Government Temporary Help Services Advisory Committee Meeting Record of Decision - January 15, 2009

• Agenda
• Record of Decisions

Agenda

Thursday, January 15, 2009
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM, Place du Portage
11A1, Boardroom 101
11 Gatineau, Québec

1. Approval of Record of Decision of December 18^th Meeting
2. Discussion on the Draft Checklist for Assessing Suppliers Testing Procedures and Compliance with RFSO/RFSA Mandatory Criteria
3. Other Items
4. Next Meeting
5. Round Table and Closing Remarks

Record of Decisions

In attendance

• Pierre Paquette, PWGSC (chair)
• Debbie Sinclair, PWGSC
• Helen Seto, PWGSC
• Lan Mao, PWGSC
• Trina Poots, PWGSC
• Patricia Lalonde, PWGSC (Material Management)
• Caroline Carson, HC
• Sandy Proulx, DND
• Kathryn Tremblay, ACSESS
• Jeremy Ingle, ACSESS
• Meredith Egan, ACSESS
• Martin Chenier, ACSESS
• Paul Gagnon, Portage Personnel
• Dan Moorcroft, QMR Staffing

Item

Item 1 Approval of Record of Decision of December 18^th Meeting

The Record of Decision from the December 18th, 2008 meeting was adopted by the Committee with one revision: Item 2, Supplier Assessment Framework, first bullet item, second sentence is to be revised to: “Name Referral” is acceptable only under SO component and only after the supplier has been selected in accordance with the steps for selecting a supplier. For example, under the SO component, if the THS "On-Line" System indicated that Company “X” was the company who can provide the resource(s) at the lowest rate based on the client’s requirement, and the Supplier has confirmed availability of a resource or resources, then once the supplier has been selected in accordance with the steps for selecting a supplier, the federal department user can then ask for a specific resource. NOTE: If the supplier cannot provide the specific resource, this does not allow the client to move forward to the next supplier or by pass a supplier.

Item 2. Discussion on the Draft Checklist for Assessing Suppliers Testing Procedures and Compliance with RFSO/RFSA Mandatory Criteria

PWGSC provided Committee members with a copy of the two documents titled “Steps for Assessing Suppliers” and “Possible Sanctions Applicable to Federal Department Users and Suppliers” for discussion

PWGSC confirmed that the 5-page narrative submitted in the supplier’s proposal will be used in the assessment to validate suppliers’ testing procedures. The assessment will begin approximately in May. The assessment of suppliers will begin with the members of the THS Advisory Committee, followed by a blended approach of alphabetical and random selection of Suppliers.

On page 2 of the “Steps for Assessing Suppliers” document, Industry asked about the definition of Commercial Office. (PWGSC raised the issue of “what a commercial office was” and through discussions between Industry and PWGSC, it was determined that CRA has already determined this and for the purpose of the assessment by PWGSC, the definition in Annex 1.2 Protocol and Standards would be used. PWGSC was not to become the regulatory body validating “commercial office” according to CRA.) PWGSC confirmed that Commercial Office is defined in the RFSO/RFSA (Annex 1.2 “Protocol and Standards”). The definition will be used to assess the Commercial Office requirement and can be reviewed at the time of refresh if necessary.

On page 3 of the “Steps for Assessing Suppliers” document, Supplier’s Candidate File Review was discussed. Industry suggested the following changes and PWGSC confirmed that the document will be finalized to include these changes.

• Third paragraph, first sentence is to be revised to “PWGSC will review the Candidate file to confirm that the following documentation is on file, i.e. electronic copy or hard copy located in the commercial office.”
• The 2^nd bullet item is to be revised to: documentation indicating that an interview was conducted;
• The 4^th bullet item is to be revised to: tests for the Candidate relating to the classification. A note is to be added to indicate that absence of testing is acceptable when a minimum of three years of related experience can be demonstrated in the field. o The 5th bullet item is to be revised to: language testing applicable to the work/requirement;
• The 6^th bullet item is to be revised to: As applicable, credential/certifications held by the candidate, applicable to the classification and work/requirement;
• The 8^th bullet item is to be broken into two items. “Permission for Supplier to submit the Candidate’s name” should be a separate item.
• The 9^th bullet item is to be revised as: Demonstrated attempts to conduct or completed reference check by the Supplier on the candidate;
• The 10^th bullet item is to be deleted.
• The last bullet item is to be revised to: when applicable to the requirement, Workplace Hazardous Material Information System (WHMIS) training.

Industry expressed concern that the Supplier Candidate File review could be conducted on assignments that were under the old THS, not the new THS. PWGSC confirmed that the Supplier Candidate File review checklist is a summary of the common practices that have been in place in THS industry since May 2007. In the Sanctions document, there are leniency clauses to ensure grace period is given to allow suppliers to take remedies.

PWGSC indicated that the Assessment on Suppliers would commence no earlier than September 2009. This is based on the following approach:

May 2009: PWGSC commences the review of the 5 page narrative against “Annex 1.3: Basic Standards for Testing the Administrative Classification – Steam 1”. This activity is to be completed for all Suppliers.

July/August: Is established as the summer vacation months, which have historically proven to be problematic for arranging assessments during this time period.

September 2009: The assessment of Suppliers will commence; some will be pre-arranged. The approach for assessment Suppliers will begin with the members of the THS Advisory Committee, followed by a blended approach of alphabetical and random selection of Suppliers. The goal in FY 2009/10 is to complete an assessment of all Suppliers in THS.

Item 3. Other Items

Industry raised concern about some clients demanding THS resources to work on Family Day, which has increased the cost for THS industry. PWGSC confirmed that it should be the supplier’s decision whether or not to permit their resources to work on Family Day. Industry suggested to include wording to this effect on THS website.

PWGSC confirmed that there is no agreement (memorandum of understanding) between client departments and PWGSC before any client user can receive their user id and password for THS system. The conditions of an MOU are being covered through mandatory training; as part of the mandatory training, the Federal Department User (client user) is informed that by logging into the THS On-Line System, the user has accepted responsibility and accountability on the proper use of the system.

Item 4. Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held January 29 at Place du Portage, 11 Laurier, PDP III, Gatineau, Québec, Tower A, 14A2, Boardroom 101, 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.