Government Temporary Help Services Advisory Committee Meeting Record of Decision - May 16, 2007

• Agenda
• Record of Decisions

Agenda

Wednesday, May 16, 2007
1 0:00 AM to 2:00 PM
11A1, Room 101
Gatineau, Québec

1. Approval of Record of Decision – Chair (15 minutes)
2. Insurance – PWGSC (15 minutes)
3. Rate Protection – PWGSC (20 minutes)
4. Sample classification – All (20 minutes)
5. Next RFSO items to be reviewed (review of document provided to committee members at May 9 meeting) – All (1.5 hours)
6. Roundtable and Closing Remarks – All (30 minutes)
7. Next Meeting

Record of Decisions

In attendance:

• Steven Turner, Chair (Consultant)
• Pierre Paquette, PWGSC
• Sylvain Cardinal, PWGSC
• Debbie Sinclair, PWGSC
• Line Dugas, PWGSC
• Sylvie Fournier, PWGSC
• Captain Crane, DND
• Patricia Lalonde, PWGSC
• Meredith Egan, ACSESS
• Jeremy Ingle, ACSESS
• Kathryn Tremblay, ACSESS (via teleconferencing)
• Paul Gagnon, Portage Personnel
• Daniel Moorcroft, QMR Staffing Solutions Inc.
• Martin Chénier, Spherion

Item

Item 1 Approval of Record of Decision

• The Record of Decision from the May 9, 2007 meeting was adopted by the Committee with one revision:

  Page 2, item 6, second paragraph, is hereby revised as follows: On the issue of price erosion, Government and Industry do not agree that predicting future behavior based on the past is not a valid technique for this method of supply. This is because:

  1. the structure of the emerging method of supply is considerably different from those used in the past;
  2. it will be accompanied by training and on-going oversight by a permanent committee;
  3. there will be an active audit program; and
  4. there will be timely and credible activity and performance information to support continuous improvement.

Item 2 Insurance

• PWGSC presented the results of discussions with the Risk Advisor, i.e. the insurance clause can be changed to remove the ability to subcontract. If the clause remains intact, the requirement remains that the insurance requirements of the prime contractor (the supplier who receives the call-up or contract) must flow down to the subcontractor. If there is a situation, liability rests with the prime contractor, i.e. the course of action by the Crown would be with the prime contractor.

  Item Parked: more discussion is needed amongst Industry and at a subsequent meeting involving PWGSC Risk Advisor and possible an Insurance Representative acting on behalf of Industry.
  Action: ACSESS and PWGSC

Item 3 Rate Protection

• The suggestion by Industry to protect an authorized/active Supplier's rates was discussed further. PWGSC considered the recommendation made by the industry and has opted to not proceed with the recommendation. The intent of the new method of supply is to promote competition between suppliers. It is PWGSC's view that a rate protection clause would not encourage competition between suppliers. PWGSC also raised the following concerns:

  The process must ensure fair and equitable treatment of all qualified suppliers, e.g. a new supplier offers a ceiling rate that is the same as the ceiling rate protected for an authorized/active Supplier, however, as a result of the financial evaluation formula, the new supplier is eliminated thereby creating an unfairness in action. This cannot be permitted.

  Industry's concern that rates will be driven down could be mitigated by the annual rate competition based on the fact that real rates are to be proposed, i.e. those that are reflective of the market.

  The Committee agrees that this new method of supply and methodologies contained therein must be monitored and tracked through the ongoing efforts of the Advisory Committee. Changes that are needed will be implemented.

Item 4 Sample Classifications

• PWGSC tabled a 'Sample' of a classification description form. This will form part of the MERX notice.
• ACSESS' work on gathering information from Industry is continuing. It is anticipated that information will be sent to PWGSC in 2 weeks, i.e. 30 May 2007.
  Action: ACSESS and PWGSC

Item 5 Next RFSO items to be reviewed (review of documents provided to Committee members at May 9 meeting)

• PWGSC tabled a document containing excerpts from the proposed RFSO. Clause B.1.13 was reviewed. The Committee agreed that second line of item (a) of the clause would be modified to place the words "forty eight (48) hours" with the words "until the close of business on the next business day (deemed to be 17:00 hours)".
• The concept of returning to a true Standing Offer method of supply was discussed, i.e. CVs and/or resumes should not be required when a Client chooses the first right of refusal approach. The testing and screening of resources has already been completed by the Suppliers and reviewed as part of the RFSO process. Therefore, the selection by Clients should be based solely on the lowest price after the Supplier has completed an availability assessment based on the client-provided details on the classification required, language profile, security level, duration and location of work. Responses would contain the name of the resource. This reflects how the system once worked and industry has represented that government is paying for this value-added service from quality suppliers. It is also consistent with the Committee's objective of ensuring optimum efficiency of process and reduced overall cost to government.
  Action: PWGSC

  It is noted that this concept begs further discussion amongst Industry and within the Client community. A requirement expressed by Industry was the ability to dialogue with the end user, i.e. the individual where the THS placement would work.

Item 6 Next Meeting

• The next meeting will be held May 23, 2007, at Place du Portage, 11 Laurier, PDP III, Gatineau, Québec, Tower A, 11A1, Room 101 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The Agenda for the next meeting will be sent to members via e-mail prior to the meeting.

Item 7 Round Table

• Time did not permit a round table discussion.