HR info RH Bulletin
CA-266-20-12
This week's edition includes:
Mental Health Resources: Specialized Organizational Services (SOS)
During this unprecedented time, it’s so important for us to take time to support one another in our mental health paths. It is up to all of us to encourage open and honest discussions in our virtual workplace about mental illness and mental health – and help remove the stigma. Tools and resources are available, and this week’s spotlight is on Specialized Organizational Services (SOS).
Through our department’s National Service Agreement with Health Canada, all managers have access to Specialized Organizational Services (SOS) for mental health in the workplace, team building, stress management, as well as professional and organizational change management.
- The SOS is a cost-recovery service for managers and their teams to strengthen employee wellness and organizational health, offering customized solutions on workplace health and team effectiveness. Services include: Stress and Anger Management, Management Support, Building Resilience, Balancing Work and Family, etc.
- Some services may be covered fully or partially under a national service agreement that ESDC has with Health Canada.
- A variety of “on-demand” Mental Health related COVID-19 learning workshops are now available for managers and their teams.
To access SOS, managers must contact Health Canada’s Specialized Organizational Services marketing services at 1-888-366-8213 or send an email to: info-sos.
Mental Health Resource: Checking-in with Your Colleagues and Employees
At the end of an unprecedented year, maintaining connection with our colleagues and employees is more important than ever.
HRSB’s Workplace Mental Health team invites you to take part in a facilitated workshop to learn about a check-in tool to use with colleagues or team members, in order to find out how they are doing in their work and personal lives.
This tool can also be used individually to pause and self-reflect, or at the beginning of a team meeting to help you engage in a discussion on how everyone is coping.
Register through Saba, and join us on December 15 to learn more.
Available Talent Inventories and Pools
Are your management teams looking to fill vacant positions? If so, we encourage you to look at Public Service Commission (PSC) inventories and pools filled with eager candidates and students. They are ready to bring their fresh ideas, perspectives and talents to the federal public service.
PSC products will not only help you in reducing the time it takes to staff, they also contribute to our collective commitment to create a diverse workforce. Representation can be increased through recruitment. More specifically, this can be achieved by targeting employment equity groups when requesting candidates and students through the PSC’s various talent products.
Resources include:
- Post-secondary Recruitment Inventories:
- Indigenous Career Pathways (ICP): An inventory developed to help hiring managers recruit Indigenous graduates who have previous student experience in the federal public service.
- Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP): An inventory of students at all levels (high school, CEGEP, college and university) and from a variety of fields who are available to work throughout the year. FSWEP is a great method to increase representation in your organization.
- Recruitment of Policy Leaders (RPL) and Emerging Talent Pool (ETP): Pools of fully assessed candidates and exceptional leaders (from a variety of backgrounds, and with a range of experience and skills) ready to tackle public policy challenges in mid- to senior-level policy jobs, at the EC-5 to EC-7 level and at the EC-04 level for the ETP.
Other Programs and Inventories:
- Federal Internship for Newcomers (FIN) Program: A program that helps public service managers hire eligible newcomers to fill temporary job opportunities.
- ESDC Pool Inventory (NCR): An inventory of pools available at ESDC.
Please contact your Human Resources Advisor via the Human Resources Service Centre for any questions related to hiring from these inventories and pools.
New Collective Agreements
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) have signed new collective agreements for the following groups:
- Programs and Administrative Services (PA) (agreement signed on October 23, 2020)
- Technical Services (TC) (agreement signed on October 23, 2020)
- Education and Library Science (EB) (agreement signed on November 6, 2020)
- Operation Services (SV) (agreement signed on November 6, 2020)
The implementation of the salary retroactivity will occur as follows:
- The Programs and Administrative Services (PA) new rates of pay will be updated on November 14, 2020, and will be reflected on the regular pay dated November 25, 2020. The payment for the retroactive period covering the period from June 21, 2018 to October 28, 2020 will be reflected on the February 3, 2021 pay cheque.
- The Technical Services (TC) new rates of pay will be updated on December 8, 2020, and will be reflected on the regular pay dated December 23, 2020. The payment for the retroactive period from June 22, 2018 to November 25, 2020, will be reflected on the March 17, 2021 pay cheque.
- The Education and Library Science (EB) new rates of pay will be updated on February 2, 2021, and will be reflected on the regular pay dated February 17, 2021. The payment for the retroactive period from July 1, 2018 until January 20, 2021 will be reflected on the April 14, 2021 pay cheque.
- The Operation Services (SV) new rates of pay will be updated on December 8, 2020, and will be reflected on the regular pay dated December 23, 2020. The payment for the retroactive period from August 5, 2018 until November 25, 2020 will be reflected on the March 17, 2021 pay cheque.
The non-pensionable $500 payment will be paid out to employees, if applicable, within 180 days of the collective agreement signature in recognition of the extended implementation timeframes. This payment should be processed in April 2021, and will appear on the pay stub under the description “initial implement lump sum payment”.
Additional information on this subject, including an update on Phoenix damages, will be communicated in an upcoming Pay Bulletin.
Premiums Payment Related to Work Schedule Changes
Employees who are on a shift work schedule or a schedule that implies working late hours, must be paid in accordance to their collective agreement. In support of this, two new procedural guides on modifying work schedules, namely the Hours of Work: Adapting to a New Reality of COVID-19 and the Shift Work: Adapting to a New Reality have been developed.
Note that late hour premiums apply only to employees who are under the Program and Administrative Services (PA) collective agreement. These premiums relate to work that is not considered overtime and that is performed outside of normal working hours (e.g., between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. or between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., Monday to Friday). On the other hand, shift work means that the work schedule is on a rotating or irregular basis (e.g., hours of work that do not meet the criteria for day work).
In the wake of the impacts generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, if managers have approved schedule changes for their employees outside of normal working hours, they must now ensure that employees are properly compensated from the beginning of their new schedule (for some employees, the work schedule may have varied over several weeks). This exercise may not be easy, especially if changes to a working schedule that generate the payment of late hours premium or shift premiums were not confirmed in writing or reflected in myEMS (PeopleSoft) in a timely fashion.
Consequently, retroactive shift premiums or late hour premiums should only be approved when management acknowledges having authorized such a change to the employee’s work schedule. Some managers may have to rely on their employee’s word to determine when the schedule change took effect or when the employee worked late hours. For some, this may mean reviewing their work schedule from March 2020.
Of note, it is important to ensure the accuracy of the schedules inputted into myEMS (PeopleSoft). As with all retroactive payments, this may have impacts in the Phoenix pay system.
Specific procedures for setting up schedules, and for claiming shift or late hour premium payments, can be found in the Procedural Guides under the How to implement section (Hours of Work: Adapting to a New Reality of COVID-19 and the Shift Work: Adapting to a New Reality).
Managers must enter schedule changes in myEMS (PeopleSoft), and accept payment of premiums for these employees. For an employee to claim payment for the late hour premium, requests must be sent via Phoenix self-service. Refer to the Shift and Late Hour Premiums page for the instructions.
Note that any requests submitted more than six months after the work was completed will not be accepted in Phoenix and must be submitted using the Extra Duty Pay/Shiftwork Report and Authorization GC-179 form.
If managers have specific questions concerning the procedural guides or the management of work schedules, they are encouraged to contact Labour Relations via the Human Resources Service Centre (select “General HR Enquiry Form”). If managers encounter difficulty when changing an employee work schedule or paying shift or late hour premium, they should follow instructions on How to submit a Pay Escalation.
Vacation Leave Scheduling
The COVID-19 pandemic has created unique challenges and changes in our lives. Even though most employees continue to work remotely, taking annual leave is important as it promotes mental and physical health and wellbeing.
Vacation Leave entitlements should be used during the fiscal year in which they are earned. As such, employees should be scheduling Vacation Leave to take the time to rest and recharge away from work.
In addition, a Labour Relations Update on Vacation Leave Usage has been developed to assist managers when holding discussions with their employees on Vacation Leave scheduling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Managers should continue to be sensitive to personal circumstances that employees face during the pandemic, and must continue to discuss the impact these circumstances may have on their ability to work.
Questions
Managers should contact Labour Relations via the Human Resources Service Centre should they have any other questions/concerns on this matter.