Core Business Areas

Labour

Labour's focus is to foster positive working relationships in safe and healthy workplaces, and to support strong and vibrant provincial economic development and employment growth. Labour works with employers, organized labour and other key stakeholders to provide progressive policy directions to advance overall government priorities for promoting harmonious and productive labour relations and labour stability in the province. This productive dialogue between the ministry and its stakeholders in the labour relations community will continue.

Labour's core business areas focus on the development, implementation and enforcement of employment standards, workplace safety and labour relations rules.

Employment Standards

Employment Standards activities aim to increase compliance with the Employment Standards Act. Employment Standards initiatives are targeted specifically to sectors of British Columbia's economy where vulnerable workers are concentrated, including farm labourers and others who are in part-time temporary or seasonal work and who are earning at or near the minimum wage. Targeted education and enforcement activities for these sectors are aimed at enhancing the prevention component of the Employment Standards Branch's operations.

Industrial Relations

The ministry oversees the fair administration of B.C.'s industrial relations to promote a healthy labour relations environment. The ministry also provides collective bargaining mediation services to assist in the resolution of disputes and to proactively improve labour-management relationships. The Labour Relations Board, an independent quasi-judicial tribunal, will continue to enhance procedures to handle disposition of complaints in an efficient and timely manner. The Employment Standards Tribunal, also an independent quasi-judicial tribunal, with a mandate to conduct appeals of determinations, is also part of this core business area.

Workers' Compensation Policy and Advisory Services

The Ministry is responsible for the Workers Compensation Act, which provides a framework for promoting safe and healthy workplaces and sets out the workers' compensation system for British Columbia. WorkSafeBC (formerly known as the Workers' Compensation Board) is an independent agency that administers the Workers Compensation Act and its Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. Within the Ministry, the Workers' Advisers Office and the Employers' Advisers Office provide advisory services and support to the worker and employer communities. The Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal, an independent agency of the Government of British Columbia, is the final appeal body within the workers compensation system, and is also part of this core business area.

Citizens' Services

Citizens' Services provides leadership in creating a government-wide vision for excellent citizen-centred service delivery. Citizens' Services is responsible for implementing and co-ordinating cross government service delivery initiatives in support of the achievement of the Five Great Goals for the people of British Columbia.

Citizens' Services delivers its programs and services through four core business areas.

Service to Citizens and Businesses

This core business area is led primarily by Service BC, the provincial government's chief provider of front-line services to the public. When citizens, businesses or visitors are looking for information or services offered by ministries, agencies, the private sector or other governments (over 700 services on behalf of 80 programs), they often begin by contacting Service BC. Service BC provides strategic management of the Province's online, front counter and call centre channels. By using one or a combination of these channels, customers can access programs, services and information in ways that suit their personal and business needs.

Services to the Public Sector

Shared Services BC provides over 30 different services to government and other public sector customers including: procurement and supply; financial and business applications; information technology; payroll; accommodation and real estate; and strategic acquisitions and intellectual property. These shared services are delivered cost-effectively, efficiently and are focused on meeting customer requirements. Shared Services is a "best practice" approach to reducing costs. It means that all ministries share a common set of internal management services rather than duplicating these functions across ministries.

The Alternative Service Delivery Secretariat provides expertise, guidance and corporate oversight across government by identifying opportunities to transform the way government services are delivered. This includes increasing private sector involvement and structuring appropriate long-term private sector relationships to deliver value for money to the Province.

Governance (Office of the Government Chief Information Officer)

This core business area, led by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, is responsible for ensuring that government information and technology is managed and used efficiently as a tool to enable better delivery of services to citizens, businesses and the public sector. It is also responsible for ensuring the security of Government's information, and for the corporate privacy and information access functions of government, including the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Personal Information Protection Act, the Document Disposal Act, and the Electronic Transactions Act. Network BC, responsible for facilitating the delivery of high-speed affordable Internet access, is included in this business area.

Executive and Support Services (Labour and Citizens' Services)

This area provides overall advice, strategic direction, leadership and support to the Ministry's programs. This includes legislative and policy support, planning and performance management and internal communications. This area consists of the Minister's Office, Deputy and Associate Deputy Ministers' Offices, Policy Development and Corporate Planning and Performance. Support to the ministry in the areas of strategic human resources, information technology, information management and financial management is provided by the Corporate and Ministry Support Services Division, whose budget is reported by the Ministry of Finance.

The Board Resourcing and Development Office, manages the provincial government appointment process for over 300 public agencies and is also part of this core business area.

Information Resource Management Plan Overview

An overview of the Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services Information Resource Management Plan is available at: http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/pubs/related/overview.htm. This plan describes how information management and information technology will be deployed to support ministry goals and strategies.