CHRO Update - April 22, 2020

CHRO's broadcast sent April 22, 2020

Like most of you, I'm processing the tragedy of Sunday's shootings in Nova Scotia. We have lost a friend and colleague and we grieve for her family and the toll this has taken on the close-knit community of Portapique and others across Nova Scotia. Even under normal circumstances, an on-duty death sends shock waves through our community. That this should happen during a pandemic that requires us to remain separate from those we love is truly devastating. We will comfort each other, but we must do it at a distance.

We're exceptionally proud of our front line officers right now, whose continued hard work is a testament to their dedication to helping others, and we will all continue to do everything we can to support them and each other.

At a time like this, there is no such thing as "business-as-usual," however, there are several updates and initiatives that I know are still important to many as we keep the wheels turning:

Tracking COVID-related leave (Code 699)

Please note that all government departments, including the RCMP, are required to track "Leave with Pay for Other Reasons" (Code 699) for COVID-related absences with more detail than what was previously required.

Detailed instructions on include how to track leave for last fiscal year (before April 1st) and current fiscal year (after April 1st) in HRMIS, who may approve, and what to do if you don't have HRMIS access.

I appreciate your patience in taking the time to track your leave according to requirements. This will help us and all of government put together an accurate picture of the impacts of the pandemic to better inform planning for future events.

Reporting your health status

As you know, it's important that we track any cases of COVID-19 in our organization not only to ensure we are well prepared to address any capacity issues and resourcing needs, and support employee wellness, but to enable us to respond quickly and effectively to ensure everyone's continued safety. While each division has a different process for collecting this data from employees, the overall approach for consolidating the data is the same across the country. All employees are reminded of their responsibility to report their health status to their division.

Throughout the reporting process, your personal information is protected. Primary contacts have been identified in each division to input employee data into a divisional spreadsheet. Access to this data is restricted to only these contacts and the team responsible for generating the national dashboard. The national dashboard captures the current situation of our workforce, both national and divisionally, in comparison to the overall situation in Canada for the senior management team. It does not contain any personal identifiers for employees. Post-pandemic, the data collected for the national dashboard will be disposed of accordingly.

Member career preferences to be retained until September 1

Career Development and Resourcing (CDR) offices uses member career preferences in HRMIS to help them identify interest in postings available across the country. Career preferences are purged each year, so that only current preferences are maintained in HRMIS.

Given the current situation, the purge date has been extended from June 1, 2020 to September 1, 2020. On September 1, 2020, any career preference information entered in HRMIS prior to July 1, 2020 will be purged.

Update on staffing

We will continue to process promotions and transfers and other staffing actions for all ranks and categories on a case-by-case basis until further notice. This means that all transactions will be processed according to organizational need and urgency with an understanding that there may be some delays in the relocation process.

The Onboarding Transition Phase (OTP) that was required for deeming has officially been lifted. HRMIS staffing transactions that were suspended since January 1, 2020 can now resume. Please note that the remains in place.

Leave restrictions

As announced in the , new requests for annual/vacation leave from all RCMP employees are currently restricted until July 1, 2020 in order to ensure that we can meet all of our operational requirements in light of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

We know many of you have been working very hard over the past several weeks, and may need time to recharge. Therefore, short leave requests up until July 1, 2020 may be considered on a case-by-case basis, subject to management's approval.

We all remain subject to the travel restrictions and other measures put in place by public health officials to limit the spread of the virus and keep ourselves and our vulnerable populations safe.

As the Commissioner said, "In challenging times, Canadians look to the RCMP not just for service, but for leadership. They see us out there every day, doing the job we do so well, and what they see, influences how they feel."

While these days feel harder than most, please continue to take care of yourselves and your loved ones. Reach out to the if you need their help.

Stay strong.

Gail Johnson
Chief Human Resources

Date modified:

2020-04-22