Minutes of the National Union-Management Consultation Committee (NUMCC)

BETWEEN THE CANADA REVENUE AGENCY (CRA) AND
THE UNION OF TAXATION EMPLOYEES (UTE)

OPENING REMARKS

The Commissioner welcomed the parties to the meeting. He mentioned that these meetings are important in building strong relationships with our union and management colleagues and he looks forward to another constructive discussion on issues of importance to all of us. He welcomed, Christine Donoghue as the new Deputy Commissioner. The Commissioner stated that the CRA Charitable Campaign was held from September 19 to October 31, 2018, and its focus was on “changing lives”. He said that he was very proud to have both unions as partners again for this year’s campaign. He mentioned the legalization of Cannabis that came into effect on October 17, 2018, and expressed being confident that the CRA will have the appropriate policies in place as the implementation of this legislation evolves. The Commissioner also spoke about the Auditor General’s 2018 Fall Reports to Parliament and stated that these reviews are essential to confirm what is working well and identify what aspects can be strengthened. In response to the findings and recommendations, he mentioned that methodologies and approaches would be reviewed to ensure consistency while improving service to Canadians. The Commissioner also spoke about the importance of an open communication while more union management consultations were taking place. The Deputy Commissioner said she is happy to be a part of the CRA. She also made a commitment to be engaged as part of the Union Management Approach (UMA). She mentioned the importance of the union management relations where finding the right solutions collaboratively is in everyone's best interest.

The UTE National President thanked everyone for attending the meeting. He recognized the importance of the consultation meetings where discussions and exchanges of information took place. He hoped for a productive and good meeting with open and frank discussions.

Union-Management Approach

The UTE Regional Vice-President, Montreal Region, stated that the principles of the Union-Management Approach (UMA) were not well communicated in order to enable the UMA message to permeate in the field. He suggested that communication tools be developed and established to improve the spirit of trust and collaboration across the organization. He said that it is not the intent of UMA to interfere with management’s right to manage but rather to ensure better communication, collaboration, and equality in the consultation process.

The UTE National President stated that he was pleased with the work that led to the parties’ recommitment to the UMA Philosophy. He stated that the commitment is made at the management level but the message does not seem to be shared and in the spirit of UMA, this situation needs to be addressed.

The Commissioner stated that when signing the recommitment to the UMA Philosophy he recognized that there would be challenges of communicating the message in such a large organization. He stated that with patience and constructivism, the focus would be on the things that can be improved and ensured that the message around this framework is communicated broadly across the CRA to have a positive impact on union-management relations.

The Assistant Commissioner, Human Resources Branch (AC, HRB) stated that on May 14, 2018, the Commissioner, the former Deputy Commissioner, the National Presidents of both unions came together and renewed their commitment to the Union-Management Philosophy. He stated that management is entirely committed to follow the principles of UMA. The AC, HRB provided an update on the training products currently available. He welcomed the union’s feedback.

The UTE Regional Vice-President, Montreal Region, stated that the most important issue was the time allocated for UMA 103.

The AC, HRB added that the responsibility for the UMA portfolio had transitioned to the Labour Relations Division (LRD).

Collective Bargaining Process

The UTE Second National Vice-President expressed UTE’s disappointment in the little progress made in the negotiation sessions. He hopes that January’s meetings will have a positive outcome. Call Centres and work life balance is a big priority and nothing substantive has been offered yet by the employer. He said that management is pushing back on the union business and communication with members to support the bargaining team. Time spent on pushing back should be focused elsewhere.

The Commissioner expressed his desire for a quick resolution and he reminded both parties the need to recognize that external players such as Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) are involved. He also stated that discussions with TBS would happen to review the process and understand the boundaries.

The UTE National President shared that members are unhappy by the slow progress, their patience is running low and they feel insulted by the offers from CRA. He also mentioned that conversion of the term employees should not be an issue for TBS because for the rest of the federal public service, specified employees are converted after 3 years. He is also optimistic and hopes that the January meeting will bring something meaningful. The UTE Regional Vice-President, Prairie Region, stated that the process is broken and challenges revolve around administrative issues.

The Commissioner committed to resolve and move things as quickly as possible. The AC, HRB mentioned that as we work with TBS, UTE could work with PSAC in order to opt for a better resolution.

Phoenix

The AC, HRB provided an update on compensation and the Phoenix system. He stated that CRA continues to work closely with Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) on the stabilization of Phoenix, as this is a government priority to ensure all public servants are paid accurately and on time. CRA actively participates in a number of interdepartmental committees and working groups to identify root causes and propose solutions. Overpayments, actings, and transfers in and out are among the top priorities. The November dashboard indicated that 17% of employees have a case over 30 days old. This compares with 73.3% of employees in organizations serviced by PSPC. The AC, HRB offered a small clarification that 14.9% represented all requests and not only those related to pay issues which is a small percentage. Now that the timelines for the collective agreement implementation have passed, Compensation is now focusing their efforts on reducing regular inventory. The CRA worked with PSPC to develop and roll-out functionality for sending salary rates through the Corporate Administration System (CAS) interface to Phoenix. Previously, compensation was required to manually update the salaries in Phoenix because the pay system always assumed level 1 of the salary range. The CRA now uses its salary calculator to establish the rate of pay and sends the accurate salary to Phoenix. This means that CRA employees will receive adjustments for appointments or increments quicker and ensure the accuracy of the rate of pay. In the first month after implementation, we saw a reduction of over 5,600 manual transactions and a significant decrease in the number of salary discrepancies between CAS and Phoenix, which is an excellent result. This will allow us to reallocate resources to other workloads. The CRA continues to work collaboratively with PSPC to address known Phoenix issues, namely entitlements paid or not paid in error (4%, 4.25%, and bilingual bonus). The CRA provides regular updates on the known issues with Phoenix on InfoZone. For the past several months, the CRA has been working with PSPC to identify employees who have not received the correct payments for these entitlements and we are getting closer to a solution. TBS and PSPC have finally resolved the long standing issue for collecting PSAC dues in arrears. This issue has had a financial impact on both CRA employees and the union. This is one step further to stabilization efforts. He also mentioned that since November 14, when adjustments for union dues began, the National Enquiries Services calls related to union dues increased significantly. As PSAC is managing this, compensation agents are re-directing employees to the frequently asked questions or to complete the membership dues inquiries form on the PSAC website. The AC, HRB mentioned that the scope of the NextGen system is significant as TBS is looking for a new system (or multiple systems) to support HR processes from “Hire-to-retire”. The NextGen solution would need to replace over 30 HR systems across government and will be extremely complex. The selection of a vendor is expected for spring 2019. The NextGen work is completely separate from the other initiatives that Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer and PSPC are working on for stabilizing Phoenix.

The UTE National President recognized the efforts made by the CRA on the Phoenix issue, and that the situation has improved and was better at the CRA than it is in other departments. He mentioned that it is not because things are better at the CRA that the situation is acceptable. Employees should expect to be paid accurately and on time and should not be left wondering whether their leave will be processed correctly.

CAS Solution VS Phoenix

The UTE National President said the CAS system is the reason why things are getting better. From June to September, the UTE organized a campaign where 14,500 cards got signed by members and their families to support the replacement of Phoenix. CAS seems to be the solution since the CRA is in a better position than other departments. He said that the CAS solution is feasible compared to all other options that were considered. He spoke to the Minister of National Revenue about this and has also tried to contact the Prime Minister of Canada to address solutions to fix Phoenix.

The AC, HRB said that we remain committed to Government priorities. CAS might not be the solution for all problems. He stated the CRA is not legislated to process payroll. He also reiterated that HRB has a well-established issues management function that can help with files to avoid financial hardship.

The Commissioner echoed the frustration expressed by the UTE. The CRA has made great progress and is contributing to the broader government level to finding a solution.

The CRA is focused on doing the best things for its employees. There is no easy answer whether it’s fixing Phoenix or designing a new system. He said the CRA is committed to finding solutions for its employees in the short, medium and long term.

Call Centre Modernization Project

The Assistant Commissioner, Assessment, Benefit, and Service Branch (AC, ABSB) stated that all three business lines have been migrated to the new system. We are very thankful for the support provided by the call centre agents and the testing went very well. Call recording is also working well and is a great way to assess the quality and accuracy of responses provided to callers.

The Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Collections and Verification Branch (DAC, CVB) also provided an update from a Debt Management Call Centre (DMCC) perspective. She stated that it was recommended that the project be extended for two years resulting in an end date of 2022. The three Debt Management Call Centres (DMCC) sites are scheduled to migrate to the Hosted Contact Centre Service (HCCS) by February 1, 2019. The program area continues to ensure that policies are in place to support the end users once HCCS is migrated to production and a support team will be available at each site for telephony, system and program support at the time of implementation. The Charities Call Centre migrated in September 2018. Surrey National Verification Call Centre programs (T1 Processing, Tax Deduction, Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance Discrepancy Notice, Pensionable and Insurable Earnings Review) were successfully migrated on November 19, 2018, while T1/T2 Non-Filers has migrated on December 3, 2018. The Commissioner spoke about the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) report where the CRA has the responsibility towards technology, equipment, and training and employees. The last filing season was the best one so far when comparing the old technology with the new one.

The Regional Vice-President, Rocky Mountains Region expressed that members are unhappy and have concerns about the monitoring process and the limited training which is adding to their stress level.

The UTE National President explained that Taxpayers might be getting better service but the surveillance aspect of the system and the way it will be used by management is a concern. There is also an apprehension around management inappropriately misusing the monitoring tools as opposed to using them to better employees. He stressed the importance of the employees’ well-being considering the impacts of the new system.

The AC, ABSB stated that occupancy rates do create stress on call agents and is being monitored carefully. Call recording is generally well received but some agents find it stressful. The Commissioner acknowledged that monitoring is a risk but the key is to listen to the feedback from the field and keep the line of communication open as we work together through the transition.

Chief Service Officer

The Chief Service Officer (CSO) provided information about her role, and activities that have taken place to date to move forward on our service transformation. She specified that the CRA’s vision statement has been renewed to make it more inspiring and tangible, and demonstrate how we want to be recognized for “being trusted, helpful and fair by putting people first”. She stated that guiding principles have been defined to set the path for how the organization should carry out our vision and help create a common culture in which everyone understands what’s important. To support this initiative, the client-centric approach will enhance our ability to understand taxpayers’ needs, expectations to provide better programs and services. We are working collaboratively towards a unified goal to provide successful programs and services for all. A new Service Council was established to support this mandate through employee engagement. It is comprised of employees at all groups and levels representing each branch and region, as well as union representatives from both the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Union of Taxation Employees (PSAC-UTE) and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada for the Audit, Financial and Scientific Group (PIPSC-AFS) who collaborate with other members to advance CRA’s service transformation agenda. A series of consultations will also be conducted to provide a more in-depth look at how we should transform our services to meet expectations of Canadians. This would include launching public consultations (online and in person) during tax-filing season to consult individuals on service improvements. She stated that a client experience approach was developed to promote the design and delivery of integrated services that meet client needs to better understand our clients; delivering service excellence and measuring their experience. Moving forward, we will also hold a series of engagement sessions with employees across the country to gain greater insights on what is working well and what could be improved. The service transformation will not happen overnight and it will not be possible without the involvement and commitment of our employees, at all levels of the organization and across the country.

The UTE National President is also open to looking at all solutions to improve services to the clients. If service counters would be reintroduced, the employees’ workloads would decrease. The issue of counter services are not going away anytime soon. He mentioned that a business case will be presented related to the service counters.

Although the service counters were abolished, the Commissioner said that there was an expectation that service standard would remain. Having said that, he is open to exploring all ideas to improve service to Canadians.

Union-Management Consultation Process

The Regional Vice-President, Rocky Mountains Region expressed disappointment in the absence of consultation and that discussions are not happening when they should. He also mentioned lack of consultation related to the Call Centre Agent Assessment Tool. Flexibility should be offered and information should be shared ahead of time.

The UTE National President expressed the importance of the consultation and the need to be involved in establishing consultation dates. Delays are unreasonable and short turnaround times happen too often. Improvements can be made in order to send the right people to meetings or to allow enough time to provide feedback.

In the spirit of UMA, the Commissioner explained the importance of collaborating, acknowledging that we can do better and keeping the flow of information going so that we can resolve to do things differently in future. CRA is committed to open and ongoing consultation and discussion. Together, we have work to do in maintaining the positive union-management relationship.

Enhanced Canada Pension Plan Initiative

The DAC, CVB provided an update on the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) enhancement that will take effect on January 1, 2019, and be gradually phased-in over the next seven years to allow employers and individual contributors to adjust to the on-going changes. The administration of the CPP is distributed amongst a number of functions throughout the CRA. She explained that contributions would continue to be collected and remitted in the same manner as they currently are. This approach minimizes the impact to employers, and CRA operations. Once implemented, the CPP enhancements will be an extension to the current administration of CPP activities in CRA. The CRA call centre agents on both the Business Enquiry line and the Individual Enquiries line have been provided with background information and Frequently Asked Questions to address concerns from taxpayers and a communiqué to field officials involved in the administration of CPP programs will be released shortly. In addition to preparing internally for the administration of the CPP enhancement, the CRA is committed to ensuring that employees, employers, and the self-employed, have information on the enhancement and how it will affect them. A number of communication products have been developed for various audiences to provide information on the enhanced CPP, including a webinar, an infographic, and a backgrounder. InfoZone will also be updated with information on the enhancement.

Discrimination and Harassment Centre of Expertise

The AC, HRB said that the introduction of the Discrimination and Harassment Centre of Expertise (DHCE) was a positive step towards reducing the fear of reprisal that employees may have when submitting complaints and improving impartiality of the resolution process. He explained that DHCE employees are subject matter experts removed from labour relations and regional management to provide impartial advice and guidance to employees and managers. These impartial resources screen allegations of discrimination and harassment; recommend to delegated managers whether to investigate allegations; and review final investigation reports and processes to ensure procedural fairness. The DHCE plays an important neutral role in the resolution process, but he understands UTE’s concerns regarding delays. Enhancing the capacity of the DHCE has been a priority. The shift of resources in the DHCE and its initial capacity has tripled. The funding proposal to stabilize the situation has been submitted. With more resources and reorganization of work processes, it is possible to eliminate the backlog in addressing complaints. The DHCE currently has a workload of 129 files that are at different stages in the resolution process. The AC, HRB was pleased to report that all files are assigned and that the inventory of files has been reduced to 29 files that are presently at the screening stage. Additionally, 43 files are on hold due to extended absences or the use of informal conflict resolution, and 57 files remain active, including files that are either under investigation and some that are pending a decision to investigate or not investigate. With these improvements, the DHCE is now better equipped to carry out its value-added role without contributing to delays in the process. Having capacity in the DHCE is only one of many elements in the action plan (which was shared with you in February) that will contribute to a timely resolution process. He also reported that progress was made. For instance, the service level agreement with the Public Affairs Branch (PAB) to improve timeliness of the vetting process was finalized and came into effect June 1, 2018. PAB and HRB will have a touch point this fall to assess the results of this new approach. The AC, HRB also addressed the concern that was raised regarding harassment statistics. CRA has developed confidentiality practices to ensure the protection of taxpayer and employee confidentiality and HRB revised its data publishing practices. One of the practices it put in place was the suppression of data for the protection of personal information when working with aggregate data. While statistical reporting at the CRA may not appear to directly reveal personal information, a concern exists where individual entities could be identified or derived from aggregate data. He also mentioned the discussion that took place with the Director, Labour Relations about the suppression of data for the protection of personal information and this discussion has taken place at the National Health and Safety Policy Committee. With respect to training, the CRA has made the current online training mandatory for all executives, managers and supervisors this fiscal year. He is also pleased that we share the view that discrimination and harassment training, with a focus on awareness, prevention and restoration of the workplace, would be of value and positive for employees. He also said that collaborating with the UTE to develop and deliver this training would be ideal while continuing to work towards improvements to the resolution process. The AC, HRB also mentioned that on September 13, 2018, the following items was shared with UTE: The updated version of the revised allegations form which incorporates feedback from both national unions. This updated form includes the role of the union in the process; a template letter intended to promote the use of Informal Conflict Resolution (ICR) after allegations of discrimination or harassment have been filed. It includes specific instructions to managers regarding expected consultations with ICR in an effort to restore the workplace by addressing any ongoing conflict within their teams whether or not allegations have been screened in or not. Comments on these revisions have been requested and he thanked UTE for their feedback. These comments, which relate solely to the resolution process itself, will be integrated, to the extent possible, into the revised process. The AC, HRB committed to share the revised resolution process that includes UTE’s feedback.

The UTE First National Vice-President reiterated UTE’s position is to have members use the Canada Labour Code Part II, section XX of the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations in harassment complaints which offers more protection. With the Act to amend the Canada Labour Code regarding harassment and violence in the workplace, he is questioning the role of DHCE.  

The AC, HRB explained that the DHCE would always have a role. They are an information source for employees and managers. Many cases are not defined as pure harassment and they need to be channeled in different parts of the CRA. It allows the CRA to identify irritants that are not related to discrimination or harassment which still need to be addressed.

Action Item:

• The AC, HRB committed to share the revised resolution process that includes UTE’s feedback.

Delays in processing Taxpayer’s files

The UTE National President is concerned about the high call volumes in the call centres as well as all the media inquiries related to the processing delays in Taxpayer’s file. The AC, ABSB stated that Service Renewal was a major transformation for the CRA. There were obvious human resources challenges associated with the movement of work which resulted in some temporary processing delays, specifically in T1 Adjustments. He was pleased to advise that CRA had just completed its first full program year under the new Service Renewal organizational structure. The Tax Centre staffing, combined with concerted training efforts, resulted in one of the most successful T1 programs we have seen in recent years. He reported that regular T1 adjustments is under eight weeks and complex is under 20 weeks by fiscal year end. All programs are in good shape. The AC, HRB also mentioned that he would provide UTE with written summary of the statistics workload provided by ABSB.

The UTE Regional Vice-President Atlantic Region stated that the Program resolution officers are informing Taxpayers that the processing standard is four weeks and this is creating client service issues. The UTE National President said he was surprised how the T1 Reassessments reported to be in good shape. The Commissioner mentioned that the program is in better shape this year than last year and there is more room for improvement. 

Action Item:

• The AC, HRB will provide UTE with written summary of the statistics workload provided by ABSB.

Closing Remarks

The Commissioner appreciated the constructive discussions at this meeting and asked to continue to keep the lines of communication open. He also thanked the parties for their participation. He reminded the participants that the next meeting is scheduled on June 13, 2019.

The UTE National President thanked management for these open and frank discussions, and noted the improved working relationship between the parties.