The Joint Employment Equity Committee (JEEC) provides a national forum that includes the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), the Public Service Commission (PSC), Bargaining Agents and departmental representatives. Others with Employment Equity and diversity responsibilities or expertise, including a youth representative, may be invited to collaborate on the development, implementation and revision of public service wide policies and practices that may impact designated groups under the Employment Equity Act.
The JEEC acts as the NJC's vehicle for Employment Equity and diversity analysis, and provides the NJC with Employment Equity and diversity related input, as well as, advice and recommendations related to emerging policies and practices in the federal public service:
- Undertaking timely and relevant analysis/review from an Employment Equity and diversity lens. Analysis from an Employment Equity and diversity lens is understood as:
- Considering the Employment Equity impacts and implications of policy and practice modifications on the designated groups;
- Ensuring that intersections among designated groups—including gender identity and sexual orientation related issues are considered when impacts and implications are assessed.
- Periodically undertaking system wide reviews and analysis on Employment Equity and diversity related issues.
To achieve its mandate, the JEEC relies on:
- Transparent and timely sharing of Employment Equity and diversity related information among all Committee members (including Employment Equity data summaries gathered through various employer controlled systems);
- A consistent approach to referring issues to JEEC for consultation, collaboration, input and analysis; and,
- Engagement with the NJC Executive with regard to emerging priorities.
Committee Advisor: Karen Kruger
Quarterly Report to the National Joint Council (March 2025)
Regular activities:
- The Committee has met two (2) times since the last Council meeting.
- The Committee wishes to note the departure of an Employer Side representative, Valentina Fumagalli, from the Public Service Commission, and to thank them for their contributions to the Committee.
- The Committee welcomed a new Employer Side representative, Brenda Encarnacion, from the Public Service Commission.
- The Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) provided an update on its interdepartmental advisory working group to focus on identifying key behaviours in response to Recommendation 79 from the Auditor General’s report concerning inclusion for racialized employees. The Committee inquired about how TBS will select participants for the initiative, promote expected behaviors, and track progress. Although the initiative is currently a pilot, the Committee expressed interest in expanding the adoption of these expected behaviors across the broader federal public service.
- TBS provided an update on how the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO) supports organizations concerning the Duty to Accommodate (DTA) in the hybrid work environment. The Committee discussed the potential benefits of offering case-by-case support to managers and providing training on processing DTA requests. This includes appropriately using tools like the Accessibility Passport and adopting a trauma-informed approach from the start of the process.
- The Committee received a presentation on the Study on the Black Executive Community in the Federal Public Service by Dr. Rachel Zellars, who outlined the challenges faced by Black executives throughout their careers in the Public Service. The Committee expressed interest in the action plan being developed by TBS in collaboration with the Black Executive Network. They emphasized the need not only to raise awareness of the issue but also to change the workplace culture that enables the behaviors described by Dr. Zellars.
- The Committee reviewed the draft year-end report for 2024-2025 and worked on developing their 2025-2026 Work Plan, which will be presented to the Executive Committee at their April meeting.
Outstanding items:
- Nil
Next meetings: June 11, 2025; July 9, 2025; August 13, 2025