CS employees: What you need to know about the upcoming classification conversion
August 31, 2021 - Defence Stories
The Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), in discussion with bargaining agents and core public administration (CPA) organizations, has been undertaking a classification renewal (conversion) exercise for the past several years in an effort to modernize the public service’s classification program.
The Clerk’s Beyond 2020 report calls for a more agile, inclusive, and equipped public service. Modernized and streamlined classifications help ensure that our tools reflect the work of today’s public service and bring more consistency in how similar jobs are evaluated.
As a result of these renewal efforts, changes will be made to update some occupational groups. In many cases, organizations will apply an interdepartmental standardized job description (accessible only on the National Defence network) structure that shows clearer career paths to facilitate employee mobility across the public service.
The Computer Systems (CS) group will change to a new occupational group called Information Technology (IT) starting in the winter of 2021.
What you need to know
Making changes to an occupational group involves several steps that take some time to implement. This means that there are no immediate changes to the classification or salary levels of any position. TBS is committed to ensuring that the new classifications and corresponding rates of pay can be seamlessly integrated into the pay system.
Please be assured that these changes are not about reducing jobs. Unless otherwise informed, your current collective agreement continues to apply and your bargaining agent does not change.
Changes to job evaluation and/or qualification standards and rates of pay
New job evaluation standards and in certain cases, new qualification standards, have been developed for the new group. If you are an indeterminate employee already in the position performing the job, you will be considered to have met any new minimum qualification requirements for the position based on education, experience, and/or training. As an indeterminate employee, this will also preserve your career mobility and allow you to advance within the new group or, sub-group, if you wish to do so.
There are no changes to current salaries. Rates of pay for the new groups will be negotiated through the usual collective bargaining process. Salary protection measures will apply if the maximum salary of your new group and level (or sub-group and level, if applicable), is lower than the maximum salary of your current group and level, although this is not expected to be the case for most employees.
Next steps
We recognize that these changes can create some uncertainty about what this means for your position. We are taking all of the necessary steps to ensure that these changes are implemented as smoothly and with as little disruption as possible. Please speak with your manager if you have concerns. You may also contact your union representative for more information.
We will keep you updated as implementation moves forward.
Resources
To learn more and to find out if your position will be part of these changes, please consult the Classification Renewal GCintranet page (accessible only on the National Defence network), which includes detailed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
Watch this short video to get a better understanding of conversion: Video: Conversion (accessible only on the National Defence network). If you require additional information, please talk to your manager or and agent at HR Connect RH (accessible only on the National Defence network) (1-833-747-6363).