also are expected to play an education role in making employers more knowledgeable of EE requirements, how companies successfully comply and what the consequences of non-compliance are. Again, by being more knowledgeable, it is expected that this will lead employers to taking action to make themselves compliant. The annual reports are also expected to make NGO’s and the public aware of the activities of the Commission in EE which is expected to lead to some expectation or pressure on employers to take compliance action. The audit manuals, templates, guides, tools, etc. that are produced are expected to lead to audits being more effective and efficient. By being more effective, audits are expected to lead to compliance action which is closely corresponds to the objectives of the EE Act. By being more efficient, it is expected that a greater number of audits can be conducted, touching on more employers and affected employees, targeting efforts to activities that will produce the greatest level of desired outcomes with given resource levels. The audit and audit-related activities (i.e., conduct desk audits) and the preparation of the Annual Reports, the outputs (i.e., audit report) that they produce and the immediate outcomes (i.e., employers take compliance action) that result from them are expected to lead to the general population of employers subject to the EE Act being aware of the audit activities which are conducted by the Commission. The audit and related activities are postulated to lead to an awareness of audit activities by word-of-mouth. However, the Annual Reports are expected to have a broader and more direct impact on awareness of the audit activities. It is expected that if employers are aware of audit activities there will be some deterrent effect leading them to take compliance action on their own volition. Awareness of the EE Act should also have an encouraging and positive effect, in addition to a deterrent effect on employers. All of the activities in the model are expected to lead to employers taking compliance action. It is expected that by taking these actions, employers will become compliant with the EE Act and Regulations. This level of outcome corresponds to the objective of the program. However, the ultimate outcome sought through the audits is that employers, by being compliant, will employ employment practices that are non-discriminatory and that this in turn will lead to higher representation of designated groups. It should be noted that these ultimate outcomes correspond more directly to the objectives of the EE Act. Accordingly, while the EE Audit Program is expected to contribute to these ultimate outcomes, the achievement of these outcomes is more directly related to the effectiveness of the EE Act. Back to top
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