Employment Systems Review

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December 2004

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2.0 Introduction

3.0 OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

4.0 MANAGEMENT ACTION PLAN

Appendix A - Occupational Groups Within Occupational Categories
Appendix B - United States Coast Guard Workplace Health Survey
Appendix C – Listing of Recommendations

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1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

DFO is currently undergoing a compliance audit by the Canadian Human rights Commission (CHRC). The CRHC has completed its Interim Compliance Audit Report – Nov. 12, 2003, describing the extent to which DFO is compliant with the Employment Equity Act. While DFO completed an Employment Systems Review (ESR) in October 2000, the CHRC Interim Audit Report stipulates that DFO must complete another ESR based on more current workforce data and one that focuses on the specific occupational categories where the CHRC Audit identified potential issues.

Objectives

The objectives of the ESR are as follows:

1. To examine employment systems, policies and practices associated with the occupational groups where Employment Equity (EE) "gaps" were identified in the Nov. 2003 CHRC Interim Audit Report;
2. To identify the causal factors for any barriers in departmental employment policies, systems and practices that are adversely affecting EE-designated groups; and,
3. To identify specific measures to remove any barriers to the equitable treatment of members of EE-designated groups.

Key Findings

This ESR addresses several over-riding issues that impact all aspects of the DFO EE initiative. In addition, the ESR focuses on thirteen gaps, or occupational categories where the CHRC found that DFO had lower than appropriate EE recruitment rates, higher than appropriate EE attrition rates or a clustering of EE group members in the lower levels of an occupational category.

The following summarizes the key findings of this ESR, addressing the over-riding issues as well as issues pertaining to the specific occupational category gaps identified by the CHRC.

1. Awareness and Understanding of Employment Equity and Diversity
    
   • Managers and staff display a lack of understanding of the objectives and philosophy of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) as well as a lack of understanding of the specific concerns of each Employment Equity group. There is, however, a growing appreciation and respect for the concept of diversity in the workforce.
   • The Regional and National EE Consultation /Diversity Committees do not provide sufficient focus on the individual EE groups.
      
2. Self Identification Process
    
   • There is a lack of understanding of the EE self-identification process as well as an inadequate focus and follow-up to ensure DFO staff are aware of the opportunity to self identify as members of an EE designated group.
   • There is little evidence that staffing boards consistently have representation of at least one member of an EE group. The processes for recording the self identification of board participants as EE group members, as recommended in the 2000 ESR, have not been widely implemented in DFO. There is little evidence of training for members of staffing boards to assist them to better understand diversity in the context of the staffing process.
      
3. Management Accountability for Employment Equity
    
   • In the past a lack of management accountability for the achievement of specific EE goals has been a significant contributing factor to the limited progress made towards achieving departmental EE goals. Regional Special EE Recruitment Authorities have been found to inhibit reaching of departmental EE goals. The implementation for Fiscal Year 2004/05 of the new Departmental Staffing Plan which includes EE parameters will facilitate accountability for the achievement of EE goals in DFO.
      
4. Attitudes and Behaviours
    
   • The CHRC Interim Compliance Audit Report (November 2003) found "Acts of discrimination, harassment and intimidation, although subtle, take place at an alarming rate". Evidence gathered during the ESR, as well as an analysis of past DFO Public Service Employee Survey data, confirms that a degree of harassment and discrimination is evident in DFO. The majority of this behaviour consists of abuse of power situations not usually aimed specifically at EE groups. Inadequate manager/supervisor selection processes and leadership training are a contributing factor.
   • Several organizations, including the CHRC, Natural Resources Canada, United States Coast Guard and the Canadian Hydrographics Survey, utilize short surveys to determine the health of work environments at the work unit level to facilitate remedial action where the environment is determined to be negative. The ESR found that the application of this type of short workplace health survey would be a major useful tool in the Department’s effort to improve the organizational health of departmental work units.
      
5. Resource Levels in Human Resources to Support Employment Equity
    
   • There was evidence during the course of this ESR, both in Headquarters and in Regions, that departmental staff who are the Office of Primary Interest in DFO for EE are not adequately resourced to meet the additional emerging demands associated with the DFO EE Program. Human Resources staff involved in the coordination and development of EE initiatives, at both the regional and Headquarters levels, identified several key EE initiatives and processes that were not currently being undertaken because of workload demands.
      
6. Findings/Analysis of Occupational Category Issues/Gaps Identified in the CHRC Audit

a.  Recruitment is Below Labour Market Availability for: Women in the Operational category; Persons With Disabilities in the Scientific and Professional, Technical and Operational categories; and Visible Minorities in the Scientific and Professional, Technical and Executive categories.

Key Issues

• Insufficient initiative, promotion and use of special recruitment authorities to meet EE recruitment objectives.
• Evidence that some selection criteria are barriers to the recruitment of EE members, for example Marine Emergency Duties certification is a barrier to women Ship’s Crew applicants.
• Management lacks adequate knowledge and understanding pertaining to what constitutes a disability and their duty to accommodate.
• Job descriptions and Statements of Qualification are not sufficiently clear concerning the Departments willingness to accommodate persons with disabilities.
• The Labour Market Availability rates, which are used to set departmental EE goals, are potentially too high in selected Operational and Technical categories, and do not reflect the special requirements of some DFO positions.

b.  Attrition is higher than appropriate for women in the Scientific and Technical categories, visible minorities in the Technical category and aboriginals in the Administration and Foreign Service category.

Key Causes

• The perception of a significant proportion of women in the science and technical communities is that the corporate culture is male dominated, largely resulting from the predominantly male management cadre.
• There is a perception amongst some women in science that career advancement opportunities are less than what men enjoy, however, promotion statistics show women receive a higher share of promotions than men.
• The overall uncertainty about the future direction of the DFO Science Program and ongoing Program cuts provides an impetus for women to leave the organization. Since the average age of women in Science is significantly less than their male counterparts, the decision to leave is an easier one.
• The work schedules associated with many DFO Technical category positions often require shift work or lengthy periods away from home. Based on interview findings, these conditions appear to be less compatible for women with children than for men.
• The cancellation of the initiative to staff the Director of Communications position in the Pacific Region with a visible minority has left the perception that DFO is not willing to utilize special EE recruitment authorities to staff positions where there is a significant representation gap.
• The attrition gap for visible minorities in the Technical category and aboriginals in the Administration and Foreign Service category is not statistically relevant. It was not possible to identify any meaningful explanation for the small attrition gaps.
   

c.  Women are grouped or clustered at the lower levels of the Science and Professional, and the Technical categories.

Key Causes

• The analysis of the clustering of women in these two categories showed that women have a higher promotion rate than men. The clustering was determined not to be the result of any systemic barriers but simply the younger demographics of the group when compared to men. Given the projected retirement rates for men in senior positions, and the current high promotion rate for women, any evidence today of clustering should be eliminated over the next three to five years.

Key Recommendations

A listing of all the recommendations contained in this ESR can be found in Appendix C. The following summarizes the key recommendations.

• Implementation of improved recruitment plans with clear parameters for meeting EE recruitment rate objectives, with accountability for achieving objectives linked to the Performance Management System and Performance Pay.
• Conversion of current Regional Special EE Recruitment Authorities to National departmental authorities to provide more flexibility in meeting departmental EE objectives.
• Implementation of a short department-wide survey to identify organizational units with poor workplace health. Supporting intervention by the Centre for Values, Integrity and Early Conflict Resolution to improve workplace health where significant problems exist.
• Improvements to the selection processes and training programs for departmental managers/supervisors to enhance overall leadership competencies.
• Implementation of improved communication/awareness packages to correct the general lack of understanding of the sprit and intent of the Employment Equity Act.
• Implementation of a department-wide Exit Interview Program with special emphasis on providing exit interviews to staff from groups where EE representation gaps are significant.
• Improvements to departmental self-identification processes to provide more accurate data on the numbers of EE staff in the Department.
• Adoption of strategies to increase the number of EE candidates applying to departmental recruitment initiatives.
• Elimination of selected barriers to the recruitment of women into the Ship’s Crew category and visible minorities into the CCG Officer Cadet Program.
• Review of selected occupational groups to identify potential reductions to Labour Market Availability rates and hence EE targets.
• Increase awareness and departmental commitment to accommodate persons with disabilities in all recruitment initiatives.
• Increase management focus on the issues, concerns and opportunities for women in the DFO science community.

2.0 Introduction

2.1 Background

The Employment Equity Act (EEA) was passed in December 1995 and came into force in October 1996. It applies to all federal organizations as well as federally regulated organizations.

The EEA sets out twelve requirements that organizations must meet in order to be in compliance with the law. The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) has the role to audit the compliance of federal organizations against the twelve requirements provided for in the EEA.

DFO is currently under a compliance audit by the CHRC. The CRHC has completed its Interim Compliance Audit Report - November 12, 2003, describing the extent to which DFO is compliant with the EEA. DFO completed an Employment Systems Review (ESR) in October 2000, however the CHRC Audit Report stipulates that DFO must complete another ESR based on a more current workforce data and one that focuses on the specific occupational categories where the CHRC Audit identified potential issues.

2.2 Objectives

1. Conduct a thorough analysis of employment systems, policies and practices to identify barriers to the equitable treatment of Employment Equity designated groups. This analysis will cover policies and practices which may have an impact on the workplace as a whole, however, the focus will be on the gaps in employment performance in the occupational groups identified in the DFO Workforce Analysis, December 31, 2002 and the Interim Report of the CHRC, November 2003.
    
2. Identify the causal factors for any barriers in departmental employment policies, systems and practices that are adversely affecting the members of Employment Equity-designated groups.
    
3. Identify specific measures that will provide a reasonable basis for DFO to take corrective action to remove any barriers to the equitable treatment of members of Employment Equity-designated groups.

Focus of the Employment Systems Review

The Employment Systems Review (ESR) focuses on the gaps identified in the Workforce Analysis and other related issues raised in the CHRC Interim Compliance Audit Report. The following are the specific lines of enquiry followed by the ESR Team when performing the causal analysis related to the gaps identified by the CHRC.

• The reasons that recruitment is below Labour Market Availability (LMA) rates for women in the Operational Category.
• The reasons that recruitment is below LMA rates for members of visible minorities in the Scientific and Professional and Technical Categories.
• The reasons that recruitment is below LMA rates for persons with disabilities in the Scientific and Professional, Technical and Operational Categories.
• Ensure no barriers exist to the recruitment of visible minorities in the Executive Category.
• The reasons for the clustering of women at lower levels in the Scientific and Professional and Technical Categories.
• The reasons that women are not retained at a higher rate in the Scientific and Professional, Technical Categories.
• The reasons Aboriginals are not retained at a higher rate in the Administration and Foreign Service Category.

Appendix A identifies the various DFO occupational groups that belong to the Occupational Categories that have been defined by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC).

2.3 Scope and Methodology

2.3.1 Scope

The review focused on the employment systems (recruitment, selection, hiring, promotion, appointment, secondment and transfer) as well as those factors affecting the retention of EE-designated groups.

The review examined departmental documents and records, including staffing files over the two Fiscal Year periods, 2002/03 and 2003/04.

The review addressed all employment systems in DFO Headquarters and in all Regions, and included managerial attitudes to the extent they could be barriers to EE designated groups. The review, however, focused on employment systems which impact the occupational groups where gaps were identified in the CHRC Interim Report.

The CHRC Audit examined all aspects of compliance to the EE Act and identified specific areas of non compliance. This audit covered the majority of the elements of the DFO EE Program addressed in the DFO ESR undertaken by the Audit and Evaluation Directorate in 2000. The CHRC Audit provides new and updated direction to the Department to address areas of EE non-compliance. For this reason a follow-up of the departmental implementation of the 2000 ESR Management Action Plan has not been undertaken.

2.3.2 Methodology

Information to support the analysis of employment systems was obtained through several sources. The following identifies the sources of information gathered to support the findings and recommendations contained in this ESR.

Interviews

• Over 150 departmental managers and staff were interviewed, either on a one-to-one basis or in focus group-like settings. On-site interviews were carried out in the Pacific, Maritimes, Central and Arctic Regions, as well as in DFO Headquarters. Selected telephone interviews were undertaken in the Newfoundland and Labrador, Gulf and Quebec Regions.
• Representatives from six other Federal Government Departments that had recently undertaken successful ESRs were interviewed to identify EE issues that were common to the DFO environment and to examine remedies to eliminate EE barriers that might have application in DFO.
• Extensive telephone interviews were conducted with members of the United States Coast Guard pertaining to their application of workplace health surveys.
• Consultations and briefings on initial ESR findings were held with all bargaining agents representing members of DFO occupational groups where EE "gaps" were identified by the CHRC.
• The DFO National Employment Equity Consultation Committee was briefed on the preliminary findings and potential remedies/recommendations from the ESR and was provided an opportunity to provide input to the review.
• CHRC staff who were involved in the CHRC audit of DFO were consulted periodically throughout the ESR to ensure the DFO ESR Team had a full understanding of the CHRC audit findings as well as the expectations of the CHRC pertaining to the DFO ESR.

Surveys

Structured telephone surveys were conducted with selected departmental staff in areas identified in the CHRC Audit as having higher than expected attrition rates. Specifically, women in the Canadian Coast Guard Ship’s Crew and Ship’s Officer categories as well as women Fisheries Officers were surveyed. These telephone surveys were conducted to determine if any barriers to the equal treatment of women exited in these non-traditional women’s work environments.

In addition, a sample of DFO employees who had self-identified as Visible Minorities were surveyed to identify any issues pertaining to harassment or discrimination that may exist in this significantly under-represented group of DFO employees. It should be noted that only those staff who formally agreed to be contacted for administrative purposes on their self-identification document were surveyed.

Staffing File Review

Document reviews, principally the examination of the staffing files for open competitions for Fiscal Years 2002/03 and 2003/04, were undertaken and key processes documented. This file review identified any anomalies or potential EE barriers inherent in the DFO open competition processes.

Enhanced Statistical Analysis

Existing statistical information, for example past Public Service Employee Surveys and DFO Workforce data, were subjected to additional detailed analysis to explore patterns or trends that might provide more clarity to the analysis of issues raised by the CHRC audit.

3.0 OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1 Overview

The ESR focused on the specific recruitment, attrition and clustering gaps identified in the November 2003 Interim Report of the CHRC. These gaps will be addressed in Section 3.7 of this ESR Report. Each gap is examined to identify causal factors which may be creating barriers to the fair and equitable treatment of EE groups. Where appropriate, specific remedies or action commitments are specified and are designed to minimize or eliminate any identified barriers.

In addition to this focus on specific Gap areas, Sections 3.2 through 3.6 address overriding issues that impact all aspects of the DFO EE initiative. The four areas are:

• Awareness and Understanding of the EE Act and Diversity
• Self Identification Process
• Management Accountability
• Attitudes
• Resource Levels in Human Resources to Support Employment Equity

3.2 Awareness and Understanding of Employment Equity Act and Diversity

Managers and staff display a lack of understanding of the objectives and philosophy of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) as well as a lack of understanding of the specific concerns of each Employment Equity group. There is, however, a growing appreciation and respect for the concept of diversity in the workforce.

Awareness and Understanding of the EE Act and Diversity

The purpose of the EEA is to achieve equality in the workplace so that no person shall be denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability and, in the fulfillment of that goal, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities by giving effect to the principle that employment equity means more than treating persons in the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences.

During the course of interviews and workshops many DFO staff and managers revealed a lack of understanding of the objectives and philosophy of the EEA. The term "reverse discrimination" was used on several occasions to describe some of the special hiring authorities sometimes used to emphasize EE group staffing. This lack of understanding on occasion results in a degree of resentment aimed at any EE group members that are recruited into DFO using the special recruitment authorities given to the Department by the Public Service Commission. EE group members interviewed stated that even when these authorities are not used many of their colleagues assumed they had been recruited using special EE recruitment authorities. Some of the reluctance to self-identify as members of an EE group found during this ESR can be attributed to EE group members wanting to distance themselves from the perceived favouritism associated with EE recruitment processes.

The ESR Team found evidence that there is now some resistance amongst employees in most regions to targeted EE processes to the point where some managers are afraid to use them. The example of the Pacific Region Director of Communications position that was targeted as a special visible minority recruitment process was mentioned several times during the interviews in that Region as indicative of the kind of backlash that proactive EE strategies can cause.

While the ESR Team found a lack of understanding pertaining to the EEA and related processes, there was evidence that DFO management and staff have a growing understanding and respect for diversity in the workplace. Several Regions have undertaken to deliver diversity courses to their managers and staff. For example, the Central and Arctic Region conducted two one-day workshops on understanding and appreciating diversity, and the Canadian Coast Guard, Pacific Region, conducted a diversity module as part of its Commanders course.

The EE/Diversity Committees, in Regions where they exist, also support and sponsor events that promote a better understanding of the diverse nature of the DFO workplace. Unfortunately there is not currently an EE or Diversity Committee in Central and Arctic or the National Capital Regions although some effort has been made recently to re-establish committees in these regions. The National EE Committee, comprised of representatives from all regional EE Committees, does not have a budget to support its operations. This severely limits its ability to promote a coordinated national strategy to enable Regional EE Committees to help foster a better understanding of EE and diversity in the Department.

EE and Diversity awareness and understanding are the foundation to any long-term successful meeting of EE objectives. As the Department more proactively strives to meet EE goals, including more frequent application of special EE recruitment authorities, it is even more important to ensure DFO management and staff have a full understanding of these principles. Although there is evidence that DFO managers and staff have a growing understanding of the EEA and diversity, much remains to be done to dispel the misconceptions that surround these topics. Given its importance, a fragmented approach to increasing departmental understanding of EE objectives and their rationale as well as the benefits of diversity will not provide adequate assurance that this will be achieved.

Awareness and Understanding of EE Group Issues and Concerns

The Regional and National EE Consultation Consultation/Diversity Committees do not provide sufficient focus on the individual EE groups.

As stated above, five DFO Regions have active EE Consultation/Diversity Committees. The mandate of these Committees is to promote awareness and understanding of diversity and to provide input to DFO management on proposed policies from an EE perspective. These Committees do not always have representatives from each EE group, nor do they have, for the most part, processes in place to solicit input from each of the EE groups on their specific concerns.

Only the Diversity Council of the Maritimes Region has endeavoured to formally create a network within the Region of representatives from each of the EE groups. To accomplish this, the Maritimes Diversity Counsel has conducted four focus group/workshops during the spring of 2004. Each workshop was comprised of members from each of the four EE groups. These workshops were used to explore and identify any issues/concerns that group members wanted raised for consideration by regional management. Members of the EE community are not made up of one homogeneous group of people with similar views and concerns. Without mechanisms to reach out to each of the four communities and include their views and concerns, DFO will not be in a position to ensure that its policies and initiatives are not creating barriers to the fair and equitable treatment of EE members.

Several other federal government departments have strong departmental consultation groups for each of the EE groups thereby helping to ensure that specific issues of the different groups can be identified and addressed as appropriate.

Recommendation 1

The Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of Human Resources and Corporate Services should design an Employment Equity information presentation to correct the general lack of real understanding of the spirit and intent of the Employment Equity Act.

Recommendation 2

ADMs and Regional Director Generals (RDGs) should ensure that the Employment Equity information presentation (referenced in Recommendation 1 above) is delivered to all their respective management committees and the extended management teams of the members of these committees.

Recommendation 3

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should:

1. Coordinate the review of the role of the Regional and National Employment Equity/Diversity Committees to:
   • identify ways to more effectively promote awareness and understanding of Employment Equity and diversity in DFO.
   • ensure that the role and mandate of EE committees are modified to provide the Department with adequate mechanisms for the identification of individual Employment Equity group issues and concerns.
2. Provide an annual budget to The National Employment Equity Committee to enable it to carry out an annual work plan approved by the departmental Human Resource Executive Committee.

3.3 Self-identification Processes

Employee Self-identification Process

There is a lack of understanding of the EE self-identification process as well as an inadequate focus and follow-up to ensure DFO staff are aware of the opportunity to self identify as a member of an EE designated group.

Interviews with members of EE designated groups identified a lack of understanding concerning the self-identification process and how this data is used. There is the belief by some EE group members that to self identify as a member of an EE designated group takes unfair advantage of the system and could result in discrimination. There does not appear to be a widespread understanding that a completed Self Identification Form (TBS 330-78) is confidential; the contents known only by the Regional EE Co-ordinator. The names of persons who self identify are used for administrative purposes (e.g., statistical surveys) only if a self identified person specifically agrees to this use.

In addition, the internal DFO process for addressing self identification has deteriorated since the department-wide Self-identification Survey of all DFO employees in September 2002. An effective and compliant self identification process would include:

• assurance that all successful candidates of staffing competitions receive a Self Identification Form.
• forms, when completed, are forwarded directly to the Regional EE Coordinator for entry into PeopleSoft.
• a semi-annual report (Self Identification Monitoring Report) is created from PeopleSoft identifying all successful candidates of staffing/recruitment initiatives who had not yet submitted a Self Identification Form.
• regional EE Coordinators follow-up with these employees to encourage them to complete the form.

In DFO, only new employees to the Department receive a Self-identification Form as part of their initial appointment offer package. Employees already in the Department who are appointed or deployed to another position within DFO are not provided with any reference to the process of EE self-identification. These employees may have missed or misunderstood any previous initiatives to have them self-identity. To provide these departmental employees a chance to self-identify would not represent any additional cost to the Department and could potentially increase the self-identification rate.

The self-identification form used in DFO does not adequately describe types of disabilities that might lead someone to self-identify as a person with a disability. The current form references dexterity, mobility, visual impairment and speech impairment as examples or types of disabilities that could be considered during the self-identification process. All other types of disabilities that might affect a person’s employability are grouped together as "other disabilities", which include learning, developmental and all other types of disabilities. The CHRC has stated that there is latitude to further describe in more detail the sort of conditions that might result in someone self-identifying as a person with a disability.

The Self-identification Monitoring Reports have not been available to the Regions for over a year. Most Regional EE Coordinators have not been able to follow-up on those who have not completed Self Identification Forms, creating a significant potential for the under reporting of Visible Minorities, Aboriginals and Persons With Disabilities. Only women are captured as members of an EE group without completing a Self Identification Form.

Participation of Employment Equity Group Members on Staffing Boards

There is little evidence that staffing boards consistently have representation of at least one member of an EE group. The processes for recording the self identification of board participants as EE group members, as recommended in the 2000 ESR, have not been widely implemented in DFO. There is little evidence of training for members of staffing boards to assist them to better understand diversity in the context of the staffing process.

The 2000 ESR conducted in DFO referenced the importance of including representatives from EE groups on recruitment/staffing selection boards. Failure to do so constitutes a potential barrier to the recruitment and advancement of members of EE groups. It was also noted in the 2000 ESR that it was very difficult, from an audit perspective, to determine from the staffing files whether board members belonged to any of the EE groups. A recommendation was made to create a form to allow board members to self-identify as members of EE groups.

In conducting the staffing file reviews associated with this latest ESR, the ESR Team again had difficulty determining whether selection board members belonged to any of the EE groups. The capacity to capture the EE designation of board members has not been universally implemented in DFO. Evidence from management interviews suggests that some effort is made in DFO to ensure there is EE representation on selection boards; however, this did not appear to be the rule.

It is important to recognize that persons with different cultural backgrounds may perceive situations differently. The ESR Team found examples where managers who had participated on staffing boards recognized after the process was completed that some visible minority candidates responded to particular questions during the interview process that were unanticipated. Their response reflected a perception of the work environment that was not considered when the question was developed for inclusion in the selection process.

Training programs, such as The Objective Eye do exist to assist prospective selection board members in recognizing the cultural and sociological differences that exist especially amongst EE group members. These training programs help ensure that selection board members understand and appreciate the diversity of perspectives that do exist enabling them to develop a more object, barrier-free selection process that accommodates these legitimate differences.

The ESR Team found some isolated instances where staffing board members had been given The Objective Eye training prior to their participation as staffing board members. This was most notable in the Maritimes Region. However, this type of training is the exception rather than the rule in DFO. Very few instances were identified where staffing board members had received prior training in how diversity and differing cultural preferences might impact the selection process.

Recommendation 4

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should undertake the following steps to improve the rate of self identification in the Department:

1. Include a module in the Employment Equity information presentation (referenced in Recommendation 1 above) that is designed to increase the understanding of the Self Identification process.
2. Augment the self-identification form used in DFO to include a more detailed description of the types of disabilities that could be considered as legitimate types of disability in the self-identification process.
3. Distribute quarterly a Self Identification Completion Rate Monitoring Report to DMC members and Directors of HR showing the status of self-identification in each region and sector.
4. Provide the Regional Employment Equity Coordinators with a monthly list of all new employees who have no valid self-identification recorded in PeopleSoft.
5. Revise the departmental instructions for the inclusion of the Self Identification Form to ensure employees appointed or deployed within the Department receive a Self Identification Form with their appointment or deployment package.
6. Prepare a communication for the national edition of In-the-Loop that informs employees that an initiative to improve the departmental self-identification process is taking place and include the "Questions and Answers" information folio used in the Fall 2000 full departmental self-identification survey.

Recommendation 5

Regional Directors of Human Resources should ensure that:

1. Regional EE Coordinators contact each newly recruited Casual, Term or Continuous Full Time member of any occupational group where a representation gap exists to explain the rationale and importance of the self-identification process to the DFO HR planning and Employment Equity Program. In particular, provide an explanation pertaining to what constitutes self-identification as a person with a disability. It is important that this contact is made as soon as possible after a person is hired in order that the additional clarity around the self-identification process is considered prior to the completion of the Self-identification Form.
2. Regional Employment Equity Coordinators communicate directly with each employee who has no valid self-identification to provide them with an opportunity to self-identify.

Recommendation 6

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that a form is created on which staffing board members can voluntarily identify themselves for administrative purposes as either Employment Equity designated group members or non-designated group members. This self-identification information should be treated as Protected A, providing the same degree of confidentiality as is currently provided to employee self-identification information.

Recommendation 7

Regional Directors of Human Resources, in consultation with departmental staffing managers, should ensure at least one member of an Employment Equity group is a member of every selection board. Where the recruitment competition uses a Special Authority to focus on a specific Employment Equity group or groups, a member of at least one of these Employment Equity groups should be on the selection board.

Recommendation 8

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that a training package or course is made available to all departmental managers who participate on staffing boards to assist them to better understand diversity and how to accommodate diverse perspectives and viewpoints during the selection process.

3.4 Management Accountability

The past lack of management accountability for the achievement of specific EE goals has been a contributing factor to the lack of progress in achieving EE goals. The implementation for Fiscal Year 2004/05 of the new Departmental Staffing Plan which includes EE parameters will facilitate accountability for the achievement of EE goals in DFO.

The departmental staffing planning process implemented in DFO for Fiscal Year 2004/05, which includes specific EE Parameters, will significantly strengthen the DFO EE Management Accountability Framework with its emphasis on the establishment of specific EE goals for accountable managers. This new framework also ties attainment of EE goals to Executive Performance Pay, although the specific linkage has not been defined.

The following analysis describes the situation in DFO prior to the implementation of these revised planning and accountability processes since it was this pre-Fiscal Year 2004/05 environment that influenced the departmental work environment that was the subject of the CHRC Audit. Several of the recommendations contained in this section include some of the elements of the DFO Staffing Plan and associated EE Parameters that were adopted in Fiscal Year 2004/05. Other recommendations are proposed which would further strengthen the staffing planning process.

Prior to Fiscal year 2004/05, EE goals and objectives for the DFO Regions and HQ Sectors were not sufficiently specific. These goals were described in terms of increasing focus on specific occupational areas where a significant representation gap existed. The Regional EE representation numbers by occupational group were not broken down by Sector. Recruitment goals were expressed as number of new hires. Regional Sector management therefore had difficulty determining the specific EE gap/issue areas in their sector for which they were responsible. It was therefore difficult for regional managers to feel accountable for EE goals that were poorly defined from their standpoint of accountability. The result has been that regional management has tended to identify areas of EE focus that they will pursue. Specific EE recruitment goals/targets were not usually referenced. The 2003-04 Accountability Accords for Executive level managers in DFO had a statement about employment equity that was combined with a number of other responsibilities for areas such as Official Languages. The following is an extract from the Accountability Accord Key Commitments of a DFO RDG:

Prepare and implement staffing plans that match resources to priorities; identify emerging gaps; respect staffing values; and foster a motivated, competent, representative workforce able to serve the public in both official languages.

Improve diversity by preparing and implementing action plans to address EE representation gaps, and ensuring that managers take advantage of special staffing authorities and other tools for increasing diversity.

Determination of achievement in the area of EE has been measured more on level of effort and use of special initiatives/positive measures to promote EE rather than on attainment of specific EE recruitment/representation goals. The EE goals proposed to regions are not treated as absolute goals that must be met, but are considered to be more goals to try and attain with virtually no consequences or sanctions of any kind for not meeting EE goals. Attainment of EE goals are not linked in any meaningful way to Executive Management Performance/At Risk Pay. Without specific, well understood, realistic EE goals coupled with a strong accountability framework, it has not been possible to hold mangers truly accountable for their actions. The result has been that, although progress has been made in some areas, there remain significant EE representation gaps that are not being addressed by effective recruitment and retention initiatives.

To facilitate the attainment of EE representation rates in areas of significant EE group under-representation, DFO obtained Special Recruitment Authorities from the Public Service Commission (PSC). These authorities allowed the Department to conduct open competitions which emphasized and focused on the recruitment of specific EE groups into specific occupational categories. Unfortunately this current authority is based on individual regional representation rates. Once a region meets its own representation targets, the PSC prevents that region from using a Special Recruitment Authority to facilitate the recruitment of EE members, even though the Department overall could still be significantly under represented.

Part of the problem with holding managers accountable for the achievement of specific EE recruitment rates is that the current process for establishing EE goals/targets does not reflect the ease with which EE recruitment objectives can be met by one region versus another. For example, it tends to be more difficult for the Newfoundland and Labrador Region to recruit visible minorities because of the very low percentage that visible minorities constitute of the Newfoundland population. Where recruitment is designated to be local or regional, the representation rates reflect the low Labour Market Availability (LMA) of visible minorities. However, for some occupational groups, for example several in the Scientific and Professional Services category, the area of selection is designated to be national, therefore it is necessary to use national LMA rates. This results in a region, such as Newfoundland and Labrador, having a LMA rate for visible minorities in the Scientific and Professional category that is virtually identical to the rate in all other regions.

DFO does not have an effective EE Management Accountability Framework. An effective EE Management Accountability Framework would reflect the capacity of individual managers to successfully address EE recruitment goals in their particular geographic and Occupational Group categories. Recruitment goals would be expressed as percentages of total recruitment. If little recruitment activity occurred, these goals would still be meaningful and achievable since they are expressed in percentage terms. In addition, an effective framework would also include provisions for accommodating unforeseen and uncontrollable events that can be demonstrated to have caused goals to be missed. Regular monitoring of progression in meeting EE goals would enable action to be taken to increase EE recruitment rates in some regions to offset unavoidable shortfalls in others.

Recommendation 9

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should:

1. Ensure that staffing plans are implemented across DFO that require all Sector Director level managers in Regions and all DG level managers in departmental Headquarters, to forward plan their recruitment requirements at fiscal year start for a six month period to be updated to cover the 3rd and 4th quarters at mid-year review.
2. Ensure managers preparing these staffing plans are provided with clear parameters for percentage Employment Equity recruitment rates that they should be meeting for each Employment Equity group in each occupational category. These Employment Equity recruitment rate goals should be developed in consultation with management in each region and reflect the capacity of each region to successfully address specific Employment Equity group goals.
3. Formally apply to the Public Service Commission to convert existing Regional Special Recruitment Authorities to National departmental authorities.
4. Provide Regions and ADMs with semi-annual Employment Equity reports which identify changes in Employment Equity recruitment and attrition rates as well as representation gaps by occupational Group.
5. Monitor on a quarterly basis, departmental progress in attaining annual Employment Equity recruitment goals and make recommendations to the departmental Human Resources Executive Committee to adjust goals in some regions to address any departmental shortfall trends that have developed.

Recommendation 10

The ADM Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that a Performance Management System is implemented for all departmental executives specifying that meeting Employment Equity recruitment rate targets will be part of the key commitments in the Accountability Accords of these managers and success or failure to meet the commitment will affect performance pay.

3.5 Attitudes and Behaviours

Attitudes and corporate culture are contributing to low recruitment and retention of EE group.

Overview

A key contributor to an organization’s ability to attract and retain members of EE groups is the existence of a corporate culture where EE group members are treated with respect and fairness, free from harassment and discrimination. A key finding of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) audit was the existence in DFO of work environments that were not supportive of EE group members and indeed not supportive of employees in general. The following is a quotation drawn from the CHRC audit which addresses this finding:

"Despite the work completed or underway, there remain several areas where DFO will need to conduct additional work before it can be found to be in compliance with the twelve statutory requirements of the Employment Equity Act. One of the main areas that must be examined is attitudes. There still persists in many areas of DFO an overall bias towards employment equity and the designated group members. The Compliance Officer found acts of discrimination, harassment and intimidation, although subtle, take place at an alarming rate. The Public Service Employee Survey 2002 supports these findings as in many cases the department ranked higher than the rest of the Public Service in harassment and discrimination issues. The department’s Employment Systems Review (October 2000), work environment survey and the Bio-Hypatia project also support these findings."

Unfortunately DFO does not have a comprehensive departmental exit interview program which tracks issues/reasons associated with persons leaving organizations in DFO. Information from an effective exit interview program could assist the Department in identifying and address systemic workplace issues. Any exit interview initiatives that do exist in DFO are at the regional level, consisting of offering employees who are leaving an opportunity to discuss any issues, problems or observations with the management of the organization from which they are leaving. For many employees this type of "in-house" exit interview does not foster the sharing of open, honest opinions about the organization from which they are leaving.

In the absence of comprehensive exit interview data, the ESR Team relied on interviews and telephone surveys with DFO staff, to assess the attitude and workplace culture of the Department. These interviews and telephone surveys primarily focused on members of the EE groups and confirmed there are departmental work environments where discrimination, harassment and intimidation exist. In addition, a survey of Canadian Coast Guard (CGG) Fleet personnel conducted by the Pacific Region identified a large number of respondents to the survey who stated that harassment in the workplace was a serious problem. The DFO Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution (VICR) unit also reports a growing number of requests for VICR officers to intervene in work units where unhealthy work environments exist. The majority of the instances of inappropriate behaviour in all the above instances are linked to perceived or reported poor leadership and supervisory skills resulting in abuse of power harassment situations. This form of harassment can usually affect everyone in the workplace, however, it tends to more adversely affect those who perceive themselves as vulnerable, and this includes many members of EE groups as well as term and casual employees.

In addition to the above sources of work environment data, responses to the 2002 Public Service Employee Survey questions on harassment were analyzed to determine if members of the employment equity groups were reporting these incidents at a higher rate than the non-equity group employees.

With respect to harassment, members of the EE groups do indeed report higher rates of incidents. Visible minorities report experiencing harassment at a rate of 34% (compared to 25% for non visible minorities); persons with disabilities report experiencing harassment at a rate of 38% (compared to 25% for non-disabled); and aboriginal people report experiencing harassment at a rate of 36% (compared to 25% for non aboriginal people). For women the effect was less pronounced with 27% reporting harassment compared to 24% for men. The intensity of the harassment appears also to be higher, with higher percentages of the three EE groups excluding women reporting being harassed twice or more compared to the non-EE group respondents.

Application of the Business Health Culture Survey to Selected DFO Organizations

Health Canada has developed a measurement tool, the Business Health Culture Index (BHCI) that measures four key factors in job stress and job satisfaction: demand, control, effort and reward. The Index measures the extent to which the health culture (relationship between stressors and satisfiers) of an organization is working for or against its business objectives. A BHCI score of +.5 to +2 is considered optimal in terms of workplace health. A score of 0 to +.5 is indicative of a work unit that requires some support to improve organizational health. A BHCI score of below 0 is indicative of a work environment that requires immediate attention because in all likelihood the organization is experiencing high stress, low job satisfaction that is working against the achievement of business objectives.

The BHCI identifies specific questions on the PSES 2002 that correspond to the four key index measures of the BHCI. The PSES responses to these selected questions were analysed for different areas of DFO that employ the largest numbers of Scientific and Professional and Technical category employees.

With respect to the overall health of the organization as measured by the BHCI, the index was compiled to compare EE groups with non-EE groups to see if there were significant differences.

For women, the BHCI score of 0.32 is actually better than for the score of 0.17 for men.

The BHCI for visible minorities is 0.18, eight points lower than the 0.26 for non-visible minorities.

For persons with disabilities and aboriginal people the BHCI score variance was more pronounced. Persons with disabilities had a score of 0.05 a full 21 points lower than the 0.26 for the non-disabled while aboriginal people had a score of 0.11 which was 14 points under the 0.25 score for the non aboriginal group of respondents.

These results show that except for women, the EE groups experience a less healthy workplace than their non-EE group counterparts.

The BHCI was also computed for the DFO workplaces that employ the largest numbers of Scientific and Professional and Technical category employees to assess whether the workplace health in these areas might be a factor in the retention of women and visible minorities. The workplaces selected were the eight Science Institutes, the Canadian Coast Guard Fleet and the Conservation and Protection function which is primarily made up of Fishery Officers and their associated administrative and supervisory personnel.

The BHCI scores of the Science Institutes were generally quite high and without exception all in the positive range. The scores for recognition of work well done were notably high. The 84% of respondents at the Institute Maurice Lamontagne, who agreed that they received adequate recognition from their supervisors, was the high water mark and the low was 67% of the respondents at the Freshwater Institute.

The BHCI scores for the regional Fleet organizations were more variable. Although most Regions had positive scores for the Index and the Maritimes Region score was quite high in comparison to others, both the Quebec and the Central & Arctic Regions had negative values for the index. The source of the differences appears to be in the lower scores for work – life balance and a lower sense of control over work in these two regions.

The BHCI scores for the Conservation and Protection (C&P) regional organizations were all in the negative range with the exception of the Central and Arctic Region which had a positive 0.37 index. The C&P function in the Central and Arctic Region had just been established at the time the PSES 2002 was administered. The new staff, many of whom were recent recruits, may explain why the results are so different form the other Regions.

Workplace Health Surveys in Other Organizations

Many organizations employ short surveys to determine the health of the work environments. The section below references the experience of several organizations which have endeavoured to measure workplace health using a variety of instruments.

• The DFO Canadian Hydrographics Survey organization has used a 12 question survey to determine basic elements of workplace health as part of its quality in process commitment associated with its certification under ISO 9001. This survey, however, has tended to be focused at a relatively high organizational level, more detailed than the PSES yet not detailed to the work unit level.
   
• The Canadian Human Rights Commission surveyed its entire staff two years ago in response to serious morale problems and high attrition rates. The survey identified specific workplace health and leadership issues at the work unit level and allowed Commission management to take steps to improve workplace health.
   
• Natural Resources Canada regularly conducts work unit level surveys to identify workplace health issues in order to allow it to take positive steps to mitigate identified problems thereby improving the health of the workplace. To preserve the anonymity of respondents, Natural Resources Canada has made the decision not to report survey results for units of less than ten persons.
   
• The United States Coast Guard (USCG), in several of its regions, has been using a short workplace health survey for over three years. These regions annually distribute a concise 11 question survey to all members of their staff (A copy of the USCG Workplace Health Survey is presented in Appendix B). Survey participants do not identify themselves in any way in order to ensure anonymity. Results are analysed at the work unit level with work units as small as six persons reported on separately. The results of the survey provide information pertaining to the health of each unit’s work environment and leadership competency. As part of their performance management system, work unit leaders work with their management to develop action plans to address any areas requiring improvement that are identified in the survey. In-house "Quality Performance Consultants", similar in several ways to the officers of the DFO Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution (VICR), are available to assist work unit managers to address any issues identified in the survey.

Requirement for Workplace Health Survey Instrument

The ESR Team findings together with the observations of the CHRC compliance officer contained in the Interim Compliance Audit Report of November 12, 2003 indicate that DFO requires a systemic response to identify those workplaces where the organizational culture is poor. There is growing recognition in DFO of the importance of leadership qualities in achieving workplace health. The Human Resources Executive Committee (HREC) decision to include leadership performance as a significant part of the Executive Performance Measurement Plan emphasizes this recognition. Unfortunately, in DFO there is only limited capacity to measure/monitor good/bad leadership and supervision.

If DFO is to address the issue organizational harassment, intimidation and subtle discrimination that has been identified in DFO, the Department will have to implement a practical, systematic way that can provide an initial and quick diagnosis of organizational health. The Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) has provided some information with which the Department can bring focus to these issues; however, the PSES has only allowed DFO to identify workplace health issues at a relatively high organizational level. What is needed are survey instruments whose frequency can be controlled by DFO and which identify issues at the workplace/work unit level. It is at this level that good or poor leadership and supervisor skills and aptitudes usually are the prime determinants of workplace health.

The ESR Team surveyed a number of organizations to obtain an approximate cost estimate to conduct a combination on-line and paper-based survey (Paper-based survey methodology is required for CCG Fleet operational staff). The approximate cost to survey all DFO staff, with survey results reported at the work unit level is estimated to be between $40,000 and $50,000. It should be noted that this cost estimate does not include the workload that would be required by departmental staff to analyse the results of the survey and to disseminate these results to the appropriate levels of management.

It is not within the scope of the work of the ESR Team to recommend a specific survey instrument with which to provide the initial diagnosis of organizational health. There is however a requirement to adopt an effective mechanism to, at the very least, identify unhealthy work environments. There must also be some impetus and support provided to move these workplaces toward a healthier and more inclusive state.

Creation of Healthy Work Environments

To address issues of organizational culture is not simple. Measures must be taken to correct the behaviour and attitudes of a minority of existing supervisors and managers who are doing a poor job of creating a healthy and inclusive workplace for the staff. The following describes key elements that are necessary to improve management/supervisory leadership capacity and identifies the degree to which there is capacity in DFO to adequately address these elements.

• The leadership selection process is a key starting point in ensuring persons being considered for leadership positions have the basic underlying aptitude to perform as successful leaders. Far too often organizations select supervisors /managers on the basis of their technical skills and experience rather than on their leadership competencies. DFO is no exception to this. There is very little information or support available to departmental managers to assist them in selecting for management positions based on leadership capacity and potential. The selection process for the Executive category does endeavour to address leadership capability, however, in a technically oriented department such as DFO, technical knowledge and experience still is given significant weighting. Measures are therefore required to address the process by which DFO selects managers and supervisors to increase the weighting in the selection process for competencies associated with leadership capacity and potential.
   
• Ongoing leadership training for all future and existing staff in leadership positions is an important contributor to organizational workplace health. In DFO the Management Development (MD) I, II and III course modules are designed to provide a continuum of leadership training to DFO managers. These courses are not mandatory for DFO supervisors/managers or those that potentially will act in these positions. There is no DFO policy that makes leadership training mandatory.
  
  Some DFO organizations, for example the Conservation and Protection Branch in the Newfoundland and Labrador Region do make a concerted effort to ensure that potential and current supervisors/mangers complete specific leadership courses. Other DFO organizations such as regional CCG Fleet organizations sponsor periodic leadership oriented courses for the command staff.
  
  Many DFO supervisors and managers do not, however, receive adequate and progressive leadership training. The PeopleSoft Training Module has not been implemented in DFO; there are no department-wide data available to track and monitor DFO staff training.
  
  The Human Resources Training Directorate is developing a proposal to create a "Sustaining Leadership Program" in DFO to replace the current Management Development I, II and III leadership training program. The Sustaining Leadership Program is also being designed to avoid duplicating leadership modules of the new Canada School of the Public Service.
   
• Positive intervention is required when unhealthy work environments are identified to improve the situation. DFO is reasonably well positioned to provide this positive intervention. The Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution (VICR) of the Department could be strengthened to create a proactive capability which could work with the management and staff of a work unit to determine the nature of any identified workplace health issues and create a strategy to improve the situation. This proactive VICR intervention capacity would only be used where there were indications of significant workplace health issues. Other initiatives to make continuous improvements to workplace health and leadership, for example additional leadership training, could be pursued by management in work units where workplace health issues were not identified as being significant.

Recommendation 11

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should:

1. Initiate an ongoing Workplace Health Survey to annually survey all departmental staff to measure progress in creating healthy, respectful working environments that value and support diversity. This survey should be no more than twenty questions in length and should preserve anonymity by not collecting information pertaining to the respondents themselves.
2. Develop a selection process module to be used for all supervisory and management positions that includes an assessment of leadership competency to create and sustain a positive, healthy and inclusive work environment.
3. Review the current DFO leadership training programs to ensure they adequately address the requirement to ensure that all DFO supervisors, managers and executives are provided with effective and accessible leadership training.
4. Implement the PeopleSoft Training Module to enable the department to capture and track leadership training to ensure departmental supervisors and managers receive appropriate leadership training.
5. Develop and provide managers with tools to assist in the creation of healthy work environments.
6. Implement a standard, department-wide Exit Interview Program which offers all departing employees an exit interview. This program should be structured to ensure that departing employees, who are members of an occupational category where a significant EE representation gap has been identified, are offered an interview with staff from the VICR.

Recommendation 12

The Associate Deputy Minister should:

1. Ensure that staff of the Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution (VICR) in each Region contact managers of work units identified in the Workplace Health Survey as having significant work environment issues to explore the nature of the issues.
2. Ensure, where warranted, the VICR staff assist work unit management and staff to address issues and problems identified in the Workplace Health Survey.
3. Ensure that the allocation of resources to the VICR is adequate to enable it to handle the added responsibility of assisting work units to address issues and problems identified in the Workplace Health Survey.

Recommendation 13

ADMs and RDGs should ensure that the creation of a healthy and respectful work environment is included in the Performance Appraisals of all DFO supervisors and managers as well as EX Accountability Accords. The results from the annual Workplace Health Survey (referenced in Recommendation 11 above) would provide part of the input to this aspect of performance appraisals and performance pay.

3.6 Resource Levels in Human Resources to Support Employment Equity

The resources in the Human Resources organizations devoted to the development and coordination of EE initiatives in both Headquarters and the Regions may not be adequate to ensure that DFO EE objectives can be successfully attained.

The initiatives outlined in this ESR to improve the EE representation and recruitment rate in the Department as well as minimize EE attrition rates rely heavily on the active involvement of the Human Resources organizations in both Headquarters and in the Regions. The staff involved are also the points of coordination for DFO for Human Resource Planning and in the Regions Official Languages. All these programs are currently undergoing significant change with an associated significant increase in workload.

There was evidence during the course of this ESR, both in Headquarters and in Regions, that departmental staff who are the Office of Primary Interest in DFO for EE are not adequately resourced to meet the additional coming demands associated with the DFO EE Program. Human Resources staff involved in the coordination and development of EE initiatives, at both the regional and Headquarters levels, identified several key EE initiatives and processes that were not currently being undertaken because of workload demands. The Central and Arctic Region has added an additional staff person to address the increasing workload issues in the EE, Human Resource Planning and Official Languages Unit. Actions to address recognized workload issues have not been taken in other regions or in Headquarters.

It is not within the scope of this ESR to accurately determine the resources required to ensure the Department adequately meets the expectations of the Canadian Human Rights Commission regarding the implementation of EE in DFO. Once a detailed EE Plan has been developed in response to the recommendations of this ESR, a more detailed analysis of resource requirements would provide senior management with assurance pertaining to the adequacy of the resource base that is in place to implement the EE Plan.

Recommendation 14

Regional Directors, HR should maintain an adequate resource commitment to the positions in the HR organization that provide a focus for EE in order to provide the required co-ordination and support for EE in the Region.

Recommendation 15

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that the allocation of resources to the Corporate Recruitment, Human Resource Planning and Employment Equity Unit is adequate to enable it to address the additional requirements associated with the increased reporting and monitoring activities related to Employment Equity.

3.7 Occupational Categories Identified as Non-Compliant by CHRC

3.7.1 Overview of Identified Gap Areas

The CHRC Interim Audit Report-November 2003, identified thirteen issues, or "gaps" related to non-compliance associated with EE groups in Occupational Categories. The CHRC designates a non-compliant situation when:

• Recruitment rates for any of the CHRC defined Occupation Categories is lower than the percentage recruitment rate expected based on the Labour Market Availability (LMA) for a specific EE Group in a specific Occupational Category. An organizational representation "gap" (i.e., fewer members of a specific EE Group in a specific Occupational Category than would be indicated by the LMA) would not be considered as a non-compliant situation as long as the recruitment rate into that group is sufficiently high so as to demonstrate the representation gap is diminishing at a reasonable rate.
• Attrition rates for any of the CHRC defined Occupational Categories are higher than would be expected based on the number of EE group members in an organization compared to non EE group members.
• Clustering or concentration of members of an EE Group at the lower levels of the Occupational Group. Clustering normally occurs when an EE Group is not receiving a fair share of the promotion rate compared to members outside the EE Group.

The following table is an excerpt from the CHRC Interim Audit Report which specifies each EE Occupational "gap" area that was identified in the audit report. This table does not include reference to a potential gap area in the attrition rate of aboriginals in the Administration and Foreign Service category that was identified by the CHRC as a "suggested" area of enquiry for the ESR.

Summary of the DFO Workforce Analysis Areas of Focus for the ESR

Women	Gap	Recruitment	Promotion	Attrition	Clustering
Scientific and Professional	-39	ok	ok	high	in lower levels
Technical	-136	ok	ok	high	in lower levels
Operational	-198	low	ok	ok	ok
Persons with Disabilities	Gap	Recruitment	Promotion	Attrition	Clustering
Scientific and Professional	-7	low	ok	ok	ok
Technical	-35	low	ok	ok	ok
Operational	no gap	low	ok	ok	ok
Visible Minorities	Gap	Recruitment	Promotion	Attrition	Clustering
Executive Group	-10	ok*	ok	ok	ok
Scientific and Professional	-87	low	ok	ok	ok
Technical	-134	low	ok	high	ok
* Although recruitment rates for visible minorities and the EX group were satisfactory, the ESR should ensure that no barriers exist to recruiting and hiring visible minorities in the EX group.

Each "gap" identified in the table above will be examined to determine the causes of any issues or barriers that exist pertaining to the recruitment, attrition or promotions associated with EE groups. Recommendations and a supporting Management Action Plan will be presented to address any barriers that are identified.

The "gaps" will be grouped into the three categories: Recruitment, Attrition, and Clustering.

The recommendations presented in the previous Sections are designed to improve the EE representation by increasing recruitment rates and decreasing rates of attrition. The ESR format requirements of the CHRC dictate that the discussion of barriers/issues and recommendations associated with identified occupational category gaps should stand on their own for each gap analyzed. Therefore, many of the recommendations presented above are referenced again as recommendations that will address the barriers and issues associated with the gaps analysed in the following sections of this ESR.

The recommendations and corresponding Management Action Plan contained in this ESR focus primarily on the current gaps identified in the November 2003 CHRC Interim Report. The actions committed to in the Management Action Plan will, however, be applied to all EE occupational category gaps identified by DFO in the future.

3.7.2 Recruitment is Below Labour Market Availability for Women in the Operational Category

Overview

The Operational category workforce numbers 1927 employees. Employees work in a variety of settings such as aboard vessels in the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) Fleet as Ships Crew (SC), as general trades workers and labourers (GL) at various work sites across Canada, and as Lighthouse keepers (LI) in Newfoundland & Labrador and in British Columbia. In addition, there are a small number of employees classified in the GS and HP groups.

The total representation gap for women in the Operational category is 218. The SC group numbering 1387 employees has over 72% of the total employees in the category. The SC group accounts for almost all of the -175 gap that exists in the Operational category.

All SC positions are in the CCG. A good percentage of these jobs require non standard work hours with work schedules such as the 28 day on 28 day off lay-day system, the 8 hour on and 16 hour on call system of search and rescue stations. The group is divided into 4 sub-groups:

• SC-DED deck hands who work on deck make up almost 60% of the group.
• SC-ERD engine room assistants who work below deck on engine and machinery maintenance account for 18%.
• SC-STD cooks and stewards who work in the ship’s galley or perform logistics duties make up 22%.
• SC-SPT trades specialists are less than 1% and were not included in the analysis.

The work entails exposure to the risk of accident. Accidents that occur on the job may render an employee temporarily or permanently unfit for the duties of his/her position. The Treasury Board Secretariat Return to Work Policy is applied to find these individuals jobs that can accommodate their limitations.

All SC jobs require the Health Canada fleet medical examination that attests to a specific level of vision with and without correction, colour vision, hearing acuity and the requirement to be ambulatory. Marine Emergency Duties (MED) certification is also required for all sea-going positions.

On east and west coasts, many prospective candidates already have experience on board commercial or fishing vessels and therefore possess the MED certification while in the Central and Arctic Region this is much less common.

The current departmental recruitment rate for women into the SC category is 10.6%. The recruitment rate indicated by the Labour Market Availability (LMA) rate is 14.4%. Given the significant representation gap for women in the SC category, a recruitment rate of at least 30% would be appropriate in order to eliminate the gaps over a five to eight year period depending on the number of persons annually recruited.

The CCG Fleet is currently experiencing significant cut backs and curtailments to its vessel operations. This has resulted in some regions having more Continuous Full Time staff in place than vessel positions. As a result the vast majority of the filling of SC positions are on a Term or Casual basis to meet temporary requirements.

Recruitment practices to fill Term and Casual requirements are somewhat similar with some variation in detail from one region to another. The Pacific and Central & Arctic Regions have delegated authority to recruit directly (not through the PSC). These regions maintain an application inventory for the SC category and draw from this inventory as required. While this practice is based on a competitive evaluation process to set up eligibility lists it does not fully comply with staffing policy insofar as names are not stricken from the list as they are employed in a Term or Casual situation. These persons are then often recalled for a subsequent appointment. This practice has evolved because of the often urgent need to fill a position on a ship before its imminent departure. CCG officials state that a rigid adherence to staffing policy would severely impact fleet operations. In most cases the effective area of selection in all Regions is quite small and candidates usually come from the centres close to CCG installations.

In 2003, the Maritimes Region used the Special Recruitment Authority granted to the Department by the PSC to run an Open Term competition for Ship’s Crew positions which was restricted to women. The Region created a Term Eligibility list of twenty qualified women. Unfortunately once a person has been picked from the list, served a term and been terminated from a position, they are no longer eligible to be picked to fill another Term position. Because of the often short-term nature of the SC requirements, the Region found that its list of qualified women SC candidates was quickly depleted.

During the spring of 2004 the CCG in the Newfoundland and Labrador Region decided to try to recruit more women into the SC category. Rather than using the special delegated recruitment authority to run a competition directed at recruiting women, the Region decided to run an open competition. Advertising associated with this competition was designed to interest women in a SC career. Unfortunately, only 21 of 179 accepted applications were from women. The Region faced the prospect that, even fully qualified women would not be sufficiently high on the eligibility list to be given the opportunity to fill an SC position. The Region has decided to run a special authority closed competition which focuses on women. Successful candidates from the closed competition will be used to fill SC positions along with candidates drawn from the original open competition.

The other occupational groups in the Occupational Category are the GL, LI, GS and HP groups that represent only a small percentage of the category. The GLs number 386 employees or 19% of the category while all remaining groups make up only 8%. All of these occupational groups are attractive to a smaller minority of women than men.

The GL occupational group has many sub-groups and over 80% of the employees work in the Coast Guard. The representation gap for women GLs is only -1. There were no women recruited into this category during the period of the workforce analysis. Recruitment is primarily within the local area where the position is located. There are a variety of work settings where GLs are employed, such as warehouses, docksides in fleet support functions and fish hatcheries.

The representation and recruitment gaps for women in the SC occupational group are by far the most significant compared to any other occupational group gaps in the Operational category. Therefore the focus of this ESR is on the representation and recruitment gap for women in the SC occupational group.

Analysis of Causal Factors

During the course of interviews with CCG personnel involved in the recruitment for SC positions, the following reasons/causes were identified for the low recruitment of women.

1. Apart from the Open Term competition run in the Maritimes Region there is very little evidence that DFO management has actively pursued recruitment programs to attract women to SC positions. Little advertising or promotion is undertaken to attract sufficient numbers of women as candidates into the SC inventories maintained in the regions or as applicants for competitions. Women currently in CCG SC positions, who were interviewed during this ESR, stated they became aware of opportunities in the CCG Fleet because family or friends were already in the CCG or they lived near a CCG Base and were aware of the role of the CCG and the employment opportunities it offered. Many of those interviewed stated their friends outside of the workplace have no knowledge of the role of the CCG nor the opportunities for employment. Over 75% of the women SCs interviewed during the ESR stated that there is a lack of information available to women about the possibilities for a career with the CCG fleet.
   
   There is no standard, effective information/presentation package available to Regional CCG Fleet organizations that could be used, for example, to provide outreach presentations to female high school students to encourage them to seek careers in the CCG Fleet. The ESR Team was informed that on occasion the CCG does provide staff for presentations to high schools and trade shows on job opportunities in the CCG. These information sessions are not focused on the opportunities for women in SC positions; often male CCG staff have undertaken these briefings rather than women, sub-optimizing the potential to attract women to the CCG.
    
2. A lower percentage of women than men SC candidates already possess the Marine Emergency Duty certificate. The Safe Crewing Regulations under the Canada Shipping Act require that all seafarers must possess MED certification. This is thus a pre-requisite to even applying for a SC position. To acquire MED certification requires one to take a six-day course, costing between $1700 and $2000. This cost is usually higher to cover travel and accommodation. Only the Newfoundland and Labrador Region arranges to provide the MED course free of charge to its seagoing personnel via a reciprocal agreement with Memorial University for services provided to the University by DFO.
   
   The requirement for applicants for SC positions to hold an MED certificate prior to being considered for a SC position is a barrier to women applicants more so than their male counterparts. A check with schools offering MED training revealed that less than 5% of course participants are women. Women have far less experience working in the marine environment than men and are therefore less likely to already have MED certification. The fact that currently most of the SC job opportunities are for Term and Casual positions creates an even greater barrier for women with the expectation they would spend upwards of $2000 in order to be even considered for a temporary position.
   
   A provision does exist in the Canada Shipping Act that allows persons to work onboard a ship for a period up to six months before becoming MED certified. Regions on occasion use this exemption to fill SC positions on an emergency basis. For safety reasons it is not an accepted practice to have shipboard positions filled with staff who do not have their MED certification. A person assigned, however, as a supernumerary (in excess of mandatory requirements) could safely work on board without his/her MED certification for up to the four month period. This could be an approach to providing women with an opportunity to gain experience in the CCG Fleet prior to obtaining their MED certification. It is reasonable to assume that if women were given an opportunity to gain shipboard experience prior to obtaining MED certification, there would be a greater potential for these women to obtain the certification once they had determined for themselves that the work environment and life style were suited to them. This experience as a supernumerary would also provide CCG management with an opportunity to assess the potential of these women to succeed as SC personnel.
    
3. SC positions in most regions have work schedules that are almost unique in the public service. The majority of large vessels in the Fleet operate on a lay-day schedule of 28 days on and 28 days off. While the schedule is not attractive to all types of employees, it is generally acknowledged that it is more difficult for women with children to work the schedule than for men. In addition, the work associated with SC positions on the deck can be very physically demanding.
   
   This type of work schedule and job environment is somewhat analogous to positions in the trucking industry where the CHRC determined that women were more open to considering employment as drivers for short-haul routes than long-haul. Based on this the CHRC supported the lowering of the Labour Market Availability requirements for women in the trucking industry to reflect the lower availability of women for long-haul trucking assignments. A similar reduction would appear to be in order for women in the SC group in the Coast Guard based on the long periods of time away from home associated with some of the fleet work schedules.
    
4. Generally, SC women reported feeling somewhat isolated onboard a Coast Guard vessel especially when there are often very few, if any, other women onboard. Over 50% of the SC women interviewed during the ESR survey stated that it would be preferable to have at least one other woman onboard to reduce the sense of isolation. Most regional Fleet organizations have endeavoured to assign at least two women to vessels, however, because there are still relatively few women in the Fleet, this is often difficult to accomplish. Although not a direct factor in the recruitment of women to SC positions, fore-knowledge of the isolating aspects of life onboard vessels could be a negative factor when considering a career with the Fleet.

Recommendation 16

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should coordinate the implementation in DFO of a recruitment process that builds on the Staffing Plan implemented in Fiscal Year 2004/05. This recruiting process should be as follows:

1. Each Regional Director and Director General in Ottawa should approve their planned recruitment and staffing for a six-month period renewable at mid-year. This recruitment strategy should include all forms of recruitment – indeterminate, term, casual, students and student bridging programs. These accountable managers should be responsible for establishing the staffing strategies for each Operational recruitment initiative so that employment equity recruitment targets set out in the DFO Employment Equity Plan are met.
2. All multiple position recruitment initiatives in the Operational category should take appropriate steps to maintain the targeted recruitment rate for women. This should include outreach initiative designed to increase the number of women in open competitions, the use of DFO’s special recruitment authorities to expand the area of competition for women on open competitions or the use of special recruitment authorities to run competitions which focus only on women.
3. Managers responsible for individual recruitment initiatives in the Operational category should assess the current recruitment rate for women to determine whether the target rate is being achieved. The use of the DFO’s special recruitment authorities for women in the Operational occupational category should be considered as long as the recruitment rate for women is below the targeted rate. Unless the Recruitment Flow Targets for women in the Operational category are being met, all recruitment actions that do not have some focus on the recruitment of women should be justified and approved at the regional level by the RDG or in the case of CCG by the Regional Director CCG, and in Headquarters by the appropriate ADM.

Recommendation 17

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should petition the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency to reduce the Labour Market Availability rates for women in the Operational category to reflect the long periods of time Ship’s Crew staff are required to be away from home.

Recommendation 18

The Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard should ensure the following initiatives are implemented to facilitate the recruitment of women into Ship’s Crew occupational groups:

1. A Women’s Ship’s Crew recruitment package should be developed for use in the regions. Each Region should develop a recruitment outreach program using this package to ensure that women who would be potentially interested in Ship’s Crew positions are encouraged to consider a shipboard career with the CCG Fleet.
2. To staff women into SC positions, Regions should establish pre-qualified pools of women SC candidates using the Special Recruiting Authority available to the Department.
3. Regions should remove the requirement for women to possess a MED certification in order to apply for Ship’s Crew positions. Women applicants who are deemed to meet all other requirements should be considered for assignment to a CCG vessel as a supernumerary for a period of not more than four months until they have obtained their MED certification.
4. On an exception basis, the Canadian Coast Guard should pay for the MED certification for employment equity candidates who are otherwise qualified where recruitment success has been demonstrably difficult.

3.7.3 Recruitment is below Labour Market Availability for Persons With Disabilities in the Operational Category

Overview

The Operational Category is very heterogeneous, with the work almost always requiring a degree of mobility, eyesight and hearing capability. See description of this category in previous Section.

The recruitment gap for persons with disabilities in the overall Operational category is only eight across the Department. Although fewer persons with disabilities are recruited into this category than would be expected based on the LMA for persons with disabilities DFO does not have a representation gap (The gap is numerically zero).

Given that the persons with disabilities representation gap is zero for the Operational category, no Special Recruitment Authorities have been granted to the Department for persons with disabilities in the Operational category.

Analysis of Causal Factors

1. ESR interviews and analysis of recruitment/staffing actions did not identify any instances where the recruitment of persons with disabilities into any of the occupational groups in the Operational category was emphasized. For example, there were no cases identified where associations or advocacy groups for persons with disabilities were contacted to seek support in referring persons with disabilities to apply to recruitment initiatives. The Bona-fide Occupational Requirements in the Operational category reduce the availability of specific types of persons with disabilities for these positions. This results in some staffing managers not considering a staffing focus on persons with disabilities since they believe many disabilities could not be accommodated. The Department’s new Accommodation Policy clearly states the requirement to accommodate persons with disabilities (up to the point of undue hardship for the Department) whenever possible. In addition the policy provides financial support to mangers to implement accommodations that are required. This Policy has not yet been widely disseminated throughout the Department.
2. The Department has significant experience with accommodating employees in the Operational Category who become disabled while working for the Department and who can no longer perform the duties associated with their position. The largest percentage of Duty to Accommodate cases are in the Operational category. Several regions have a dedicated "Back to Work" staff member who works with these disabled Operational staff to find other positions where their disability can be accommodated. This accommodation can be temporary or permanent depending on the nature of the disability. Although not recruitment in the normal sense of the word, the identification of these disabled staff is an important part of the self-identification process.
   
   Most regions do not explain to these disabled employees that their temporary or permanent disability is something that represents a very legitimate work related disability that could be formally self-identified to the Regional EE Coordinator. Only the Maritimes Region makes a concerted effort to explain the legitimate opportunity to self-identify as a person with a disability to these employees.

Recommendation 19

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to persons with disabilities in the Operational category.

Recommendation 20

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Operational category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential candidates with disabilities are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for persons with disabilities.

Recommendation 21

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should develop a communications strategy to accompany the issuance of the new DFO Accommodation Policy to address management attitudinal issues related to persons with disabilities. This strategy should inform managers and employees on the duty to accommodate, ways and means to provide accommodation and the availability of supporting funds and services.

Recommendation 22

The Regional Directors of Human Resources should ensure that Regional Employment Equity Coordinators contact each DFO employee who becomes disabled and can not perform the duties associated with their positions. These persons should be made aware that their disability represents a legitimate disability and they could formally self-identify themselves a person with a disability.

3.7.4 Recruitment is Below Labour Market Availability for Persons With Disabilities in the Scientific and Professional Category

Overview

A high proportion of the Science and Professional workforce is based in eight science institutes operating in the regions while another large number work in Area Offices scattered in small centres across the country. The remainder of this workforce work in regional headquarter offices and in DFO Headquarters. The Biologist group (BI) is the largest single group comprising 712 or 50% of the 1429 total Science and Professional workforce. SE-RES (267 employees), EN (169 employees), ES (115 employees) and PC (117 employees) are the other groups that account for a combined 97% of the category total.

The department-wide representation gap in the Science and Professional category for persons with disabilities is -7. The recruitment flow gap is only -1, with 9 persons recruited instead of the 10 expected based on Labour Market Availability (LMA).

A high percentage of Science and Professional positions demand field work on a regular basis that requires the employee to be ambulatory and to have adequate corrected vision. Some require the employee to work from scientific vessels for part of the year and for these employees a ship board medical is required.

The recruitment flow gap referenced in the CHRC Interim Audit Report is very small at only -1. Despite this small gap, the ESR Team did endeavour to undertake a causal analysis to identify any recruitment barriers that might contribute to this gap.

Analysis of Causal Factors

1. The Job Descriptions for many of the positions in the scientific community reference the requirement for field work, research aboard ships and the handling of chemicals. No mention is made as to the possibility of accommodating any of these, or addressing alternate ways of doing the job. This raises the possibility that persons with disabilities, who view these requirements, may self-screen unless they are also aware that accommodation may be available.
2. Interviews with managers revealed a lack of knowledge and understanding pertaining to what constitutes a disability and their duty to accommodate. There is potentially a stigma attached to disabilities or conditions, and the existence of a "productivity and ability myth’ on the part of managers and co-workers. The Department’s new Accommodation Policy was judged to be compliant in June 2004. The dissemination of this policy and associated guidelines would better inform managers on the subject of persons with disabilities and their duty to accommodate. This should make managers more comfortable with the recruitment of persons with disabilities into their organizations.
3. Accommodation may not be possible for some of the physical/safety requirements and conditions of work for certain types of disabilities. No specific Bona Fide Occupational Requirements (BFORs) have ever been identified for the science related occupational groups. There is a need to review all jobs to determine which aspects can not be accommodated. Once BFORs have been established, the availability estimates could be adjusted to reflect the percentage of positions for which accommodation may not be possible. This would provide a more realistic benchmark for the group.
4. ESR interviews and analysis of a sample of recruitment/staffing files did not identify any instances where the recruitment of persons with disabilities into any of the Scientific and Professional occupational groups was emphasized. For example, there were no cases identified where advocacy associations for persons with disabilities were contacted to seek support in referring persons with disabilities to apply to recruitment initiatives.

Recommendation 23

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to persons with disabilities in the Scientific and Professional occupational category.

Recommendation 24

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Scientific and Professional category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential candidates with disabilities are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for persons with disabilities.

Recommendation 25

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services, in consultation with the ADMs and Regional Directors of organizations with positions in the Scientific and Professional category, should coordinate the review of the job descriptions for all occupational groups in the Scientific and Professional category to identify Bona Fide Occupational Requirements.

Once this determination has been made, the ADM of Human Resources and Corporate services should petition the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency to consider reducing the Labour Market Availability rates for persons with disabilities to reflect the percentage of positions in these occupational groups for which accommodation may not be possible for some disabilities, for example blindness and mobility impairment.

Recommendation 26

See Recommendation 21 – The initiatives detailed in Recommendation 21 pertaining to the development of a communication strategy for the DFO Accommodation Policy will help mitigate management attitudinal barriers associated with the recruitment of persons with disabilities in the Scientific and Professional category.

Recommendation 27

See Recommendation 22 - Encouraging disabled DFO employees who can not perform the duties of their position to self-identify as a person with a disability should provide a more accurate picture of the number of persons with disabilities in the Scientific and Professional category.

Recommendation 28

The Regional Directors of Human Resources, in consultation with the ADMs and Regional Directors of organizations with positions in the Scientific and Professional category, should ensure that statements describing the Department’s willingness to provide accommodation for persons with disabilities, to be included in all Job Descriptions and Statements of Qualification to facilitate the recruitment of persons with disabilities into the Scientific and Professional category.

3.7.5 Recruitment is Below Labour Market Availability for Persons With Disabilities in the Technical Category

Overview

The Technical category workforce is a very heterogeneous one consisting of employment in varying setting such as Ships Officers aboard vessels in the CCG fleet; technical workers in scientific institutes across Canada; Hydrographers working in a combination of shipboard and office settings; Fisheries Officers working in field settings, or on board vessels; Radio Operators in various Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) stations across Canada; or Electronics Technicians repairing equipment on board vessels or at field sites.

The following describes some of the medical and ability related requirements for the key occupational groups in the Technical category. Members of these groups make up over 96% of all departmental staff in the Technical occupational category.

• Ships Officers require the Health Canada fleet medical that attests to a specific level of vision with and without correction, colour vision, hearing acuity, ambulatory requirements. They also require Marine Emergency Duties (MED) certification.
• Fisheries Officers (GT) require a special Health Canada medical that attests to a specific level of vision with and without correction, colour vision, hearing acuity, ambulatory requirements. Drivers licence. Some positions require MED certification.
• Radio Operators (RO) – require a special Category medical exam which includes specific requirements for visual acuity, colour vision and hearing. It should be noted that this occupational group is one of the few groups in the Technical category that can accommodate a person in a wheelchair.
• Electronics Technicians (EL) require a Health Canada medical that attests to a specific level of vision with and without correction and ability to board and disembark helicopters and vessels.
• Hydrographers (EG) Most persons in the EG group in DFO are hydrographers. Hydrographers require a special Health Canada ship board medical. The position description for hydrographers state a requirement to work in field conditions implying the requirement to be ambulatory.

Many of the jobs require non standard work hours with work schedules such as the 28 day on 28 day off lay-day system; the 8 hour on and 16 hour on call system of search and rescue stations; the shift work of the 24/7 operations of the MCTS Stations; occasional field work stints of one, two or three weeks duration for science technicians; frequent seasonal overtime and on-call maintenance arrangements.

Several of the positions require special medicals that attest to the employee’s fitness to perform the duties of the positions. Accidents or medical conditions may occur that render an employee unfit for the duties of his/her position for a temporary or permanent period. In the latter case, DFO applies the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Return to Work policy to assist individuals in finding jobs that can accommodate their limitations.

The Technical category numbers approximately 3476 employees. The GT group is the largest single group numbering 1026 or 29% of the Technical workforce. EG (882 employees -25%), SO (811 employees -23%), RO (355 employees-10%) and EL (290 employees-8%) are the other significant sized groups in the Technical category.

The department-wide representation gap in the Technical category for persons with disabilities is -35. The recruitment flow gap is only -6, with 13 persons recruited instead of the 19 expected based on Labour Market Availability (LMA).

Analysis of Causal Factors

1. The Statement of Qualifications and Job Descriptions for almost all of the positions in the Technical community reference requirements to meet specific physical/medical requirements and/or the requirement for field work or work aboard ships. For some disabilities accommodation may not be possible due to the physical/safety requirements and conditions of work associated with many of the positions in the Technical category. For example, the Technical positions requiring field work on a regular basis and work from vessels eliminate a certain percentage of the available persons with disabilities from consideration for employment in these areas.
   
   In 2002, DFO identified BFORs for the Ship’s Officer (SO) and the General Technical (GT) occupational groups; these BFORs were accepted by the Public Service Commission and the Labour Market Availability (LMA) rates for these groups were reduced for persons with disabilities. No specific BFORs have ever been requested for the EL, EG or RO occupational groups. There is a need to review all these jobs to determine which aspects could not be accommodated. Once BFORs have been established, the availability estimates can be adjusted to reflect the percentage of positions for which accommodation may not be possible. This would provide a more realistic benchmark for the EL, EG and RO groups.
    
2. ESR interviews and analysis of recruitment/staffing actions identified only one instance in the Pacific Region MCTS organization where the recruitment of persons with disabilities into any of the Technical groups was emphasized. In the case of the Pacific Region, the cooperation and response from the disabled advocacy groups contacted was judged by the recruiting managers to be poor. Nevertheless, the contacting of advocacy groups for persons with disabilities has proven to be effective for many organizations in attracting qualified candidates from this EE group.
    
3. Interviews with managers who have had recent involvement with recruitment revealed that for many there remains a degree of uncertainty surrounding the concept of accommodation of persons with disabilities. One manager in particular stated he has not undertaken any recruitment initiatives which focused on persons with disabilities because he was not sure he could accommodate the kinds of disabilities applicants might have.

Recommendation 29

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to persons with disabilities in the Technical category.

Recommendation 30

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Technical category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential candidates with disabilities are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for persons with disabilities.

Recommendation 31

See Recommendation 28 - The inclusion of the Department’s willingness to provide accommodation for persons with disabilities to be included in all Job Descriptions and Statements of Qualification as referenced in Recommendation 28 will facilitate the recruitment of persons with disabilities into the Technical category.

Recommendation 32

See Recommendation 21 – The initiatives detailed in Recommendation 21 pertaining to the development of a communication strategy for the DFO Accommodation Policy will mitigate management attitudinal barriers associated with the recruitment of persons with disabilities into the Technical category.

Recommendation 33

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services, in consultation with the ADMs and Regional Directors of organizations with positions in the EL, RO and EG occupational groups, should coordinate the review of the job descriptions for all positions in these groups to identify Bona Fide Occupational Requirements.

Once this determination has been made, the ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should petition the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency to reduce the Labour Market Availability rates for persons with disabilities to reflect the percentage of positions in these occupational groups for which accommodation may not be possible for some disabilities for example, blindness and mobility impairment.

Recommendation 34

See Recommendation 22 - Encouraging disabled DFO employees who can not perform the duties of their position to self-identify as a person with a disability should provide a more accurate picture of the number of persons with disabilities in the Technical category.

3.7.6 Recruitment is Below Labour Market Availability for Visible Minorities in the Scientific and Professional Category

Overview

Refer to previous Section 3.7.4 for a description of the positions and work environment associated with the occupational groups in the DFO Scientific and Professional category.

The total representation rate of visible minorities in the Science and Professional category is 5.5% or 79 visible minorities. The LMA rate is 11.6%, producing a representation gap of -87. The recruitment rate for visible minorities in this occupational category is 6.6%; the recruitment rate based on the LMA is 11.6%, for a recruitment gap of -13. To address the significant representation gap within a reasonable timeframe would require an annual recruitment rate of between 15% and 20%.

Analysis of Causal Factors

1. ESR interviews and a review of a sample of staffing files identified only one instance where the recruitment of visible minorities into any of the Scientific and Professional occupational groups was emphasized.
    
2. The location of most of DFO’s work sites in small rural locations does not work to advantage in attracting visible minority candidates. Regional managers who recruit to fill DFO positions in the Scientific and Professional category reported experiencing difficulty in attracting visible minorities to the smaller more remote centres. DFO managers in the Newfoundland and Labrador Region reported significant difficulties in attracting visible minorities to the Province of Newfoundland where there is a relatively small visible minority existing population. Several instances were identified during ESR interviews with staffing managers where successful visible minority candidates turned down positions when it became clear the available position was in a small town.
   
   Anecdotal evidence suggests visible minority candidates prefer work in the larger centres where community support systems are stronger. The ESR Team conducted telephone interviews with ten visible minorities in the DFO science community who are working in smaller communities. Forty percent of the interviewees stated they would prefer to live in a larger urban centre.
    
3. One of the few examples, identified by the ESR Team, of a recruitment initiative that focused on the recruitment of visible minorities into the Science and Professional category took place in the Central and Arctic Region. The special authority to run an open competition, open only to visible minorities was used in an attempt to staff a position in the scientific group. Managers involved in the selection process reported that only two candidates met the screening criteria, most being screened out because of lack of experience. In the end, a position was offered to a successful candidate; however, the offer was declined because the position was located in a small northern community.
   
   In hindsight, a senior manager involved in the process stated that it would have been more effective as an EE recruitment campaign for visible minorities if the Region had been willing to staff the position on an "under-fill" basis, allowing those candidates with less experience to be considered for the position. Visible minorities recruited on this basis could have gained experience on the job and been subsequently qualified to assume the full duties of the position.

Recommendation 35

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to visible minorities in the Scientific and Professional category.

Recommendation 36

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Scientific and Professional category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential visible minority candidates are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for visible minorities. Given many of the recruitment initiatives in the Scientific and Professional category are national in scope, these strategies should be nationally integrated.

3.7.7 Recruitment is Below Labour Market Availability for Visible Minorities in the Technical Category

Overview

Refer to previous Section 3.7.5 for a description of the positions and work environment associated with the occupational groups in the DFO Technical category.

The total representation rate of visible minorities in the Technical category is 1.9% or 66 visible minorities. The LMA rate is 5.7%, producing a representation gap of -134. The recruitment rate for visible minorities in this occupational category is 2.2%; the recruitment rate based on the LMA is 5.7% for a recruitment gap of -14. To address the significant representation gap within a reasonable timeframe would require an annual recruitment rate of between 15% and 20%.

Analysis of Causal Factors

1. There is not a requirement for most selection processes in the Technical category to have more than a regional area of selection. The areas of selection frequently do not include the three largest urban centres in Canada where over 90% of visible minorities live. Methods of advertising do not attract enough visible minority candidates.
    
2. The requirement for two years of high school French instruction if primary official language competency is English, or two years of high school English instruction if primary official language competency is French, is a probable barrier to the recruitment of visible minorities into the Officer Cadet Program at the Canadian Coast Guard College. Managers responsible for administering the Officer Cadet Recruitment Program stated that a large percentage of visible minority candidates are annually screened out because they do not have two years of French high school level training. CCG management stated that the validity of this acceptance requirement may be reviewed.
    
3. The location of most of DFO’s work sites in small rural locations does not work to advantage in attracting visible minority candidates. Regional managers who recruit to fill DFO positions in the Technical category report experiencing difficulty in attracting visible minorities to especially small, remote centres. Several instances were identified during the ESR where successful visible minority candidates turned down positions when it became clear the available position was in a small town. Anecdotal evidence suggests visible minorities prefer to work in the larger urban centres where community support systems are stronger.

Recommendation 37

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to visible minorities in the Technical occupational category.

Recommendation 38

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Technical category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential visible minority candidates are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for visible minorities.

Recommendation 39

The recruitment program for CCG Officer Cadets should include a provision to accept visible minority applicants who meet all requirements with the exception of two years of high school equivalency in French or English. An intensive French or English language training program should be provided as required to successful visible minority Officer Cadets prior to the commencement of the first year of Cadet training to provide them with the equivalency of two years high school level French or English.

3.7.8 Representation Rate is Below Labour Market Availability for Visible Minorities in the Executive Category, Barriers May Exist to Recruitment

Overview

The DFO Executive category is made up of approximately 199 EX positions. Based on the data from the workforce analysis the representation of visible minorities in the departmental Executive category is six, whereas the availability data indicates a representation rate of 16. There is therefore a representation gap in this occupational category of -10. The recruitment rate of visible minorities into the Executive category during the period examined in the CHRC Audit did not show a shortfall, with three visible minorities recruited when the target recruitment flow was two. Nevertheless, the CHRC Audit noted the size of the representation gap and recommended that the departmental ESR examine the Executive recruitment process to ensure no barriers exist to recruitment of visible minorities in the EX group.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) is the delegated authority for EX recruitment. As such, the PSC approves appointments to and within the EX group. The PSC determines selection criteria, develops assessment tools and provides advice and information to departments regarding resourcing strategies and use of tools for assessment of competencies. In addition, the PSC provides practical assistance to departments on selection board composition, (including a structured checklist for reference checks) and carries out external search and referral of candidates. The PSC is responsible for advertising vacancies, usually through the Internet at Jobs.ca. Paper notices are rare. Applications are received by the PSC, and all competition files are held by the PSC.

Within this context of PSC authorities, departmental managers (EX level) establish job requirements in consultation with the PSC and departmental HR staff (departments also have HR Executive Advisors). Interviews and other assessment factors are developed from Statement of Qualifications. Only one interview per candidate for each process takes place, conducted by the selection board. Departmental managers participate on selection boards, which as a rule include at least three members, one of whom is a HR member of the PSC EX Resourcing Group. Because the minimum area of selection is national for the EX group, departments can encourage departmental staff to apply, but cannot restrict competitions to internal (own department) candidates. As mentioned earlier, the PSC manages the competitive processes, and holds the files. Departments, including DFO, only keep staffing files on the successful candidate with copies of the poster, Statement of Qualifications, Job descriptions and the letter of offer.

At DFO, entry into the Executive group occurs from three sources:

• from outside the federal government;
• from other departments and agencies;
• from feeder groups within a department.

The common practice in the Public Service is to first use the internal public service pool, before recruiting externally, to honour the government’s commitment to provide advancement opportunities to its own employees.

The Department currently has three visible minority participants in the Career Assignment Program (CAP) who are potential candidates for future EX positions in DFO. The Department’s policy is to always endeavour to seek out EE group members for CAP which respond to the existing representation gaps at the time the CAP positions are filled.

The PSC has requested that all Departments identify expected EX vacancies in the coming year and to create a staffing plan that includes the targeting of visible minorities for some of these positions. DFO is in the process of responding to this request. This approach to human resource planning is consistent with the recommendations of this ESR which focus on the importance of creating staffing plans which address gaps in EE recruitment and representation.

Analysis of Causal Factors

1. One factor which has contributed to the representation gap of visible minorities in the Executive category is the fact that there are large representation gaps of visible minorities in several occupational categories, not only in DFO but generally throughout the Public Service. This results in the internal feeder groups to the Executive category being under represented amongst visible minorities. The measures that will be put in place in DFO to enhance the recruitment of visible minorities into the Department will, over time increase the representation of visible minorities in DFO and create a larger internal feeder group for Executive positions.
    
2. During the 2000 ESR several instances were identified where the Statement of Qualifications (S of Q) for senior positions contained requirements for technical qualifications, knowledge and skills which normally would not be required in a senior management position. These requirements can pose a barrier to designated group members as well as non-designated group members who are fully qualified as managers but do not have the technical qualifications demanded by the S of Q. A recommendation was made in the 2000 ESR to review the EX and EX minus 1 S of Qs for positions being staffed to ensure prior technical experience, prior technical knowledge or technical accreditation requirements were necessary and did not create barriers to the employment of EE groups. Follow-up undertaken during this ESR indicates this recommendation was never acted upon.
    
3. The Department has shown a willingness to use Special Recruitment Authorities granted to it by the PSC to undertake Open Competitions to fill EX positions which are targeted at visible minorities. In 2003, the Pacific Region undertook to fill the Director of Communications position with a visible minority candidate using this special authority. There was significant negative media coverage related to this competition. Ultimately the competition was cancelled, the official position of the Department is that the competition was cancelled as part of a departmental initiative to reduce the number of EX positions by 10%. Several managers interviewed, however, saw this cancellation as an indication that the Department was not willing to utilize special EE recruitment authorities to staff positions where there is an EE representation gap. This perception may have resulted in reluctance within the Department to use all existing tools available to promote the recruitment of visible minorities into the Executive category as well as other categories.

Recommendation 40

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to the recruitment and promotion of visible minorities into the Executive category.

Recommendation 41

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that the Statement of Qualifications of all EX and EX minus one level positions being staffed be reviewed to ensure that prior experience requirements, prior knowledge requirements or demands for accreditation or certifications are necessary and do not create barriers to the employment of designated groups. These barriers should be eliminated as they are identified.

Recommendation 42

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that the Employment Equity information presentation referenced in Recommendation 1 contain a reaffirmation of the Department’ s commitment to support managers when they undertake to use Employment Equity Special Recruitment Authorities to address significant Employment Equity representation gaps.

3.7.9 Women Have a Higher Rate of AttritionThan Men in the Scientific and Professional Category

Overview

Refer to previous Section 3.7.4 for a description of the positions and work environment associated with the occupational groups in the DFO Scientific and Professional category.

In reviewing the attrition numbers from the DFO Workforce Analysis, women depart DFO at an only a slightly higher rate than men. There were 17 terminations of women in the Scientific and Professional category whereas the expected number of terminations based on the population of women in the workforce in this category was 11, yielding a gap of 6 nationally. The causal analysis, therefore, does not need to account for substantial gender differences in attrition rates.

The Department does not have a comprehensive exit interview program that tracks reasons for leaving by occupational category. Therefore much of the following causal analysis is based on interviews and workshops with women currently employed by DFO in the Scientific and Professional category as well as representatives from management.

In addition to interviews and workshops, the ESR Team examined the findings and recommendations of the Hypatia Project. This project was an inter-departmental initiative undertaken by several science-based departments in Eastern Canada. The Hypatia Project examined the opportunities, issues and problems confronting women in the science community.

Analysis of Causal Factors

1. The question of the attrition rate for women was raised with all of the science managers interviewed by the ESR Team as well as with the women scientists interviewed. One factor identified was that the corporate culture in the DFO science community has been defined by men over the years and does not favour retention of women as much as men. Members of the senior management cadre in Science are predominantly men.
    
2. Several of the women interviewed in the Science community perceive that male scientists have a tendency toward relatively aggressive behaviour and boundary keeping insofar as areas of research and publishing capacity is concerned. Several women scientists interviewed noted that this behaviour does not favour working in teams, partnering and cooperation – work modes that the women tended to favour over the more competitive publish or perish model that appears to be favoured by male scientists.
    
3. One area identified in the Hypatia project study was that women scientists perceive that they are excluded from the inner circles of influence that are predominantly exercised through all male colleague networks within most of the DFO science institutes. The barriers put up by these so-called "boys clubs" are said to be a factor in causing some of DFO’s women scientists to leave the Department for workplaces that have a more open organizational culture.
    
4. One explanation often put forward as a reason for women to leave an organization is inadequate accommodation of women’s’ requests for accommodations in the workplace. Based on interviews with management and with women science personnel, this does not appear to be a significant factor in explaining differential gender retention rates at least at the larger science institutes. It may be a factor in the area offices where field work cycles and operational workload limit flexibility in scheduling work.
    
5. Women perceive that their career opportunities are less than what men enjoy although the Scientific and Professional category statistics on promotions developed for the DFO Workforce Analysis do not bear out this perception. There is a general awareness that there is blockage at the senior ranks caused by having in place a group of older male scientists who tend to continue work into ages that other categories of workers do not. There are very few women science managers to provide role models for younger women in science. These factors may cause some women scientists to leave the Department for what they perceive as better opportunities elsewhere.
    
6. Women interviewed in the Science community stated that the above issues related to the retention of women may not be the primary ones for the higher than expected women’s attrition rate. However, the overall uncertainty about the future direction of the DFO Science Program and ongoing Program cuts, when coupled with these other issues facing women, provide an increased impetus for women to leave the DFO Science organization. In addition, the average age of women in the Science and Professional category is significantly less than their male counterparts making the decision to leave the organization an easier one.

Recommendation 43

See Recommendations 11, 12 and 13 – A primary factor which can contribute to a high attrition rate is an unhealthy work environment. The initiatives recommended in Recommendation 11 are designed to identify workplace environment issues through the regular application of a survey instrument and improved leadership competencies. In addition, Recommendations 12 and 13 contain initiatives aimed at improving workplace health where problems are identified through the intervention of the staff from the Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution; enhancing the DFO Exit Interview Program; and making the creation of a healthy work environment a key component of management Performance Appraisals.

These initiatives should, as applied to the work environments of the DFO Scientific and Professional communities, lead to improvements in workplace health and reduce levels of attrition of women.

Recommendation 44

The ADM Science, in consultation with Regional Directors of Science should develop and coordinate the delivery of information sessions and discussion groups which focus on the issues, concerns and opportunities for women in the DFO scientific community. These sessions should be delivered in all DFO science institutes and modeled on the "Hypatia Project" sessions developed in the Maritimes Region.

Recommendation 45

The ADM Science should ensure that National meetings of the Regional Directors of Science have the retention of female science personnel as a standing item on their agenda until the retention rates are reduced to the average rate for all employees in the Science components of the Scientific and Professional category.

3.7.10 Women Have a Higher Rate of Attrition Than Men in the Technical Category

Overview

Refer to previous Section 3.7.5 for a description of the positions and work environment associated with the occupational groups in the DFO Technical category.

In reviewing the attrition numbers from the DFO Workforce Analysis, women depart DFO at an only a marginally higher rate than men. There were 18 terminations of women in the Technical category whereas the expected number of terminations based on the population of women in the technical workforce of this category was 13, yielding a gap of 5 nationally. In addition, the terminations in the Technical category are spread relatively evenly amongst the five major occupational groups in the category.

The Department does not have a comprehensive exit interview program that tracks reasons for leaving by occupational category. Therefore much of the following causal analysis is based on interviews and workshops with women currently employed by DFO in the Technical occupational category as well as representatives from management.

Analysis of Causal Factors

1. Some women in the Technical category interviewed during the course of this ESR referenced the level of field work, work on vessels and unique scheduling that requires employees to be away from home for lengthy periods were factors that made these jobs less compatible with raising a family than other jobs and contributed to the lower retention rates for women.
    
2. There was found to be a generally high willingness among managers (predominantly male) to accommodate women’s requests for flexible schedules and work arrangements. For example, the Conservation and Protection organization of the Pacific Region arranged for a part-time work schedule for a woman Fishery Officer who was returning to work after pregnancy leave. Nevertheless, there is less flexibility in most of the technical workplaces to provide these flexibilities because operational requirements usually override all other considerations. This is a negative factor in retention of female technical workers particularly for those who wish to raise families.
    
3. The cultures in many of the workplaces that utilize Technical positions (vessels, Marine Communications and Traffic Stations (MCTS), Conservation and Protection (C&P) offices) are strongly male dominant and the women who work in these areas report having to adapt to this. Although male workers also have to adapt when a woman joins the group, men are always in the majority and their ways of relating to one another forms the dominant workplace culture within which women must fit. This reality is a factor affecting the retention of women.
    
4. Attitudes towards Employment Equity were found to be less positive in these Technical work environments than in most other areas of the Department. For example, women interviewed by the ESR Team reported being teased about getting their jobs only because they are a woman. Managers do not always or often call out the individuals making such comments. A minority of managers were reported to be overtly negative toward employment equity. These factors all contribute to a higher percentage of women technical employees wanting to find a potentially more female friendly working environment.

Recommendation 46

See Recommendations 11, 12 and 13 – A primary factor which can contribute to a high attrition rate is an unhealthy work environment. The initiatives recommended in Recommendation 11 are designed to identify workplace environment issues through the regular application of a survey instrument and improved leadership competencies. In addition, Recommendations 12 and 13 contain initiatives aimed at improving workplace health where problems are identified through the intervention of the staff from the Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution; enhancing the DFO Exit Interview Program; and making the creation of a healthy work environment a key component of management.

Performance Appraisals.

These initiatives should, as applied to the work environments of the DFO Technical communities, lead to improvements in workplace health and reduce levels of attrition of women.

3.7.11 Members of Visible Minority Employment Equity Group Have a Higher Rate of Attrition Than Those Who are Not Visible Minorities in the Technical Category

Overview

Refer to previous Section 3.7.5 for a description of the positions and work environment associated with the occupational groups in the DFO Technical category.

In reviewing the attrition numbers from the DFO Workforce Analysis, visible minorities depart DFO at an only a marginally higher rate than non visible minorities. There were three terminations of visible minorities in the Technical category whereas the expected number of terminations based on the population of visible minorities in the technical workforce of this category was two, yielding a gap of one nationally. In addition, the terminations are not clustered in one occupational group, but spread out over three separate occupational groups.

The attrition gap of one is not statistically relevant. There are only 66 visible minorities identified in the workforce analysis out of a 3476 total employees in the category (1.9%). Irrespective of the statistical analysis issues surrounding this gap, the ESR Team did endeavour to undertake an attrition causal analysis to identify any barriers or causes that might contribute to visible minorities leaving their technical positions in the DFO organization.

Analysis of Causal Factors

1. The location of many of DFO’s technical work sites in small rural locations does not work to advantage in attracting visible minority candidates. One manager reported an instance where a visible minority technician recruited and assigned to a work unit in a small town, remained in the position for less than a year before finding another job in a large urban centre. The manager stated the reason given by the employee was that he preferred to live in the larger urban area.
    
2. Attitudes towards employment equity in general and visible minorities in particular are less than positive in some of the workplaces employing Technical workers. For example, one visible minority employee reported being teased about her name and accent. Managers do not always or often call out individuals making such remarks. Visible minorities also reported experiencing significantly more harassment than non visible minorities in the two Public Service Employee Surveys. A minority of managers interviewed were overtly negative toward employment equity. These factors all could contribute to a slightly higher percentage of visible minority employees wanting to find a more accommodating working environment.
    
3. The very fact that there are so few visible minorities in the Technical category could in itself result in the creation of a work environment where visible minorities feel isolated. This coupled with the fact that the Department’s overall representation rate for visible minorities is also significantly under Labour Market Availability rates, could further contribute to an sense of isolation potentially leading to the seeking of employment elsewhere.

Recommendation 47

See Recommendations 11, 12 and 13 – A primary factor which can contribute to a high attrition rate is an unhealthy work environment. The initiatives recommended in Recommendation 11 are designed to identify workplace environment issues through the regular application of a survey instrument and improved leadership competencies. In addition, Recommendations 12 and 13 contain initiatives aimed at improving workplace health where problems are identified through the intervention of the staff from the Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution; enhancing the DFO Exit Interview Program; and making the creation of a healthy work environment a key component of management Performance Appraisals.

These initiatives should, as applied to the work environments of the DFO Technical communities, lead to improvements in workplace health and reduce levels of attrition of visible minorities.

Recommendation 48

See Recommendation 16 - The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should, as applied to visible minorities lead to an increased number of visible minorities in the Department. Increased numbers of visible minorities in the Department could reduce the sense of isolation visible minorities might experience and thereby reduce attrition due to this factor.

3.7.12 Aboriginal Peoples Have a Higher Attrition Rate in the Administration and Foreign Service Occupational Category Than Do Non-aboriginals

Overview

The Administration and Foreign Service category in DFO is very diverse, made up of seven main occupational groups. These are: AS (Administrative); PM (Program/Project Management); CS (Computer Services); FI (Financial); PE (Human Resources/Personnel); CO (Commerce Officers); and PG (Procurement/Contracting).

The representation rate for aboriginals in DFO is very high in all occupational categories. The total representation rate of aboriginals in the Administration and Foreign Service category is 3.9% or 85 aboriginals. The LMA rate is only 1.5% for a positive gap of 53. The Workforce Analysis, however, revealed an attrition gap of six, with seven aboriginals leaving DFO in this category compared to the one that would have been predicted based on the representation rate of aboriginals. The terminations from DFO were spread out amongst five of the seven main occupational groups, with two in the AS group, one PM, one FI, two PEs and one CO. In addition these departures were also spread amongst four regions.

Causal Analysis

The Department does not have a comprehensive exit interview program that tracks reasons for employees leaving by occupational category; therefore it is difficult to determine the reasons for the seven aboriginal terminations. The ESR Team was able, however, to contact two of the seven employees who left the Department. This was possible because their self-identification statement agreed to them being contacted for administrative purposes. In both instances the reasons for leaving were not causally linked to negative work environment conditions in DFO.

The interviews conducted by the ESR Team focused primarily on potential issues associated with the other three EE groups since significant representation and recruitment gaps exist for these groups whereas they do not for aboriginals. During the course of these interviews no references were made to the existence of any barriers or issues pertaining to the recruitment or retention of aboriginals. To the contrary, several managers interviewed pointed with pride to the success they have had in recruiting, accommodating and integrating aboriginals into the DFO workforce.

The statistical evidence indicating an attrition gap is based on a relatively small number of aboriginals represented in this occupational category, that is 85. Given the very positive representation rate of aboriginals in the Department, especially in the Administration and Foreign Service category, the wide spread distribution of the terminations both by occupational group and region and the numerically small number of terminations, it would appear unlikely that there are significant systemic causes/barriers to the retention of aboriginals in this occupational category.

Given the lack of readily available evidence of systemic barriers to the retention of aboriginals in the Administrative and Foreign Service category, no specific recommendations are offered. However, the recommendations made in previous sections of this ESR pertaining to the implementation of an Exit Interview Program as well as the creation of healthy work environments would help identify and address any retention issues that may exist now or in the future for aboriginals in this category.

3.7.13 Women are Clustered at the Lowest Levels of the Scientific and Professional Category

Analysis of Causal Factors

Clustering normally occurs where there is a differential promotion rate, in this case, were females not receiving a fair share of the promotions compared to their male counterparts this would explain the clustering phenomenon. Reviewing the promotion tables from the Workforce Analysis, this is clearly not the case with women receiving 30 more promotions than what would have been the equitable share in the Scientific and Professional Category.

With this in mind, more current data on the Scientific and Professional workforce were analyzed to see whether women were distributed the same as men when age and length of service was held constant. The table below shows the results of this analysis.

Cluster Analysis - Scientific & Professional Category

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
BI-01	23	17	73.9%	1.53	30.65	6
BI-02	346	160	46.2%	4.17	34.36	186
BI-03	261	65	24.9%	8.98	41.12	196
BI-04	53	7	13.2%	9.86	41.71	46
BI-05	29	5	17.2%	13.80	44.00	24
TOTAL	712	254				458

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
BI-01	23	26.1%	6.50	32.33	6.69%	1.31%	4.97	1.69
BI-02	346	53.8%	7.47	38.74	62.99%	40.61%	3.30	4.38
BI-03	261	75.1%	14.74	45.69	25.59%	42.79%	5.76	4.57
BI-04	53	86.8%	20.41	49.41	2.76%	10.04%	10.56	7.70
BI-05	29	82.8%	20.58	50.92	1.97%	5.24%	6.78	6.92
TOTAL	712				100.00%	100.00%

 

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
SE RES-01	25	8	32.0%	2.50	36.13	17
SE RES-02	90	19	21.1%	8.53	41.74	71
SE RES-03	59	10	16.9%	15.30	47.60	49
SE RES-04	58	1	1.7%	17.00	50.00	57
SE RES-05	16	0	0.0%	0.00	0.00	16
TOTAL	248	38				210

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
SE RES-01	25	68.0%	2.06	37.59	21.05%	8.10%	0.44	1.46
SE RES-02	90	78.9%	11.39	45.46	50.00%	33.81%	2.86	3.72
SE RES-03	59	83.1%	18.69	50.84	26.32%	23.33%	3.39	3.24
SE RES-04	58	98.3%	24.26	54.89	2.63%	27.14%	7.26	4.89
SE RES-05	16	100.0%	28.94	58.69	0.00%	7.62%	28.94	58.69
TOTAL	248				100.00%	100.00%

 

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
EN*-02	23	4	17.4%	5.00	33.00	19
EN*-03	54	6	11.1%	3.33	36.33	48
EN*-04	64	5	7.8%	12.60	42.00	59
EN*-05	26	1	3.8%	10.00	35.00	25
EN*-06	2	1	50.0%	19.00	43.00	1
TOTAL	169	22				193

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
EN*-02	23	82.6%	12.74	39.16	18.18%	9.84%	7.74	6.16
EN*-03	54	88.9%	12.92	44.04	27.27%	24.87%	9.59	7.71
EN*-04	64	92.2%	23.12	53.36	22.73%	30.57%	10.52	11.36
EN*-05	26	96.2%	23.88	52.4	4.55%	12.95%	13.88	17.40
EN*-06	2	50.0%	27.00	51.00	4.55%	0.52%	8.00	8.00
TOTAL	169				77.27%	78.76%

 

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
PC-01	8	3	37.5%	1.00	25.33	5
PC-02	49	18	36.7%	3.83	34.11	31
PC-03	35	7	20.0%	15.14	45.29	28
PC-04	18	4	22.2%	18.75	46.25	14
PC-05	7	1	14.3%	12.00	47.00	6
TOTAL	117	33				84

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
PC-01	8	62.5%	0.60	31.20	9.09%	5.95%	0.40	5.87
PC-02	49	63.3%	12.16	44.68	54.55%	36.90%	8.33	10.57
PC-03	35	80.0%	17.14	47.57	21.21%	33.33%	2.00	2.28
PC-04	18	77.8%	23.36	50.71	12.12%	16.67%	4.61	4.46
PC-05	7	85.7%	22.50	49.83	3.03%	7.14%	10.50	2.83
TOTAL	117				100.00%	100.00%

 

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
ES-02	16	9	56.3%	0.67	27.33	7
ES-03	23	10	43.5%	5.70	36.20	13
ES-04	24	10	41.7%	8.60	37.30	14
ES-05	30	9	30.0%	11.00	38.67	21
ES-06	22	6	27.3%	5.67	33.83	16
TOTAL	115	44				71

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
ES-02	16	43.8%	0.29	28.86	20.45%	9.86%	0.38	1.53
ES-03	23	56.5%	5.23	35.00	22.73%	18.31%	0.47	1.20
ES-04	24	58.3%	7.64	38.00	22.73%	19.72%	0.96	0.70
ES-05	30	70.0%	14.33	43.24	20.45%	29.58%	3.33	4.57
ES-06	22	72.7%	14.00	41.19	13.64%	22.54%	8.33	7.36
TOTAL	115				100.00%	100.00%

Category Totals

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
Strata 1	95	41	43.2%	1.83	30.83	54
Strata 2	562	213	37.9%	4.58	35.14	349
Strata 3	443	97	21.9%	10.23	41.74	346
Strata 4	185	22	11.9%	12.27	41.36	163
Strata 5	74	12	16.2%	10.31	39.46	62
TOTAL	1359	385		6.34	36.84	974

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
Strata 1	95	56.8%	5.94	35.83	10.65%	5.54%	4.11	5.00
Strata 2	562	62.1%	9.34	41.22	55.32%	35.83%	4.76	6.08
Strata 3	443	78.1%	16.64	47.57	25.19%	35.52%	6.41	5.83
Strata 4	185	88.1%	21.76	51.10	5.71%	16.74%	9.49	9.74
Strata 5	74	83.8%	21.32	50.32	3.12%	6.37%	11.01	10.86
TOTAL	1359		14.59	45.41	100.00%	100.00%

There is a clear and significant difference in the average age and the length of Public Service experience (PS experience) between men and women by level within the occupational groups of the Scientific and Professional category. The differences increase with level such that at the lowest level (stratum 01) it is less than 1 year difference for PS experience and less than 3 years difference for average age, while at the highest level (stratum 05) it is about 11 years difference for PS experience and for average age. The differences increase in a steady and linear fashion at strata 02, 03 and 04.

The recruitment rates for women into the Scientific and Professional category have increased markedly in recent years. Given that recruitment is rarely into positions other than the lowest levels of a Scientific and Professional occupational group, it is logical that women will be disproportionately represented at these lowest levels. The average experience of Scientific and Professional women is 6.3 years compared to the average experience of 14.6 years for Scientific and Professional men. The average age of males in Scientific and Professional occupations is 45.4 years while the corresponding figure for Scientific and Professional females is 36.8 years.

Given that the promotion system within Scientific and Professional is operating fairly females should be expected to become distributed in a more equitable manner over time. As the senior level males retire this process should accelerate.

The above analysis demonstrates that the clustering of women that is occurring in the Scientific and Professional category is not the result of any systemic barriers but is simply due to the demographics of the group. Given the projected retirement rates for non EE members in senior positions, and the current high promotion rate for women, any clustering in evidence today should be eliminated over the next three to five years.

Recommendation 49

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should annually monitor the promotion rates within the Scientific and Professional category to verify that women are continuing to obtain at least an equitable share.

3.7.14 Women are clustered at the lowest levels of the Technical Category despite receiving a more than equitable share of promotions

Analysis of causal factors

Clustering normally occurs where there is a differential promotion rate, in this case, were females not receiving a fair share of the promotions compared to their male counterparts this would explain the clustering phenomenon. Reviewing the promotion tables from the Workforce Analysis, this is clearly not the case with women receiving 72 more promotions than what would have been the equitable share in the Technical Category.

With this in mind, more current data on the Technical workforce were analyzed to see whether women were distributed the same as men when age and length of service was held constant. The table below shows the results of this analysis.

Cluster Analysis - Technical Category

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
GT-01/02	146	52	35.6%	4.88	34.88	94
GT-03	580	55	9.5%	6.55	35.80	525
GT-04	125	17	13.6%	13.59	39.47	108
GT-05/06	137	11	8.0%	18.82	43.64	126
GT-07/08	38	2	5.3%	8.50	42.00	36
TOTAL	1026	137				889

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
GT-01/02	146	64.4%	6.33	37.66	37.96%	10.57%	1.45	2.78
GT-03	580	90.5%	14.49	43.33	40.15%	59.06%	7.94	7.53
GT-04	125	86.4%	18.40	45.55	12.41%	12.15%	4.81	6.08
GT-05/06	137	92.0%	22.48	47.51	8.03%	14.17%	3.66	3.87
GT-07/08	38	94.7%	21.19	45.72	1.46%	4.05%	12.69	3.72
TOTAL	1026				100.00%	100.00%

 

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
SO MAO-00/02	153	34	22.2%	3.00	25.38	119
SO MAO-03/04	295	8	2.7%	13.38	38.88	287
SO MAO-05/06	154	5	3.2%	14.00	36.80	149
SO MAO-07–09	141	3	2.1%	20.00	43.33	138
SO MAO-10–12	45	1	2.2%	26.00	44.00	44
TOTAL	788	51				737

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
SO MAO-00/02	153	77.8%	6.65	32.45	66.67%	16.15%	3.65	7.07
SO MAO-03/04	295	97.3%	16.83	44.47	15.69%	38.94%	3.45	5.59
SO MAO-05/06	154	96.8%	18.29	46.39	9.80%	20.22%	4.29	9.59
SO MAO-07–09	141	97.9%	20.62	45.63	5.88%	18.72%	0.62	2.30
SO MAO-10–12	45	97.8%	26.73	50.25	1.96%	5.97%	0.73	6.25
TOTAL	788				100.00%	100.00%

 

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
EG-01/02	110	48	43.6%	1.02	31.06	62
EG-03	119	49	41.2%	3.42	36.33	70
EG-04	252	82	32.5%	7.87	37.74	170
EG-05	286	48	16.8%	13.40	43.27	238
EG-06- 08	115	7	6.1%	22.86	46.29	108
TOTAL	882	234				648

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
EG-01/02	110	56.4%	1.24	31.08	20.51%	9.57%	0.22	0.02
EG-03	119	58.8%	4.17	35.14	20.94%	10.80%	0.75	1.19
EG-04	252	67.5%	10.01	39.88	35.04%	26.23%	2.14	2.14
EG-05	286	83.2%	18.84	46.34	20.51%	36.73%	5.44	3.07
EG-06-08	115	93.9%	22.84	49.81	2.99%	16.67%	0.02	3.52
TOTAL	882				100.00%	100.00%

 

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
EL-01-03	24	2	8.3%	5.50	41.00	22
EL-04	138	3	2.2%	11.00	38.67	135
EL-05	70	0	0.0%			70
EL-06/07	50	0	0.0%			50
EL-08/09	8	0	0.0%			8
TOTAL	290	5				285

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
EL-01-03	24	91.7%	2.05	31.18	40.00%	7.72%	3.45	9.82
EL-04	138	97.8%	19.79	45.64	60.00%	47.37%	8.79	6.97
EL-05	70	100.0%	22.60	48.23	0.00%	24.56%	22.60	48.23
EL-06/07	50	100.0%	25.88	50.28	0.00%	17.54%	25.88	50.28
EL-08/09	8	100.0%	23.00	50.38	0.00%	2.81%	23.00	50.38
TOTAL	290				100.00%	100.00%

 

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
RO-02	1	0	0.0%			1
RO-03	264	54	20.5%	10.59	37.87	210
RO-04	58	5	8.6%	18.80	44.40	53
RO-05	31	2	6.5%	15.00	40.50	29
RO-06	1	0	0.0%			1
TOTAL	355	61				294

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
RO-02	1	100.0%	15.00	37.00	0.00%	0.34%	15.00	37.00
RO-03	264	79.5%	16.12	43.16	88.52%	71.43%	5.53	5.29
RO-04	58	91.4%	19.81	44.87	8.20%	18.03%	1.01	0.47
RO-05	31	93.5%	26.48	49.79	3.28%	9.86%	11.48	9.29
RO-06	1	100.0%	31.00	52.00	0.00%	0.34%	31.00	52.00
TOTAL	355				100.00%	100.00%

Category Totals

Levels	Total	#
		Women	% of Total	Women - Avg PS	Women - Avg Age	Men
Strata 1	434	136	31.3%	3.06	31.25	298
Strata 2	1396	169	12.1%	7.36	36.82	1227
Strata 3	659	109	16.5%	9.54	38.28	550
Strata 4	645	64	9.9%	14.92	43.41	581
Strata 5	207	10	4.8%	20.3	45.2	197
TOTAL	3341	488		7.87	36.61	2853

 

Levels	Total	%
		% of Total	Men - Avg PS	Men - Avg Age	Women	Men	|Diff in Avg PS|	|Diff in Avg Age|
Strata 1	434	68.7%	5.11	33.73	27.87%	10.45%	2.05	2.48
Strata 2	1396	87.9%	15.31	43.36	34.63%	43.01%	7.95	6.54
Strata 3	659	83.5%	16.45	44.3	22.34%	19.28%	6.91	6.02
Strata 4	645	90.1%	21.26	46.96	13.11%	20.36%	6.34	3.55
Strata 5	207	95.2%	23.46	49.19	2.05%	6.91%	3.16	3.99
TOTAL	3341		16.19	43.66	100.00%	100.00%

There is a clear and significant difference in the average age and the length of Public Service experience (PS experience) between men and women by level within occupational groups in the Technical Category. The differences are relatively small at the lowest and highest levels (stratum 01 and stratum 05) averaging 2 to 4 years less PS experience and 2 – 4 years younger age for women. At the middle levels, (strata 02, 03 and 04) the differences are generally higher averaging 6 to 8 years for PS experience and for average age.

The recruitment rates for women into Technical Category jobs have increased markedly in recent years and have been running at over 40%. Given that recruitment is rarely into positions other than the lowest levels of a technical occupational group and that several occupational groups have extensive training and apprenticeship programs to build qualifications up to the working level, it is logical that women will be disproportionately represented at these lower levels. The average experience of Technical Category women is 7.9 years compared to the average experience of 16.9 years for the men. The average age of men in technical occupations is 43.7 years while the corresponding figure for Technical women is 36.6 years. Given that the promotion system within the Technical occupations is operating fairly and even to the statistical advantage of females, the gender differences in distributions should be expected to become more equitable over time.

The above analysis demonstrates that the clustering of women that is occurring in the Technical category is not the result of any systemic barriers but is simply due to the demographics of the group. Given the projected retirement rates for non EE members in senior positions, and the current high promotion rate for women, any clustering in evidence today should be eliminated over the next three to five years.

Recommendation 50

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should annually monitor the promotion rates within the Technical category to verify that women are continuing to obtain at least an equitable share.

4.0 MANAGEMENT ACTION PLAN

The Management Action Plan (MAP) presented below addresses all the recommendations contained in this ESR Report. This MAP is an excerpt from the DFO Employment Equity Action Plan March 31, 2004 to March 31, 2007. Some of the action items in this MAP do not directly relate to recommendations made in the ESR, however, they are included in the MAP to preserve the integrity of the information derived from the DFO Employment Equity Action Plan.

Gap Area – Women

The ESR (2004) focused on the recruitment of women in the Operational occupational category, as well as attrition and clustering of women in the Scientific and Professional and Technical categories. The following initiatives will be undertaken to address the issues identified in the ESR (2004).

Barrier/Causal Factor: 1. Very little advertising or promotion of available Canadian Coast Guard positions is done to attract women into Ships’ Crew positions
Link to ESR Recommendations: 18a, 18b
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Develop a Women’s Ship’s Crew recruitment package for use internally and externally in the regions.	a) Commissioner, CCG, RDs	Mar-Sept 2005
b) Establish pre-qualified pool processes for Ship’s Crew positions that target women candidates.	b) Commissioner, CCG, RDs	Mar-Sept 2005
c) Ensure that any face-to-face outreach efforts, such as to secondary schools or Career Days, specifically includes a woman representative from the CCG.	c) Commissioner, CCG, RDs	Mar-Sept 2005
d) Review all promotional material under development to ensure that women are depicted and considered in the material.	d) Commissioner, CCG, RDs	Mar-Sept 2005
Barrier/Causal Factor: 2. A lower percentage of female candidates possess the MED certificates required for Ship’s Crew positions
Link to ESR Recommendations: 18c, 18d
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Investigate and, if appropriate, remove the requirement for women to possess a Marine Emergency Duty (MED) certification in order to apply for Ship’s Crew positions. Successful completion of MED would become a Condition of Employment. This initiative may be extended to other EE designated groups, where EE representation gaps exist.	a) Commissioner, CCG	April 2005
b) Investigate and, if appropriate, consider women applicants that meet all other requirements for assignment to a CCG vessel, as a super-numerary, that is, a worker above the required complement of the vessel, as a developmental opportunity for a period of not more than six months during which they would obtain their MED certificate.	b) Commissioner, CCG	April 2005
c) Investigate the possibility of the Coast Guard paying for the MED certification for women candidates and other candidates from EE designated groups, where representation gaps exist in DFO	c) Commissioner, CCG	April 2005
Barrier/Causal Factor: 3. The availability of women for Ships Crew positions may be affected by the work schedule and job environment for this work, and those women that do work as Ships Crew, report feeling somewhat isolated
Link to ESR Recommendations: 17, 47
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Continue to consult with the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the EE Branch of the Public Service Human Resource Modernization Agency to reflect any changes to the availability of women for work in Ship’s Crew positions.	a) ADM, HRCS	Jun-Nov 2004
b) Provide career counseling/mentoring sessions to SC women for employee career growth.	b) CCG Managers	Jun 2005
c) Create a network of women who represent Ship’s Crew members to provide support and suggestions for managers.	c) Commissioner, RDs, CCG	Mar 2005
d) Continue to assign at least two women to Canadian Coast Guard vessels, whenever possible.	d) Commissioner, RDs, CCG	Ongoing
Barrier/Causal Factor: 4. Issues and concerns facing women in Science need to be discussed
Link to ESR Recommendations: 44, 45
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Develop and deliver information sessions and/or discussion groups focusing on issues, concerns and opportunities for women in the scientific community, (i.e. considering issues already identified in the BIO-Hypatia Project).	a) ADM, HRCS, ADMs and RDs with S&P	Mar-Sept 2005
b) Place the retention of women scientific personnel as a standing item on National meetings of Regional Directors of Science.	b) ADM, HRCS, ADMs and RDs with S&P	Nov 2005

Gap Area – Persons with Disabilities

The ESR (2004) reviewed the recruitment of Persons with disabilities in the Scientific and Professional, Technical and Operational occupational categories. Initiatives to address the causal issues identified in the ESR are outlined below.

Barrier/Causal Factor: 5. No specific Bona Fide Occupational Requirements (BFORs) have been identified for science- related occupational groups where accommodation may not be possible for certain types of disabilities
Link to ESR Recommendations: 25, 33
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Review work descriptions for all occupations in the Scientific and Professional, Technical and Operational occupational categories in conjunction with the National Model Work Description exercise, to identify essential requirements of the work that cannot be accommodated for persons with certain disabilities without presenting undo hardship for the Department. Where this is the case, take the appropriate steps to establish formal BFORs.	a) ADM, HRCS, ADMs and RDGs with S&P positions	Mar/Apr 2006 (BI, RO)
b) Consult with PSHRMAC to ensure that the workforce availability for persons with disabilities reflects any changes in availability related to any BFORs established.	b) ADM, HRCS	April 2005

Gap Area -- Visible Minorities

The ESR (2004) reviewed recruitment of visible minorities in the Technical occupational category, and the fact that attrition for this group was higher than that for non-visible minority employees. Initiatives to address this situation are described below.

Barrier/Causal Factor: 6. Qualification factors for some recruitment activities contain requirements that may be systemic barriers that work against attracting visible minority candidates
Link to ESR Recommendations: 41, 39
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Develop generic experience profiles for Technical positions that managers can use as tools when developing statements of qualifications.	a) ADMs, RDGs, ADM, HRCS	May- Sept 2005
b) Develop tools and a process for reviewing Statements of Qualifications for EX and EX minus 1 positions with an EE lens to ensure prior technical knowledge, experience and/or accreditation requirements are genuinely necessary and do not create barriers to the employment of designated EE groups.	b) ADM, HRCS	Sept. 2005
c) Establish the validity and work necessity of the requirement for Canadian Coast Guard Ship’s Officer Cadet candidates to possess two credits of high school, post-secondary or equivalency in French or English as a second language. If this requirement is not deemed valid and necessary, the requirement will be eliminated.	c) Commissioner, CCG	Jan – Mar 2005
Barrier/Causal Factor: 7. The location of most of DFO’s work sites are in small rural locations making it difficult to attract visible minorities
Link to ESR Recommendations: 3 a, 11e, 36, 38
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Encourage employees in this designated EE group to participate in regional EE Committees as a means of support and networking.	a) RDs, HR	Jan-Feb 2005
b) Establish a "buddy system" for members of this designated EE group as a support mechanism for newly-recruited visible minority employees to ease their integration into the Department.	b) ADM, HRCS	Sept 2005
c) Encourage visible minority managers to make themselves available as mentors to visible minority employees in sections/divisions other than their own.	c) ADM, HRCS	Sept 2005
d) See Action 11 a)	d) Hiring managers	Ongoing
e) DFO will recruit members of visible minorities at a rate higher than regional availability to assist the Department in attaining national representation in geographic areas where this is possible.	e) Hiring managers	Ongoing

Departmental Initiatives for all Employment Equity Designated Groups

The ESR findings identified areas where the Department could implement initiatives that would assist in improving the representation of all designated groups. The following describes initiatives that will be actioned to address under-representation of EE designated groups within DFO.

Barrier/Causal Factor: 8. Managers and employees need to better understand the intent and purpose of the Employment Equity Act, and how this translates into a culture that respects and encourages diversity
Link to ESR Recommendations: 1, 2, 4, 5, 27, 42
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Design and deliver an EE presentation that explains: -  The EE Act -   The Self-Identification process -   Duty to Accommodate -   DFO’s EE Action Plan -   Reaffirmation of the Department’s commitment to support managers when they undertake to use special EE recruitment authorities -   An overview of the Department’s and PSC’s EE recruitment authorities These sessions should be co-led by Management and Human Resources.	a) ADM, HRCS (design) Delivery RDHR / RDs	Mar /Apr 2005
b) Provide training on human resource management issues to Human Resource Advisors and managers.	b) ADM, HRCS	Oct 2005
c) Require that the EE information presentation be delivered to regional and sectoral management committees and their extended management teams, and that attendance at a session be mandatory	c) DM/DMC	Jan-Mar 2005
d) Similar information will be available on the intranet site for access by departmental employees.	d) ADM, HRCS	Mar/Apr 2005
Barrier/Causal Factor: 9. Attitudes and Corporate Culture
Link to ESR Recommendations: 11, 12, 13, 43, 46, 47
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Initiate an annual, ongoing Workplace Health Survey, which includes direct questions on EE, diversity, intimidation and discrimination to a sampling of departmental staff to measure progress in creating a healthy, respectful working environment that values and supports diversity.	a) ADM, HRCS	April 2006
b) Instruct the Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution (VICR) in each Region to contact the managers of work units that are identified in the Workplace Health Survey as having significant work environment issues.	b) Associate DM	April 2006
c) Through the VICR, assist work unit management and staff to address identified issues and problems.	c) Associate DM	April 2006
d) Provide mandatory training for work unit management and/or staff when survey results identify diversity as an issue impacting on the work environment.	d) DM, DMC	April 2006
e) Include in all DFO EX Performance Accords, the requirement to participate in the Workplace Health Survey and to follow-up in those areas requiring assistance in creating a healthy and respectful work environment.	e) DM, DMC	April 2006
f)  Develop a selection process module that includes an assessment of the leadership competency of Diversity Management which will be used during the assessment phase for all supervisory and management positions.	f) ADM, HRCS, DMC	Dec 2005
g) Review current DFO leadership training programs to ensure that they address leadership for all levels of supervisors, including Diversity Management. DFO will develop a list of diversity-related training, as well as recommended videos and materials (i.e. Embracing Change video) to supplement training offered by the Canada School of the Public Service and/or DFO.	g) ADM, HRCS	March 2005
h) Modify the PeopleSoft Training Module to capture and track leadership training undertaken by departmental supervisors of all levels.	h) ADM, HRCS, (Implementation, RDHR)	April 2006
i)  Develop and provide managers with tools to assist in creating healthy work environments. For example, information on managing diversity, preparing human resource plans to assist in meeting EE recruitment targets, and self-assessment of corporate culture, etc.	i) ADM, HRCS,	March 2005
j)  Implement a standard, department-wide Exit Interview Program that includes direct questions on EE and diversity to all departing employees.	j) ADM, HRCS,	March 2005
Barrier/Causal Factor: 10. Human resource planning needs to be established and used to address under-representation of designated EE groups
Link to ESR Recommendations: 16, 19, 23, 29, 35, 37, 40, 48
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Require that annual regional/sector Human Resource Plans identify planned recruitment and staffing, including staffing strategies for each recruitment activity in support of the recruitment targets set out in the DFO EE Plan.	a) ADM, HRCS	Annually – May
b) Require that Human Resource planning be an integral part of the Integrated Management Framework (strategic planning, business planning, and human resource planning).	b) ADM, HRCS, RDGs, ADMs	Annually, ongoing
c) Require that all strategic resourcing initiatives take appropriate steps to maintain the targeted recruitment rate for under-represented EE groups.	c) ADM, HRCS, RDGs, ADMs	Annually, Ongoing
d) Require hiring managers be responsible for ensuring the Short-Term EE Recruitment Goals in the under-represented occupational categories are being met.	d) ADM, HRCS, RDGs, ADMs	Ongoing
e) Enhance the Human Resource Planning function through forecasting and identifying career/succession planning needs.	e) ADM, HRCS	Mar 2005
f)  Provide tools to managers to assist in human resource planning, including templates, instructions and other materials.	f) ADM, HRCS	Mar. 2005
Barrier/Causal Factor: 11. Recruiting practices need to be more innovative to attract candidates from the under-represented EE groups
Link to ESR Recommendations: 20, 24, 30, 36, 38
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Use an expanded area of selection for competitive processes, where insufficient pools of designated EE group members exist in the normal area of selection.	a) Hiring managers	Ongoing
b) Use departmental and PSC EE authorities to target under-represented EE group members for competitive processes.	b) Hiring managers	Ongoing
c) Request that the PSC amend DFO’s EE Recruitment Program to permit its use on a national, as well as a regional, basis until 100% representation is achieved.	c) ADM, HRCS	Dec 2004
d) Increase and monitor the use of targeted recruitment tools (e.g., FSWEP, Student Bridging, DFO and PSC EE Recruitment Programs).	d) Hiring managers	Ongoing
e) Each region will develop outreach programs that are based on human resource planning and which will widen the candidate pool of under-represented designated EE groups, through the use of: -   Participating in Career Fairs -   Contacting organizations with a network for designated EE group members -   Providing information to Job Banks (e.g., Human Resources & Skills Development Canada) -   Initiating partnerships with colleges and universities to target EE group members.	e) RDs, HR, Hiring managers, RMCs, RHR Ops Units	Sept 2005
f)  Provide managers and HR professionals with information on the tools available for recruiting members of designated EE groups.	f) ADM, HRCS, RDs, HR	Ongoing
Barrier/Causal Factor: 12. Lack of consistency and direction of National and Regional EE/Diversity Committees
Link to ESR Recommendations: 3
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Establish an EE/Diversity Committee in all regions.	a) ADM, HRCS, RDGs	Sept 2004 - Mar 05
b) Establish clear linkages and accountabilities for the National Committee’s governance and reporting structure.	b) Associate DM, EE Co-Champions, ADM, HRCS	Sept 2004 -Mar 05
c) Restructure Regional Committees’ governance to become a mechanism for communication and to respond to designated groups’ issues and concerns, as well as to provide input into new and/or revised departmental policies and programs from an EE perspective.	c) RDGs, ADM, HRCS	Sept 2004 - Mar 05
d) Establish work plans for National/Regional Committees.	d) EE Co-Champions, EE Committees, RDGs	Sept 2004-Mar 2005
e) Seek union participation on regional and national EE/Diversity committees.	e) EE Co-Champions, Committees	Sept 2004 - Mar 05
f)  Establish budgets for National/Regional Committees.	f) ADM, HRCS, RDGs	Mar 2005
Barrier/Causal Factor: 13. Ensure appropriate resourcing of positions in Human Resources and Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution to effect the EE Action Plan initiatives
Link to ESR Recommendations: 14, 15
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Review the level of human resource staff with EE responsibilities in the regions and in the Recruitment Centre and in the Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution Branch, to ensure the complement of employees is appropriate to provide the necessary service to managers.	a) ADM, HRCS, Associate DM	Mar 2005

Initiatives to Address Other Employment Equity Program Elements

To be compliant with the Employment Equity Act, the Department is required to have specific programs in place. The initiatives that will be undertaken to achieve ongoing compliance are described below.

EE Program Element: 14. Employment Systems Review (ESR)
Link to ESR Recommendations : 9b
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Address the causal factors identified by the ESR through measures included in this Action Plan.	a) Corporate HQ/ Regions	Sept 2004 – Oct 2007
b) Communicate the departmental EE Action Plan to all employees.	b) ADMs/ RDGs	Nov 2004
c) Ensure actions to support the National EE Action Plan are imbedded in annual Business planning/Human Resource planning process	c) ADM, HRCS	Jan 2005
d) Report on regional/departmental progress in achieving EE goals and addressing the causal factors.	d) ADM, HRCS	Semi-annual Oct/Mar
EE Program Element: 15. Monitoring
Link to ESR Recommendations: 4c, 4d, 9d, 9e, 49, 50
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Provide DMC and Directors of HR with semi-annual Self-Id completion rates for each sector/region.	a) ADM, HRCS	Semi-Annual
b) Provide EE Coordinators with a quarterly report of all employees that do not have valid Self-id recorded in PeopleSoft for follow-up.	b) ADM, HRCS	Apr/Oct Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct
c) Monitor the recruitment rate for all designated EE groups to determine that the recruitment target rates are being met.	c) ADM, HRCS	Semi-Annual Apr/Oct
d) Report to DMC on departmental progress in achieving EE recruitment goals, and recommendations to adjust goals, as required.	d) ADM, HRCS	Semi-Annual Apr/Oct
e) Annually monitor the promotion rates within the Scientific and Professional and Technical categories to verify that women are continuing to obtain at least an equitable share of promotions.	e) ADM, HRCS	Annually Apr
f)  Take appropriate action pending the findings of the annual monitoring activities.	f)  DMC	Annually Apr
g) Provide annual progress report on EE to PSHRMAC.	g) ADM HRCS, DM, DMC	Annually June
EE Program Element: 16. Duty to Accommodate Policy
Link to ESR Recommendations: 21, 22, 26, 28, 31, 32, 34
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Include a notice on all posters, letters of offer and departmental newsletter, that DFO will provide accommodation up to the point of undue hardship.	a) ADMs, RDGs	November 2004
b) Develop a Communications Strategy to accompany the issuance of the new DFO Accommodation Policy and Guideline that addresses management attitudinal issues related to persons with disabilities.	b) ADMs, RDGs	November 2004
c) Remind supervisors/managers of the Accommodation Policy and Guide and the need to understand accommodation in the workplace.	c) RDs, HR	November 2004
d) Include Duty to Accommodate within an EE information session as noted in Action 10 above.	d) ADM, HRCS	November 2004
EE Program Element: 17. Consultations
Link to ESR Recommendations
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Consult regularly with employee union representatives and with National EE Committee on EE policies and programs.	a) ADM, HRCS	Semi-annually May/Nov
EE Program Element: 18. Self-Identification
Link to ESR Recommendations: 4, 5, 22, 27, 34
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Develop a module within an overall EE information presentation that explains the Self-ID process.	a) ADM, HRCS	Jan-Mar 2005
b) Provide information sessions on Self-Id to regional managers and employees.	b) RDs, HR	Apr 2005 ongoing
c) Revise the Self-Id Form to provide examples of disabilities that can be considered as legitimate types of disabilities.	c) ADM, HRCS	Mar 2005
d) Provide DMC and Directors of HR with semi-annual Self-Id completion rates to support them measuring progress for each sector/region.	d) ADM, HRCS	Nov 2004
e) Contact directly each employee who has no valid Self-Id to increase Self-Id rates.	e) RDs, HR	Monthly
f)  Revise the departmental instructions so that a Self-Id form is included in the package provided to all employees appointed or deployed to a new position within the Department as part of their Letter of Offer package.	f)  ADM, HRCS	Jan 2005
g) Communicate the Self-Id initiatives to all employees through national and regional "In the Loop" notices, including a "Questions and Answers" information folio.	g) ADM, HRCS	Mar 2005
EE Program Element: 19. Workforce Analysis
Link to ESR Recommendations
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Update the workforce analysis based on the results of the Demographic Self-id Workforce survey, should there be notable increases or changes.	a) ADM, HRCS	Apr/Oct Annually
b) Adjust the departmental WFA rates to reflect the 2001 Census of Canada data and the 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey.	b) ADM, HRCS	Apr/Oct Annually
c) Address any new gaps resulting from the workforce analysis.	c) ADM, HRCS, DMC	Apr/Oct Annually
EE Program Element: 20. Data Collection and Record Keeping
Link to ESR Recommendations: 6, 11(d)
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Improve quality of the data collected in PeopleSoft and, by the same token, DFO's capacity to monitor: -   The recruitment, internal movement and attrition rates of designated group members; -   Requests and expenditures related to requests for accommodation;	a) ADM, HRCS	Nov 2004
b) Monitor a sampling of the Signed Statements of Persons Present at Boards to identify the representativeness of selection boards.	b) ADM, HRCS	Mar 2005
EE Program Element: 21. Inclusion of EE Into EX Accountability Accords
Link to ESR Recommendations: 9a, b, d, e; 10, 11d
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Set EE recruitment target rates within departmental executives’ Accountability Accords.	a) DMC, ADM, HRCS	Oct 2004/ Mar 2005
b) Assess/measure departmental executives’ success in achieving EE recruitment targets as part of Performance Management System.	b) ADM, HRCS	Apr/Oct Annually
c) Require all DMC members to submit their organization’s annual human resource plans, including recruitment requirements and EE recruitment plans for each occupational category with under-representation for the fiscal year.	c) DM, DMC, ADM, HRCS	May 2004 Annually
d) Provide DMC members with EE recruitment goals for their areas of responsibility.	d) ADM, HRCS	Dec 2005
e) Monitor departmental progress in achieving EE recruitment goals.	e) ADM, HRCS	May 2005
f)  Provide semi-annual EE reports to DMC-HR, including recommendations to adjust goals, as required.	f)  ADM, HRCS	Apr/Oct
g) Develop a selection process module to be used for all supervisory and management positions that includes an assessment of leadership competency (i.e. to assess abilities related to Diversity Management, Organizational Awareness, Teamwork and Partnering etc.) to create and sustain a positive, healthy and inclusive work environment.	g) ADM, HRCS	Sept. 2005
EE Program Element: 22. Membership of Selection Boards
Link to ESR Recommendations: 6, 7, 8
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Revise the form, "Signed Statement of Persons Present at Board" to assist in monitoring the representativeness of selection boards.	a) ADM, HRCS	Nov 2004
b) Maintain confidentiality of any self-identification information gathered from board members, such as is undertaken for employee self identifications with approval for administrative use.	b) ADM, HRCS	Ongoing
c) Design and/or communicate an information session and package for all departmental managers on staffing selection boards to assist them to better understand diversity and how to accommodate diverse perspectives and viewpoints.	c) Recruitment and Staffing	Mar-Sept 2005
d) Ensure that at least one member of an EE designated group is a member of every selection board, including the recruitment competition where a special authority is used.	d) Hiring Managers	Sept 2004 Ongoing
e) Participate in the Objective Eye initiative.	e) Hiring managers	Sept 2004
f)  Include a module within the "Staffing Course for Delegated Managers" that focuses on diversity and accommodation.	f) ADM, HRCS	Mar 2005
g) Members of selection boards must have taken selection board training (i.e., Staffing Course for Delegated Managers, Objective Eye training, and/or an information session for selection board members).	g) ADM, HRCS	Mar 2005
EE Program Element: 23. Positive Policies and Practices
Link to ESR Recommendations
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Publish and communicate DFO’s Accommodation Policy and Guideline.	a) ADM, HRCS	Nov 2004
b) Continue to use and assess DFO’s Expanded Staffing Delegation and Accountability Agreement, which permits the appointment of members of the four designated groups, in all under-represented occupations, with or without competition from outside the public service and change in tenure from term to indeterminate from within the Public Service.	b) ADM, HRCS	Ongoing
c) Continue to support the Management Trainee Program and Career Assignment Program for members of EE groups.	c) RDs, HR, Hiring mana-gers	Ongoing
d) Continue to monitor and report on progress in achieving a representative workforce.	d) ADM, HRCS	Ongoing
e) Continue to deliver the Orientation Program for new employees.	e) ADM, HRCS	Ongoing
f)  Promote participation in Objective Eye, both to volunteer board members and to departmental managers.	f)  ADM HRCS, RDs, HR	Ongoing
g) Continue to present Distinction Awards to honour those who make a difference in encouraging and promoting diversity in the workplace.	g) ADM, HRCS	Ongoing
h) Include the notice of accommodation on all posters and letters of offer.	h) RDs, HR, HR Advisors	Ongoing
i)  Integrate EE into business and human resource planning functions.	i)  DM, DMC, ADM, HRCS	May 2005
j)  integrate EE into Management Performance Process.	j)  DMC, ADM, HRCS	May 2005
k) Review all new human resource policies and programs using an EE lens.	k) HRCS	Ongoing
EE Program Element: 24. Embracing Change
Link to ESR Recommendations: 36, 48
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Expand areas of selection to increase the participation of visible minorities in competitive processes where there is an under-representation within the occupational group.	a) RDs, HR, HR advisors	Ongoing
b) Review education and experience requirements for all competitive processes to ensure that they reflect the standards and do not present unnecessary barriers to candidates from EE designated groups.	b) Hiring managers	Mar-Dec 2005
c) Develop guidelines on selection boards to help ensure the integrity of the selection process.	c) ADM, HRCS	Mar 2005
d) Expand use of outreach programs (Action 13 above).	d) RDs, HR, HR advi-sors	Sept 2005
EE Program Element: 25. Communication of Information
Link to ESR Recommendations
Actions	Office of Prime Interest	Timetable
The Department will:
a) Provide regular updates to the DFO Intranet EE website.	a) ADM, HRCS	Jan/Apr/Jul/Oct
b) Continue to provide regions with semi-annual information regarding their current representation and recruitment and availability rates.	b) ADM, HRCS	Apr/Oct Annually
c) Continue to provide managers/HR advisors with current information on, or build awareness of, EE and the selection/interviewing process (i.e. special events, awareness sessions, within the context of the three day Staffing Course for Delegated Managers and within DFO’s Management Continuum, etc.)	c) RDs, HR, HR Advisors	Ongoing
d) Communicate EE initiatives to all employees through national and regional "In the Loop" notices, including a "Questions and Answers" information folio.	d) ADM, HRCS	Ongoing

 

Appendix A - Occupational Groups Within Occupational Categories

OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORY	OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS
Executive	EX
Scientific and Professional	BI; SE; EN; PC; ES; CH; LS; ED; MA.
Technical	GT; SO; EG; EL; RO; SI; DD; TI.
Operational	SC; GL; LI; GS; HP.
Administration and Foreign Service	AS; PE; PM; CO; FI; CS; PG.

Appendix B - United States Coast Guard Workplace Health Survey

Appendix C – Listing of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

The Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of Human Resources and Corporate Services should design an Employment Equity information presentation to correct the general lack of real understanding of the spirit and intent of the Employment Equity Act.

Recommendation 2

ADMs and Regional Director Generals (RDGs) should ensure that the Employment Equity information presentation (referenced in Recommendation 1 above) is delivered to all their respective management committees and the extended management teams of the members of these committees.

Recommendation 3

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should:

1. Coordinate the review of the role of the Regional and National Employment Equity/Diversity Committees to:
   • identify ways to more effectively promote awareness and understanding of Employment Equity and diversity in DFO.
   • ensure that the role and mandate of EE committees are modified to provide the Department with adequate mechanisms for the identification of individual Employment Equity group issues and concerns.
2. Provide an annual budget to The National Employment Equity Committee to enable it to carry out an annual work plan approved by the departmental Human Resource Executive Committee.

Recommendation 4

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should undertake the following steps to improve the rate of self identification in the Department:

1. Include a module in the Employment Equity information presentation (referenced in Recommendation 1 above) that is designed to increase the understanding of the Self Identification process.
2. Augment the self-identification form used in DFO to include a more detailed description of the types of disabilities that could be considered as legitimate types of disability in the self-identification process.
3. Distribute quarterly a Self Identification Completion Rate Monitoring Report to DMC members and Directors of HR showing the status of self-identification in each region and sector.
4. Provide the Regional Employment Equity Coordinators with a monthly list of all new employees who have no valid self-identification recorded in PeopleSoft.
5. Revise the departmental instructions for the inclusion of the Self Identification Form to ensure employees appointed or deployed within the Department receive a Self Identification Form with their appointment or deployment package.
6. Prepare a communication for the national edition of In-the-Loop that informs employees that an initiative to improve the departmental self-identification process is taking place and include the "Questions and Answers" information folio used in the Fall 2000 full departmental self-identification survey.

Recommendation 5

Regional Directors of Human Resources should ensure that:

1. Regional EE Coordinators contact each newly recruited Casual, Term or Continuous Full Time member of any occupational group where a representation gap exists to explain the rationale and importance of the self-identification process to the DFO HR planning and Employment Equity Program. In particular, provide an explanation pertaining to what constitutes self-identification as a person with a disability. It is important that this contact is made as soon as possible after a person is hired in order that the additional clarity around the self-identification process is considered prior to the completion of the Self-identification Form.
2. Regional Employment Equity Coordinators communicate directly with each employee who has no valid self-identification to provide them with an opportunity to self-identify.

Recommendation 6

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that a form is created on which staffing board members can voluntarily identify themselves for administrative purposes as either Employment Equity designated group members or non-designated group members. This self-identification information should be treated as Protected A, providing the same degree of confidentiality as is currently provided to employee self-identification information.

Recommendation 7

Regional Directors of Human Resources, in consultation with departmental staffing managers, should ensure at least one member of an Employment Equity group is a member of every selection board. Where the recruitment competition uses a Special Authority to focus on a specific Employment Equity group or groups, a member of at least one of these Employment Equity groups should be on the selection board.

Recommendation 8

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that a training package or course is made available to all departmental managers who participate on staffing boards to assist them to better understand diversity and how to accommodate diverse perspectives and viewpoints during the selection process.

Recommendation 9

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should:

1. Ensure that staffing plans are implemented across DFO that require all Sector Director level managers in Regions and all DG level managers in departmental Headquarters, to forward plan their recruitment requirements at fiscal year start for a six month period to be updated to cover the 3rd and 4th quarters at mid-year review.
2. Ensure managers preparing these staffing plans are provided with clear parameters for percentage Employment Equity recruitment rates that they should be meeting for each Employment Equity group in each occupational category. These Employment Equity recruitment rate goals should be developed in consultation with management in each region and reflect the capacity of each region to successfully address specific Employment Equity group goals.
3. Formally apply to the Public Service Commission to convert existing Regional Special Recruitment Authorities to National departmental authorities.
4. Provide Regions and ADMs with semi-annual Employment Equity reports which identify changes in Employment Equity recruitment and attrition rates as well as representation gaps by occupational Group.
5. Monitor on a quarterly basis, departmental progress in attaining annual Employment Equity recruitment goals and make recommendations to the departmental Human Resources Executive Committee to adjust goals in some regions to address any departmental shortfall trends that have developed.

Recommendation 10

The ADM Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that a Performance Management System is implemented for all departmental executives specifying that meeting Employment Equity recruitment rate targets will be part of the key commitments in the Accountability Accords of these managers and success or failure to meet the commitment will affect performance pay.

Recommendation 11

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should:

1. Initiate an ongoing Workplace Health Survey to annually survey all departmental staff to measure progress in creating healthy, respectful working environments that value and support diversity. This survey should be no more than twenty questions in length and should preserve anonymity by not collecting information pertaining to the respondents themselves.
2. Develop a selection process module to be used for all supervisory and management positions that includes an assessment of leadership competency to create and sustain a positive, healthy and inclusive work environment.
3. Review the current DFO leadership training programs to ensure they adequately address the requirement to ensure that all DFO supervisors, managers and executives are provided with effective and accessible leadership training.
4. Implement the PeopleSoft Training Module to enable the department to capture and track leadership training to ensure departmental supervisors and managers receive appropriate leadership training.
5. Develop and provide managers with tools to assist in the creation of healthy work environments.
6. Implement a standard, department-wide Exit Interview Program which offers all departing employees an exit interview. This program should be structured to ensure that departing employees, who are members of an occupational category where a significant EE representation gap has been identified, are offered an interview with staff from the VICR.

Recommendation 12

The Associate Deputy Minister should:

1. Ensure that staff of the Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution (VICR) in each Region contact managers of work units identified in the Workplace Health Survey as having significant work environment issues to explore the nature of the issues.
2. Ensure, where warranted, the VICR staff assist work unit management and staff to address issues and problems identified in the Workplace Health Survey.
3. Ensure that the allocation of resources to the VICR is adequate to enable it to handle the added responsibility of assisting work units to address issues and problems identified in the Workplace Health Survey.

Recommendation 13

ADMs and RDGs should ensure that the creation of a healthy and respectful work environment is included in the Performance Appraisals of all DFO supervisors and managers as well as EX Accountability Accords. The results from the annual Workplace Health Survey (referenced in Recommendation 11 above) would provide part of the input to this aspect of performance appraisals and performance pay.

Recommendation 14

Regional Directors, HR should maintain an adequate resource commitment to the positions in the HR organization that provide a focus for EE in order to provide the required co-ordination and support for EE in the Region.

Recommendation 15

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that the allocation of resources to the Corporate Recruitment, Human Resource Planning and Employment Equity Unit are adequate to enable it to address the additional requirements associated with the increased reporting and monitoring activities related to Employment Equity.

Recommendation 16

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should coordinate the implementation in DFO of a recruitment process that builds on the Staffing Plan implemented in Fiscal Year 2004/05. This recruiting process should be as follows:

1. Each Regional Director and Director General in Ottawa should approve their planned recruitment and staffing for a six-month period renewable at mid-year. This recruitment strategy should include all forms of recruitment – indeterminate, term, casual, students and student bridging programs. These accountable managers should be responsible for establishing the staffing strategies for each Operational recruitment initiative so that employment equity recruitment targets set out in the DFO Employment Equity Plan are met.
2. All multiple position recruitment initiatives in the Operational category should take appropriate steps to maintain the targeted recruitment rate for women. This should include outreach initiative designed to increase the number of women in open competitions, the use of DFO’s special recruitment authorities to expand the area of competition for women on open competitions or the use of special recruitment authorities to run competitions which focus only on women.
3. Managers responsible for individual recruitment initiatives in the Operational category should assess the current recruitment rate for women to determine whether the target rate is being achieved. The use of the DFO’s special recruitment authorities for women in the Operational occupational category should be considered as long as the recruitment rate for women is below the targeted rate. Unless the Recruitment Flow Targets for women in the Operational category are being met, all recruitment actions that do not have some focus on the recruitment of women should be justified and approved at the regional level by the RDG or in the case of CCG by the Regional Director CCG, and in Headquarters by the appropriate ADM.

Recommendation 17

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should petition the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency to reduce the Labour Market Availability rates for women in the Operational category to reflect the long periods of time Ship’s Crew staff are required to be away from home.

Recommendation 18

The Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard should ensure the following initiatives are implemented to facilitate the recruitment of women into Ship’s Crew occupational groups:

1. A Women’s Ship’s Crew recruitment package should be developed for use in the regions. Each Region should develop a recruitment outreach program using this package to ensure that women who would be potentially interested in Ship’s Crew positions are encouraged to consider a shipboard career with the CCG Fleet.
2. To staff women into SC positions, Regions should establish pre-qualified pools of women SC candidates using the Special Recruiting Authority available to the Department.
3. Regions should remove the requirement for women to possess a MED certification in order to apply for Ship’s Crew positions. Women applicants who are deemed to meet all other requirements should be considered for assignment to a CCG vessel as a super-numero for a period of not more than four months until they have obtained their MED certification.
4. On an exception basis, the Canadian Coast Guard should pay for the MED certification for employment equity candidates who are otherwise qualified where recruitment success has been demonstrably difficult.

Recommendation 19

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to persons with disabilities in the Operational category.

Recommendation 20

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Operational category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential candidates with disabilities are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for persons with disabilities.

Recommendation 21

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should develop a communications strategy to accompany the issuance of the new DFO Accommodation Policy to address management attitudinal issues related to persons with disabilities. This strategy should inform managers and employees on the duty to accommodate, ways and means to provide accommodation and the availability of supporting funds and services.

Recommendation 22

The Regional Directors of Human Resources should ensure that Regional Employment Equity Coordinators contact each DFO employee who becomes disabled and can not perform the duties associated with their positions. These persons should be made aware that their disability represents a legitimate disability and they could formally self-identify themselves a person with a disability.

Recommendation 23

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to persons with disabilities in the Scientific and Professional occupational category.

Recommendation 24

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Scientific and Professional category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential candidates with disabilities are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for persons with disabilities.

Recommendation 25

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services, in consultation with the ADMs and Regional Directors of organizations with positions in the Scientific and Professional category, should coordinate the review of the job descriptions for all occupational groups in the Scientific and Professional category to identify Bona Fide Occupational Requirements.

Once this determination has been made, the ADM of Human Resources and Corporate services should petition the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency to consider reducing the Labour Market Availability rates for persons with disabilities to reflect the percentage of positions in these occupational groups for which accommodation may not be possible for some disabilities, for example blindness and mobility impairment.

Recommendation 26

See Recommendation 21 – The initiatives detailed in Recommendation 21 pertaining to the development of a communication strategy for the DFO Accommodation Policy will help mitigate management attitudinal barriers associated with the recruitment of persons with disabilities in the Scientific and Professional category.

Recommendation 27

See Recommendation 22 - Encouraging disabled DFO employees who can not perform the duties of their position to self-identify as a person with a disability should provide a more accurate picture of the number of persons with disabilities in the Scientific and Professional category.

Recommendation 28

The Regional Directors of Human Resources, in consultation with the ADMs and Regional Directors of organizations with positions in the Scientific and Professional category, should ensure that statements describing the Department’s willingness to provide accommodation for persons with disabilities, to be included in all Job Descriptions and Statements of Qualification to facilitate the recruitment of persons with disabilities into the Scientific and Professional category.

Recommendation 29

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to persons with disabilities in the Technical category.

Recommendation 30

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Technical category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential candidates with disabilities are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for persons with disabilities.

Recommendation 31

See Recommendation 28 - The inclusion of the Department’s willingness to provide accommodation for persons with disabilities to be included in all Job Descriptions and Statements of Qualification as referenced in Recommendation 28 will facilitate the recruitment of persons with disabilities into the Technical category.

Recommendation 32

See Recommendation 21 – The initiatives detailed in Recommendation 21 pertaining to the development of a communication strategy for the DFO Accommodation Policy will mitigate management attitudinal barriers associated with the recruitment of persons with disabilities into the Technical category.

Recommendation 33

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services, in consultation with the ADMs and Regional Directors of organizations with positions in the EL, RO and EG occupational groups, should coordinate the review of the job descriptions for all positions in these groups to identify Bona Fide Occupational Requirements.

Once this determination has been made, the ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should petition the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency to reduce the Labour Market Availability rates for persons with disabilities to reflect the percentage of positions in these occupational groups for which accommodation may not be possible for some disabilities for example, blindness and mobility impairment.

Recommendation 34

See Recommendation 22 - Encouraging disabled DFO employees who can not perform the duties of their position to self-identify as a person with a disability should provide a more accurate picture of the number of persons with disabilities in the Technical category.

Recommendation 35

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to visible minorities in the Scientific and Professional category.

Recommendation 36

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Scientific and Professional category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential visible minority candidates are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for visible minorities. Given many of the recruitment initiatives in the Scientific and Professional category are national in scope, these strategies should be nationally integrated.

Recommendation 37

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to visible minorities in the Technical occupational category.

Recommendation 38

The Regional Directors of Human Resources in consultation with managers involved with recruiting in the Technical category should develop an outreach recruitment program to ensure that potential visible minority candidates are aware of the opportunities to work in DFO. These outreach strategies should be developed with educational institutions and referral agencies for visible minorities.

Recommendation 39

The recruitment program for CCG Officer Cadets should include a provision to accept visible minority applicants who meet all requirements with the exception of two years of high school equivalency in French or English. An intensive French or English language training program should be provided as required to successful visible minority Officer Cadets prior to the commencement of the first year of Cadet training to provide them with the equivalency of two years high school level French or English.

Recommendation 40

See Recommendation 16 – The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should be applied to the recruitment and promotion of visible minorities into the Executive category.

Recommendation 41

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that the Statement of Qualifications of all EX and EX minus one level positions being staffed be reviewed to ensure that prior experience requirements, prior knowledge requirements or demands for accreditation or certifications are necessary and do not create barriers to the employment of designated groups. These barriers should be eliminated as they are identified.

Recommendation 42

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should ensure that the Employment Equity information presentation referenced in Recommendation 1 contain a reaffirmation of the Department’ s commitment to support managers when they undertake to use Employment Equity Special Recruitment Authorities to address significant Employment Equity representation gaps.

Recommendation 43

See Recommendations 11, 12 and 13 – A primary factor which can contribute to a high attrition rate is an unhealthy work environment. The initiatives recommended in Recommendation 11 are designed to identify workplace environment issues through the regular application of a survey instrument and improved leadership competencies. In addition, Recommendations 12 and 13 contain initiatives aimed at improving workplace health where problems are identified through the intervention of the staff from the Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution; enhancing the DFO Exit Interview Program; and making the creation of a healthy work environment a key component of management Performance Appraisals.

These initiatives should, as applied to the work environments of the DFO Scientific and Professional communities, lead to improvements in workplace health and reduce levels of attrition of women.

Recommendation 44

The ADM Science, in consultation with Regional Directors of Science should develop and coordinate the delivery of information sessions and discussion groups which focus on the issues, concerns and opportunities for women in the DFO scientific community. These sessions should be delivered in all DFO science institutes and modeled on the "Hypatia Project" sessions developed in the Maritimes Region.

Recommendation 45

The ADM Science should ensure that National meetings of the Regional Directors of Science have the retention of female science personnel as a standing item on their agenda until the retention rates are reduced to the average rate for all employees in the Science components of the Scientific and Professional category.

Recommendation 46

See Recommendations 11, 12 and 13 – A primary factor which can contribute to a high attrition rate is an unhealthy work environment. The initiatives recommended in Recommendation 11 are designed to identify workplace environment issues through the regular application of a survey instrument and improved leadership competencies. In addition, Recommendations 12 and 13 contain initiatives aimed at improving workplace health where problems are identified through the intervention of the staff from the Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution; enhancing the DFO Exit Interview Program; and making the creation of a healthy work environment a key component of management Performance Appraisals.

These initiatives should, as applied to the work environments of the DFO Technical communities, lead to improvements in workplace health and reduce levels of attrition of women.

Recommendation 47

See Recommendations 11, 12 and 13 – A primary factor which can contribute to a high attrition rate is an unhealthy work environment. The initiatives recommended in Recommendation 11 are designed to identify workplace environment issues through the regular application of a survey instrument and improved leadership competencies. In addition, Recommendations 12 and 13 contain initiatives aimed at improving workplace health where problems are identified through the intervention of the staff from the Centre for Values, Integrity and Conflict Resolution; enhancing the DFO Exit Interview Program; and making the creation of a healthy work environment a key component of management Performance Appraisals.

These initiatives should, as applied to the work environments of the DFO Technical communities, lead to improvements in workplace health and reduce levels of attrition of visible minorities.

Recommendation 48

See Recommendation 16 - The recruitment process referenced in Recommendation 16 should, as applied to visible minorities lead to an increased number of visible minorities in the Department. Increased numbers of visible minorities in the Department could reduce the sense of isolation visible minorities might experience and thereby reduce attrition due to this factor.

Recommendation 49

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should annually monitor the promotion rates within the Scientific and Professional category to verify that women are continuing to obtain at least an equitable share.

Recommendation 50

The ADM of Human Resources and Corporate Services should annually monitor the promotion rates within the Technical category to verify that women are continuing to obtain at least an equitable share.