Evidence of meeting #82 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was process.
A video is available from Parliament.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Okay.
Does the legislation envision any reporting to Parliament in terms of the number of cases that are reviewed and the outcomes? Is there anything in the legislation for reporting?
5 p.m.
Director General, Workplace Directorate, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
There isn't anything in the legislation with respect to reporting to Parliament, but there would be reporting to the labour program.
Right now employers are required to report, on an annual basis, issues of serious injuries and fatalities in the workplace. The legislation envisions expanding that so that employers would have to report to the labour program on any incident of violence or harassment in the workplace that they would investigate. It's not necessarily just when the labour program is involved.
5 p.m.
Director General, Workplace Directorate, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
That's something we'll have to determine through the regulatory process.
5 p.m.
Director General, Workplace Directorate, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
Currently, in terms of the reporting with regard to the information the labour program receives now on incidents of injuries and fatalities, a report is rolled up and made available on the labour program's website.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Then it might be possible to include something—obviously not personal details and confidential information, but just general statistics, right?
What's the time frame on the review of the legislation? We're putting this in place and we want to make sure it's working. Is there any kind of review to make sure things are going well, or not well?
5:05 p.m.
Director General, Workplace Directorate, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
That's not something that's included in the legislation, but as part of normal practices in the department, there are evaluations and audits done on programs. It's possible that in the future an evaluation or audit that would be done in the occupational health and safety program would include these provisions.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Okay. Thank you.
The employer has to hire a third party: is that what I heard?
5:05 p.m.
Director General, Strategic Policy, Analysis and Workplace, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
It doesn't necessarily have to be “hire”. Through the regulations, we'll spell out what a competent person is, and that person.... I think the key part is that it's impartial and has to be agreed to by both parties. Is it an external person? In some cases, it may be. In other cases, if you're in a large organization, such as the public service—
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
I'm actually thinking about a member of Parliament. A member of Parliament has a member's office budget. Would that person be someone we'd have to hire? If so, is it coming out of the office budget, or would there be a provision within the House of Commons to be able to provide for that third party?
5:05 p.m.
Charles Bernard Director General, Portfolio and Government Affairs, Public Services and Procurement Canada
It would be up to Parliament to decide how to implement the program. Parliament determines its own structures, so it would decide who would have to pay, when, and how.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Mona Fortier Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
I'd like to stay on this topic.
Is there anything you would recommend to us, as committee members, in the event that we had to address the issue? Would you have any advice for us?
5:05 p.m.
Director General, Portfolio and Government Affairs, Public Services and Procurement Canada
It would be very unwise of me to give you any advice. That said, best practices certainly exist. I think members of Parliament will be able to determine adequate rules and procedures on their own.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Mona Fortier Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
Thank you.
Currently, how many cases does an inspector handle every year, on average?
5:05 p.m.
Director General, Workplace Directorate, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
I don't have that number in front of me. I'd have to get back to you.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Mona Fortier Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
I don't know whether you've looked at any research on the subject, but I'd like to know whether you think this new legislation could mean an increase in inspector personnel.
If so, would you need more resources?
5:05 p.m.
Director General, Strategic Policy, Analysis and Workplace, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
It's important to note that right now there are provisions under the code for violence. The inspectors are already receiving complaints on them and undertaking investigations. There are provisions on sexual harassment as well. They're just different, and what they're investigating is different. There already are inspectors out in the field working on these.
What we're planning to do, in preparation for the legislation, is to make sure these inspectors have adequate training to deal with harassment specifically, understand the legislation, and are able to help both the complainants and the employers to understand what their rights and responsibilities are under the legislation, as well as undertake investigations where warranted.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Mona Fortier Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
I see.
Switching gears now, I'm going to turn to one of the proposed measures, the 1-800 line.
How do you think the measure will be implemented? How will people be able to call and then receive service? How do you see that taking shape?
5:05 p.m.
Director General, Strategic Policy, Analysis and Workplace, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
That's one of the details we are still working through to have it in place when the legislation does come into force. We're calling it an outreach hub, and it would be a 1-800 line that employees and employers could call. There would specially trained individuals who would be able to refer them.
In some cases they may need local community support. They may need help immediately. The individual would be able to refer them there, but they would also be able to help them navigate the process. They would say, “Here are your rights under the code. Here is what your employer is required to do”, and walk them through it step by step.
In the same regard, that same outreach hub would be able to help employers by providing them with sample policies they may wish to use, again making sure they understand very clearly what their responsibilities are under the code.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Mona Fortier Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
Thank you.
Given your rather long history with this file, I'm curious as to whether you have any concerns around the bill's implementation. Practical elements come to mind, as well as aspects that might need to be developed.
5:10 p.m.
Director General, Strategic Policy, Analysis and Workplace, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
To be honest, one of the things that I'm planning, one of the big parts when we move forward with new legislation, is making sure people understand that the law has changed and that they understand their roles and responsibilities.
On harassment and violence, there is already so much media attention around it and so much heightened interest in it that in one way we don't have to be drumming up interest in it. In that way, what I'm finding is that people are coming to us, whereas in the past, we would have had to proactively go out and find people to make sure they paid attention.
We have people coming to us saying, “What do we need to do? We want to make the change in our workplace.” For me, that's very optimistic, and that will certainly help us in the implementation phase.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Mona Fortier Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
You just raised an important point. As the representative for the Ottawa—Vanier riding, much of my work is based in Ottawa.
Could you describe what happens outside the national capital region, in other words, in more rural and remote regions?
Do the people in those regions know that this legislation is coming down the pike? Do they know that it is meant to protect them, or give them the ability to make a complaint if they are dealing with a situation in the workplace?
5:10 p.m.
Director General, Workplace Directorate, Labour Program, Department of Employment and Social Development
There will be more knowledge and interest with regard to the legislation once we start doing some of the consultations on regulations. Before the end of the fiscal year, we intend to speak to stakeholders and others about their experiences so that we can understand the specifics that need to be included in the regulations to ensure that they actually function for every type of federally regulated workplace and for every size of organization.
