LABOUR-MANAGEMENT CONSULTATION COMMITTEES
1. Introduction
Consultation, through communication and sustained dialogue between management and bargaining agents, can contribute to the enhancement of their relationships, recognizing that good labour-management relations are essential to good human resources management. As a result, it is essential that the senior officials of both parties be committed to the process. Implementing these committees, in many cases, will necessitate culture change for the parties involved and will require the development of relationships based on trust and the sharing of powers and responsibilities.
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide a framework for the establishment and operation of LMCC's that will help the parties to function in an efficient manner and improve their working environment.
2. Legislative base
The Public Service Labour Relations Act (PSLRA, Section 8; add link), as promulgated by the Public Service Modernization Act, contains a provision whereby deputy heads must, in consultation with the bargaining agents, establish a consultation committee for the purpose of exchanging information and obtaining views and advice on workplace issues.
3. Application
These guidelines apply to departments and agencies listed under Schedules I and IV of the Financial Administration Act (add link) for which the Treasury Board is identified as the Employer. (i.e. the core public administration).
4. Terminology
The definitions of various terms (e.g., bargaining agent, bargaining unit, board (PSLRB), employee, employer) used throughout these guidelines are found in the PSLRA (add link).
5. What is consultation
Consultation is a process of seeking and providing information and advice, exchanging views, and discussing issues in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. To be effective, the process must be motivated by an honest and open commitment, on both sides, to sharing information and to listening to the opinions, observations, and recommendations of the other, prior to decisions being taken. This will allow the other party to understand the full implications of those actions on their legitimate interests. However, some limitations must be respected. They include:
- management and bargaining agent rights must not be compromised, encroached upon, or diminished;
- collective agreements and statutory provisions, and their intent, must be adhered to;
- issues for which other formal channels have been established (e.g., Occupational Health or Safety, National Joint Council matters) must normally be addressed in those fora; and
- individual issues or grievance cases must not be discussed in a way that would breach confidentiality. Note: Grievance cases can be discussed if they provide a means to identify trends or causes that would help in resolving issues.
Also, as a general rule, a matter should not be discussed at a level, which could more appropriately be discussed at a lower or higher level. However, discussions may take place on matters, which have implications beyond or outside the level of discussion for the purpose of:
- providing information related to the matter under discussion;
- explaining or defining the application of a policy related to the matter;
- airing problems related to the matter with a view to reducing tension and promoting understanding between the parties concerned;
- communicating information, when appropriate, to other levels of management.
6. Composition and structure of committees
The structure of the committee is to be established in consultation with bargaining agents. The primary LMCC normally is to be established at the national level between management and all representing bargaining agents. Sub-LMCC may be established where a subject requires in-depth study or with just one bargaining agent as required, where an issue only pertains to members of that bargaining agent. When establishing an LMCC, the parties should strive to achieve equitable participation (i.e., balanced representation). This includes, for instance, the nomination of co-chairs from both parties.
The representatives should include individuals with the appropriate managerial authority to make decisions and to speak to the issues of concern. This may also require a more elaborate LMCC structure that could include various committee levels that reflect the operational environment of the organizations involved (e.g., national, regional, local, sectoral or specific occupational group). The parties, at the national level, should examine organizational needs and determine what the committee structure and/or sub-structure will be. Representatives on the committee or other employees who are invited guests shall be protected against any loss of regular pay due to attendance at meetings.
By mutual agreement, the committee may invite additional persons to attend meetings for the purpose of providing advice or information pertaining to a particular subject on the agenda or establish subcommittees where a subject requires in-depth study. Consultation should take place with the relevant managers and Human Resources officials on issues where their expertise is needed.
Management provides administrative support (i.e., a committee secretary) to the committee.
The use of substitutes or alternates at a given LMCC meeting should be minimal. Stability in participation is part of the commitment made when joining an LMCC and will ensure continuity of issue management.
7. Protocols
7.1 Terms of Reference
LMCC Terms of Reference should be jointly established.. They should include details about the following protocols as well as committee composition and structure. A sample is found in Annex A to these guidelines.
7.2 Meeting schedules
Consideration should be given to scheduling at least two meetings per year at the national level, be they formal or informal, although the committee may wish to meet more often when either party raises matters of significant consequence. Depending on a given department/agency or bargaining agent structure or size and the level of LMCC meetings could take place more
frequently. The formality of meetings may vary depending on the level of the LMCC or size of the workplace, but this should be mutually agreed upon.
7.3 Meeting location, time and costs
Committee meetings should be held on premises and at times determined by mutual agreement of the parties. Meetings should be scheduled during working hours. Some participants may not have the resources or information required to participate and financial assistance or other support may be needed for their representation to be assured. This could include leave with pay for preparation or follow-up from the meeting and travel costs associated with meeting. In all cases, collective agreement provisions and/or applicable terms and conditions of employment regarding travel-time and leave for union business must be adhered to. Representatives on the committee or other employees who are invited guests shall be protected against any loss of regular pay due to attendance at meetings.
7.4 Agendas
The co-chairs discuss and prepare the agenda, with input from the committee members and, as the case may be, from local, regional, sectoral, specific occupational group sub-committees, in advance of each meeting. Additional items can be added at the meeting with agreement from the parties.
The Committee representatives who provide suggested agenda items to the committee secretary should also provide explanatory notes and/or pertinent documentation. The scope of the items for discussion should reflect level of consultation (e.g., national vs. regional vs. local). The agenda and any related documents should be produced in both official languages in according with Treasury Board Official Languages policy.
Meeting agendas, including time and place, should be given with as much advanced notice as possible. If documentation or literature is required to be read before a given meeting, time should be allocated in the notice period to ensure LMCC members have the appropriate span to do so.
7.5 Minutes of meetings
The LMCC Secretary ensures minutes are produced after each meeting. Issues discussed and consensus or disagreement by the parties should be reflected in the minutes which are approved by the co-chairs, Representatives should discuss any matters of interest or action items resulting from the meetings with their respective colleagues, so that any action flowing from the meeting can be taken expeditiously. Deadlines should be fixed for any actions items to ensure follow-up and progress reports to the LMCC representatives are executed.
Any written material to be released or publicized as a result of consultation must be with the consent of the committee. They must also be available in both official languages.
8. Assessment of meaningful consultation and of its results
An assessment of how well an LMCC or any of its sub-committees is functioning should be performed periodically. The following are some of the success indicators that could be used in measuring performance:
- Consultation committees are in place and are operating in a meaningful manner (e.g., they are well-attended and productive);
- Consultation and dialogue are ongoing and not restricted to formalized meetings Consultation is constructive. Participants feel they can raise issues and have them addressed positively. Participants feel their involvement is valued.
- Discussions are genuine and both parties have a sense of accomplishment;
- There is an improvement in labour-management relations, (i.e., there is a building of mutual respect and trust between the parties, working on attitudes and skills that foster meaningful consultation); and
- There is an improvement to the overall work environment, discernable in the periodic survey of public servants.
A tool to assist the various LMCC's in measuring their performance has been developed and is found in Annex B to these guidelines.
9. Best practices
To be determined once the survey of existing departmental/agency LMCC's is completed. Note: Current examples of departments where LMCC's seem to be working well include: PWGSC, DND, HC.
How to illustrate the best practices and possibly create links to departmental sites where LMCC information is posted remains to be determined and discussed. To be considered is a link via the current Labour Relations Council web-site.
10. References
Public Service Modernization Act
Public Service Labour Relations Act
Financial Administration Act
Public Service Labour Relations Board Regulations and Rules of Procedure
Working Together in the Public Interest (a.k.a., Fryer Report, June 2001)
11. Bibliography
The following publications provide for interesting reading on the subject of LMCC's and could be useful to those organizations establishing initial committees or to those who wish to improve on the performance of their existing committees.
-
Jonathan Brock and David B. Lipsky, Eds, "Going Public: The Role of Labor-Management in Delivering Quality Government Services", Industrial Relations Research Association, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2003.
-
Fisher, Ury and Patton, "Getting to Yes", Penguin Books, 1983.
12. Enquiries
Enquiries should be directed to departmental human resources officers who, in turn, may direct enquiries to:
Corporate Labour Relations Labour Relations and Compensation Operations Sector Treasury Board Secretariat
13. Annexes
A. Sample Terms of Reference (to be developed)
B. Assessment Tool (to be developed)