Employee Worklife Balance Committee - Report for the 2018 AFS AGM

The Employee Worklife Balance Committee was formed in 2017.  I am the chair of this committee along with Shawn Gillis, Ontario Regional Representative and Allaudin Alibhai NCR-IT Representative. This committee was formed to address issues around employee worklife balance, in particular, to participate in a joint working group with CRA to discuss issues regarding access to compressed work week schedules and flexible hours of work (paragraphs 8.02 (e) and (f) and paragraphs 8.03 (f) and (g) of the collective agreement). We met with CRA for a consultation meeting in December 2017 to have initial discussions and to set up the Terms of Reference for this joint working group.

In subsequent meetings, we discussed flexible hours of work, specifically the Flexible Work Guidelines in Quebec that were introduced in 2014.  We also presented our concerns with Compressed Work Week including:

•              Inconsistencies in the general application and approval of compressed schedules

•              Variance in the maximum hours per day an employee can work

•              Setting limits and denial of stacking compressed days

•              Denial without valid reason – rules being made without rationale

•              CRA promotes itself as an employer of choice by offering flexible hours but adds many restrictions

•              Artificial limits imposed based on staffing and resourcing issues

•              Operational requirements for the audit function are different than for other groups

•              Performance issues may factor in for certain employees but should not lead to blanket limitations for all employees

•              If employee productivity is not affected there should not be any issues.

The working group will continue to meet and discuss worklife balance in 2018.  I would like to thank the AFS Executive, the subgroup presidents, and stewards for bringing forward your concerns. Your input is important to us, so please continue to inform us with your concerns and issues.

Better Together,

Phil Choo

BC/Yukon AFS Regional Representative

Phone: 250-415-7246

Email: philchoo23@gmail.com