Subject to sub-section 8.1, this policy will come into force in each
department or agency at such date as determined by the deputy head based on
operational requirements, commencing April 1, 2003, but not later than April 1,
2004.
At the time that this policy comes into force in each department or agency,
it will replace the Long Term Specified Period Employment Policy (1999).
The Treasury Board Secretariat in consultation with departments/agencies and
bargaining agents will review this policy no later than 2006.
- Term employment is one option to meet temporary business needs.
- There are valid requirements for using term employment, such as
backfilling temporary vacancies resulting from indeterminate employees on
leave and acting/developmental assignments, short-term projects and
fluctuating workloads.
- Merit is the fundamental principle of hiring all employees, including term
employees, into the Public Service.
- Decisions requiring the use of term employment should form part of the
longer-term internal staffing, recruitment and retention strategies that are
integrated with departmental business planning at corporate, regional and
local levels.
- Management of sunset funding should be linked to human resources plans to
minimize the use of term employees.
- Term employment should not be used as a substitute probationary period for
indeterminate staffing.
- Term employees should be treated fairly and responsibly (i.e. reasonable
renewal/ non-renewal notice, performance feedback,
appointments/re-appointments that truly reflect the expected duration of the
work, and orientation upon initial appointment).
To balance the fair treatment of term employees with the need for operational
flexibility.
There are valid operational requirements that call for the use of the term
employment option. This option should be used, however, only in situations where
a need clearly exists for a limited time and is not anticipated to become a
permanent ongoing need.
This policy applies to term employees for whom the Treasury Board is the
employer, and who have been appointed under the Public Service Employment Act
(PSEA) or any exclusion approval order made there under.
Departments/agencies have the delegated authority to give effect to this
policy and are accountable for the results. Departments/agencies are expected,
through improved human resources planning and integration with business
planning, to move from a short- to a longer-term focus in their hiring
strategies.
Departments/agencies are accountable for results based on the following
indicators:
- The frequency with which departments/agencies are required to make
appointments in accordance with the regulation created pursuant to PSEA
10(2);
- The nature and frequency of complaints brought to the attention of the
Treasury Board Secretariat or the Public Service Commission through existing
mechanisms where the practices of a department/agency are found at fault
concerning:
- the non-renewal of term employees near the three-year mark where there
is a continuing function and where the qualifications for the job remain
the same; or
- the withholding of indeterminate status; or
- insufficient notice of renewal and of non-renewal.
The Treasury Board Secretariat will monitor this policy to ensure its success
in meeting its intended objective.
1. Subject to section 7.2, where a person who has been employed in the same
department/agency as a term employee for a cumulative working period (see
definition in Appendix A) of three (3) years
without a break in service longer than sixty (60) consecutive calendar days, the
department/agency must appoint the employee indeterminately at the level of
his/her substantive position. This appointment must be made in accordance with
merit as provided for in the Public Service Employment Regulations
established by the Public Service Commission. The "same department"
includes functions that have been transferred from another department/agency by
an act of Parliament or order-in-council.
2. Departments/agencies, in determining whether a period of term employment
in the same department/agency will count as part of the cumulative working
period, must take the following into consideration:
- a period of leave of absence without pay longer than 60 consecutive
calendar days does not constitute a break in service and will not be
included in the calculation of the cumulative working period for appointment
to indeterminate status under this policy;
- a period of part-time employment for term employees hired under the Public
Service Employment Act is equal to an equivalent period of full-time
employment (not pro-rated);
- periods of employment as a part-time worker (persons not ordinarily
required to work more than one-third of the normal work week) shall not
count as part of the cumulative working period;
- periods of casual employment, as defined in the Public Service
Employment Act, shall not count as part of the cumulative working
period. Casual employment following term employment is considered as a break
in service in the calculation of the 60 consecutive calendar days; and
- periods worked through student employment programs established by Treasury
Board (e.g., FSWEP, COOP) shall not count as part of the cumulative working
period. Work in a student employment program following term employment is
considered as a break in service in the calculation of the 60 consecutive
calendar days.
Periods of term employment where the source of funding for salary dollars is
from external sources and for a limited duration (sunset funding) shall not
count as part of the cumulative working period. Departments/agencies must
identify a program, project, or initiative as being sunset funded for the
purposes of this policy. Term employees must be advised in writing, at the time
that they are offered employment or re-appointed in such
programs/projects/initiatives, that their period of employment will not count in
the calculation of the cumulative working period for indeterminate appointment.
However, periods of term employment immediately before and after such employment
shall count as part of the cumulative working period where no break in service
longer than 60 consecutive calendar days has occurred.
In circumstances where a department/agency has given notice to the employer
that, in reviewing its financial situation over the planning horizon (2-3
years), it can establish that the indeterminate appointment of term employees
would result in workforce adjustment situations in the department overall, the
department will advise affected employees employed on a term basis, in writing,
that any further time spent in their current position will not count in the
calculation of the cumulative working period for indeterminate appointment.
In the latter two situations departments/agencies must inform their
bargaining agents.
3. In making indeterminate appointments pursuant to the Public Service
Employment Regulations, departments/agencies must ensure term employees meet the
standard of competence for their position, including the Official Language
requirements.
4. Where a person employed as a term employee will be renewed, will not be
renewed, or will be laid off before the originally specified end of term,
departments/agencies are required to provide one month written notification to
the employee.
5. In circumstances where it would not be advantageous for a term employee to
be appointed indeterminately as a result of the requirements of this policy, the
term employee may make a written request to his/her manager not to proceed with
an indeterminate appointment. With the written agreement of both parties no
action will be taken to appoint indeterminately.
1. The department/agency will provide for a temporary review mechanism for a
term employee who believes he/she is not being renewed for the purpose of not
being made indeterminate. This temporary review mechanism is to be determined by
the deputy head in consultation with the applicable departmental bargaining
agents, and will cover the period up to the date of the coming into force of
this policy in each department or agency, from April 1, 2003 but not later than
April 1, 2004.
2. Time accumulated under the Long Term Specified Period Employment Policy
(1999) will continue to count towards the calculation of the cumulative working
period on the coming into force of this policy.
Financial Administration Act, section 11(2)(a)
Public Service Employment Act, subsection 10(2)
Public Service Employment Regulations 5 (2)(c )
Public Service Staff Relations Act
Enquiries relating to this policy should be referred to the responsible
officer designated in departmental/organizational headquarters who, in turn, may
direct questions regarding interpretation to the Human Resources Management
Office of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
Break in service (Interruption de service) - A break between
periods of employment, pursuant to the PSEA, of more than sixty (60) consecutive
calendar days. (This definition is only applicable to this policy.)
Cumulative working period (Période de travail cumulative) -
The period of time counted in the same department to determine whether or not a
term employee meets the requirement for indeterminate appointment
Sunset-funding exception-external sources (Exception du financement
temporarisé-sources externes) - Funding of a limited duration that the
department receives from external sources, either from the private sector or
another public service organization. (This includes shared agreements for whole
or partial funding with a provincial government, or funds received from TB or
another department to carry out a program/project/activity of a limited
duration.) Reallocation of monies within a department to carry out a specific
project/activity would not meet the definition of external sources.
Part-time employee (Employé à temps partiel) - A person
employed to work less than the normal daily or weekly hours of work established
for a full-time employee of the same occupational group and level, and is an
employee as defined in the Public Service Staff Relations Act or the Public
Service Employment Act.
Part-time worker (Travailleur à temps partiel) - A person who
is not ordinarily required to work more than one-third of the normal work week
and who is not an employee as defined in the Public Service Staff
Relations Act or the Public Service Employment Act.
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