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A.U.P.E. Local 005 The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Natural Resources and Conservation Services |
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Employee Management Advisory Committee August 22/02 Meeting Minutes
In attendance: Doug Gamble, Community Development (co-chair) Diane Dunn, Sustainable Resource Development HR (co-chair) Ray Andrews, Community Development Jason Hanson, Sustainable Resource Development FWD Doug Slatnik, Sustainable Resource Development FWD Kimpton Bradford, Sustainable Resource Development LFD Cathy Smith, Sustainable Resource Development LFD Audrey Hayward, Community Development HR Tom Archibald, Sustainable Resource Development FPD Jane Shaheen, Sustainable Resource Development HR As many members are new to the committee, Diane reviewed the terms of reference. Members agreed to make a change to item 7.6 – timing of meetings; semi annual meetings will now be held in late February and late August. The committee has two co-chairs; the HR Director and an AUPE Subsidiary Five representative. Doug Gamble is acting as co-chair for this meeting in place of Brian Randall. Doug agreed to chair today’s meeting. Review of November 2001 minutes
Current Agenda
At issue is whether all staff who are charged with an offence in relation to their work duties will have their legal fees covered by the employer. A question has arisen as to whether the department of Justice is following the policy as it is written. It is not always clear when indemnity coverage will be in effect and when it will not. The PAO directive on indemnity protection sets out the policy. One occurrence has fallen between the cracks; a point regarding internal investigation of a grievance was missed. Denis St. Arnaud was working on this last year to determine the way future situations should be handled. Deryl Empson (SRD) is currently working on the indemnity guidelines. ACTION - Diane Dunn will meet with Deryl and Lorne Saul-Demers (PAO) to determine what steps need to be taken. Diane stated that the recent availability of SPR packages has allowed the department to move forward with its restructuring goals, and to use the vacated positions in other ways. The restructuring is taking place form the top down, and the process is still unfolding. Approximately 80 SPR’s were approved, with the majority coming from Fish and Wildlife, and Public Lands. While the SPR actions have not eliminated the need for further F&W fiscal restraints, there are no specific plans for further reductions, at this time. ACTION – none needed; information item. Doug Gamble asked about the timelines/process for restructuring. The Deputy Minister, John Kristensen, sent an e-mail to all Comm Dev staff on June 26, detailing the interim measures being taken to complete the new organizational structure. He is trying to arrange a meeting with the Organizational Secretariat, but this has not yet been finalized. A matter of concern was raised regarding Park Ranger IVs’ lack of opportunity to be promoted to CO III’s. Some are being held over range as CO II’s. Some officers have been acting in the capacity of CO III’s for a year without an increment in pay. Doug suggested that if some CO II’s are promoted to CO III, consideration should be given to the fact that they missed an increment during their Acting time, and they should receive a double increment on promotion. This is a concern especially for those in their last five years of employment as it will affect the amount of their pension. A complication is that given the restructuring in progress, they are not acting in a specific, assigned CO III position. ACTION - No decision made. Audrey advised the committee that Michael Miller has recently been hired as CD’s OH&S consultant. He plans to establish an OH&S Committee for the department. Doug suggested that some of the former AENV staff members who were involved in OH&S Committees are now in CD; it might be good to have these people involved in CD’s committee. ACTION – none needed – information Kimpton noted that the GoA has a cost of living allowance in place for staff in Fort McMurray and asked if it would be possible to extend this to other locations in which higher costs of living make recruiting difficult. Diane Dunn responded that this is an issue that should be addressed at the bargaining table. She advised that to be considered, this request would have to be backed with facts proving that location and/or cost of living were impediments to the GoA’s ability to hire into positions in those locations. Doug Slatnik noted that the Fort McMurray cost of living allowance was put into place for a two year time period; it will be due for examination at the end of this time. ACTION – none required at this time. A meeting has been scheduled between PAO and the Union, to take place in late September. The conversion of Subsidiary 5 to the Hay plan will be reviewed at this time. Diane told the committee that all Subsidiaries, as well as Opted out and Excluded positions, are being converted to a Point Rating Evaluation Plan (PREP) which is based on the Hay method of job classification. Subsidiary six and OO&E conversions are complete, and the Subsidiary 2 conversion is almost finalized. The intention is to have this plan in place for all Subsidiaries within the next two years. Diane has prioritized getting Subsidiary five benchmark positions identified so that we can convert this Subsidiary sooner rather than later. There have been so many changes to the Subsidiary five jobs that it is difficult to apply criteria in making classification decisions. ACTION – Orientation on the new PREP system are being provided to management in each division to assist in the identification and documentation of potential benchmark jobs for Sub. 5. The process for identifying appropriate benchmark jobs to PAO is expected to be completed by mid October 2002. Doug informed the committee that some managers are informally negotiating hours of work that are in violation of the master agreement, with individuals or groups of employees. An example is agreeing that an individual or group is working compressed work weeks, but showing regular hours of work on time sheets. If the practice of compressed or flexible work hours is to continue, the schedule should be documented using a notwithstanding letter, to be put in place between the employer and the Union, for the specific area. Informal practices should be stopped and any future agreements for flex time should go through the Union. Doug noted that the Union has no problem supporting these arrangements as long as the employees want them; however, the practice should be transparent. ACTION – Diane Dunn will follow up to see what changes need to be made, and what already exists in the Directives and Regulations. Kimpton noted that the council has a concern with the employer insisting that an employee do something that he feels is in contravention to the AFTA Code of Ethics. The example used was that of a Forest Officer having to sign off on a procedure that doesn’t meet the Code of Ethics standards. Tom Archibald stated that if this were to happen, the individual should report the situation to AFTA. Diane added that the employee would have to make a judgement call based on the circumstances. Kimpton said there may be concerns with job security if a report was made; Doug noted that if a disciplinary issue were to arise, there is a process in place to deal with this. ACTION – none needed. SRD is continuing to recertify Conservation Officers in CD. Correspondence between the appropriate managers is currently taking place; the program is being reviewed and recommendations will be made for CD to embark on a certification/recertification program for its CO’s. ACTION – information update expected at next meeting. Kimpton suggested that the Employer revise the way northern allowance benefits are made to employees. If the allocation was to be divided between travel and medical travel, affected employees would see a larger tax deduction that would not increase the Employer’s costs associated with this benefit. ACTION – Kimpton will send an e-mail to Diane outlining his specific request; Diane will follow up to see if this change can be implemented. Doug noted that employment of wage staff has been an issue with the Union for a number of years. Are seasonal summer staff being treated as true wage or as temporary salaried employees? Many seasonal positions are filled by people who come back to work year after year (i.e. Firefighters, Fire Lookouts); the department values this continuity and the expertise that the returnees bring to the job. Doug referred to the Public Service Act, section 26 which states that wage employment "may be used (a) under conditions that do not permit employment throughout a day, week or month". He argues that wage staff in positions such as Air Tanker Base Manager, Rap Attack crew members and Parks Interpreters are hired annually for a finite period of time each year and as such should be salaried rather than wage employees. Diane noted that HR is currently identifying all wage and temporary salaried staff in response to the Union’s request. The circumstances described by Doug fall within the guidelines, agreed to by the AUPE for wage employment. ACTION – none identified. Jason asked about the status of Learning Accounts. Diane informed the committee that SRD’s Learning Account policies and procedures have just been updated and an e-mail had just gone out to all staff informing them of changes. Audrey noted that CD’s Learning Account policy is being adjusted and an update should be out within a week. Next Meeting to be scheduled for late February. |