Complaints and investigations pursuant to the Public Service Employment Act

Concerns about appointments/appointment processes

	Issue	Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC) investigations	Deputy head (DH) investigations*	Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board*
External appointment processes	Merit, error, omission, improper conduct**	Exclusive authority (s. 66)	No authority	No authority
	Political influence	Exclusive authority – appointment/proposed appointment not free from political influence (s. 68)	No authority	No authority
	Fraud	Exclusive authority (s. 69)	No authority	No authority
Internal appointment processes	Error, omission, improper conduct**	Exclusive authority in a process where the appointment authority is not delegated to the department [s. 67(1)]	When the appointment authority is delegated to the department under s. 15(1), the DH has the authority to investigate [s. 15(3)]	No authority
	DH request for investigation of an error, omission, or improper conduct.**	Conducts investigations at the request of the DH and reports findings to the DH [s. 67(2)]	DH has the authority to request that the PSC investigate DH takes corrective actions [s. 67(2)]	No authority
	Political influence	Exclusive authority – appointment/proposed appointment not free from political influence (s. 68)	No authority	No authority
	Fraud	Exclusive authority (s. 69)	No authority	No authority
	Abuse of authority in the application of merit Abuse of authority in the choice of process between advertised and non-advertised Failure to assess the complainant in the official language of their choice	No authority	No authority	Exclusive authority [para. 77(i)(a)(b)(c)]
* DH investigations and complaints to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board are not under the authority of the PSC. This information is provided to present a holistic view of all investigations/complaints under the Public Service Employment Act. ** An error, an omission or improper conduct can result from a bias or barrier that disadvantages persons who belong to any equity-seeking group within the meaning of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Allegations of improper political activity

	Issue	Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC) investigations	Deputy head (DH) investigations*	Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board*
Political activity	Political activity, not related to a candidacy, that may impair or be perceived as impairing the employee's ability to perform their duties in a politically impartial manner Failure to comply with the Public Service Employment Act when seeking nomination as or being a candidate in a federal, provincial, territorial or municipal election That a DH may have engaged in a political activity other than voting	Exclusive authority (s. 118, 119)	No authority	No authority
* DH investigations and complaints to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board are not under the authority of the PSC. This information is provided to present a holistic view of all investigations/complaints under the Public Service Employment Act.

Other

	Issue	Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC) investigations	Deputy head (DH) investigations*	Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board*
Lay-off, revocation or corrective action	Abuse of authority in selecting an employee for lay-off Decision of a DH or the PSC (s. 67(1)) to revoke an appointment was unreasonable Abuse of authority by the PSC or DH in the implementation of corrective actions ordered by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board in a previous decision	No authority	No authority	Exclusive authority [s. 65, 15(3), 67(1),67(2),74, 83)]
* Deputy Head investigations and complaints to the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board are not under the authority of the PSC. This information is provided to present a holistic view of all investigations/complaints under the Public Service Employment Act.

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Date modified:: 2024-12-13