Mr. Speaker, under section 35.2 of the Public Service Employment Act, former ministers’ exempt staff who have been employed for at least three successive years as exempt staff in a minister’s office, in the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, or in the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, may be eligible to participate in internal advertised appointment processes open to all employees of the public service.
There are no provisions in the policies for ministers’ offices pertaining to the obligation for former exempt staff to declare themselves as such. There is an obligation for the minister or their delegate to communicate with the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of all exempt staff members whose employment has terminated or have left the minister’s office. We would suggest contacting the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner as it contacts exempt staff who have been terminated to discuss post-employment obligations as stated in section 3.7 of the policies.
In addition, as per paragraph 3.7.4 of the policies, exempt staff can obtain a mobility provision if they meet the criteria of the Public Service Commission. The mobility provision offers former exempt staff the opportunity to participate in internal advertised appointment processes in the public service. The PSC manages the mobility provisions and may have information on whether an exempt staff who qualified for the mobility provision was hired in the public service.
TBS does not systematically track this information and is therefore unable to provide a complete response to the inquiry.