MEMO
|
Date: |
August 28, 2015 |
|
To: |
All NJC Departmental/Agency Liaison Officers (DLOs/ALOs) |
|
From: |
Deborah Cooper, General Secretary |
|
Subject: |
Change in NJC Grievance Practice |
It has come to the attention of the National Joint Council that there has been an increase in the number of objections to timeliness with respect to NJC grievances. In order to assist both Departments and Bargaining Agents in respecting the time delays established in the NJC By-Laws, the NJC Secretariat, on behalf of the Executive Committee, will be revising its current practice with respect to all NJC grievances.
Effective October 1, 2015, should an NJC grievance file be referred to the final level without a second level reply, the Department will receive notice from the NJC Secretariat that it has ten (10) working days to produce a second level reply signed by the NJC Departmental Liaison Officer/Agency Liaison Officer. If, after ten (10) days, the NJC Secretariat has received neither a second level reply nor a reasonable request for extension, the grievance will be scheduled for a hearing without the Department's response.
Furthermore, once a grievance has been referred to the final level, the Department will have thirty (30) working days from the date that the grievance was received at the NJC Secretariat to raise a timeliness or jurisdictional objection. Any objection raised outside of the thirty (30) day time frame will be rejected.
In addition, should an objection to timeliness be raised, it must be done at the level at which the time limit was not met and all subsequent levels of the grievance process.
For ease of reference, here is the link to the NJC By-Laws which establish time limits set out in the NJC grievance process: https://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/s18/s97/en.
Finally, please note that these changes in practice will be reviewed in the NJC Training Sessions for Labour Relations Advisors which are scheduled to be held in September and October 2015. Should you wish to register participants for these sessions, and have yet to do so, please contact the National Joint Council Secretariat at 613-990-1805.
________________________________
Deborah Cooper, General Secretary