An Act to Amend the Public Service Act, No. 2

Summary#

Bill 32 rewrites large parts of the Northwest Territories Public Service Act. It sets clearer rules for hiring, pay, discipline, political activity, labour relations, and whistleblower protection in the public service. The broad goal is a merit-based, ethical, and accountable public service, with defined roles for managers and unions, and protections for equal pay and disclosures of wrongdoing.

Key changes include:

• Creates a Code of Conduct for public servants and allows discipline if it is not followed.
• Makes merit-based hiring the default, with required competitions, eligibility lists, and a new right to appeal some hiring decisions to an independent Staffing Review Officer.
• Sets rules for temporary transfers, casual employment (less than 12 months; not for ongoing work), probation (at least 6 months for external hires), and discipline/investigation/dismissal.
• Updates political activity rules (who can campaign or run, required leave to be a candidate, and when employment ends if elected).
• Establishes a Public Interest Disclosure Officer to take whistleblower disclosures, investigate, and protect against reprisals; adds offences and fines for obstruction.
• Modernizes equal pay for work of equal value, appoints an Equal Pay Commissioner, and routes equal pay disputes to arbitration.
• Overhauls labour relations: essential services agreements, strike vote rules, unfair labour practices for both government and unions, successor rights on transfers, mediation and arbitration processes.
• Clarifies who is in the public service, how pay ranges and job evaluation are set, and what powers deputy heads have (including limited non‑competitive appointments in defined cases).

What it means for you#

• Public servants

  • A Code of Conduct will apply. Breaches can be treated as misconduct.
  • Hiring for most positions must be by competition based on merit. After a competition, your name can be put on an eligibility list for future appointments without another competition.
  • You can appeal some competitive appointments to a Staffing Review Officer if you were an eligible unsuccessful candidate and there was an error in applying the Act, regulations, or staffing policies. The Officer can order a competition be restarted or redone.
  • Minimum probation for hires from outside the public service is at least six months. Deputies can reduce, waive, or extend probation if allowed by policy.
  • There are clear processes for investigation, suspension (paid during investigation), discipline (demotion, financial penalty, up to 30‑day suspension), and dismissal, with written reasons.
  • If you go on a long leave or temporary transfer and someone else is appointed to your position, you must be appointed without competition to an equivalent position when you return.
  • If identified for lay‑off, you may be appointed without competition to another position for which you are qualified.
  • You must take an oath/affirmation before starting duties. Work on a holiday earns leave with pay or overtime pay, subject to collective agreements or policy directives.
  • You may publicly criticize government policy only if it does not relate to your job duties and you do not use confidential or job‑only information. Violations can lead to discipline.

• Job applicants

  • Competitions must follow published policies and guidelines. If you had priority under the Indigenous Employment Policy or staffing priority rules and identified it in time, you may be able to appeal certain appointment results to a Staffing Review Officer.

• Casual employees

  • Casual jobs must be for less than 12 months and not used for ongoing work. Some parts of the Act apply to casuals (for example, whistleblower protection and certain discipline/rules), as listed in the Act and regulations.

• Excluded employees and senior managers

  • Your terms and conditions of employment are set by policy directives (not collective agreements).
  • You can grieve some matters (for example, discipline) and appeal major discipline to the Deputy Minister responsible for the public service or the Secretary to Cabinet.

• Managers and deputy heads

  • Clear authority to manage staff, set qualifications (without unlawful discrimination), prepare and review statements of duties, and report annually on appointments and transfers.
  • You may appoint without competition only in defined cases (for accommodation, retention policy, completion of approved development program, or from an eligibility list). The Deputy Minister responsible for the public service may also make some non‑competitive appointments on recommendation, following policy.
  • Must communicate whistleblower procedures to staff and cooperate with job evaluation and equal pay processes.

• Unions and employees’ associations

  • Must bargain essential services agreements (which list services and positions to maintain during a strike) and set an emergency/disaster protocol. Employees designated as essential cannot strike while required to provide those services.
  • Strike approval requires a secret‑ballot vote with a majority of those voting.
  • Unfair labour practices are defined for both government and unions; alleged violations can go to arbitration.
  • There is a process to challenge whether a position is “excluded” from the bargaining unit, with arbitration if unresolved.

• Employees considering political activity

  • General political activities are allowed outside work hours and without using government resources. Fundraising and on‑the‑job political work are banned.
  • “Restricted employees” (senior managers and certain HR/finance/legal/advisory roles) face extra limits (for example, cannot serve as a party executive or campaign actively).
  • To run in a federal, provincial, territorial election or as a full‑time paid Indigenous government council member, you must take leave without pay upon becoming an official candidate. If elected MP/MLA or a full‑time paid Indigenous council member, you cease to be an employee. Restricted employees elected as mayor also cease to be employees.

• Whistleblowers

  • You can disclose wrongdoing to your supervisor or the Public Interest Disclosure Officer (and in urgent imminent‑risk cases, to the public after consulting a protection official). You are protected from reprisals (with a complaint process) and identities are protected except where fairness requires disclosure.

• Equal pay

  • Equal pay rules now apply to differences based on sex or gender. An independent Equal Pay Commissioner is appointed to oversee this area. Complaints can be arbitrated, and remedies can include stopping the breach, back pay (up to 3 years), and damages in severe cases.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

• This could lead to new administrative costs to staff and operate the Public Interest Disclosure Officer and the Equal Pay Commissioner, and to support new appeal, mediation, and arbitration processes.
• Departments may face costs to update staffing policies, job evaluation systems, and training.
• Arbitration, mediation, and Staffing Review Officer proceedings could add case‑by‑case costs for government and employees’ associations.

Proponents' View#

• The bill appears intended to make hiring fairer and more transparent by requiring merit‑based competitions, using eligibility lists, and allowing independent appeals of some hiring decisions.
• It likely strengthens accountability and ethics by creating a Code of Conduct, clearer discipline and investigation steps, and annual reporting by ministers and deputy heads.
• The new whistleblower system could improve integrity and safety by protecting employees who report unlawful acts, serious dangers, or gross mismanagement, and by penalizing reprisals.
• Updating equal pay rules and creating an Equal Pay Commissioner could improve compliance with “equal pay for work of equal value.”
• The essential services and strike vote rules could be seen as protecting public safety during labour disputes while preserving the right to strike.
• Clearer rules for casual work, temporary transfers, probation, lay‑offs, and return from leave may improve workforce management and fairness.

Opponents' View#

• One concern is added complexity and administrative burden from new processes (appeals of hiring, whistleblower investigations, mediations, arbitrations, reports), which may slow hiring or decision‑making.
• Allowing some appointments without competition (even if limited) may be seen as weakening the merit principle if not closely controlled and reported.
• The expanded list of “restricted employees” and stricter speech rules around criticizing policy related to one’s job may feel limiting for some employees.
• Essential services requirements and designations could reduce strike effectiveness for some bargaining units.
• Whistleblower limits (for example, no disclosure of cabinet confidences or solicitor‑client information, and penalties for bad‑faith disclosures) may deter some reports if not clearly explained.
• Excluding more positions from union membership (and setting exclusion objection processes) may raise concerns about fairness or representation for those roles.