What can I do if I disagree with management´s decision to lay me off? What happens if I disagree with the selection criteria for retention and lay-off?

Generally, disputes relating to the hiring and laying off of public servants fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board pursuant to the Public Service Employment Act (“PSEA”).   As staffing policies are not subject to collective bargaining, your available remedies may be limited to the PSEA, which provides for limited recourse in the case of certain predefined types of complaints.  More specifically, section 65(1) of the PSEA states:
 
“Where some but not all of the employees in a part of an organization are informed by the deputy head that they will be laid off, any employee selected for lay-off may make a complaint to the Tribunal, in the manner and within the time fixed by the Tribunal´s regulations, that his or her selection constituted an abuse of authority.” (Emphasis added.)

Section 65(2) of the PSEA prevents complaints against the actual decision to layoff employees, the determination of the part of the organization impacted or the number of employees to be laid off from that part.

For more information on the evaluation criteria used in determining who should be laid off, you may consult the Public Service Commission´s Guidance Series: Selecting Employees for Retention or Layoff.

For union advice on whether or not you may have other avenues available to you on account of your particular situation which may bring other collective agreement provisions into play, you may contact the AJC by completing an InTake form outlining your details and forwarding it to admin@ajc-ajj.com .