Ministry Role and Services

Ministry Overview

The Ministry of Skills Development and Labour is working to build a modern employment environment that meets the needs of employees, employers, unions and business in British Columbia.

The core programs of the ministry involve the development, implementation and enforcement of employment standards, workplace safety standards and labour relations rules.

The ministry administers 13 statutes — the Labour Relations Code, the Employment Standards Act, the Workers Compensation Act and several statutes concerning the collective agreements of particular service sectors. Some of these statutes are administered in whole or in part by independent agencies, such as the Labour Relations Board, the Employment Standards Tribunal, and the Workers' Compensation Board.

Our key stakeholders are everyone who participates in the B.C. economy, as workers (both unionized and non-unionized), as public or private sector employers, or as unions or industry associations. Major contextual factors include the state of the provincial, national and global economies.

Ministry Vision, Mission and Values

Vision

A modern work environment for British Columbians that encourages innovation, rewards creative thinking and increases productivity. Employees and employers are treated fairly and equitably. A prosperous British Columbia where employers and employees have confidence in the future.

Mission

The mission of the Ministry of Skills Development and Labour is to create an employment environment with dynamic workplaces that meet the needs of workers, employers and unions. Vulnerable workers will be protected. The ministry will ensure that British Columbians have the tools they need to foster working relationships in safe and healthy workplaces. It will develop programs and legislation that contribute to provincial competitiveness and prosperity.

Values

The following values will be integral to achieving the goals of the Ministry of Skills Development and Labour:

1. Fairness — We seek fair and balanced workplaces in all sectors and will ensure that all related ministry decisions are made in a consistent, professional, fair and balanced manner.
2. Competitiveness — We support a competitive business environment that attracts investment to British Columbia and retains our skilled employees.
3. Respect — We will protect the most vulnerable workers in the province and ensure they are treated equitably, compassionately and respectfully.
4. Simplicity — We will encourage small business to prosper through simple and streamlined processes.
5. Responsiveness and Flexibility — We strive to be relevant and responsive to constantly changing workplaces.
6. Accountability — We promote responsible fiscal responsibility and management and the implementation of affordable public policies.
7. Teamwork — We value the hard work and expertise of all ministry employees.

Ministry Operating Context

The Ministry of Skills Development and Labour has operated and made decisions under the following strengths and challenges.

Strengths

In 2004/05, the B.C. economy experienced significant job growth, more work opportunities for youth and rising investor confidence.

• Statistics Canada data show that between December 2001 and April 2005, B.C. created over 220,100 new jobs, resulting in an increase in employment of 11.6 per cent, the highest increase in Canada.
• Analysis prepared for the May 2004 Human Resources Strategy estimates that between 2003 and 2015, the B.C. economy will generate more than one million job openings, including new jobs, vacancies created through retirements, and opportunities generated by the Olympic Games and related projects.
• Other signs of B.C.'s economic improvement are increases in residential and non-residential building permits, real estate sales, business incorporations, retail trade, oil and gas exploration and lumber and paper shipments.

The Workers' Compensation Board of BC has adopted the operating name WorkSafeBC to reflect the primary imperative to achieving the vision of workers and workplaces safe and secure from injury, illness and disease. Through improved service, effective alignment of resources, and the cooperative efforts of workers, employers, unions and industry associations, the injury rate in BC has been cut by a third in the last decade. The economy has been expanding rapidly in some of the sectors with inherently higher than average injury rates, such as the construction sector, and this had impacted the overall average injury rate that has remained essentially flat for the last two years (3.06 loss of time injuries per 100 person years of employment in 2003 and 2004). To move beyond the current level and toward an injury free British Columbia, the WCB has renewed its organizational structure and initiated dialogue with workplace participants.

To March 31, 2005, 97 collective bargaining agreements have been reached in the public sector since 2002 within the 0-0-0 mandate. There have been fewer strikes and lockouts during the past three years than at any time in more than three decades.

Challenges

British Columbia's economy is growing, but faces significant competition with international markets.

• The global economy is highly competitive for both investment and skilled workers. While B.C.'s growing economy is expected to generate over one million job openings between 2003 and 2015, there may be skill gaps — meaning demand will exceed supply unless appropriate measures are taken — in certain regions and specialized occupations.

The ministry is concerned about maintaining employment standards for the most vulnerable employees while allowing B.C. business to compete both nationally and internationally.

• The ministry is committed to protecting vulnerable employees, including garment workers and agricultural workers. As these groups have historically been the most disadvantaged and the least able to advance their own interests, the ministry's challenge is in trying to involve the sectors in achieving employer compliance with employment standards.

Organization Chart (March 31, 2005)

Ministry Structure and Core Business Areas

Employment Standards

Employment standards activities aim to increase compliance with the Employment Standards Act and to foster fair, productive and harmonious workplaces that promote prosperous business, quality working lives and a strong, growing economy.

The Employment Standards Branch administers the Employment Standards Act and Regulation, which set minimum standards for wage payments, overtime, vacation, statutory holidays, leaves, compensation for length of service, hours of work, employment of young persons and licensing of certain employment services.

There are 108 staff in the branch serving in nine sites throughout the province, with a budget of $10,042,000.

In addition to administering the legislation, the branch provides education, training and early intervention to ensure all parties in the workplace are aware of their rights and responsibilities under the Act.

Outreach to workplaces includes random audits to ensure general compliance and a level playing field for employees in various sectors. The branch also carries out targeted enforcement in areas identified as having greater difficulties with compliance.

Branch staff answer employee and employer inquiries, receive and address complaints of contraventions, and deliver professional, neutral mediation services to assist parties to come to a mutually satisfactory resolution to workplace disputes. Where resolution is not possible, the branch adjudicates disputes under the Act and issues a determination.

Determinations made by the Director of the Employment Standards Branch can be appealed on three grounds: error of law, failure to observe principles of natural justice, or new evidence has become available. Appeals are made to the Employment Standards Tribunal, an independent adjudicative body, for timely, efficient and neutral resolution.

In addition to the responsibilities the branch has under the Act, branch staff provide services to the Labour Relations Board by conducting and monitoring certification and decertification votes.

Industrial Relations

Through its industrial relations activities, the ministry oversees the fair administration of B.C.'s industrial relations to promote a healthy labour relations environment. The ministry is responsible for the Labour Relations Code. The Code establishes the rights of employees to choose trade union representation, the system for collective bargaining between employers and trade unions in unionized workplaces, and mechanisms to address changes in the employment structure of the workplace.

The Labour Relations Code also establishes the Labour Relations Board (LRB) as an independent tribunal to govern the establishment and regulation of relationships between employers, trade unions and employees, and to resolve disputes arising in those relationships through mediation and adjudication. As a quasi-judicial tribunal, the LRB's ability to deal with industrial relations disputes is faster and more efficient than the courts. The LRB also provides alternate dispute resolution services, which focus on assisting parties in resolving collective bargaining disputes. It also assists parties in improving labour relations, preventing conflicts and resolving contractual disputes during the term of their collective agreements. Votes ordered under the provisions of the Labour Relations Code are supervised by staff from the Employment Standards Branch.

The LRB has a budget of $5,154,000 and 45 employees. The Chair of the LRB is also the Chair of the Employment Standards Tribunal, which has three additional employees and funding of $505,000.

The ministry actively monitors the industrial relations environment in B.C. Self-reliance in resolving disputes through free collective bargaining is encouraged, but occasionally the ministry plays a direct role in helping parties to settle difficult disputes.

Workers' Compensation System

The ministry oversees the Workers Compensation Act (WCA), which provides a framework for promoting safe and healthy workplaces and sets out the workers' compensation system for B.C. The workers' compensation system includes the following components: the Workers' Compensation Board, the Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal, and the ministry-based Workers' and Employers' Advisers Offices.

The Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) is an independent statutory agency mandated to administer the Workers Compensation Act. The Board creates and enforces provincial workplace health and safety regulations. It also adjudicates claims and administers wage-loss benefits and vocational rehabilitation benefits for workers suffering injury or disease and their dependents or survivors. Under the Workers Compensation Act, the WCB Review Division has a role in providing reviews of the WCB's claims decisions. The board is wholly funded by employer payroll assessments (the accident fund).

Effective March 3, 2003, the Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal (WCAT) replaced both the former Workers' Compensation Review Board and the former Workers' Compensation Board Appeal Division. WCAT is the second and final level of appeal in the restructured appeal system, which was introduced to simplify the process and enhance the consistency, timeliness and finality of decisions. Autonomous from the WCB, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Skills Development and Labour, and is funded by employers through the accident fund. For the first three years of operation, WCAT has been provided with additional resources to reduce the backlog of appeals built up under the old appeal system. In 2006/07, gross expenditures will be reduced from the current level of $22.4 million to $18.9 million, and employees will be reduced from 185 to 167 FTEs.

A third component of the workers' compensation system are the ministry-based workers' and employers' advisers, who provide support and advisory services to parties involved in claims under the workers' compensation system. The ministry administers the Workers' Advisers Office and the Employers' Advisers Office, which are authorized by the Workers Compensation Act and funded by employers through the accident fund.

The Workers' and Employers' Advisers Office directly support the ministry's goal of safe and healthy workplaces and a workers' compensation system that is responsible to the needs of workers and employers.

Employers' Advisers are mandated to work with employers and the Workers' Compensation Board to resolve claims, assessments and safety issues. They advise employers on the interpretation of the Workers Compensation Act and any decisions under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, and provide information and training to employers on legislative and regulatory changes to assist employers in meeting their obligation and responsibility to provide a safe work environment for their workers.

Workers' Advisers are mandated to advise and assist injured workers in resolving issues with respect to benefits, claims and the interpretation of the Workers Compensation Act. Program clients include injured workers and their dependents, professional associations, union representatives, injured workers' associations and members of the public. They provide information and public education.

Executive and Support Services

Executive and support services for the Ministry of Skills Development and Labour include executive advice and assistance, skills development, policy and legislation development, communications, financial operations and management services. The Executive and Support Services section of the ministry maintained activities to support the government's goals of a strong and vibrant provincial economy, a supportive social infrastructure and safe and healthy communities, such as monitoring the results of recent legislative and regulatory changes in areas of ministry responsibility and identifying items needing further improvement. Through a focused approach to industrial relations the ministry promotes a strong and competitive economy. Executive and Support Services continues to be responsive to developing labour and labour market policies to ensure that British Columbia's twenty-first century workforce is equipped with the skills and knowledge to succeed and prosper.

The Policy and Skills Development Branch provides policy analysis, legislative, regulatory and program development support to senior ministry officials, ministry program areas — including employment standards, industrial relations and workers' compensation — the minister's office, cabinet and its committees, and other ministries needing advice or assistance on labour and employment issues. The branch is also responsible for the provincial human resource strategy.

The ministry also continues to monitor labour market conditions in B.C. for signs of emerging skills shortages, and undertakes research on the effective solutions to mitigating skills shortages. The ministry provides assistance and advice to industry associations who are engaged in sector-wide human resource planning, and assists other ministries in addressing sector-specific employment standards issues to promote a more prosperous economy. These include the development of sector-focused employment standards regulations for the oil and gas, agriculture, mining, forestry, silviculture, aquaculture and film industries. The ministry also provides support for other ministries working on creating sector specific skills development initiatives.

A provincial human resource strategy that focused on identifying potential skills shortages that would undermine economic growth in B.C. was released in May 2004. This framework continues to form the basis for the ministry's engagement with industry on labour market challenges.

During 2004/05 the ministry participated as a member of the 2010 Multi-lateral Stakeholder Committee. This group meets regularly to share information about recent research into skills shortages, and ongoing initiatives that might help alleviate 2010-related skills shortages. The committee includes representatives from provincial, federal and municipal governments, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the Vancouver Legacies Now and First Nations.

The committee has now concluded its work, and released its final report "Planning for Gold" in February 2004. Ministry analysis and expertise on labour market issues is one of the key inputs for the development of the strategy. The work of sharing information and coordinating initiatives to meet the 2010 human resource challenge continues through the 2010 Multilateral Stakeholder Committee — a less formal committee with representation from federal, provincial and municipal governments, First Nations, Legacies Now, and the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG).

Through 2004/05, ministry staff focused their efforts on supporting industry-led human resource planning initiatives. Examples of this include the Agriculture Labour Partnership Committee and the Construction Sector Council Labour Market Information working group for B.C. Staff also served as a resource for other ministries who required expertise on labour market issues and the development of sector/client specific programs.

The ministry continued to monitor the state of youth unemployment in British Columbia, in order to determine the impact that broader economic recovery will have on lowering youth unemployment.

Strategic Shifts and Significant Changes in Policy Direction

The Ministry of Skills Development and Labour has experienced no shifts or changes from the goals outlined in the 2004/05 — 2006/07 Service Plan Report, and will stay the course with those targets. The Executive and Support Services section of the Ministry was reorganized in 2004 to strengthen ministry policy support.

Update on New Era Commitments

Many of the New Era commitments for which the ministry is responsible were completed in 2001/02. Substantial work was done during 2004/05 towards achieving the following remaining commitments:

• Give workers and employers greater flexibility in employment standards to negotiate mutually beneficial relationships that help them compete and prosper;
• Make the Workers' Compensation Board more responsive to the needs of workers and employers alike; and
• Focus on reducing B.C.'s youth unemployment.