ARCHIVED - Canada Industrial Relations Board - Report

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Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

Strategic Outcome - Effective dispute resolution services that support constructive labour-management relations in sectors regulated by the Canada Labour Code

When the Board receives an application or complaint, it is usually because there is some form of unresolved conflict or problem in the workplace that the parties involved have been incapable of resolving on their own. Through mediation or by issuing a decision, the Board effectively and directly contributes to its sole strategic outcome, namely, the resolution of labour relations issues. The impact of the work of the Board can be both broad-ranging and significant. The Board's decisions and mediation efforts often affect, in very tangible ways, the working lives of thousands of Canadians, the economic position of leading Canadian corporations, and the general well-being of the Canadian public.

The Board also contributes, in an indirect but no less important manner, to effective industrial relations in the federal jurisdiction. Each time it issues a decision, the Board adds to its growing jurisprudence, which is widely disseminated to the industrial relations community. Clear and consistent jurisprudence provides an environment where potential litigants are more likely to resolve matters on their own, rather than to bring the matter before the Board. It is, however, difficult to ascribe a quantitative measure to this contribution to the labour-management relationship.

Program Activity: Adjudicative and Dispute Resolution Program

The CIRB has only one key operational program activity—the Adjudicative and Dispute Resolution Program. Through this program, the CIRB resolves labour relations issues by exercising its statutory powers relating to the application and interpretation of Part I (Industrial Relations), and certain provisions of Part II (Occupational Health and Safety), of the Code. Activities include the granting, modification and termination of bargaining rights; the investigation, mediation and adjudication of complaints alleging violation of Part I of the Code; the determination of levels of services required to be maintained during a work stoppage; the exercise of ancillary remedial authority; the exercise of cease and desist powers in cases of unlawful strikes or lockouts; and the settlement of the terms of a first collective agreement.

2010–11 Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
9,437	9,753	9,468

2010–11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
76	72.25	-3.75

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Status
Labour relations issues are resolved in a timely, fair and consistent manner	CIRB decisions overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal	Less than one percent of all decisions rendered are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal	Two decisions of the Board were overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal representing 0.4% of all decisions rendered by the Board during the year
	Number of applications/complaints resolved through mediation	Fifty percent of cases are resolved through mediation	Forty-eight percent of unfair labour practice complaints were either settled or withdrawn without the need for adjudication
	Decisions are issued within statutory deadlines	Average decision-making time is less than 90 days from the date the Board reserved its decision	The average decision-making time is 64 days
	Reduction of CIRB's average case disposition time	Seventy percent of cases are processed in less than one year	Eighty-five percent were processed in less than one year

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Volume of Matters

While the nature of the demand for Board services may vary, depending on the state of the economy and other factors, the absolute number of incoming applications/complaints has remained relatively constant over the last five fiscal years. A total of 676 applications/complaints were received in 2010–11, which represents 16 less cases than in 2009–10 (see Chart 1). This level is much lower than the average of 823 per year in the earlier part of the decade.

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Unfair labour practice (ULP) complaints continue to represent the highest volume of cases at 43% of incoming matters in 2010–11. This is further broken down, with DFR complaints representing 25.7% of cases and other ULP complaints representing 17.3% of cases. Applications for certification and review also represent a significant portion of incoming matters at 18% and 15.7% respectively.

With respect to the number of cases that were resolved, the Board disposed of 678 matters in 2010–11, which is 28 fewer cases than in the previous fiscal year (see Chart 1) and 17% less than two years ago. The current rate of disposition is probably more indicative of the Board's sustainable level given its current resources and volume of matters. The fact that the Board conducted a blitz in 2008–09 to resolve a large number of DFR complaints that had accumulated over the years resulted in the Board disposing of more matters in 2008–09 than it would otherwise have done. The number of pending matters is now at 423 cases and appears to represent the regular norm of ongoing and current cases that are being processed pursuant to the prescribed timelines or are scheduled for mediation meetings or hearings. It should be noted that less than 12% of those cases have been pending for more than 24 months—a significant improvement from just three years ago where 24% of cases had been pending for more than two years.

Processing Time

The average time required to process a file—the time spent opening, investigating, mediating, hearing, and deciding a case—continued to drop significantly in 2010–11 to 192 calendar days from 230 in 2009–10. This is the lowest average in several years (see Chart 2). Although the decline in average processing time is evident for most types of matters in 2010–11, it is largely the result of the significant reduction in the processing of certification applications, which stood at 108 calendar days in 2010–11 compared to 201 days in the previous year. Also of note is the reduction in processing time for single employer applications, which are complex matters that generally require more time and resources for their disposition. In 2010–11, the Board was successful in managing these cases effectively and reducing their average processing time by 100 calendar days.

Reducing the backlog of pending cases and improving average case disposition time are, to a certain extent, related and highly dependent on various initiatives that were introduced over the years to improve the processing of cases. These initiatives have reduced the number of backlog cases to its lowest level in 25 years as well as lowered the average processing time of applications/complaints by more than 35% over three years.

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Decision-making Time

The Board issues detailed Reasons for decision in matters of broader national significance and/or significant precedential importance. In other matters, concise letter decisions help expedite the decision-making process, thereby providing more timely industrial relations outcomes for the parties involved. The Board also disposes of certain matters by issuing an order that summarizes the Board's decision. The Board strives to provide timely and legally sound decisions that are also consistent across similar matters in order to establish strong and clear jurisprudence.

One component of the overall processing time is the length of time required by a Board panel to prepare and issue a decision following the completion of the hearing of a matter. A panel may decide a case without a hearing on the basis of written and documentary evidence, such as investigation reports and written submissions, or may defer the decision until further evidence and argument is obtained via an oral hearing.

In 2010–11, the CIRB issued 69 detailed Reasons for decision, 204 letter decisions and 206 orders, for a total of 479 written decisions.

Similar to processing time, the average decision-making time of disposed matters dropped significantly in 2010–11 to 64 days from 94 days in 2009–10 (see Chart 2). Another approach to evaluating the Board's performance on decision-making time is to use section 14.2(2) of the Code as a benchmark. This section requires that a panel must render its decision and give notice of it to the parties no later than ninety days after the day on which it reserved its decision or within any further period that may be determined by the Chairperson. By this criterion, the Board showed continued improvement in 2010–11 with close to 80% of cases having a decision rendered in 90 days or less, compared to 77% in 2009–10.

Additional statistics on the Board's performance can be found at: http://www.cirb-ccri.gc.ca/publications/report-rapport_eng.asp.

Judicial Reviews

Another measure of the Board's performance, as well as a measure of the quality and soundness of its decisions, is the frequency of applications for judicial review of Board decisions by the Federal Court, and the percentage of decisions upheld as a result of these reviews. In this respect, the Board continues to perform exceptionally well. Of the 26 applications for judicial review filed with the Federal Court in 2010–11, only two of the Board's decisions were not upheld, and in the last five fiscal years, only four applications for judicial review were granted by the Court.

Dispute Resolution Through Mediation

The Canada Labour Code specifically gives the Board extensive powers to ”assist the parties in resolving any issues in dispute at any stage of a proceeding and by any means that the Board considers appropriate.” Accordingly, the Board has placed considerable emphasis on mediation in order to help parties find alternative solutions to their dispute without the need for an adjudicated decision. However, even in cases where mediation does not result in the full resolution or withdrawal of a matter, it is useful in clarifying or reducing the number of issues in dispute or in developing a more positive, problem-solving relationship between the parties.

In 2010–11, the Board implemented tracking measures to capture the success rate of its mediation efforts. Results indicate that almost half of ULP complaints were settled or withdrawn. These results, however, do not account for the settlements that are often incorporated in Board decisions or orders. If these types of settlement were appropriately captured in the performance measures, it would likely result in the Board exceeding its target. This highlights the need to further refine this performance indicator and accompanying tracking mechanisms to better reflect the success of the Board's mediation services.

Program Activity: Internal Services

The second activity of the Board, which would not exist without the first, is to provide the internal support and administrative services required to carry out the Board's primary program. It consists of the groups of activities and resources that are administered to support the operational needs of the Board's Adjudicative and Dispute Resolution Program and other corporate obligations of the CIRB, including Central Agency requirements. These groups are: management and oversight services; human resources services; financial and administrative services (including facilities, materiel and procurement services); information management services; and information technology services.

2010–11 Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
3,580	3,934	3,819

2010–11 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
34	30.25	-3.75

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Internal services make a critical contribution to the achievement of the sole primary program. The Board is committed to continuously seek effective and efficient internal service delivery and is working to address challenges in line with the Clerk of the Privy Council's Public Service Renewal priorities. During the reporting period, the Board continued the review of its Client and Corporate Services, taking into consideration the evolving federal government direction with respect to shared services, where appropriate. Progress has been made on the planning of mitigation strategies to alleviate skills shortages and high employee turnover.

Lessons Learned

The complexity and implications of the issues facing federally regulated employers and unions require the Board to judiciously apply a wide range of knowledge and skills in diverse industrial relations, labour law and administrative law contexts. The development of Board jurisprudence and a generally stable economic environment over most of the 2000 decade resulted in a decrease in the number of cases coming before the Board, but the current environment may well change that situation. It is possible that the Board will receive more ULP complaints as a result of difficulties at the bargaining table, as well as more applications related to corporate restructuring or sale of business.

The significant improvement in the average processing time of applications and complaints has shown the Board that innovative measures developed in consultation with stakeholders are both possible and effective. Over the next year, stakeholder consultations are expected to focus on the review of the Board Regulations, and will likely lead to the implementation of other measures that will have as great an impact on case processing and disposition.

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