Interpretation Requests

Date: August 26, 2011

To: Heads of Human Resources; Heads/Chiefs, Labour Relations and Compensation

This bulletin serves as a reminder of the purpose of the Core Public Administration Compensation Management Interpretation Service provided by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) to user departments and to clarify which information is required to obtain an accurate and timely interpretation of provisions contained in collective agreements or compensation policy instruments.

The TBS Interpretation Service is available to appointed departmental corporate officials in the Core Public Administration to clarify the application of provisions to specific situations and to obtain clarifications on the set terms and conditions of employment. This service is not intended for hypothetical situations.

Therefore, all interpretation requests must contain pertinent information concerning the given situation, reference to the applicable collective agreement or directive, links to the relevant jurisprudence consulted, the analysis performed by the corporate advisor and the departmental position with respect to the given situation. Incomplete requests will be returned to the corporate advisors.

The interpretations are based on the information provided and solely apply to the described situations. We would like to remind departments of the importance of not applying the interpretations outside of the given context.

Finally, as indicated during the last Labour Relations Council’s meeting and subsequent discussions with the Chair of the Association of Compensation Managers (ACM), Departments are encouraged to identify and provide the Interpretation Service with the name of their corporate official(s); one (1) for Labour Relations and (1) one for Compensation, who will act as the point of contact for the organization.

We will redirect interpretation requests from regional or local labour relations officials and compensation advisors pertaining to the interpretation of collective agreement provisions or the Policy on Terms and Conditions of Employment and its related directives to their identified departmental corporate officials. This will ensure a more consistent approach to various situations within the department.

We endeavour to provide interpretation within two (2) weeks and strictly adhere to the approach described above when this service level cannot be maintained. We thank you for your cooperation.

All questions pertaining to this bulletin should be directed to your Departmental Corporate Labour Relations or Corporate Compensation Official.

Original signed by

Marc Thibodeau
Senior Director
Compensation Management
Core Public Administration
Compensation and Labour Relations
Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer