Government Temporary Help Services Advisory Committee Meeting Record of Decision - November 27, 2008

• Agenda
• Record of Decisions

Agenda

Thursday, November 27, 2008
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, Place du Portage
11A1, Room 101
Gatineau, Québec

1. Welcome
2. Approval of RoD 1 February 2008
3. Overview of past few months (PWGSC personnel changes / Roles)
4. a) Transition Period to the new THS
   b) Existing THS Standing offers and call-ups during transition
5. a) Client and Supplier training overview (This will include tabling the proposed format for the User Guide.)
   b) New THS System demo (This will include handing out the 30 page document covering the business rules/requirements.)
6. Other issues / roundtable/ Anticipated challenges during SOSA transition

Record of Decisions

In attendance:

• Pierre Paquette, PWGSC (chair)
• Debbie Sinclair, PWGSC
• Helen Seto, PWGSC
• Jason Storm, PWGSC
• Lan Mao, PWGSC
• Lucie Kealey, PWGSC
• Patricia Lalonde, PWGSC (Material Management)
• Trina Poots, PWGSC
• David Skippen, DND
• Debbie Toll (to alternate with Sandy Proulx), DND
• Julie Chartrand, LAC
• Jeremy Ingle, ACSESS (SPI Consultant)
• Kathryn Tremblay, ACSESS (Altis Human Resources (Ottawa) Inc.)
• Meredith Egan, ACSESS (The Aim Group)
• Paul Gagnon, Portage Personnel
• Dan Moorcroft, QMR Staffing
• Martin Chenier, Spherion

Item

Item 1 Opening Remarks

Members of the Committee were welcomed back as this is the first meeting since February 1st, 2008. Meetings were postponed during the THS bid solicitation period.

The new members to the Committee were introduced - David Skippen and Debbie Toll, DND.

Members were informed that the Committee meeting will continue as a forum of collaboration between the government and the Industry in order to put in place a new method of supply for THS in the NCA. The frequency of the meetings will depend on the need of the Committee to meet. However, the meeting should be held on a weekly basis, every Thursday from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM until the beginning of 2009.

Item 2 Approval of Record of Decision of February 1^st Meeting

The Record of Decision from the February 1, 2008 meeting was adopted by the Committee with one revision: The last sentence is hereby revised as follows: "THS Advisory Committee will reconvene after the RFSO/RFSA has closed, noting that there will be no discussions relating to the RFSO/RFSA before the solicitation is posted on MERX."

Item 3 Overview of Past Few Months

PWGSC provided an update to the Committee of personnel changes and roles in the last few months: The Online Services Division, under the leadership of Debbie Sinclair, is responsible for the training, system support and assessment framework for the new method of supply. The Online Services Division will continue to provide day-to-day online procurement support to federal department users and Suppliers. The Procurement Strategies Division, under the leadership of Jason Storm, is responsible for the procurement portion of the new method of supply.

Item 4 Transition Period to the New THS System

A) Client and Supplier Training

Client training on the new system will begin in January through February 2009 and will be mandatory. Supplier training will take place in March 2009. As of December 10, 2008, training on the existing THS System will no longer be available.

Industry expressed concern that some Clients lack good understanding of the business rules of THS and agreed to submit sample questions and examples they have been receiving from Clients for consideration by PWGSC for inclusion in the Client Training Guide.

Industry has also noticed that some Clients are overlaying their own policies over THS policy and asked whether this issue could be brought to the Commodity Council, to ensure all Clients are consistent with the THS policy. PWGSC advised that some Clients have their own internal contracting procedures and that this may not be feasible in all cases.

Industry asked about the status of the Bidder Response to be used with the Supply Arrangement that was discussed in previous Committee meetings. PWGSC advised that the templates are being developed.

PWGSC will monitor the Client training to ensure consistency.

Industry asked about the possibility of online interactive training. PWGSC looked into this but indicated that for now, the User Guide will be available on the THS Website.

Industry asked if the replacement rates are tracked in any way. PWGSC advised that the replacement rates will be monitored as part of the Assessment Framework which will be discussed at the next meeting of the Committee.

PWGSC provided members of the Committee with a copy of the previous User Guide and updated version and, the proposed User Guide for the new THS System. Members were requested to provide comments to PWGSC for discussion at the December 11th meeting of the Committee.

B) New THS System

PWGSC gave a demo of the Client Module and Supplier Module of the new THS System. The presentation was well received by both Clients and the Industry.

Item 5 Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held December 4, 2008 at Place du Portage, 11 Laurier, PDP III, Gatineau, Québec, Tower C, 12C1, Boardroom, Room 101A from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The Agenda for the next meeting will be sent to members via e-mail prior to the meeting.