Good morning, and thank you very much for the opportunity to be here to speak with you today.
My name is Jacqueline Rigg. I am the director general of civilian human resources management operations in the Department of National Defence. I oversee the operations of six civilian human resources centres across Canada. I work in partnership with civilian and military managers in the area of strategic and operational human resources management.
With me today is Susan Harrison, director of civilian labour relations. She's the director responsible for the civilian harassment policy.
To put my remarks today in context, I offer the following description of the DND civilian workforce.
Over the past 10 years, the Department of National Defence civilian workforce has ranged between 20,000 employees and 29,000 employees. The DND workforce is unionized, being represented by 10 bargaining agents covered by 18 collective agreements; 40% of the civilian workforce are females and are employed in all the occupational groups, ranging from executives to blue-collar trades. Approximately 70% of the entire workforce are managed by members of the Canadian Forces. The Department of National Defence is located in all regions of the country, including the north. National Defence is committed to providing a respectful workplace by promoting prevention, coupled with prompt resolution of harassment.
We believe that all civilians have the right to fairness, respect, and dignity, and to work in a workplace free of harassment. Our strong stance on harassment, including sexual harassment, is evidenced by our stand-alone policy on harassment and the associated tools to support the program.
The Department of National Defence has had a policy in place since 1982. In 2000, the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces harmonized their separate policies and introduced the DND and CF harassment prevention and resolution policy in advance of the similar Treasury Board of Canada policy. The context of the policy is that mutual trust, support, and respect for the dignity and rights of every person are essential characteristics of the work environment. The policy statement itself says:
The CF and DND are committed to providing a respectful workplace by promoting prevention and prompt resolution of harassment. All CF members and DND employees have the right to be treated fairly, respectfully and with dignity in a workplace free of harassment, and they have the responsibility to treat others in the same manner.
Harassment in any form constitutes unacceptable conduct and will not be tolerated. No CF member or DND employee shall subject any person in the workplace to harassment. Any member or employee who subjects another person to harassment is liable to disciplinary and administrative action.
Our policy conforms to the requirements of the Treasury Board of Canada policy issued in 2001 and is aligned to the new 2012 policy on harassment prevention and resolution released in October. All these policies require the establishment of a complaint procedure; methods of resolving complaints; and remedial, corrective, and restorative measures. DND is fully compliant.
That said, we are in the process of working with the Canadian Forces to revise and update our harmonized policy and all the associated tools. To further support the prevention of harassment in the workplace, accompanying the policy are comprehensive guidelines on prevention, roles and responsibilities, complaint handling, alternate dispute resolution, and workplace restoration. Other tools include guidance for managers' delegated responsibility under the policy and a handbook for all employees, which provides a description of the entire policy and program.
Additionally, all employees are required to take a Department of National Defence course on harassment awareness and prevention for employees or harassment awareness and prevention for supervisors. A similar course is also delivered through the Canada School of Public Service, or they may take one through the joint learning program of the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
While our policy and training are applicable to all Department of National Defence civilian employees, it is important to note that the prohibition of sexual harassment is reinforced by its inclusion in the majority of the collective agreements covering our employees. Grievances under these provisions can be referred to the Public Service Labour Relations Board, and this board is empowered to issue awards under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
There are several forms of recourse available to employees who feel they have been harassed. Employees can submit a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Commission under the Canadian Human Rights Act. They can submit a complaint to the delegated manager under the policy framework that we have established. They can also file a grievance under their collective agreement. It goes without saying that sexual harassment complaints are covered by these mechanisms.
From a statistical perspective, for the Canadian human rights complaints, we had information from 2007 to date. In total there were three sexual harassment complaints, only one of which is still open. The other two were settled.
For harassment complaints under our policies, we have information from 2000 to date. There were 14 sexual harassment complaints, and nine were founded during that period. In total, there were 316 harassment complaints filed for various reasons in that same period.
For labour relations grievances, our statistical information covers the period from 2008 to date. During that time, there were four sexual harassment grievances filed. Two were partially founded, one was dismissed, and one remains open.
We acknowledge that all of these statistics have been generated by different tracking systems and do not permit any further in-depth analysis. The current Government of Canada human resources management system has its limitations, but an upgraded version will be coming in 2013 and will enable better capture and analysis of data as part of our human resources modernization program. We, of course, are working in collaboration with the program centre, which is made up of representatives from central agencies and several government departments, including the Department of National Defence.
In closing, I would like to share with you some facts about women in the Department of National Defence. Of particular note is that women are overrepresented in the management group, made up primarily of executives. We consider this to be especially positive, given the nature of our organization and the challenges women face in achieving such levels in the private sector.
The Department of National Defence also has a large blue-collar workforce, performing functions related to industrial trades and equipment operation. In this blue-collar sector, women are well represented. Similarly, women are well represented in the senior administrative and the scientific and professional sectors. Where we are short on the employment of women is in the technical groups that are related to ammunition workers, engineering support, and electronic technologists. Closing this long-standing gap is one of the priorities of our employment equity plan that is about to be published.
We are currently in the process of renewing the DND-CF harmonized harassment policy and will continue to have this issue at the forefront of how we manage our employees. Worthy of note is that the public service employee survey indicates that 73% of the DND civilian population believes that the Department of National Defence “works hard to create a workplace that prevents harassment”.
DND considers harassment in any form to be a serious matter. We have multiple mechanisms to support employees, managers, and the organization with respect to harassment issues. Though we have confidence in the current policies, programs, and initiatives that have led to the relatively low incidence of sexual harassment, we are still very cognizant that even one incident is too many.
This concludes my opening remarks.