February 20, 2007

Compensation studies

PSAC to be involved in new two new compensation studies

At the National Bargaining Conference in February, it was announced that the PSAC will be working with the Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB) on two new compensation studies.  The two studies – one for the Security Enforcement community and one for the Technical Services (formerly Table 3) bargaining unit – are expected to provide salary information that will have an impact on the upcoming round of negotiations with Treasury Board.

The role of the PSLRB Compensation Analysis and Research Services

Under the new Public Service Labour Relations Act, the Public Service Labour Relations Board has been given the job of creating a compensation analysis research service. This new research service replaces the old Pay Research Bureau (PRB), an independent agency that compared public service salaries and benefits with those in the wider economy.    The PRB was eliminated in the 1992 Mulroney Conservative government budget.

The PSLRB Compensation Analysis and Research Service has been in operation for about a year and is undertaking some short-term specific studies that could be used in the upcoming round of negotiations.  They’re also looking at developing a long term comprehensive research program. The goal of this research is to provide unions and employers with common data to be used in the collective bargaining process.

Two of the short-term projects approved involve the PSAC. 

Project:  The enforcement community

One project is a compensation study for the enforcement community.  It will compare the pay for PSAC members in enforcement positions with compensation paid for similar jobs elsewhere in the broader federal public sector and other employers across the country.

Project:  Technical Services (TC) bargaining unit

The second project is a compensation study for the TC bargaining unit.  This study involves selecting a representative sample of jobs in this unit and matching them with jobs paid by other employers, similar to the research undertaken for the Operational Services (formerly Table 2) bargaining unit before the last round of negotiations.

Study process

The PSLRB will be conducting each of these studies with the input of a small joint technical committee involving both PSAC and Treasury Board.  While the SV (Table 2) pay study was a true joint study, the PSLRB is ultimately responsible for the current studies.  However, as we did with the SV pay study, the PSAC will be closely involved in the entire process, from the choice of jobs to be surveyed to the details of the survey process.

Once the results are available, it’s up to the union, and the employer, to decide how they will use them.  The study report makes no recommendations, just presents the information. The parties have requested that the study be completed no later than September.

PSAC will issue more information on these studies as they progress.

For more information on the PSLRB Compensation Services vist:
http://www.pslrb-crtfp.gc.ca/cars-sarr/intro_e.asp