Public Service Regulations
Regulation- Registration
- R-048-2011
- Source
- Unofficial consolidation PDF (justice.gov.nt.ca)
- Under
- Public Service Act
This is an unofficial reading copy parsed from the Department of Justice consolidation PDF above — itself an office consolidation, not an official statement of the law. The authoritative text is in the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1988 and the annual Statutes volumes.
- s.1 amended by R-048-2011,s.2
- s.1 amended by R-068-2015,s.2
- s.11 amended by R-048-2011,s.4
- s.15 amended by R-060-2015,s.2 in force Aug. 1, 2015 (SI-003-2015)
- s.34 amended by R-048-2011,s.5
- s.36 repealed by R-060-2015,s.3 in force Aug. 1, 2015 (SI-003-2015)
- s.37 repealed by R-060-2015,s.3 in force Aug. 1, 2015 (SI-003-2015)
- s.51 amended by R-048-2011,s.7
- s.form_1 amended by R-048-2011,s.8
Interpretation
(1) In these regulations,
"Act" means the Public Service Act; (Loi)
"casual employee" means a person engaged to perform work of a casual nature or in an emergency; (employé occasionnel)
"demotion" means the appointment of an employee to a new position the maximum rate of pay of which is less than that of his or her former position; (rétrogradation)
"grievance" means a complaint that an employee, group of employees or a recognized employee’s association submits to management, to be processed through the grievance procedure; (grief)
"manager" means an employee responsible for planning, organizing, co-ordinating, directing and controlling the use of persons, material and money; (directeur)
"part-time employee" means a person employed on a continuing basis for less that the standard work day, week or month; (employé à temps partiel)
"professional" means an employee engaged in work where there is a requirement for a highly developed or specialized body of knowledge acquired through university education; (professionnel)
"promotion" means the appointment of an employee to a new position the maximum rate of pay of which exceeds that of his or her former position by at least
(a) the smallest pay increase of the new position, or
(b) 4% of the maximum rate of pay of the former position where the new position has only one rate of pay; (promotion)
"seasonal employee" means a person employed in work of a seasonal nature that is not continuous throughout the year but recurs in successive years; (employé saisonnier) "standard hours" means the standard hours of work that shall be performed by an employee under section 7; (heures normales)
"transfer" means the appointment of an employee to a new position that does not constitute a promotion or demotion. (mutation)
(2) Where an employee, other than a casual employee, ceases to be employed for any reason other than dismissal, abandonment of position or rejection on probation, and is re-employed within a period of three months, his or her periods of employment for purposes of public service superannuation shall be considered as continuous employment in the public service.
(3) Where a person, other than a casual employee, is appointed to a position in the public service within three months after terminating his or her employment in the public service of Canada or the public service of Yukon for reasons other than dismissal, abandonment of position or rejection on probation, his or her periods of employment shall be considered as continuous employment in the public service and all leave credits and benefits earned but not granted shall be considered as earned in the public service. R-048-2011,s.2; R-068-2015,s.2.
Selection
The selection of persons for appointment to positions in the public service and employees for promotion or transfer shall be based on merit, with a view to developing a public service staffed by competent, well-qualified employees.
Appointment
The appointment of a person to a position in the public service shall be effective on the date specified in the instrument appointing that person.
Probation
(1) A recommendation by a Deputy Minister for the extension of the probationary period of an employee, as provided under the Act, shall be made to the Minister not less that two weeks before the end of the probationary period of that employee.
(2) Where the probationary period of an employee has been extended by the Minister, the Deputy Minister shall without delay notify the employee in writing of the decision of the Minister.
Period of Employment
Casual employees shall not be employed beyond six months but, with the approval of the Minister, the period of employment may be extended to 12 months.
A Deputy Minister may, with the approval of the Minister, release a part-time, casual or seasonal employee where the work is no longer required or for cause.
Hours of Work
(1) The standard hours of work in respect of clerical staff employees shall be 7.5 hours a day, 37.5 hours a week.
(2) The standard hours of work in respect of employees other than clerical staff shall be 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week.
Where, in the opinion of the Minister, the nature of the work necessitates an irregular distribution of the hours of work of the employee, the Minister may average the standard hours of work over a period of up to one year.
The Deputy Minister shall prescribe the hours of work of the part-time employees in his or her department.
Overtime and Holidays
(1) A Deputy Minister may require an employee to work in excess of the daily or weekly standard hours or on a holiday where, in his or her opinion, the workload so requires.
(2) Where an employee, other than a manager or a professional, is required to work 0.5 hours or more in excess of the daily or weekly standard hours, he or she shall be paid for the overtime at 1.5 times his or her regular rate of pay.
(3) Where an employee, other than a manager or a professional, is required to work on a holiday, he or she shall be paid, in addition to his or her regular remuneration for that holiday, at a rate of 1.5 times his or her regular rate of pay.
(4) Employees shall be paid for overtime in the month following the month in which the overtime was worked.
Subject to these regulations, every employee is entitled to a leave of absence with pay on the days declared to be holidays for the public service in the Act. R-048-2011,s.4.
A casual employee shall not receive a holiday with pay until he or she has been continuously employed for a period of at least 30 days.
When a holiday falls on a non-working day, the employee shall be granted a day’s leave of absence with pay in lieu of that day, at a time authorized by the Minister.
Where a person ceases to be an employee, he or she shall be paid for any overtime or work on a holiday to which he or she is entitled under section 10 or 11.
Attendance
(1) Repealed, R-060-2015,s.2.
(2) Repealed, R-060-2015,s.2.
(3) Where an employee is absent
(a) for more than five minutes but less than 15 minutes more than twice in any one month or more than 12 times in any one fiscal year, or
(b) for 15 minutes or more,
and the absence is not excused by his or her supervisor, there shall be deducted from the salary of that employee 15 minutes pay or portion thereof. R-060-2015,s.2.
Pay
When an employee is appointed to a new position in the public service, he or she shall be paid,
(a) if the appointment constitutes a promotion, at the nearest rate which gives him or her a salary increase at least equal to the smallest annual increment of the new position; or
(b) if the appointment constitutes a transfer, at the rate nearest to, but not less than, his or her former rate of pay.
A part-time employee shall be paid at the hourly remuneration for his or her class.
A seasonal employee shall be paid the appropriate rate for his or her class.
Acting pay may be paid in accordance with section 16 from the date on which an employee, other than a casual employee, is required to perform the duties of the higher position, but acting pay shall not be paid for a period of less than two months.
Where an employee is appointed to a position for which he or she is receiving acting pay, he or she shall be paid at the rate which he or she was being paid acting pay.
Pay Increase
Pay increases shall generally become effective on the first day of a month.
LEAVES OF ABSENCE
Vacation Leave
(1) Every employee, other than a casual, a part- time or an employee on retiring leave, is entitled to vacation leave in each fiscal year, for a period equal to
of the number of days in his or her work week for each month in which he or she received his or her pay for at least twice the number of days in his or her work week.
(2) No employee shall be granted earned vacation leave unless he or she has been an employee for at least six months.
(3) After completing two years of continuous service in the public service, an employee is entitled to an additional week of vacation leave and is entitled after that to a vacation of four weeks in each fiscal year.
(4) An employee who has completed 20 years of continuous service in the public service of Canada or in the public service or a combined total of both services shall be entitled to five weeks of annual vacation leave each fiscal year.
The accumulated service for part-time and casual employees shall be counted towards the 20 years of continuous service under subsection 22(4).
A part-time or casual employee shall be granted 4% of his or her earnings for the fiscal year in lieu of vacation leave.
Sick Leave
Where a Deputy Minister is satisfied that an employee is unable to perform the duties of his or her position because of sickness or injury off the job, the Deputy Minister may grant the employee
(a) leave of absence with pay to the extent that the employee has earned sick leave; or
(b) leave of absence without pay, where the employee has not earned sick leave.
(1) Every employee, other than a casual employee or an employee on retiring leave, is entitled to sick leave at the rate of 0.25 of the number of days in his or her work week for each calendar month in which he or she received pay for at least twice the number of days in his or her work week.
(2) Any sick leave granted with pay shall be deducted from the sick leave earned under subsection (1).
No employee shall be granted sick leave during a period in which he or she is on retiring leave, leave of absence without pay or under suspension.
Before sick leave is granted, the employee shall provide a certificate that he or she was unable to perform his or her duties, stating the type of illness, and signed by
(a) the employee, where the absence does not exceed three days; or
(b) a qualified medical practitioner where
(i) the absence exceeds three days,
(ii) the employee has been granted seven or more days of sick leave in the fiscal year, none of which were certified by a qualified medical practitioner, or
(iii) the Deputy Minister is of the opinion that such a certificate should be obtained.
(1) Where an employee is unable to perform his or her duties for a continuous period of not less than three days because of sickness or injury off the job and has not earned sick leave, the Deputy Minister may grant leave of absence with pay for a period not exceeding three weeks if the employee has had at least one year of service and his or her performance has been satisfactory.
(2) There shall be deducted from any sick leave subsequently earned by the employee, the amount of any leave of absence with pay granted under subsection (1), and no further sick leave shall be granted until the total amount of leave granted under subsection (1) has been paid back.
Special Leave
(1) Every employee, other than a casual employee and an employee on retiring leave, is entitled to special leave up to a maximum of five weeks, at the rate of 0.5 days for each month in which he or she received his or her pay for at least twice the number of days in his or her work week.
(2) Any special leave granted with pay shall be deducted from the special leave earned under subsection (1).
A Deputy Minister may grant an employee special leave with pay for a period of up to one week, to the extent that it has been earned, under the following circumstances:
(a) where a member of the immediate family (which includes father or father-in-law, mother or mother-in-law, brother or sister) becomes ill (not including normal childbirth) and the employee is required to care for his or her dependants or for the sick person;
(b) where there is a death in the employee’s immediate family;
(c) where an employee is to be married;
(d) where special circumstances not directly attributable to the employee prevent his or her reporting for duty, including
(i) serious household or domestic emergencies,
(ii) a general transportation tie-up caused by weather if the employee makes every reasonable effort to report for duty from his or her usual residence, but where transportation delays prevent an employee reporting for duty from other than his or her usual residence, the circumstances may be considered attributable to the employee and the time should be charged to vacation leave or leave without pay, or
(iii) serious community emergencies, where the employee is required to render assistance;
(e) for circumstances which are of general value to the public service, such as where the employee
(i) takes an examination which will improve his or her position or qualifications in the public service,
(ii) attends his or her university convocation, if he or she has been continuously employed for at least one year,
(iii) attends a course in civil defence training, or
(iv) requires a medical examination for enlistment in the Armed Forces or in connection with a veteran’s treatment program.
(1) Special leave in excess of one week shall only be granted with the approval of the Minister.
(2) Special leave shall not be granted to an employee who is on retiring leave, on leave of absence without pay or under suspension.
Education Leave
Educational leave shall be based on an appraisal of the present and future job requirements and the qualifications of the employee applying for the leave and shall be granted only to meet identified needs.
(1) The Minister, on the recommendation of the Executive Council, may grant educational leave.
(2) Full pay, tuition, travelling and other expenses may be granted during educational leave
(a) where the work skills of the employee have become technically obsolete and he or she requires retraining to satisfactorily carry out the work;
(b) where the educational courses are required to keep the employee abreast of new knowledge and techniques in his or her field of work; or
(c) where qualified persons cannot be recruited to carry out essential work and it is necessary to train present employees.
(3) Partial pay, tuition, travelling and other expenses may be granted during educational leave where the course is of value to the work and will develop the general ability and potential of the employees concerned. The extent of payment will depend on an assessment of the courses’ value to the work.
(4) Refund of tuition fees in respect of courses may be made on receipt of evidence of successful completion, if the course is of value to the work of the employee and does not require the employee to be absent from duties.
(5) Educational leave with full pay will carry with it the obligation to return after leave to work in the Northwest Territories for one calendar year for each academic year of leave.
(6) The Minister may, before granting approval of educational leave to an employee, require the employee to enter into an agreement with the Government of the Northwest Territories as to the terms and conditions under which the leave is to be granted. R-048-2011,s.5.
Court Leave
A Deputy Minister shall grant every employee, other than a casual employee or an employee on leave of absence without pay, on retirement leave or under suspension, leave with pay for such time as is necessary and reasonable
(a) to serve on a jury;
(b) to attend as a witness before a body authorized by law to compel the attendance of witnesses; or
(c) to participate in the grievance procedure as a complainant.
Repealed, R-060-2015,s.3.
Repealed, R-060-2015,s.3.
Injury-on-duty-leave
A Deputy Minister may grant leave of absence with pay to an employee who is unable to perform the duties of his or her position because of
(a) personal injury accidentally received in the performance of his or her duties and not caused by the wilful misconduct of the employee, or
(b) sickness arising out of and during the course of his or her employment,
if that employee agrees to pay the Government of the Northwest Territories any amount received by him or her for loss of wages in settlement of any workers’ compensation claim he or she may have in respect of the injury or sickness.
Leave Without Pay
A Deputy Minister may grant leave of absence without pay for a period of up to six months, but additional leave of absence without pay may be granted only with the approval of the Minister.
Travel Leave
(1) Every employee who is proceeding on vacation or sick leave may, with the approval of the Minister, be granted leave of absence with pay for the lesser of three days or the actual time taken to travel from his or her post to a point of departure and return.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), "point of departure" means Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa or Montreal.
Grievances
Subject to sections 29 and 33 of the Act, any employee who has a complaint about a matter in respect of this Act or the regulations may have that complaint dealt with in accordance with the grievance procedure set out in sections 44, 45 and 46, provided that a reasonable attempt is first made to resolve the complaint with the immediate supervisor of the employee.
Before submitting a complaint through the formal grievance procedure, the employee may seek advice from an employee’s association or a personnel administrator.
Employees have the prerogative of presenting their grievances personally or through a representative.
(1) An employee who has a complaint about a matter in respect of the Act or these regulations may submit a written grievance describing the nature of the complaint to a person designated by the Minister within 10 days of the employee becoming aware of the circumstances giving rise to the complaint.
(2) The person designated under subsection (1) shall hear the grievance, decide on it and send a written copy of the decision to the employee within 14 days of his or her receipt of the grievance.
(1) If the employee is not satisfied with the decision made under subsection 44(2) or if the complaint is not capable or being resolved under section 44, the employee may submit the written grievance to the Deputy Minister or, where there is no Deputy Minister, to a person designated by the Minister within 10 days of the employee receiving the decision or becoming aware of the circumstances giving rise to the complaint, as the case may be.
(2) The Deputy Minister or person designated under subsection (1), as the case may be, shall hear the grievance, decide on it and send a written copy of the decision to the employee within 14 days of his or her receipt of the grievance.
(1) If the employee is not satisfied with the decision made under section 45 or if the complaint is not capable of being resolved under section 44 or 45, the employee may submit the written grievance to the Minister within 10 days of the employee receiving the decision or becoming aware of the circumstances giving rise to the complaint, as the case may be.
(2) The Minister shall hear the grievance, decide on it and send a written copy of the decision to the employee within 30 days of his or her receipt of the grievance.
(3) The decision of the Minister is final and binding.
By mutual agreement of the parties to the grievance, the time limits for each stage of the grievance procedure may be extended.
General
No employee shall carry on any business or employment outside the public service in which
(a) he or she exploits unduly and for personal gain his or her acquaintance with other employees or with persons with whom he or she has become acquainted in the course of employment in the public service;
(b) there may be a conflict between the duties the employee is required to perform in that business or employment and the duties he or she is required to perform in the public service; or
(c) he or she makes unauthorized use of information acquired as a result of his or her employment in the public service or of property or facilities owned by Her Majesty in the right of Canada or the Government of the Northwest Territories.
For the purposes of subsection 34(4) of the Act, the category of restricted employees includes
(a) deputy ministers;
(b) heads of secretariats of the Executive Council;
(c) assistant deputy ministers;
(d) directors;
(e) regional directors;
(f) assistant directors;
(g) assistant regional directors;
(h) chief executive officers of corporations or agencies of the Government of the Northwest Territories;
(i) regional superintendents;
(j) division directors;
(k) executive branch staff, other than secretarial staff, clerical staff, or executive assistants to elected Ministers; and
(l) staff of the Department of Personnel, other than secretarial or clerical staff.
(1) For the purposes of this section, the category of restricted employees includes all persons referred to in section 49 and
(a) superintendents of education;
(b) area superintendents of education;
(c) assistant superintendents of education; and
(d) supervisors of schools.
(2) An employee in the category of restricted employees may not hold the office of mayor of a municipality.
(1) The prescribed oath or affirmation referred to in section 39 of the Public Service Act is set out in Form 1 of the Schedule.
(2) This section applies to Deputy Ministers. R.R.N.W.T. 1990,c.P-28(Supp.),s.2. R-048-2011,s.7.
SCHEDULE
FORM 1 (Section 51)
OATH OR AFFIRMATION
OF OFFICE AND SECRECY
I, ..........................................................., solemnly (name of employee) and sincerely swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully and honestly fulfil the duties that devolve upon me by reason of my employment in the public service of the Northwest Territories and that I will not, without due authority, disclose or make known any matter that comes to my knowledge by reason of such employment. So help me God. (omit last sentence for an affirmation)
R.R.N.W.T. 1990,c.P-28(Supp.),s.3; R-048-2011,s.8.