Public Service
Jurisdiction
Judicial review of Adjudicator’s decision declining jurisdiction to hear applicant’s grievance—Applicant working for federal public service for several years on succession of term contracts—Filing grievance alleging termination of employment improper layoff—Adjudicator finding jurisdiction confined to matters identified in Public Service Labour Relations Act, S.C. 2003, c. 22, s. 209(1)—Whether Adjudicator erred in declining jurisdiction to consider provisions of Treasury Board’s Term Employment Policy in determining whether Work Force Adjustment provisions of collective agreement applied to applicant—Essential nature of dispute interpretation, application of provisions of Term Employment Policy, as opposed to collective agreement—Adjudicators required to consider, apply employment-related statutes in determining substantive rights, obligations of parties to collective agreements—Term Employment Policy not legally binding on Adjudicator as that policy having discretionary component, in that appointments to indeterminate positions must be made in accordance with merit principle—Adjudicator rightly declining jurisdiction to deal with applicant’s grievance—Open to Union to seek incorporation of Term Employment Policy into collective agreement—Also open to applicant to seek judicial review of final level grievance decision denying claim for Work Force Adjustment benefits—Application dismissed.
Spencer v. Canada (Attorney General) (T-75-08, 2008 FC 1395, Mactavish J., judgment dated December 18, 2008, 19 pp.)