Understanding Types of Priorities in Public Service Hiring

Priority status is a way of retaining employees (and in some cases spouses) that the Federal Government of Canada uses in its hiring processes. Becoming a priority in the public service always involves loss. These losses include:

• Layoff
• Disability
• Being relocated
• Job loss
• Voluntary leave of absence (eg a parent who takes a prolonged leave to care for their child
• Death of a spouse who was a military member, worked for the RCMP, or public servant whose death was attributable to their service.  

For this reason, no one hopes to find themselves a priority, but every year hundreds of people find themselves becoming a priority.

There are two groups of priorities- statutory and regulatory. Regardless of which group all priorities must meet the essential qualifications in order to be considered. Essential qualifications are exactly what they sound like, factors that must be satisfied to be hired. They include:

•          Education
•       Experience
•       Knowledge
•       Skills/Abilities
•       Personal Suitability

Education and experience (and if written communication is a personal suitability factor) are assessed using the resume submitted. A poorly written resume will dramatically limit the number of positions that a priority is referred to.  

When priorities are referred a hiring manager must look at statutory priorities first an in this order.

Statutory Priorities

Statutory priorities are so named because their entitlements flow out of the Public Service Employment Act and legal statue.

First: Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members released for medical reasons attributable to service as determined by Veterans Affairs Canada. All CAF members, including regular force, reserve force and special force are eligible. This is the highest level of priority and someone in this category who meets all the selection criteria will be appointed to the position ahead of all others. If a CAF member who is medically released for reasons not attributable to service and can no longer meet universality of service they will have a priority entitlement under the group- regulatory priority.

Second: A public servant who has been informed that their services are no longer required (but have not been laid off). This employee is a statutory priority for their own department and will be a regulatory priority for all other government departments.

Third: Employees who took leave of absence, and their substantive position has been staffed indeterminately behind them. This only happens in the case of an absence of more than a year, and doesn’t always happen. As an example if a mother takes three years to care for her child her supervisor may hire indeterminately behind her after a year (triggering a priority status when the mother wants to return) or they may just use a term to fill the vacancies until she returns.

Fourth: An employee who has been laid off from the public service due to a lack of work, the discontinuance of a function (Compensation Advisors in every department is a good example) or the transfer of work or a function outside the public service.

For the official legalese version please follow this link.

Regulatory Priorities

The priority entitlements that fall under the Public Service Employment Regulation are referred to as “regulatory priorities.” Employees, veterans and surviving spouses with a regulatory priority are appointed after those with a statutory priority. Unlike the statutory priorities there is no order in which they must be appointed.

Surplus employees: Employees from other organizations who have been advised that their services are no longer required, but before any lay-off becomes effective. These people are statutory priorities within their own department.

Example: I am told my services are no longer required at Parks Canada. I am a statutory priority for Parks Canada and a regulatory priority for all other government departments.

Employees who become disabled: If an employee becomes disabled and, as a result of the disability, is no longer able to carry out the duties of their position.

RCMP members: In certain circumstances members who discharged for medical reasons.

CAF veterans: Certain veterans released for medical reasons not attributable to service:  Members of the regular force, the special force, the reserve force on Class B service of 180 days or more or on Class C reserve service are eligible. You must be released from the military (thus a veteran) in order to qualify. You cannot enact this entitlement while still in uniform.

Relocation of spouse or common-law partner: Indeterminate employees who were granted leave for relocation, and whose positions have not been staffed indeterminately.

Reinstatement: Employees who had a priority entitlement and who were appointed or deployed to a position in the public service at a lower level are a regulatory priority for the group and level they held previously. As an example, you were an AS02 but at the new work location you had to take an AS01. You remain a reinstatement priority for the AS02 level.

Surviving spouse or common-law partner: Surviving spouses or common-law partners of whose partner/spouse was employed in the public service, the CAF or the RCMP, and whose death is attributable to the performance of duties. As an example, an RCMP office is killed in the line of duty, their partner can apply to become a priority in the public service if the public service does not currently employ them.

For the official legalese version please follow this link.

Understanding regulatory and statutory priorities will help you as you are referred to positions within the public service. 

Veteran's who do not meet the above categories do not have priority status, but they may have "Veteran's preference". See next week's post to find out the difference between the two.