Employment Equity in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada—Annual Report 2012–13

Employment Equity in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada—Annual Report 2012–13

Introduction

This Annual Report on Employment Equity at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG, or the Office) highlights employment equity activities between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

It also presents information on the representation of designated groups as of 31 March 2013.

Employment Equity Environment

Enabling legislation

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada has a legislative basis in the Auditor General Act, the Financial Administration Act, and a number of other statutes.

Independence from government

We differ from government departments and agencies through our independence from the government of the day and our reporting relationship to Parliament. Our independence is assured by a broad legislative mandate, freedom from certain controls over our budget and staff, and a 10-year term for the Auditor General.

Application of the Employment Equity Act

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada falls under the Employment Equity Act, section 4(1)(c) —as a portion of the Public Service of Canada.

Our work

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada audits federal government operations and provides Parliament with independent information, advice, and assurance regarding the federal government’s stewardship of public funds. While the Office may comment on policy implementation in an audit, it does not comment on the merits of the policy itself.

We are in the business of legislative auditing. We conduct

• performance audits of federal departments and agencies,
• annual financial audits of the government’s financial statements, and
• special examinations and annual financial audits of Crown corporations.

We also audit the governments of Nunavut, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories.

Since 1995, the Office has also had a specific environmental and sustainable development mandate, established through amendments to the Auditor General Act.

Our audit findings—which include good practices, areas requiring attention, and recommendations for improvement—are reported to Parliament. The Auditor General’s reports may be reviewed by parliamentary committees, which conduct hearings and make recommendations for action. Legislative assemblies provide the same oversight in the territories. The government has the opportunity to respond to the findings, and may implement recommended changes.

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada also participates in a number of international activities.

Our organization

The Office, which includes the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, is organized into three branches—Audit Practices, Audit Services, and the Management Group. Most employees work in the head office in Ottawa. The regional offices are located in Vancouver, Edmonton, Montréal, and Halifax.

We have a specialized workforce, with about 80 percent of our employees (476 of 594) at the middle management and audit professional levels.

Our values

We have six values that define how we conduct our work and ourselves. These values are articulated in our Strategic Plan. They include the following:

• Serving the public interest
• Independence and objectivity
• Commitment to excellence
• Trust and integrity
• Leading by example
• Respectful workplace

Employment equity is considered an integral part of a respectful workplace.

Our vision

An independent audit office serving Parliament, widely respected for the quality and impact of our work.

We promote

• accountable government,
• an ethical and effective public service,
• good governance,
• sustainable development, and
• the protection of Canada’s legacy and heritage.

We do this by

• conducting independent audits and studies that provide objective information, advice, and assurance to Parliament, government, and Canadians;
• working collaboratively with legislative auditors, federal and territorial governments, and professional organizations; and
• providing a respectful workplace in which all members of our diverse workforce can strive for excellence and realize their full career potential.

We are committed to providing a work environment in which all are treated with dignity and respect, and all are supported as they work toward their full career potential. We encourage open and honest communication to create a climate of trust and teamwork. We value each other’s talent and diversity, and support learning and quality-of-life endeavours.

Office employees are expected to demonstrate personal integrity and ethics, and to adhere to Office values, standards, and codes of conduct. People management competencies and behaviours are evaluated during recruitment and annual performance appraisals.

Our structure

The Assistant Auditor General of Corporate Services, who is a member of the Executive Committee, serves as employment equity champion and works to raise the profile of employment equity and diversity issues in the Office.

The Office has an active Employment Equity Committee, with subcommittees that represent four designated groups, to promote awareness and understanding of employment equity and diversity issues in the workplace.

The Chair of the Employment Equity Committee reports directly to the Assistant Auditor General of Corporate Services on any employment equity issues of note. The Chair provides input on all policies and issues that may affect employment equity.

Employment Equity Implementation

Implementation of legislation

Our first step in implementing the requirements of the legislation was to organize and complete a self-identification survey. We then did a workforce analysis to determine the degree of representation of members of designated groups in each occupational group.

This analysis is updated annually, and the results as of 31 March 2013 are presented in this report.

Employment equity records

We have implemented procedures for maintaining orderly and accurate employment equity records. We have also developed information vehicles and practices to keep our employees up-to-date on employment equity matters. For example, our INTRAnet provides all employees with easy access to current employment equity information.

All new employees are asked to complete a self-identification questionnaire before their first day at the Office, and notices are sent periodically to remind all employees of their right to self-identify at any time.

Recruitment

Like many other federal organizations, the OAG was subject to a Strategic Operational Review, which has resulted in 60 fewer positions and very limited staffing during the 2012–13 fiscal year.

Activities and events

The Office participates in several activities throughout the year to promote a corporate environment that supports employment equity values and ideals, including the following:

• Aboriginal Awareness Week
• International Day of Persons with Disabilities
• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
• International Women’s Day
• Interdepartmental Forum for Persons with Disabilities
• Women’s History Month
• Black History Month
• OAG Cultural Festival, which celebrates Canadian Multiculturalism Day
• International Fellows Fair, in support of the International Fellows Program

In addition, the Office continues to actively support awareness and fundraising campaigns for causes that affect members of designated groups.

These causes include the following:

• Breast Cancer Research—Denim Day
• National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
• Terry Fox Run
• Red Cross Disaster Relief

Finally, the Office promotes the principles of workplace respect and understanding; it does this during staff orientation and through ongoing in-house training programs. New auditors working in the North receive Cultural Awareness Training, so they can better understand the community in which they work.

The following courses are offered to all managers and staff:

• Working in a Diverse Workforce
• Creating a Respectful Environment
• Understanding Differences
• Elements of Supervision
• Teamwork

Succession planning

Every year, the number of forecasted retirements is monitored. The Office ensures that it gives due consideration to all designated group members who are involved in annual rotation and promotion processes, by educating hiring managers and representative selection committees.

Over time, these sustained efforts have resulted in opportunities for higher numbers of designated group members to be promoted. This is most evident for women, persons with disabilities, and persons in a visible minority group, who are seen as being well represented among the promotions in the 2012–13 fiscal year. (Table 9)

Canadian Human Rights Commission Audit

In 2011, the Canadian Human Rights Commission completed an analysis of the Office of the Auditor General’s employment equity data. The analysis compared the OAG employment equity results with the performance of other employers that are subject to the Employment Equity Act.

“The employment equity results for the OAG are excellent. The overall representation of the four designated groups within the OAG’s workforce is higher or closer to their labour market availability estimates. Therefore, the OAG is considered a leader in that regard.”

A leader is defined as an employer with better overall employment equity results, in comparison with its own industry, or having full overall representation in three out of four designated groups.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission will monitor the performance of the OAG through a review of the annual reports submitted to the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer.

Employment Equity Plan

Historically, the Office’s employment equity plan has included activities and initiatives intended to increase awareness of equity and diversity issues and to improve opportunities in the workplace for all employees.

When the Office became subject to the Employment Equity Act, the Employment Equity Committee was formed. The Committee’s objective is to promote the Office’s employment equity activities while increasing awareness of equity and diversity issues and enhancing employment and promotion opportunities for all groups.

In response to specific requirements in section 10 of the Employment Equity Act, the Office has always maintained an employment equity plan. The plans cover three-year periods and include specific goals for improved representation.

In the 2012–13 fiscal year, the OAG developed a new three-year Employment Equity Plan to cover the 2012–13, 2013–14, and 2014–15 fiscal years. The Plan was approved and published on our INTRAnet before the end of the 2012–13 fiscal year.

Communication and consultation

Ongoing communication is a critical factor in the success of our employment equity initiative. The Office undertakes a number of communication activities to support the equity and diversity programs. The Office

• offers a range of equity- and diversity courses to staff annually;
• posts equity- and diversity-related communication materials in areas within the Office where staff gather;
• makes information on the Employment Equity Act and related organizational plans and policies available on its INTRAnet site;
• keeps employees informed of the Office’s progress on achieving representation objectives;
• keeps staff, management, and our local union representatives engaged in meaningful dialogue to help us overcome outstanding recruitment and retention challenges;
• reaches out to and partners with educational institutions and professional associations to assist us in achieving our goals; and
• consults a union–management committee before finalizing policies and plans, such as the triannual Employment Equity Plan.

Numerical goals

We are committed to employment equity ideals, and we work diligently to ensure that these ideals are reflected in our workforce and our workplace.

The Office strives for 100 percent representation for each of the designated groups. The success of our efforts is monitored by the employment equity champion and is reported annually in the departmental performance report.

Employment Equity Numbers

Our employment equity numbers are prepared according to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system, which was developed by Employment and Social Development Canada (Exhibit 1). This system comprises 14 employment equity occupational groups (EEOGs)—as defined in Schedule II of the Employment Equity Regulations—and 520 NOC unit groups (Exhibit 2).

Classifying our employees under this system shows that we have a very specialized workforce:

• The 594 employees in our Office fall into 7 of the 14 EEOGs.
• Most of our employees (80 percent) are concentrated in 2 NOC unit groups—middle managers and auditors (professionals).

Exhibit 1—Classification of Office employees under the National Occupational Classification

Exhibit 2—Distribution of employees by major occupational groups

Representation in designated groups—highlights

We compared our representation in each designated group with the most recent workforce availability figures, provided by Employment and Social Development Canada in the Employment Equity Data Report. We used national figures for this comparison in most areas, with the exception of Administrative and senior clerical personnel and Clerical personnel, for whom we used data from the National Capital Region.

Women

As of 31 March 2013, women represented 61.3 percent of the Office’s workforce, which is similar to the previous year (61.9 percent) and surpasses the workforce availability of 49.8 percent. We continue to surpass workforce availability in five of the seven occupational groups.

We are pleased to report that representation in the Supervisor category has increased by 33.3 percent over the previous year. Also, we saw that in the senior manager category, representation has increased slightly (26.7 to 28.6). Although we have not yet attained full representation in two categories—Senior manager and Administrative and senior clerical personnel—we are confident that further improvements will be achieved in the coming years, through a combination of promotions and attrition. (Table 4)

Aboriginal peoples

While the Office experienced a slight decrease in its number of Aboriginal employees (from 2.8 to 2.4 percent), we continue to meet the workforce availability rate. We will seek to increase representation in the following three groups: Middle and other managers, Supervisors, Administrative and senior clerical personnel. (Table 5)

Persons with disabilities

Overall representation of persons with disabilities in the Office has, for the most part, remained the same over the past four years (around 4 percent, which represents 97.5 percent of workforce availability).

Representation in one category, Middle manager, has increased (from 3.5 to 5 percent). In two categories, it decreased: Administrative and senior clerical personnel (from 6.3 to 5.6 percent) and Clerical personnel (from 4.8 to 2.9 percent). (Table 6)

Persons in a visible minority group

We are pleased to report that, as of this reporting year, the OAG now meets the overall workforce availability at 11.1 percent. This represents an 18.8 percent increase over the previous year.

Representation in hiring, promotion, and separations

This annual report includes an analysis of the number of employees who were hired, promoted, or left the Office and the degree of representation of members of each designated group.

Hiring as a percentage of workforce availability

In the past year, 35 people joined the Office. This represents an almost 50 percent decline in the number of hires from the previous year, which is a direct result of the Strategic Operational Review. However, we exceeded workforce availability for hiring for women and for persons in a visible minority group. (Table 8)

Promotions

In the 2012–13 fiscal year, 49 Office employees were promoted; this represents approximately 8.2 percent of our employee population. More than half (53 percent) of those promoted were women and 22.4 percent were persons in a visible minority group. (Table 9)

Separations

In the 2012–13 fiscal year, 57 employees left the Office—an attrition rate of 8.8 percent. This result is lower than the previous year, in which 66 departures were reported. Of those who left,

• 34 were women (an attrition rate of 8.5 percent);
• 2 were Aboriginal people (an attrition rate of 11.1 percent);
• 8 were persons with disabilities (an attrition rate of 30.8 percent); and
• 2 were persons in a visible minority group (an attrition rate of 2.9 percent).

One point worth highlighting is the continued drop in the attrition rate of the persons in a visible minority group—from a high of 11.5 percent in the 2010–11 fiscal year to 2.9 percent in the 2012–13 fiscal year. (Table 10)

In conclusion, in the current context of fiscal restraint and limited recruitment activities, the Office is satisfied with the overall results. We continue to focus on meeting the objectives and strive to find new ways of improving our results.

Appendix—Statistics

Report coverage

This report contains information, as of 31 March 2013, on our indeterminate employees and determinate employees with terms of six months or more. Employees who were on secondment to other organizations are also included in our numbers.

Employees who were on leave without pay from our Office as of 31 March 2013 are not included in the population. Because of the rapid turnover of students and casual employees, no information is reported on them.

Data on people in the designated groups

All data, other than that for women, was obtained through self-identification, the process by which people identify themselves as being from one of the other three designated groups. The data on women was obtained from other human resource information.

The completeness and accuracy of employment equity data depend on employees being willing to self-identify and being given the opportunity to do so.

Our self-identification process began in April 1997. All new employees are asked to complete a questionnaire before their first day at the Office. In addition, at any time during the year, any employee may complete or revise a self-identification questionnaire, which is available from our Human Resources Group.

Tables 4 to 7 show our representation as a percentage of workforce availability, with comparative figures for the prior year. We believe this is the best measure of how well we are progressing toward our goal of achieving a representative workforce.

We provide information by Employment Equity Occupational Group (EEOG). Tables 4 to 7 include information for the two National Occupational Classification (NOC) unit groups that comprise the majority of our employees—middle managers (NOC Unit 0414), which is part of EEOG 2 (middle and other managers); and auditors (NOC Unit 1111), included in EEOG 3 (professionals).

List of Tables

Table 1—Representation of designated groups in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Table 2—Distribution of employees by designated group and region of work

Table 3—Representation of designated groups by Employment Equity Occupational Group

Table 4—Representation of women by Employment Equity Occupational Group and the two largest National Occupational Classification unit groups

Table 5—Representation of Aboriginal peoples by Employment Equity Occupational Group and the two largest National Occupational Classification unit groups

Table 6—Representation of persons with disabilities by Employment Equity Occupational Group and the two largest National Occupational Classification unit groups

Table 7—Representation of persons in a visible minority by Employment Equity Occupational Group and the two largest National Occupational Classification unit groups

Table 8—Hiring by designated group and Employment Equity Occupational Group

Table 9—Promotions by designated group and Employment Equity Occupational Group

Table 10—Separations by designated group and Employment Equity Occupational Group

Table 11—Distribution of employees by designated group and salary band

Table 1—Representation of designated groups in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada

As at 31 March 2013

Table 2—Distribution of employees by designated group and region of work

As at 31 March 2013

Table 3—Representation of designated groups by Employment Equity Occupational Group

As at 31 March 2013

Table 4—Representation of women by Employment Equity Occupational Group and the two largest National Occupational Classification unit groups

As at 31 March 2013

Table 5—Representation of Aboriginal peoples by Employment Equity Occupational Group and the two largest National Occupational Classification unit groups

As at 31 March 2013

Table 6—Representation of persons with disabilities by Employment Equity Occupational Group and the two largest National Occupational Classification unit groups

As at 31 March 2013

Table 7—Representation of persons in a visible minority by Employment Equity Occupational Group and the two largest National Occupational Classification unit groups

As at 31 March 2013

Table 8—Hirings by designated group and Employment Equity Occupational Group*

1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013

*Includes employees hired into term positions (six months or more) and indeterminate positions. (Return)

Table 9—Promotions by designated group and Employment Equity Occupational Group*

1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013

*Includes promotions and reclassifications. (Return)

Table 10—Separations by designated group and Employment Equity Occupational Group

1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013

Table 11—Distribution of employees by designated group and salary band

As at 31 March 2013