Debates of June 2, 2006 (day 4)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Department of Human Resources. The statement that I made today was very similar in nature to ones that I have made in this House many times before in the past year. Today we’ve spent $450,000 via a sole sourced contract to an American company to have a look at what’s wrong with our Human Resources department. I’d like to first of all start off by saying last year I was getting complaints from residents, from employees, the public, former employees about the effectiveness and the accountability and the level of service at our HR department. I'm just wondering, the first question, Mr. Speaker, for the Minister is, I'd like to know if the work has been concluded. This $450,000 contract; has the work been concluded and what has changed? To me, things haven't changed. But for the Minister's sake, what has changed at HR with this expenditure of $450,000? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. A couple of questions there. Honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Roland.

Return To Question 35-15(5): Concerns with GNWT Human Resources Service Levels

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first I guess I should state for the record as well, as I've stated probably a number of times before as this issue's come up, when a decision was made just over a year ago to implement the HR amalgamation, we had to first go through and identify all the staff within the various departments and boards and agencies that deliver programs for our government, and pull that staff in and locate them into offices in communities and regions and headquarters here, and continue to try to do the work that was being done. When we identified the staff to bring them forward, coming with them were a lot of old files, that the Member's referenced, that we needed to clean up. So the focus has been on those old files, to clean them up. In fact, I think we've done a fairly good job since we've gone through the first phase of the Hackett Group review. The review is still ongoing. In fact, they're up here as we speak, looking to further the type of work that we do within HR and to see if in fact that work should be improved and where it can be improved. The initial work that was done a couple of months ago identified over 100 areas that we needed to improve on or change our processes, as well as work on our PeopleSoft program. That has been ongoing. In fact, we've had some good improvement in those areas, but there still remains a need for serious improvement in the pay and benefits section and that work is ongoing now as we move forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 35-15(5): Concerns with GNWT Human Resources Service Levels

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess if the focus has been on old files, it obviously hasn't been on customer service to both our employees, the public, people who are applying for jobs, because that lack of customer service is very, very evident to the people I've been speaking with, Mr. Speaker. Just in terms of records of employment, let's just look at that for a second here. I'm wondering if the Minister's aware that by legislation you're supposed to supply a record of employment to an employee within 10 days. I'm wondering if the government has some special deal concocted so that they can break the rules that they have in place on supplying records of employment, because, Mr. Speaker, it happens every day. People wait for records of employment for up to eight weeks, and I want the Minister to answer why. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 35-15(5): Concerns with GNWT Human Resources Service Levels

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've tried on a number of occasions to answer why. The Member obviously doesn't like the response. Yes, I am aware that the record of employment sections that require us to have that available to the employee in a matter of days. So the fact is yes, we know we've failed in that area and that's why we're doing this work, is to change the way we do things, to make sure that a file when it starts gets processed through the departments and comes to HR with the accurate information so we can give that record of employment to the employees that are moving on. There's a lot of work that needs to be done; we recognize that. In fact, the old files, a number of those we've cleared up totally on some of the backlogs. There's other areas we need to further do improvement on, and that's what we're doing now. When we did the amalgamation, pulled the staff in, they were still doing systems and processes that are tied to a way that was not efficient and effective. We recognize that. That's why we've gone out and got the contract, and we're starting to implement some of those changes to get the people, our past employees, the information that they need to move on. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 35-15(5): Concerns with GNWT Human Resources Service Levels

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't know how much longer employees, former employees and the general public are going to have to wait. I've been waiting for a year to see some improvement at the HR department and I haven't seen it. I want to ask the Minister when the general public, employees and former employees are going to get the level of service that they deserve. When is this work going to be done? When is the Minister going to present any type of information to Regular Members in this House so that we can see where these 100 areas of improvement, as the Minister speaks of, where they are? When is this going to happen, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 35-15(5): Concerns with GNWT Human Resources Service Levels

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that we have a number of employees that end up for long periods of time not getting the proper information. But there's hundreds, if not thousands, of files that are handled in a satisfactory manner that deal with existing employees, whether it's medical travel, leave, lieu time, all of those things. So they're ongoing on a daily basis and getting done within the required amount of time. We do have a large backlog of files that we've worked on. When we pulled this unit together there was over 1,000 files backlogged, some of them for years. That's one of the reasons why we've gone down this path, is to improve the way we do business. In fact, as I had stated, we're starting to put some of the pieces together that we should be focussing on, not putting out fires but dealing more proactively, and that was an employment equity policy. But I will be updating this House as to some of the areas where we've seen some improvement. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 35-15(5): Concerns with GNWT Human Resources Service Levels

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've told the Minister this before, but these problems that we're encountering today in HR came from the various departments when he amalgamated HR, and I think it's incumbent upon the Minister to show the leadership and go back to the departments where the problems came from, and they exist in a number of departments and he knows which ones they are. Go back and recoup some of the money, Mr. Speaker. The Minister didn't answer my question. When will service levels improve? That is the big question, Mr. Speaker, and I want the Minister to commit to when service levels will improve for employees, former employees and the public. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 35-15(5): Concerns with GNWT Human Resources Service Levels

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the service levels that we are performing to are improving daily. Yes, we have some outstanding files that we're working on and trying to improve. Yes, during the amalgamation process some of our existing employees, from September until now, have had to wait longer than is expected. We're tightening up those time frames and going to change our processes to make sure they get the information in an adequate amount of time. Thank you.