Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Results — Continued

Goal 1: Fair and balanced employment standards that promote mutually beneficial relationships between employees and employers.

Core Business Area:

Employment Standards.

Changes to employment standards legislation and policy in 2002/03 helped fulfill government's commitment to give employees and employers greater flexibility in negotiating mutually beneficial relationships. Regulatory changes that address the unique circumstances of specific sectors, such as high technology, aquaculture and agriculture, continued in 2003/04. Further ongoing discussions with various sectors are expected as government shifts from blanket coverage to a more industry-specific approach. The intent is to provide the appropriate combination of flexibility and enforcement to ensure these industries, their employees and their communities can grow and prosper together.

In employment standards, key players include employment standards officers, non-union employees, employers, and worker and industry associations. The actions of the ministry's external partners are central to the ministry's success in meeting its objectives. For example, Skills Development and Labour has entered into Memoranda of Understanding with three industries to facilitate education and compliance with employment standards. The British Columbia Restaurant and Foodservices Association, the BC Agriculture Council and its member organizations, and film and television industry representatives have agreed to work with the Employment Standards Branch to improve working conditions in their respective industries.

Partnerships with external stakeholders represent some of the largest potential opportunities as well as risks. While partnerships may generate additional opportunities to refine employment standards or to address compliance issues that are as yet unidentified, they challenge the ministry to balance the competing interests of employees and employers. If the expectations of any party are not met through partnership agreements, their perceptions of the ministry as neutral and effective may be damaged. In the skills development and employment standards program areas, the ministry will work actively to ensure these partnership agreements are successful.

The Employment Standards Branch has committed to providing resources to work concurrently with three targeted sectors through initiatives such as partnerships with employees and employers. Sectors will be prioritized to optimize resource utilization in those areas presenting the greatest risk to vulnerable workers. As joint objectives are realized and compliance issues improved in one sector, the branch will reassess priorities and focus on new sectors to maintain its target of three concurrent initiatives. A performance measure has been added below to evaluate the ministry's success in meeting this commitment.

Changes to the Employment Standards Act, as well as the restructuring of the Employment Standards Branch in 2002/03, have meant baseline data has significantly changed. The introduction of self-help materials, the shift from an investigative to a mediation and adjudication model, and compliance partnerships with industries are expected to substantially affect ministry measures.

In employment standards, the ministry has sought to identify anticipated improvements rather than specific targets due to the difficulty in determining causality. A case in point is the number of complaints received by the Branch. A decline in the number of complaints could be attributable to a number of factors, such as the improved effectiveness and efficiency of the self-help kits or the new sector-specific employment standards. Likewise, an increase in the number of complaints in the future may be attributable to a substantial upswing in the provincial economy. As the number of British Columbians finding work increases, the overall number of complaints may also increase even though, on a per capita basis, the number of complaints remains stable.

Objective 1:

Facilitate increased compliance with the Employment Standards Act.

Strategies:

1. Increase employers' and employees' knowledge and understanding of the Employment Standards Act by working together with industry on education and awareness initiatives.

2. Ensure contraventions of the Employment Standards Act are identified and corrected by focusing enforcement activities on noncompliant sectors or employers.

Objective 2:

Create a fairer and more balanced employment standards system that benefits employers and employees.

Strategies:

1. Ensure the Employment Standards Act is suited to today's workplaces and meets the needs of employers and employees by introducing regulatory changes that address the unique circumstances of specific sectors.

2. Increase employers' and employees' awareness of the employment standards system, including where they can go for assistance.

3. Develop a vibrant relationship with industry that promotes joint responsibility for education and training.

Objective 3:

Resolve employment standards disputes prior to formal complaint being filed with Employment Standards Branch.

Strategies:

1. Provide advice and support services for employers and employees through improving availability of employment standards and dispute resolution information.

2. Support early intervention and alternative dispute resolution in employment standards disputes by supporting the new complaint resolution model, which mandates the use of self-help materials and mediation prior to adjudication.

Objective 4:

Increase Employment Standards Branch efficiency and effectiveness.

Strategies:

1. Support early intervention in employment standards disputes.

2. Improve quality of Employment Standards Branch decision-making through advanced training for officers, clear policy direction and the sharing of best practices.

3. Provide early intervention/dispute resolution processes.

Objective 5:

Streamline appeal system.

Strategy:

Ensure consistency in decision-making by sharing Tribunal lead decisions and high-quality Branch decisions, and by using online policy interpretations to ensure consistent interpretation by staff.