Human Resources Manual - 1602 - Staff Retention Policy

1. The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) values the members of the Territorial Public Service and the work they do.  It is committed to the retention, retraining and development of existing staff as required to provide job security, career development and to maintain a skilled, stable and competent Territorial Public Service.  The following guide the application of this policy:
   1. the provision of reasonable job security to members of the Territorial Public Service;
   2. the need to mitigate adverse effects of organizational restructuring through the retention, retraining and development of staff wherever possible;
   3. fair treatment of employees when organizational restructuring is necessary; and
   4. the value of continuity of employees in the Territorial Public Service.
2. The GNWT recognizes that in some circumstances lay-off is unavoidable and is the only viable option for the Employer and the employee.
3. The GNWT recognizes that it may be more beneficial for both the GNWT and employees who are or may become eligible for an unreduced pension upon or while serving their lay-off notice to take their pension rather than continue their employment with the GNWT.  The GNWT waives the requirement to accept a reasonable job offer and the employee waives the 8-week affected notice.

4. This policy and the applicable guidelines and procedures apply to all Territorial Public Service employees, except casual employees, employees in the NWT Teachers’ Association and employees of the Northwest Territorial (NWT) Power Corporation.

5. Lay-Off is the termination of employment because of lack of work or because of the discontinuance of a function where the terminated employee is suitable for continued employment in the Territorial Public Service.  “Lay-off” does not include termination of employment because of a transfer of the work or function to another employer where the employee is offered employment with the new employer.
6. Affected Employee is an employee who has been notified by his/her Department, Board or Agency that his/her position is being eliminated as a result of a reorganization, business plans or other formal organizational changes.

7. Deputy Heads are responsible for identifying retraining or redeployment opportunities for affected employees in their Departments, Boards or Agencies.
8. A lay-off shall not be used to terminate the employment of an employee for poor performance or misconduct.
9. To facilitate the retention of employees subject to lay-off and the use of retraining where necessary to effect retention, the Department of Human Resources shall provide Departments, Boards and Agencies with reports of vacant positions.
10. Although Deputy Heads retain primary responsibility for identifying retraining or redeployment opportunities for affected employees, the Department of Human Resources shall provide support to both employees and Departments, Boards and Agencies to minimize as much as possible the need for lay-off.  This includes:
    1. identifying alternative employment in the Territorial Public Service for which an affected employee may be qualified;
    2. with the assistance of Department, Board or Agency management, identifying affected employees who may become qualified for vacant positions through retraining;
    3. with the assistance of Department, Board or Agency management, identifying suitable retraining programs to provide employees with skills required for redeployment;
    4. identifying affected employees who are or may become qualified for an unreduced pension during the lay-off with the assistance of the Department, Board or Agency;
    5. providing assistance to Departments, Boards or Agencies in designing “on-the-job” training programs;
    6. providing assistance to employees in identifying their own skills; and
    7. providing assistance to employees in resume writing and preparation for interviews.
11. Employees subject to lay-off shall be advised of vacancies in their own Department, Board or Agency and elsewhere in the Territorial Public Service.
12. All retraining costs associated with redeploying staff outside the Department, Board or Agency initiating the lay-off(s) shall be paid from the Staff Development and Retraining Fund administered by the DHR.
13. When an employee accepts a position at a lower salary than his/her current salary, he/she shall retain his/her current salary and shall be entitled to all negotiated pay increases he/she was entitled to previous to reassignment for a period of one year from the start of the new position.
14. An employee whose position will be deleted, and where continued employment in the Territorial Public Service would require the employee to be retrained, may choose to exercise a lay-off option rather than continuing employment in the Territorial Public Service.
15. The Department of Human Resources shall maintain Staff Retention Policy information for reporting purposes.
16. The Department of Human Resources shall report lay-off statistics on an annual basis to the Legislative Assembly.  Where a Department, Board or Agency has used lay-off, a report shall be compiled containing the following information:
    1. the number of positions that were affected by lay-offs;
    2. the number of affected employees;
    3. the number of employees that were laid-off;
    4. the community or communities affected by deletion of positions and/or lay-off;
    5. the reasons that positions were deleted or reorganized;
    6. the number of affected employees who chose to exercise a lay-off option, rather than seeking retraining and/or alternative employment in the Territorial Public Service;
    7. the retraining and redeployment options that were identified; and
    8. confirmation that all reasonable options that would have allowed for the employees to be retained in the Territorial Public Service were explored.

17. When a Deputy Head determines that positions are to be deleted, he/she identifies potential affected employees.
18. The Deputy Head, in conjunction with the Department of Human Resources, shall develop a strategy aimed at retention of employees and designed to mitigate the impact of deletion of positions.  The strategy shall:
    1. set out a plan to minimize as much as possible the need for lay-off;
    2. identify vacant positions and retraining opportunities within the Department, Board or Agency and elsewhere in the Territorial Public Service;
    3. identify employees who are prepared to participate in retraining programs;
    4. identify employees who are eligible to retire with an unreduced pension as a result of a pending lay-off.
    5. identify transfer assignment or secondment opportunities that may be available to affected employees; and
    6. include a plan to provide assistance to affected employees in identifying alternative employment and retraining needs and opportunities.
19. The Minister responsible for the Department, Board or Agency shall approve the strategy.
20. When it is determined that positions may be deleted, Department, Board or Agency management shall, as soon as possible thereafter, meet with the employees who may be affected.  If any employees belong to the Union of Northern Workers (UNW), a representative from the UNW is invited to participate.  The employee(s) are advised of the time frame in which the positions will be deleted or reorganized.
21. Immediately after affected employees are provided with notice of lay-off, the Deputy Head shall provide the President of the UNW with written notice of any lay-offs of employees who are members of the UNW bargaining unit.  This notice must include the names, positions and locations of the employees to be laid-off and the reason(s) for lay-off.
22. The Minister responsible for the Department, Board or Agency initiating lay-off(s) shall advise Members of the Legislative Assembly who have constituents who are affected employees of pending lay-offs and the work location of those employees.

Public service Act

Section 27, Lay-Offs

Main Collective Agreement with the UNW

Article 32, Severance Pay

Article 33, Lay-Off

Excluded Employees’ Handbook

Lay-off

Senior Managers’ Handbook

Lay-off

Human Resource Manual

Section 1602a, Identifying Affected Employees

Section 1602b, Placing Affected Employees

Section 1602c, Severance Priority

Section 1602d, Voluntary Separation

Section 1602e, Staffing Priority

Section 1602f, Retraining