Current

• Current Audits
• Follow-up Audits
• Evaluations
• Statistical Studies

Current audits

We intend to complete the following audits during the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

• Audit of the Movement of Public Servants between the Federal Public Service and Ministers’ Offices
  
  The focus of this government-wide audit is to determine the extent of movement of public servants between the public service and ministers’ offices, and whether the staffing requirements of the applicable legislation and policies are met for public servants returning from ministers’ offices.  The audit covers the period April 1990 to September 2006 and is limited to staffing transactions made to and within the public service in organizations subject to the Public Service Employment Act. Ministers’ staff joining the public service for the first time after working in ministers’ offices are not included in this audit.  Further information is outlined in the Initial Scoping Report available on our Web site http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/adt-vrf/rprt/2007/scp-roi/index-eng.htm.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2007

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• Government-wide Audit of Executive (EX) Appointments
  
  The objective of this government-wide audit is to determine whether EX appointment activities comply with the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) and other applicable legislation and policies, and with the instrument of delegation signed with the Public Service Commission. Audit activities will consist of a review of EX indeterminate and term appointment activities and documentation, as well as interviews with officials whose department or agency has signed an Appointment Delegation and Accountability Instrument (ADAI) with the PSC, through which authority for EX appointments has been delegated. The sample will comprise 100 % of activities at the EX-4 and 5 levels, and 50% of activities at the EX-1, 2 and 3 levels.
  
  The audit will cover the period starting January 1 and ending December 31, 2006.  Consequently, we will audit appointment activities conducted under the current PSEA.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2008
  

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• Audit of the NAFTA Secretariat - Canadian Section
  
  The objectives of the audit are to determine whether the NAFTA Secretariat – Canadian Section has an appropriate framework, systems, and practices in place to manage its staffing activities, and whether staffing activities comply with the Public Service Employment Act and other applicable legislation and policies and with the instruments of delegation signed with the Public Service Commission.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2007

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• Audit of the Office of the Correctional Investigator
  
  The objectives of the audit are to determine whether the Office of the Correctional Investigator has an appropriate framework, systems, and practices in place to manage its staffing activities; and whether staffing activities comply with the Public Service Employment Act and other applicable legislation and policies and with the instruments of delegation signed with the Public Service Commission.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2007

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• Audit of the Canadian Forces Grievance Board
  
  The objectives of the audit are to determine whether the Canadian Forces Grievance Board has an appropriate framework, systems, and practices in place to manage its staffing activities, and whether staffing activities comply with the Public Service Employment Act and other applicable legislation and policies and with the instruments of delegation signed with the Public Service Commission.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2007

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• Audit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) civilian members under the PSEA
  
  The objectives of the audit are to determine whether the RCMP has an appropriate framework, systems, and practices in place to manage its staffing activities; and whether staffing complies with the Public Service Employment Act and other governing authorities, and with the instruments of delegation signed with the Public Service Commission.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2008

Follow-up audits

As a result of our audits, we make recommendations for improvement to departments and agencies. The Commission may also remove or impose conditions on the delegation of staffing authority. We monitor the implementation of our recommendations and conduct follow-up audits. In those situations where the Commission has imposed conditions on the delegation of staffing authority, we proceed with follow-up audits when the results of our monitoring activities indicate that significant improvements have taken place and we may be in a position to recommend that the Commission remove the conditions imposed on the organization's delegated staffing authority.

Evaluations

• Evaluation Framework for the 5-Year Review of the new PSEA
  
  The Audit, Evaluation and Studies Branch is developing an evaluation framework focused on the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) responsibilities under the new Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), which came into force on December 31, 2005. This framework will help the PSC to develop a medium- to long-term studies and evaluation plan, establish meaningful performance measures, gather critical benchmark data, and continuously improve our oversight activities. Outputs of the framework will also be used by the PSC to prepare a comprehensive report in time for the five-year legislative review of the new PSEA.

Statistical studies:

• To what extent do casuals become employed under the Public Service Employment Act?
  
  Casual employment is a short-term employment option to hire persons to the public service. The casual hires identified in this study were made under the old Public Service Employment Act, which specified that such employment was for a period not exceeding 90 calendar days at one time, nor for more than 125 working days within any 12-month period in any one department. In 2005-2006, casual hires represented 39% of all hiring activities to the public service. The purpose of this study is to describe the incidence of specified-period (term) or indeterminate (permanent) appointments in the federal public service, subsequent to casual employment.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2007

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• New indeterminate employees: Who are they?
  
  In the Public Service Commission’s annual reports, figures for the prior employment status of indeterminate recruits reflect the status immediately prior to the indeterminate appointment. These figures, however, do not account for appointees coming back into the federal public service after a break in service.  This study takes a closer look at the prior federal public service experience of new indeterminate hires for fiscal years 1998-1999 through 2005-2006, distinguishing appointees with no prior experience from those appointed with or without a break in service following employment as a term, a casual, a student, a trainee or in an organization that is not subject to the Public Service Employment Act.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2007

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• Temporary versus Permanent Entries and Career Paths in the Federal Public Service
  
  Hiring on a temporary (casual, specified-period and student) basis is on the increase in the federal public service. Furthermore, permanent (indeterminate) hiring relies increasingly on the temporary workforce as its source of supply. Given these trends and their potential impact on the federal public service, the study will aim to determine whether the type of employment (temporary or permanent) at the entry port has any impact on the progression of a public service career.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2008

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• The Educational Profile of Appointees
  
  While data on education is captured by some departmental systems and through some large-scale employee surveys, only the Public Service Commission (PSC) Survey of Appointments gathers this information on recent appointees. This study will share what the PSC has learned over the past five years about the education of those appointed to and within the public service.
  
  Estimated publication date: 2008