Government Temporary Help Services Advisory Committee Meeting Record of Decision - June 20, 2007

• Agenda
• Record of Decisions

Agenda

Wednesday, June 20, 2007
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
11A1, Room 101
Gatineau, Québec

1. Approval of Record of Decision - Chair (15 minutes)
2. Update on GoCM
3. Major milestones and events
4. Continue discussion of ACSESS' issues and concerns - insurance, testing, interviewing, monitoring and client education
5. Bulk requirements
6. Summer Schedule

Record of Decisions

In attendance:

• Steven Turner, Chair (Consultant)
• Pierre Paquette, PWGSC
• Sylvain Cardinal, PWGSC
• Debbie Sinclair, PWGSC
• Marcel Landry, PWGSC
• Sylvie Fournier, PWGSC
• Captain Crane, DND
• Helen Seto, Santé Canada
• Meredith Egan, ACSESS
• Jeremy Ingle, ACSESS
• Kathryn Tremblay, ACSESS
• Paul Gagnon, Portage Personnel
• Daniel Moorcroft, QMR Staffing Solutions Inc.
• Martin Chénier, ACSESS

Item

Item 1 Approval of Record of Decisions (13 June 2007)

• It was noted that the letter from ACSESS dated June 11th, 2007 reflected the concerns of industry.

Item 2 Update on GoCM

This item has 2 parts; update on the meeting of 18 June 2007 with the Deputy Minister; and an update on the meetings with GoCM. The latter will be a standing agenda item.

Part 1:
PWGSC provided a briefing on the meeting with the Deputy Minister; THS remains a priority, the RFSO must be released in July 2007 to meet critical milestones and the project schedule; and the Deputy Minister will be attending an upcoming Advisory Committee meeting.

Part 2:
PWGSC explained that attendance by 2 industry members of the Advisory Committee at the meetings between PWGSC, GoCM and IBM cannot be entertained. GoCM stated this position in writing citing concerns with productiveness of meetings and fairness to IBM with respect to intellectual property. GoCM further explained that the governance process involves PWGSC bringing 'Action Items' to and from the Advisory Committee.

In line with the above, the following 'Action Items' were reviewed:

System Overview

The system will include a Request for Availability (RFA) for the Standing Offer (SO) method of supply and a Request for Services (RFS) for the Supply Arrangement (SA) method of supply.

RFAs and RFSs will be sent by via an e-mail notification to the Active SO or SA Holders. The use of e-mail notifications does not preclude the need for dialogue between the Active SO or SA Holder with the Federal Government Department user.

The RFA will not contain the Active SO Holder's rate, as the CCP or ceiling rate under the SO method of supply is not negotiable.

The search results for an RFS will contain the ceiling rate for each Active SA Holder, however, the ceiling rate for the specific Active SA Holder will only be visible to the specific Active SA Holder through the Supplier portal. The Supplier portal is where the Active SA Holder would view and respond to the RFS. Under the SA method of supply, the final rate (lower than ceiling) will be captured through the system at the time of selection/acceptance by the Federal Government Department user.

Regret Letters containing information on the call-up or contract issued as a result of an RFA or RFS, e.g. name of successful Active SO or SA Holder and total dollar value, will be sent via e-mail through the system.

The system will automatically populate/calculate information for Federal Government Department users, e.g. Active SO/SA name, search criteria, rate, etc., in an attempt to reduce double entry of date by Clients (i.e. input of information in GoCM and then re-entry of information in financial systems).

All activities of the Federal Government Department user are tracked, e.g. recorded in System.

Utilization reporting is reflected in two manners: billing data input by the Active SO/SA Holders; and budget information (commitments) based on the documents issued through GoCM by Federal Government Department users.

Utilization Report for Active SO/SA Holders

The following list of reports was confirmed:

• Business Volume for the Active SO/SA Holders
• Department Distribution (showing total dollar value by Department)
• Business Volume (showing Department, Classifications [type, when applicable] and levels, Hours and Dollar Value for each Classification)

Active SO/SA Holders are to input information (date, department, classification and dollar value) monthly, through the Supplier portal, based on the Active SO/SA Holders' billing information.

Ranking

When rates are identical (CCP or Ceiling), the ranking is to be alphabetical. Identical rates fill one slot only in a ranking, e.g. if 2 rates are identical, the display of the 10 lowest rates will actually include 11 names.

Overtime

Overtime (OT) will be handled through training of Federal Government Department users by PWGSC. The training will include an explanation that in cases of OT (e.g. in excess of 44 hours for Ontario or 40 hours for Quebec; statutory holidays; etc.), OT charges will be included by the Active SO/SA Holder in their weekly invoice. OT is not payable when a work day of 7.5 hours is prearranged and scheduled with the Active SO/SA holder, e.g. for a time outside of the traditional Government core hours of 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Limit on Hours and Dollar Value

The system will include an automatic approval routing (to PWGSC), when a requirement is greater than $400K or when the duration is greater than 48 consecutive weeks or when the number of hours is greater than 1800. This routing occurs after a Federal Government Department user completes the screen(s) that define the user's requirement. PWGSC will receive an e-mail alert advising PWGSC that there is a requirement in GoCM for review and approval. PWGSC must access GoCM to review the requirement and select: approved or not approved. After PWGSC takes action, the Federal Government Department user would receive an e-mail alert.

In the case, above, approval would be given by PWGSC for a one time amendment for an additional 900 hours for a situation related to delays in a staffing action, i.e. an amendment to a call-up or contract to exceed the consecutive weeks or number of hours or dollar value can only occur once. Attempts to further amend a call-up or contract would stopped (hard stop) by the system.

To assist Clients, the Search Results (ranking of Active SO or SA Holders) will show: the search criteria; Active SO or SA Holder name; CCP or ceiling rate for SO (i.e. if an Active SO Holder has not input a CCP, the ceiling rate would be shown) or in the case of an SA, only the ceiling rate would be shown; and the average rate paid for the search criteria. It is noted that this last item would only be available 6 months after the launch of the system and can only be for a single item search, i.e. one classification (type if applicable) and level.

Request for Availability (RFA) [under the SO Method of Supply / First Right of Refusal]

The search results under an RFA will display the 10 lowest rates offered by Active SO Holders. Federal Government Department users can issue any number of e-mail notifications, i.e. 1 through 10, however, the System will start with the lowest rate and progress to the 10th in the list.

When an e-mail notification is received the Active SO/SA Holder(s), the Active SO/SA Holder must access the System through the Supplier portal to view the RFA and provide a response, i.e. name of resource or "no response" with reason. [Note: Null responses also tracked.]

The RFA includes the names of all Active SO/SA Holder(s). After the closing date of the RFA, the Federal Government Department user chooses the lowest compliant rate.

Request for Additional Information:

At 13 June 2007 meeting, Kathryn Tremblay mentioned that feedback had been received/gathered from Clients with respect to improvements/comments on the new THS Online System. This was requested for use by PWGSC in preparing System documentation, i.e. Protocol, Audit Framework, Sanctions, Training Manuals and FAQs. The same information was been requested from staff (e.g. Line Dugas), within the Online Services Division.

Action Item for next meeting with GoCM/IBM:

Verify that a search can be re-used by a Client, for a new requirement, rather than re-keying information.

Item 3 Major milestones and events

The following dates are to be considered:

• RFSO completed: 27 June 2007
• Protocol completed: 27 June 2007
• Bidders' conference: September 2007
• RFSO/SA closing: November 2007
• SOs and SAs authorized: December 2007

Item 4 Continued discussion of ACSESS' issues and concerns - insurance, testing, interviewing, monitoring and client education

Insurance will be discussed at the next meeting, 27 June 2007.

Testing:
The question of "what is minimum testing?" will be raised by ACSESS with the industry and results given at the next meeting, 27 June 2007.

Interviewing (and References):
The following will be included in the RFSO/SA:

Interviewing
All Active SO/SA Holders shall perform live, face to face, interviewing of any and all candidates proposed unless the proposed candidate resides in excess of 100 km outside of the National Capital (Parliament Hill being the point of origin). In cases where the candidate resides in excess of 100 km outside the National Capital, telephone interviews shall be permitted. The Active SO/SA Holder shall keep a documented record of each interview including the date of the interview, name of proposed resource as well as notes taken during the interview. PWGSC reserves its right to request such documentation while auditing SA/SO Holders. PWGSC also reserves its right to validate this directly with the THS proposed resource. Failure to demonstrate interviewing in accordance with this clause to the satisfaction of PWGSC shall result in the setting aside of the SO/SA.

References
All Active SO/SA Holders shall have a demonstrable process to deal with references resulting in a reasonable amount of success. Stream 5 Active SO/SA Holders shall ensure they always complete a minimum of one reference for each proposed resource before the start of the assignment. PWGSC reserves its right to request proof of that a reference check was indeed performed for Stream 5 proposed resources by asking the Active SO/SA Holder to provide the name of the reference and the date of the reference. Failure to demonstrate the reference process or specific condition applicable to Stream 5 to the satisfaction of PWGSC shall result in the setting aside of the SO/SA.

Monitoring and Client Education:
This will be discussed in further meetings, including the review by the Committee of the following documentation (once drafted by PWGSC based on information already contained in the RoDs and project notes): Training Manuals, FAQs, Final Protocol, Audit Framework and Sanctions.

Additional Item - The following additional item was raised by PWGSC pertaining to the RFSO/SA:
Ending of Discussions on the RFSO/SA: Once the RFSO/SA is posted on MERX, discussions/questions/information on the content of the RFSO/SA will not form part of the Advisory Committee meetings.

Item 5 Bulk requirements

This item was deferred due to time constraints.

Item 6 Summer Schedule

No holidays are anticipated for Steven Turner or Debbie Sinclair
Kathryn Tremblay will be away until 11 July.
Sylvain Cardinal will be away 3 through 6 July and 30 July through 3 August.

Dan Moorcroft will be away 1 week in July (date to be provided). Meredith Egan will be away 20 - 24 August.

Item 7 (additional item): Classifications

Kathryn Tremblay advised that Streams 1 and 2 completed and Streams 3 and 4 are close. Need to quality assure for years of experience, qualifications and software expertise. An estimated 5 classifications under Stream 5 still need work. Dan Moorcroft expressed concern with Stream 5, i.e. need to ensure that the stream properly reflects the credentials needed by this professional stream.

Documentation to be sent to PWGSC by the close of business today, 20 June.

Feedback is to be obtained from Clients by PWGSC, e.g. Commodity Team meeting and members of the Advisory Committee.

Phil Battaglini, Supply Officer in Online Services Division, will be leading the task of finalizing classifications.