BILL 71 – 2003
PUBLIC SERVICE AMENDMENT ACT, 2003

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 Section 1 of the Public Service Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 385, is amended

(a) by repealing the definition of "appeal board",

(b) by repealing the definitions of "commission" and "commissioner" and substituting the following:

"agency" means the BC Public Service Agency continued under section 5 (1);

"agency head" means the head of the agency appointed under section 5 (2); , and

(c) in the definition of "merit commissioner" by striking out "the commissioner" and substituting "the agency head".

2 Sections 4 (2) and (3), 6 (a) and 24 are amended by striking out "commission" and substituting "agency".

3 The heading to Part 2 is repealed and the following substituted:

Part 2 -- BC Public Service Agency .

4 Section 5 is amended

(a) in subsection (1) by adding "as the BC Public Service Agency" before "under the administration of the minister.",

(b) in subsection (2) by striking out "the commissioner" and substituting "the agency head" and by striking out "the commission" and substituting "the agency",

(c) by repealing subsection (2.3), and

(d) by adding the following subsections:

(2.4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint an individual to act for the individual appointed under subsection (2) if

(a) the office is or becomes vacant when the Legislative Assembly is not sitting,

(b) the individual appointed under subsection (2) is suspended when the Legislative Assembly is not sitting, or

(c) the individual appointed under subsection (2) is removed or suspended or the office becomes vacant when the Legislative Assembly is sitting, but no recommendation is made by the Assembly under subsection (2) before the end of the session.

(2.5) An individual appointed under subsection (2.4) holds office until

(a) an individual is appointed under subsection (2),

(b) the suspension of the individual appointed under subsection (2) ends, or

(c) the Legislative Assembly has sat for 30 days after the date of the appointment of the individual appointed under subsection (2.4),

whichever is the case and whichever occurs first.

5 Sections 5 (3) and (4), 8 (4), 10 (b) (iii) and 22 (1) and (2) are amended by striking out "commissioner" and substituting "agency head".

6 Section 5.1 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(3) If the merit commissioner is absent or unable to act, another official authorized by the merit commissioner has the powers and must perform the functions and duties of the merit commissioner under this Act.

7 Section 6 is amended by striking out "the commissioner" and substituting "the agency head".

8 Section 7 is amended by striking out "as commissioner and merit commissioner, the commissioner" and substituting "as agency head and merit commissioner, the agency head".

9 Section 9 (3) is amended by striking out "commissioner" in both places and substituting "agency head".

10 Section 11 is repealed.

11 Part 4 is repealed and the following substituted:

Part 4 -- Review of Staffing Decisions

Definitions

16 In this Part, "deputy minister" means,

(a) with respect to a position in a ministry, the deputy minister of that ministry, and

(b) with respect to a position with a board, commission, agency or organization, the person having overall responsibility for the board, commission, agency or organization.

Request for feedback on staffing decision

17 (1) An employee who is an unsuccessful applicant for an appointment to the public service may, within the prescribed time, request from the individual responsible for the appointment an explanation of the reasons why he or she was not appointed.

(2) The responsible individual must provide an explanation as soon as practicable after receiving a request under subsection (1).

Inquiry into staffing decision

18 (1) An employee who has made a request under section 17 may request an inquiry into the application of section 8 (1) with respect to the appointment.

(2) A request under subsection (1) must be made within the prescribed period to the deputy minister responsible for the position and must include a detailed statement specifying the grounds on which the request is made.

(3) The deputy minister who receives an application under subsection (1), or a person designated by the deputy minister, must inquire into the appointment and confirm the appointment or proposed appointment or direct that the appointment or proposed appointment be reconsidered.

Review by merit commissioner

19 (1) An employee who is an unsuccessful applicant for an appointment to a position in a bargaining unit under the Public Service Labour Relations Act who has made a request under section 18 and disagrees with the decision of the deputy minister or designate under that section may request a review of the appointment by the merit commissioner on the ground that section 8 (1) has not been complied with.

(2) A request under subsection (1) must be made in writing within the prescribed period to the merit commissioner and may only be based upon the grounds submitted to the deputy minister under section 18 (2).

(3) Subject to the regulations, the merit commissioner must establish the procedure for the expeditious consideration of requests for reviews under subsection (1).

(4) If an applicant requests a review under subsection (1), the merit commissioner must, before undertaking the review, inform the deputy minister of the review.

(5) The merit commissioner may summarily dismiss a request for a review under subsection (1) if

(a) the request for review is not made within the time limit prescribed under subsection (2),

(b) the merit commissioner considers that the request for review is frivolous, vexatious or trivial or is not made in good faith,

(c) the request for review does not contain sufficient information to determine whether section 8 (1) has been complied with, or

(d) the grounds, even if proven, are not sufficient to establish that section 8 (1) has not been complied with.

(6) After conducting a review, the merit commissioner may

(a) dismiss the review, or

(b) direct that the appointment or the proposed appointment be reconsidered.

(7) This section does not apply with respect to an appointment to the public service that is referred to in section 10.

Inquiry Act

20 For the purpose of a review under section 19, the merit commissioner has the protection, privileges and powers of a commissioner under sections 12, 15 and 16 of the Inquiry Act.

Decision final

20.1 A decision of the merit commissioner under section 19 is final and binding.

12 Section 25 (4) and (5) is repealed and the following substituted:

(4) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting inquiries and reviews under Part 4 including regulations respecting the manner of applying for an inquiry under section 18 or a review under section 19 and the time limits for those applications.

13 The Supplement to the Public Service Act is repealed.

 
Transitional and Consequential Amendments

Transitional -- former proceedings

14 Part 4 of the Public Service Act, as it read immediately before section 11 of this Act came into force, continues to apply with respect to appeals of appointments to positions that were posted on or before the date section 11 of this Act came into force.

 
Agricultural Land Commission Act

15 Section 8 (4) of the Agricultural Land Commission Act, S.B.C. 2002, c. 36, is amended by striking out "commissioner" and substituting "agency head".

 
Crown Counsel Act

16 Section 4.1 (1) of the Crown Counsel Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 87, is amended in the definition of "employer" by striking out "the Public Service Employee Relations Commission." and substituting "the BC Public Service Agency."

 
Election Act

17 Section 13 (2) of the Election Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 106, is amended by striking out "the Public Service Employee Relations Commission," and substituting "the BC Public Service Agency,".

 
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

18 Section 41 (4) (b) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 165, is amended by striking out "the Public Service Employee Relations Commission" and substituting "the BC Public Service Agency".

19 Schedule 2 is amended by striking out the following:

 
Oil and Gas Commission Act

20 Section 12 (2) of the Oil and Gas Commission Act, S.B.C. 1998, c. 39, is amended by striking out "commissioner under that Act" and substituting "agency head under that Act".

 
Ombudsman Act

21 Section 8 (3) (b) of the Ombudsman Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 340, is amended by striking out "the Public Service Employee Relations Commission" and substituting "the BC Public Service Agency".

 
Police Act

22 Section 51 (7) (b) of the Police Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 367, is amended by striking out "the Public Service Employee Relations Commission." and substituting "the BC Public Service Agency."

 
Public Sector Employers Act

23 Section 3 (2) (c) of the Public Sector Employers Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 384, is repealed and the following substituted:

(c) the agency head appointed under the Public Service Act; .

24 The Schedule is amended by striking out "Public Service Appeal Board".

 
Public Service Labour Relations Act

25 Section 1 (1) of the Public Service Labour Relations Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 388, is amended in the definition of "division" by striking out "the Public Service Employee Relations Commission established" and substituting "the BC Public Service Agency continued".

26 Section 3 is amended by striking out "The Public Service Employee Relations Commission" and substituting "The BC Public Service Agency".

Commencement

27 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.