ARCHIVED – Employment Equity Report 2012-2013

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. The Organization
2. Analysis

Employment Equity Initiatives

1. Aboriginal Engagement Program
2. Persons with Disabilities
3. Other Related Initiatives

Workforce Analysis

1. Availability Data
2. Employee Population
3. Self-Identification
4. Analysis

Analysis of Total Employee Population

1. Summary

Table 1 - Comparison of Total Employee Population with Availability Data

Analysis by Employment Equity Occupational Groups

1. Senior Managers
2. Middle Managers
3. Professionals
4. Semi-Professionals and Technicians
5. Supervisors
6. Administrative and Senior ClericalClerical Personnel
7. Skilled Crafts and Trades
8. Clerical Personnel
9. Semi-Skilled Workers
10. Summary

Table 2 - Comparison of Employee Population with Availability Data by Employment Equity Groups and by Occupational Groups

Analysis of the Numbers of Employee Hires, Promotions and Regrettable Departures

1. Employee Hires
2. Employee Promotions
3. Employee Regrettable Departures
4. Summary

Table 3 - Comparison of Employee Hires with Availability Data by Employment Equity Groups and by Occupational Groups

Table 4 - Employee Promotions by Employment Equity Groups and by Occupational Groups

Table 5 - Employee Regrettable Departures by Employment Equity Groups and by Occupational Groups

Conclusion

Introduction

The National Energy Board (NEB) is committed to providing an inclusive workplace. The NEB has a strong interest in supporting employee attraction and retention. The initiatives are based on the principles of Employment Equity, and embrace and extend beyond the legislative requirements under the Employment Equity Act.

Employment Equity looks at the following groups when determining gaps in a work force:  Women, Aboriginal People, Visible Minorities and Persons with Disabilities.

This annual report on Employment Equity for the NEB provides a description of Employment Equity activities and an analysis of the results achieved during the reporting period from 01 April 2012 to 31 March 2013. In addition, the report provides a workforce description of the employees at the NEB as of 31 March 2013, and includes an analysis of internal representation versus labour market availability.

The Organization

The NEB is an independent, federal, quasi-judicial regulatory tribunal. The NEB’s corporate purpose is to regulate pipelines, energy development and trade in the Canadian public interest. The NEB’s vision is to be active and effective in Canada’s pursuit of a sustainable energy future. 

The main functions of the NEB are set out in the National Energy Board Act. The NEB also has regulatory responsibilities under the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act and certain provisions of the Canada Petroleum Resources Act. The NEB has specific responsibilities under the Energy Administration Act and the Northern Pipeline Act. In addition, some NEB staff are appointed Health and Safety Officers by the Minister of Labour to administer Part II of the Canada Labour Code as it applies to facilities regulated by the Board.

All employees of the NEB are headquartered in a single work location in Calgary. Since February 2004, all unionized employees have been represented by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), the one union certified as the Bargaining Agent for the NEB.

The NEB follows a strategic planning process that establishes priorities to meet its mandate. In the current environment of increasing global demand for safe and secure supplies of energy and continuing high energy prices, the NEB’s role as Canada’s national energy regulator is as important as ever. We are challenged to maintain a skilled and knowledgeable workforce in a very competitive employment market, especially in Calgary where a thriving private sector oil & gas industry makes it difficult to attract and retain qualified staff. We continue to work toward promoting diversity and eliminating barriers to employment.

Analysis

Data Sources:  This report uses 2006 Census Availability data received from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to compare overall representation of the designated groups at the NEB with the composition of the Canadian population. The National Occupational Codes (NOC) codes are in compliance with the new coding system. This report further compares internal representation to availability data by Employment Equity Occupational Group.

HRDC’s Workplace Equity Information Management System (WEIMS), is used to determine the statistics within this report.

Employment Equity Initiatives

The NEB Employment Equity and Diversity Plan (EEDP) 2011-2014 focuses on achieving excellence through our employees. Given the unique role that the NEB plays on behalf of the Canadian public, the greatest challenge is to attract and retain the best people possible. The EEDP recognizes that we must embrace and represent diversity and move beyond considering diversity as a purely intellectual exercise to it becoming an inherent component of our organizational culture. The EEDP is monitored, reported on and updated annually.

The Board is in the process of reviewing the Duty to Accommodate Policy; procedures and guidelines will be finalized in the fall of 2013.

The intent is to ensure this policy provides for an inclusive, barrier-free, non-discriminatory workplace, allowing for the full participation of both its employees and selection process candidates.

Aboriginal Engagement Program

During this reporting period, the NEB continued to refine its Aboriginal Engagement Program by targeting recruitment of Aboriginal candidates. Part of the purpose of this program is to increase internal capacity to understand aboriginal issues and, in turn, raise the awareness in Aboriginal communities of the role of the NEB.

In addition, in partnership with other federal departments and industry in Calgary, the NEB continues to promote and encourage employees to participate in meetings and celebrations respecting diversity, as well as commemorative events and awareness training.

Persons with Disabilities

With the creation of the Duty to Accommodate Policy, our focus has been to promote an inclusive healthy and productive work environment. Accommodation is provided to employees as required and includes providing modified work to injured workers. Work schedules are adjusted to provide variable start times where circumstances warrant and modified work weeks are provided whenever feasible. Ergonomic assessments of individual work stations continue to be provided on a priority basis to employees with medical certificates. Employees with disabilities who require that measures be implemented in order to accommodate their needs are given immediate attention.

Other Related Initiatives

All new employees participate in an Orientation to the Organization: two half-day sessions which include an introduction to the NEB’s EEDP initiatives. The NEB is in the process of developing an on-line orientation course for new employees, and it is anticipated this will be available in the coming year.

During the reporting period, “Respectful Workplace” training sessions were held regularly. This training was recently updated and made mandatory for all employees. Since 2003, the NEB has made available the services of an Ombudsperson who is available to all employees to discuss harassment and discrimination issues and situations.

The NEB’s Employment Equity and Diversity Committee is comprised of Senior Management (Champion); Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) Union representation, Employment Equity Members (employees) and Human Resources. The Committee is responsible for monitoring the progress of the EEDP and for making recommendations to enhance the program. Consultations with employee representatives on employment equity initiatives take place within the mandate of the NEB Union-Management Consultation Committee.

Workforce Analysis

Availability Data

The most recent Labour Market Availability results are from the 2006 Census Data, and this information was used for making comparisons.

Employee Population

The workforce analysis was conducted on the total employee population with the exception of those employees who work less than 12.5 hours/week. In addition, the following persons were not included in the NEB workforce analysis:

• Governor-in-Council appointments: Chair/CEO, Vice-Chair, and Board Members;
• Persons who were brought into the NEB on Interchange from other Federal Government departments/agencies and private industry; or
• Persons who worked for a period less than thirteen weeks.

Self-Identification

The Self-Identification initiative continues to be a mandatory process for all employees. Mandatory information includes their name and signature, the other information is voluntary. 

Only those employees who voluntarily identify themselves as Aboriginal People, Visible Minorities or Persons with Disabilities are counted as members of designated groups for the purpose of conducting this workforce analysis and implementing Employment Equity. Women were also included but identified using information provided by the NEB’s Human Resources Information System (HRIS). 

Analysis

An analysis to determine the level of representation of designated groups within the Board was conducted and conclusions appear before each table. It is important to note that, because of our small workforce, a change of one or two individuals within the designated group can change percentages up or down dramatically.

Source of information comes from the 2006 Census Data with the exception of Persons with Disabilities where the source is the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) and Employer's Internal Data.

Percentages within the tables have been rounded, in some cases to the nearest decimal point in other cases to the nearest whole number.

Analysis of Total Employee Population

An analysis of the total employee population was conducted, and the results by gender and designated group members are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 shows that as of 31 March 2013, the total employee population was 400 employees, made up of 346 full-time, 23 part-time, and 31 temporary employees.Men comprised 40.0% of the total population, while Women had a representation of 60.0%, a slight increase from last year. People representation of 5.3% decreased by 0.5% since 31 March 2011. The representation of Visible Minorities and Persons with Disabilities remained relatively unchanged.

Table 1 also shows the percentage of representation by designated groups compared with the labour market availability data. From these comparisons, it can be seen that in the total population, all groups have a higher internal representation than their representation at NEB in the overall labour market.

Employment Equity under-representation is determined by comparing the representation within an occupational category with its workforce availability. The NEB workforce analysis shows these results:

Women: Overall exceed workforce availability in this group.

Aboriginal:  Overall exceed workforce availability in this group.

Visible Minorities: Overall meet workforce availability, however data indicates a shortage in three occupational categories; Middle and Other Managers (-1), Supervisors (-1), and Clerical Personnel (-1).

Persons with Disabilities:  Overall exceed workforce availability in this group however data indicates a shortage in one occupational category; Professionals (-1).

Summary

We remain committed to promoting diversity within the workforce and continue to improve our representation in the various groups.

Table 1: Comparison of Total Employee Population with Availability Data as of 31 March 2013

Analysis by Employment Equity Occupational Groups

Table 2 shows the breakdown into Employment Equity occupational groups of the total employee population by gender and designated groups. For each occupational group, the representation by gender and designated group members is given in whole numbers, as well as a proportion of the total number of employees (the first percentage figure at the bottom of each cell). The availability data is the percentage figure that follows.

Senior Managers

Table 2 shows that as of 31 March 2013, there were 11 senior managers employed at the NEB.Of these, three were women, which, at 27.3% is higher than the overall Calgary labour market availability data of 24.2%. Of these 11, one is a Visible Minority and two are Persons with Disabilities. There is no representation of Aboriginal People in this group.

Middle Managers

While there was an increase from 25 to 26 middle managers (designated at the NEB as Directors) between 2012 and 2013, the representation of Women increased from 40% to 50%. Similar to the previous report in 2012, Visible Minorities were slightly under-represented (11.5% vs. 14.0% availability). There continues to be no representation of Aboriginal People in this group.

Professionals

The Professional group is comprised of financial officers, engineers, economists, environmental specialists, human resources advisors, communications advisors, information systems specialists, translators and lawyers.In this occupational group, Women were well representedcompared with the availability data (54.6% vs. 40.8%) as were Aboriginal People (4.4% vs. 1.9%).Persons with Disabilities (4% vs. 4.5% availability) were about equal and Visible Minorities (15.7% vs. 15.2% availability) are well-represented.

Semi-Professionals and Technicians

The Semi-Professionals and Technicians occupational group includes geological technologists, engineering inspectors, library technicians, information technology service analysts, and graphic designers. Women are well represented in this group (55.2% vs. 50.1%). Aboriginal People are recognized as being over-represented (10.3% vs. 1.9%) as well as Persons with Disabilities (10.3% vs. 4.5%). Visible Minorities (10.3% vs. 11.9%) continue to be under-represented.

Supervisors

There are three employees in this occupational group. That makes up the entire complement and 100% are women; no other representation is present in this group.

Administrative and Senior Clerical

Women made up the vast majority of the NEB’s complement in the Administrative and Senior Clerical occupational group, which includes Business Unit Administrators, Human Resources Assistants, and Assistants to Board Members and other senior level administrative staff. Other Employment Equity groups appear adequately represented.

Skilled Crafts and Trades

There was one employee in this occupational group that makes up the entire complement and therefore an analysis cannot be provided.

Clerical Personnel

This category includes records, mail clerks and general administrative assistants. Women were adequately represented in this category (79.4% vs. 74%). Persons with Disabilities (8.8% vs. 4.4%), Aboriginal People (8.8% vs. 2.4%) and Visible Minorities (17.4% vs. 19.5%) were adequately represented in this group, with only Visible Minorities being under-represented by 2.1%.

Semi-Skilled Workers

There was one employee in this occupational group that makes up the entire complement and therefore an analysis cannot be provided.

Summary

In conclusion, an analysis of occupational groups from an Employment Equity perspective demonstrates a commitment to Employment Equity, with opportunities for maintaining the level of excellence and increasing representation in some occupational groups for some categories. As per our Employment Equity Plan, we are committed to ensuring our selection processes do not restrict participation of potential candidates.

While Women were over-represented in the Administrative and Clerical Personnel groups, the majority of all Women employed at the NEB were found in the Professional or Semi-Professional occupational groups. In order to increase representation in the Senior Managers and Middle Managers categories, greater opportunities for upward mobility for all groups may need to be provided through leadership development, formal learning and access to internal developmental opportunities such as acting assignments and/or coaching. This is a consideration of the Emerging Leader and Technical Leadership programs whereby employees have an opportunity to gain skills and experiences for upward mobility.

Aboriginal People were well represented in the Professional, Semi-Professionals & Technicians, Administrative and Senior Clerical and Clerical Personnel groups, with the majority found in the Professional group. There were no Aboriginal People in the other categories.

Visible Minorities exceed the availability percentages in the Senior Managers, Middle Managers and Administrative and Senior Clerical groups. All other groups show an under-representation compared to workforce availability. There was no identified representation within the Supervisors, Skilled Crafts and Trades and Semi-Skilled groups. 

Persons with Disabilities were well-represented in the Senior Managers, Semi-Professionals and Technicians and Clerical Personnel groups and under-represented in the Middle Managers and Administrative & Senior Clerical groups. The majority of Persons with Disabilities were found in the Professional and Clerical Personnel groups. This gap is fairly consistent with the explanation offered for Visible Minorities

Table 2: Comparison of Employee Population with Availability Data by Employment Equity Groups and by Occupational Groups as of 31 March 2013

Analysis of the Numbers of Employee Hires, Promotions and Regrettable Departures

Tables 3, 4 and 5 summarize new hire, promotion and regrettable departure activity between 01 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.

Employee Hires

Table 3 reports 68 employee hires between 01 April 2012 and 31 March 2013, which is up from 54 from the past reporting period. Of those, 33 (48.5%) were Women. One Aboriginal, fourteen Visible Minorities and two Disabled Persons were hired.

Employee Promotions

Table 4 shows that 51 employees were promoted during this period, down from 74 last year. The majority of actions (42 or 82.3%) occurred in the Professionals Group. Of the 51 promoted employees 60.7% were Women.

Employee Regrettable Departures

Table 5 reports that in this period, 43 employees left the NEB. Of these employees, 42% were Women (18) and 58% were Men (25). Departing employees were primarily in the Professional category (28 of the 43, or 65%). This is not surprising considering that Calgary’s labour market continues to remain very competitive, especially in the oil and gas industry which impacts the Board’s attrition rate.

Summary

Analysis of hires, promotions and regrettable departures suggests that Women accounted for the greatest staff movements into, within, and out of the NEB. Womenwere hired, promoted and departed at rates exceeding the overall labour market.

One Aboriginal person was hired, six were promoted, and one departed the NEB. 

Fourteen Visible Minorities were hired, six were promoted and six elected to leave the NEB. One possible reason for this gap is the large change in the Census data for the Visible Minorities Employment Equity group, which has increased significantly from 7.8% in the 1996 Census data to 14.7% in the 2006 Census data. 

The inclusion of Landed Immigrants in the statistical data can be misleading for government departments and agencies, such as the NEB, that are regulated by the Public Service Employment Act and the Security of Information Act. External systemic barriers and the inability to facilitate security clearances from the country of origin for landed immigrants create barriers to the employment of some visible minorities.  It is important to remember that under the provisions of the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), departments are required to provide Canadian Citizens with a preference for employment opportunities. Foreign educational documentation is not recognized and often difficult to verify, creating delays in potential employment for immigrants whose credentials do not meet Canadian standards, especially in hard to find skill sets such as specialty engineers, geo-physicists, etc.

There were three promotions, two hired and three regrettable departures from the Persons with Disabilities group.

Table 3: Comparison of Employee Hires with Availability Data by Employment Equity Groups and by Occupational Groups 01 April 2012 to 31 March 2013

Table 4: Employee Promotions by Employment Equity Groups* and by Occupational Groups 01 April 2012 to 31 March 2012

Table 5: Employee Regrettable Departures^[1] by Employment Equity Groups and by Occupational Groups 01 April 2012 to 31 March 2013

Workplace Equity Information Management System - National Energy Board

Workforce Analysis - Summary Report

Date: 2013-03-31

Women

Aboriginal Peoples

Members of Visible Minorities

Persons with Disabilities

Conclusion

The NEB’s workforce is representative of Canadian society. As indicated in the statistics there were no gaps in any of the four employment equity groups; Women, Aboriginal People, Visible Minorities, or Persons with Disabilities.

As the NEB has a small workforce, a change of one or two individuals can make a significant impact to the statistics. Therefore we continue to take into consideration our employment equity needs in every staffing action.

As documented in the NEB’s People Strategy, retention is an integrated approach to human resources management as a result we created Talent Management Framework (TMF). The intention of the TMF is to attract and retain the right people with the right skills and expertise to contribute to our business objectives in an increasingly competitive labour market.

The NEB continues to improve our outreach efforts to increase the representation of Visible Minorities and Person with Disabilities in those occupational groups where they are not well represented. In addition, although the NEB’s representation of Aboriginal People reflects well against the availability data, efforts will continue to include contacts with representatives of both secondary and post-secondary institutions that have responsibility for Aboriginal learners. Wherever possible, we will continue to liaise with Workforce Diversity Consultants in other government organizations to share inventories of available Aboriginal applicants. At a minimum, this will continue to provide us with access to Aboriginal candidates for future NEB selection processes.

Labour market availability for the Visible Minority group has increased with the inclusion of Landed Immigrants in Census data. This adjustment represents an increase in the representation target for the NEB. A diverse outreach team participated in a number of career fairs to promote NEB as a potential employer and to build relationships with post-secondary educational institutions. This approach will continue in order to increase our representation of Visible Minorities.

As part of our attraction and retention strategy for all employees, the NEB is committed to building a workplace that embraces inclusiveness and diversity. The NEB will continue to be innovative to ensure that any gains made with respect to the hiring and retention of members of the designated Employment Equity groups are not eroded.

Date modified:

2022-08-05