OPENING REMARKS
The Chairperson of the meeting and President, AFS Group, began by acknowledging the Indigenous Peoples of all the lands on which we reside and welcomed the participants to the second CRA-AFS NUMCC meeting of 2023. He said he was glad that participants were once again able to meet in person. He introduced Paul Tsuji, as the new AFS representative for the Toronto Region, Abraham Garcia, as the new AFS representative for the Headquarters Region and welcomed Darcey Dueck who replaced Pam Kubicz as CS Regional representative. He concluded by saying that he was looking forward to discussing a number of important issues for AFS members.
The Commissioner welcomed the participants and said he was glad for the opportunity to meet face-to-face. He began by thanking both bargaining teams for negotiating a deal that will be good for everyone and said he was looking forward to having the collective agreement ratified. He further indicated that since the last meeting, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau had been appointed as new Minister of National Revenue. The collaboration is good with the Honourable Minister Bibeau but he recognized that there is a big learning process ahead. There were also some departures in the ranks of Senior Management that resulted in changes at the Management table.
Susan Chambers, former Assistant Commissioner (AC), Atlantic Region, left the Agency in July 2023 to pursue a new professional opportunity at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. A replacement has yet to be identified but in the meantime, he welcomed Tanya Cameron who attended the meeting in the capacity of acting Assistant Commissioner.
Mark Quinlan, former Assistant Commissioner (AC) of the Quebec Region, left the Agency in October to join Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) where he will be in charge of Real Property. In the interim, Chantal Tourigny attended the meeting in the capacity of acting Assistant Commissioner.
The Commissioner was pleased to welcome Natalie Waples, who was appointed as new Director General of the Workplace Relations and Compensation Directorate, replacing Philippe Blanchette who left the Agency back in June. Finally, the Commissioner indicated that Nandini Srikantiah had left the Agency to pursue new opportunities with the Canada Borders Services Agency (CBSA). He highlighted that she played a critical role in the return to work and journey to hybrid initiative and that moving forward, the Human Resources Branch (HRB) will be responsible for this portfolio.
The Commissioner noted that this is the time of the year when the Agency prepares for its next budget while recognizing that the fiscal situation is tighter this year than it has been in previous years. The Agency recently finalized its Refocusing Government Spending (RGS) exercise, and a proposal was submitted to the Treasury Board Secretariat. He believes this is a good opportunity to evaluate our spending profile, adjust accordingly and re-prioritize. The Government’s announcement clearly indicated that there should not be any impact on service to Canadians as a result of the RGS process which imposed additional constraints to the CRA.
On the matter of the CRA Charitable Campaign, the Commissioner emphasized that it is a good opportunity for employees and branches to bond, while raising money for a good cause.
- Collective Bargaining
The President, AFS Group, introduced the topic and invited the Assistant Commissioner
(AC), HRB, to provide an update on Collective Bargaining.
The AC, HRB, indicated that she was really pleased that on September 16, 2023, the CRA and the PIPSC-AFS Group were able to successfully reach a tentative agreement that is in the interest of both employees and Canadians. She was also pleased that this tentative agreement was reached in less than a year and believes that it is the result of the hard work and dedication of both parties, who worked diligently and in the true spirit of interest-based negotiations to find common ground. She outlined that the agreement addresses many of the priorities identified by the union for this round of collective bargaining, including annual wage increases, increases to certain group specific allowances and rates of pay, increase to shift and weekend premiums, flexible work arrangements, a new leave for Indigenous employees to engage in traditional Indigenous practices, a new bereavement leave for situations of stillbirth, as well as improvements to other types of leave.
The Agency is currently working on its request for non-objection from the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) to confirm that the negotiations were done within the approved mandates provided by the TBS. Once the new collective agreement is signed by the parties, the Agency will work with all partners, including TBS and Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) on the implementation of the new contract. As the Agency is working on finalizing the details of this agreement, the AC, HRB emphasized that the CRA will continue to foster positive and constructive union-management relations and work closely with the union to identify and resolve issues. She then invited the Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Assessment, Benefits and Service Branch (DAC, ABSB) to provide an update of the NU-EMA medical adjudicator conversion, which will be in effect once the new collective agreement is signed.
The DAC, ABSB, said she was pleased with the creation of a separate professional group for CRA’s medical adjudicators. The ABSB, in collaboration with the Organizational
Design and Classification Division and the Compensation Division, continue to work together to ensure everything is in place to proceed with the conversion upon the signing of the collective agreement. Employees and a PIPSC-AFS representative will be invited to attend an information session regarding CRA’s intention to convert medical adjudicators to the NU group.
The President, AFS Group, indicated that he was looking forward to hearing updates about the NU-EMA Group as it was something that he initiated approximately four years ago. He thanked management for their cooperation in doing the work to convert the medical adjudicators to the NU-EMA Group.
On the topic of the tentative agreement, the President, AFS Group, noted that contract information sessions were currently being held and a summary with detailed information about the ratification package will be posted online shortly. The AFS Group plans on holding online voting sessions from November 10th to 24th, 2023. It is the union’s understanding that the CRA will be seeking TBS and GIC’s approvals in early December. Based on this timeline and presuming that AFS members vote in favour of the agreement, the AFS, President Group believes that the parties are likely to sign the new agreement during the second week of December. He reminded that the agreement provides for implementation of new rates within 180 days of the signature and the Agency is subject to penalties if delays are incurred (for cases not requiring manual intervention within 180 days of the signature).
The President, AFS Group, highlighted the great work of the AFS bargaining team in preparing for and conducting this negotiation and noted that several long-standing concerns were addressed. For example, the AFS Group is the first group of the Institute to have bereavement leave for still birth in their collective agreement. Although he believes that the contract should allow five days for this type of leave, he is glad that there is at least an acknowledgement of the impact this kind of loss has on AFS members’ lives. Despite the overriding interference of the TBS during this negotiation, the President, AFS Group, expressed his appreciation for the good faith efforts of CRA’s negotiation team in reaching a tentative agreement. In that vein, he believes that CRA’s professional members deserve better pay raises in order to keep up with the rising cost of inflation. He ended by saying that in the immediate future, they are looking forward to concluding their work in drafting their interpretation guide and updating contract language to be gender inclusive.
- Return to office on-site presence and duty to accommodate
The President, AFS Group, requested a status update for accommodation requests made under the duty to accommodate (DTA) in the context of the on-site presence requirement.
The AC, HRB, indicated that employees can request accommodation measures under any of the thirteen prohibited grounds of discrimination, and managers with the advice and guidance provided by human resources, will identify a suitable accommodation. In situations where the request pertains to medical reasons, human resources will assist managers in obtaining medical limitations and restrictions, as required. All accommodation requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by management, taking into consideration an employee’s limitations, restrictions, and barriers with respect to their job duties. She further noted that accommodation requests in the context of the requirement for on-site presence, which may include 100% telework, could be made under any of the prohibited grounds of discrimination. The CRA remains committed to meet its legal obligation related to the DTA and employees who need accommodations should discuss their request with their managers who, in turn, can be supported by Labour Relations and/or the Early Intervention and Return to Work (EIRTW) Centre. The Agency does not require managers to report back that they have accommodated an employee nor to identify the chosen solutions as there is no centralized or mandatory reporting on DTA, and as such, monitoring and reporting would be difficult and inaccurate. The AC, HRB noted that as of September 26, 2023, there were 45,685 employees with an approved work arrangement agreement (WAA) in the WAA system and an additional 6,319 employees with a WAA in progress. The HRB is currently working to validate the reporting data and identify how many of those agreements include 100% telework as an accommodation measure requested under one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination and is hoping to share the information during the next AFS- NUMCC meeting.
The President, AFS Group, highlighted that many employees were hired during the pandemic on the promise that they would be able to work from home and they now feel betrayed by their employer. This is the case for younger employees who expected to have more flexibility by being allowed to work from home, which is similar to what private employers are offering. He added that the TBS is not allowing AFS members’ wages to keep up with inflation, which will soon have a significant impact on the Agency’s retention and recruitment. He added that forcing AFS members to return to the workplace locations where they are less productive; where they face safety issues in downtown areas; or where they are frequently exposed to offices infested with bed bugs is not the answer. He emphasized that for the first time in his seventeen years as an AFS executive, members called and emailed asking to go on strike, and that was in direct response to the Agency’s return to the office order.
Although there is no definite and final hybrid model in place, the Commissioner advised that employees’ presence onsite, benefits the institution and younger employees who are looking for support and guidance from experienced peers in the office. While recognizing that employees were productive during the pandemic, he shared his concerns regarding the institution in the long term and added that the Agency will benefit from onsite presence in the long run.
The President, AFS Group, urged management to meaningfully consult with its unions if it is considering any changes to the return to the office order and emphasized that it is not in the Agency’s interests to further alienate its employees. He warned Management that expanding the return to the office order beyond two days would be the final breaking point for many employees.
- Refocusing government spending
The President, AFS Group, requested an update on the $15 billion cost reduction exercise announced by the federal government earlier this year.
The AC, FAB, thanked AFS representatives for attending the consultation session of September 25. Based on recommendations formulated in Budget 2022, the Fall Economic Statement 2022, and formally in Budget 2023, the Canada Revenue Agency started working on its Refocusing of Government Spending (RGS) exercise. He explained that the exercise consists of refocusing government spending to continue serving Canadians most effectively and to bring government spending back to a pre-pandemic level. Starting 2023- 2024, each department and agency was called upon to reduce spending by approximately 15% in the areas of consulting, professional services, and travel. Ultimately, the government is hoping to collectively achieve ongoing savings of $1.7 billion for that fiscal year. In addition to the abovementioned savings, Budget 2023 is proposing a reduction of approximately 3% starting in 2024-2025, and this percentage is expected to increase and reach a target collective savings of 7.0 billion by 2026-2027 and ongoing.
This exercise is similar to the Annual Resource Alignment Process1 (ARAP) but instead of reinvesting savings within the Agency towards the highest unfunded priorities or pressures, they are returned to the core public service. All branches and regions were asked to review their programs and operations to identify where there might be duplication, lower value for money, or programs that do not address the Government’s top priorities. The focus for the exercise has been to find efficiencies while minimizing the impact on services to Canadians, on revenue generating objectives, and on people (human resources). The Agency assessed potential risks and impacts for each proposal and consultations with CRA senior management were held to determine which proposals should be retained.
The HRB was significantly involved in assessing the savings proposals to identify any potential workforce impacts. The final package of spending reduction proposals was approved by the Minister and submitted to the TBS on October 5, 2023. The FAB is currently working with the Public Affairs Branch (PAB) on a communication approach and unions will be informed in advance of sending communications to staff. He concluded by saying that reduction exercises, are becoming more and more common.
The President, AFS Group, expressed the union’s disappointments with the lack of consultation in this exercise and the fact that they were advised only about the process, without any details or interest in input.
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1 The ARAP is a two-step process, where branches in conjunction with their regional and human resources counterparts must answer
two questions:
Step 1 — Investments: If you had more budget, what would you do? What would be your top priority?
Step 2 — Savings: If you had less budget, what would you do? What would you stop/do less of?
4. Pay equity
The President, AFS Group, requested a status update on the implementation of the Pay
Equity Act at the Agency.
The AC, HRB, began by saying that recurrent working sessions have been held since the creation of the Pay Equity Committee in January 2022. She outlined that the committee has been testing methodologies to identify job classes for each job at the CRA. She noted that the Core Public Administration will be using classification groups and levels to identify job classes, but for the CRA, this is a decision that the committee will need to make.
The AC, HRB, listed the steps taken to date, and elaborated on the next steps for the Pay
Equity Committee and projected timelines.
Of note, payments for job classes where discrepancies exist will be identified, but payments will not be retroactive. She concluded by recognizing the important role of the union in this process and highlighted that collaboration is crucial for the success of the initiative.
- Classification reform
The President, AFS Group, requested an update regarding the classification reform proposal brought to the Corporate Management Committee (CMC). In addition to the general update, the union wanted to know whether the CRA is considering reclassification of real estate appraisers who are part of the SI classification group. For greater clarity, the Agency still has the Economists, Sociologists and Statisticians (ES) and Social Science Support (SI) occupational groups, while Treasury Board has merged these classifications into the Economics and Social Science Services (EC) classification.
The AC, HRB, began by saying that ongoing discussions regarding the optimal approach to the CRA’s next phase of Classification Reform are taking place. The Organizational Design and Classification Division (ODCD) presented some options to the CMC to introduce a new Middle Management Group and reform the existing MG group. However, the operational environment has changed significantly, and she noted that several HR initiatives were already underway. In this context, the HRB is currently looking at the best approach to move forward with its classification reform.
Addressing concerns regarding the Real Estate Appraiser positions, the AC, HRB indicated that functional management is aware of the issues with the national work descriptions of this group. The work descriptions for the program are being reviewed and regional real estate appraisal teams will be consulted as part of this process. As noted by the President, AFS Group, the AC, HRB acknowledged that similar jobs in the Core Public Administration are now classified in the newer EC occupational group; nonetheless, she noted that this group is not part of the CRA’s occupational group structure. Different options are being explored for all of the AFS groups, but until a new group or a revised classification standard is introduced, it is likely that real estate appraisers will remain in the SI group.
- New External Fraud Risk Directive
The President, AFS Group, invited the Assistant Commissioner (AC), Security Branch (SB)
to provide his update on the use of the new External Fraud Risk Directive.
The AC, SB, defined external fraud and explained that it is a deliberate and intentional activity by an outside party that relies on deception or misrepresentation to achieve a gain and/or cause a loss from the CRA. The new External Fraud Risk Directive is a new policy instrument that was introduced to all employees in early July 2023, and it aims to foster a culture of external fraud awareness across the CRA by emphasizing that addressing external fraud is a shared responsibility. Of note, the activities within the Directive are focused on proactive risk prevention rather than responsive actions after fraud has occurred. The AC, SB added that to ensure the stakeholders would be supportive of the Directive, numerous consultations sessions were held with the branches, the regions and the unions. An independent third party was consulted on the policy; feedback provided was overall positive and they concluded that the Directive was well aligned with best practices in the private sector.
The Directive places certain responsibilities on various stakeholders, for example, managers are responsible for the promotion of external fraud risk training and awareness among their employees, while employees are asked to monitor and report to their management vulnerabilities that may present an opportunity for external fraud. The Security Branch is undertaking initiatives to help employees meet those responsibilities by means of fraud prevention campaigns and communications on how to recognize and report external fraud, as well as how they can play a role on reducing it. The AC, SB indicated that the goal is to raise each individual’s Bad Actor Radar.
The AC, SB, concluded that the main objective of the new Directive is to foster increased understanding and awareness of external fraud risks to the Agency, which should result in a lower risk of external fraud occurring to further protect the Agency’s assets and reputation.
- National phishing simulation campaign
The President, AFS Group, invited the AC, SB, to provide his update on the national
phishing simulation campaign.
The AC, SB, underlined that experts predict that by 2025, lack of talent or human failure will be responsible for over half of significant cyber incidents. In that vein, the number of cyber and social engineering attacks against people is spiking as threat actors increasingly see humans as the most vulnerable point of exploitation. He recognized that even the most secure organizations can fall victim to phishing as cybersecurity threats are evolving faster than ever and employees are on the front lines. Based on a 2023 Gartner market survey, 82% of breaches involve human error and the use of social engineering and the growing sophistication and accessibility of malicious tools (ex: ChatGPT, WormGPT) are a prominent threat. The Security Branch plans on reducing risks associated with sophisticated cyber attacks by testing and optimizing the human firewall. The AC, SB indicated that bad actors rely on exploiting human psychology and behaviours to infiltrate, noting that the CRA block over five million suspicious emails every month. He shared an example of an actual scheme where CRA email controls were circumvented and targeted to exploit CRA employees.
Despite employees’ best intentions to comply with the policy, bad actors are continuously trying to mislead, manipulate, and trick users. He reminded that cybersecurity is a shared responsibility between employees and Management as both parties play crucial roles in ensuring a strong and effective security posture for the Agency. To that end, the Branch launched a national phishing simulation program in October 2023, with the objective of educating employees on how to detect and report attempts if they click on phishy links.
With this initiative, the Branch will gather statistics for the Agency, which will determine a state risk score, which will in turn establish a baseline for improvement and provide statistics on improved behaviour over time.
During the month of October, employees can expect to receive several communications as part of the Cyber Awareness month. Moving forward, the Security Branch will continue to consult and collaborate with other government departments, national banks and industry leaders to optimize the program delivery, thus allowing the Branch to focus on measurable behavioural outcomes. The PAB and HRB have also been engaged in this initiative to ensure employees’ privacy and accessibility are taken into consideration, to confirm that the exercise is in line with Labour Relations practices, and for the use of training platforms. The AC, SB, ended by saying that participating in phishing simulations will enhance employees’ digital literacy by instilling valuable cyber security knowledge and skills that will extend beyond the workplace. It is expected that overtime, the Agency will gain the ability to measure readiness against constant threats, take corrective action, and measure security culture progress as we move forward.
The Commissioner indicated that there are always bad actors interested in accessing valuable data, and actions have been taken at the Agency to mitigate the risks of cybersecurity incidents. Despite a very robust system, the CRA is not immune to incidents, and he shared his disappointment with respects to CRA employees who applied for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) while they were not eligible. These events were extensively covered in the media and took a huge toll on the Agency’s reputation. To that end, the Commissioner expressed that we need to emphasize to the CRA population that security is a collective responsibility. He reiterated
that he really appreciates the union’s support on this matter.
- Grievance hearings
On the topic of grievance hearings, the President, AFS Group, underlined that one of stewards’ key roles is to enforce the AFS collective agreement, which is proving to be difficult if the employer is not willing to hear grievances, or if it dictates the terms of grievance consultations. As such, the union wants to discuss concerns about the time afforded to present grievances, particularly at the third level. They believe that AFS regional representatives and PIPSC employment relations officers shouldn’t have to beg for or justify requests for more time to present on an issue, Management is arbitrarily imposing time restrictions. While recognizing that it sometimes might be reasonable to set a general time guide, it is not reasonable to justify why an extra five minutes may be needed as there are times when more time is simply needed to present a particular issue. The union would also like to discuss concerns about the response time on final level grievances following this meeting.
The AC, HRB, responded that the Agency recognizes the importance of a timely grievance process as well as ensuring that union representatives and grievors are afforded the opportunity to make representations before the relevant delegated representative. She highlighted that the collective agreement is silent on the amount of time a grievor or representative has to present a grievance, while recognizing that situations warranting additional time to present a grievance can arise. She emphasized that these discussions should take place with the delegated representatives and said that given the large number of grievances at various levels within the CRA, it is understandable that only a certain amount of time can be allotted per grievance. She noted that grievance hearings at the third level of the grievance process are typically up to 30 minutes in duration and that this is consistent across all Regions. Furthermore, the process in place at the CRA gives union representatives and grievors the opportunity to provide additional written submissions, complementary to a grievance hearing, for the delegated representative’s consideration. In that line, she encourages those who are involved to keep the lines of communication open at the appropriate levels to try and resolve these issues and ensure a collaborative grievance process.
The President, AFS Group, responded that being inflexible on the rules and time limits does not foster good union-management relations. He would like to see parties work together as partners to resolve these issues and show more openness and cooperation in this matter.
Vince Coulas, Negotiator, indicated that it is a matter of equality between the parties bonded by a collective agreement and a relationship. For one party to say that they don’t have enough time to hear the other party, it really is a disservice to AFS members and to the relationship. While a lot of grievances may not seem that important, it may seem insensitive to give grievors only 30 minutes to present grievances for matters such as termination of employment grievances, which may be the biggest event of their
professional lives.
The Commissioner said he understands the pressure on Management who can’t afford to spend their entire day hearing grievance presentations. While grievance hearings need to be managed in a reasonable timeframe, he also understands the rationale from the union that all situations can’t fall under in a tick-the-box process and finding ourselves in a place where Management can’t find the time to hear employees. The Commissioner asked Management to show some flexibility, while also asking the union to compromise as he can’t afford to have its management team hearing grievances for extended periods of time. It’s important to strike the right balance.
The President, AFS Group, indicated that AFS representatives are also not interested in spending more time than needed in grievance hearings and ended by saying that it may sometimes take more time.
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Commitment: The AFS Group and the CRA will discuss concerns about the response time on final level grievances following this meeting. |
- Union-Management consultations
The President, AFS Group, requested a discussion about the state of consultation between the parties at the regional and local levels.
The Vice-President, Treasurer and Ontario Region AFS Representative presented remarks on behalf of the Quebec Region, AFS Representative. He proceeded with a status update of communications and consultations for the Quebec Region. He indicated that there were a few meetings over the past few months with the Assistant Commissioner of the Quebec Region (AC, Quebec Region) however, there hasn’t been a regional labour-management meeting sin