As Labour Relations Advisors at ACFO-ACAF, our priority is to protect the wellbeing of the CT Community in the workplace. For this reason, we’d like to demystify the process of contacting Labour Relations and how we can assist you should you have any concerns or believe that your rights are being violated.

Anytime you email Labour Relations at labourrelations@acfo-acaf.com or call ACFO-ACAF’s office toll-free at 1-877-728-0695, the first available advisor will respond to your question. It is important to note that every correspondence that you have with us is 100% confidential. Our LRAs are simply here to present you with your options, and we’ll never contact the employer or your manager unless your permission is given.

You’ll find a complete infographic below that outlines the process. For accessibility purposes, the text of the infographic is also provided below.

Timeline

The following timeline is meant to give you an idea of what steps you can expect throughout the process of engaging with one of our Labour Relations Advisors at ACFO-ACAF.

1. An issue occurs in the workplace
2. You call or email ACFO-ACAF Labour Relations
3. We will assess the situation and gather all the pertinent information
4. We’ll walk you through following up with management
5. We help you reach an agreement or solution informally
6. If the ICR isn’t successful, we would look at further measures.

Please note that we only take action when you ask us to and when you’re ready.

What is an ICR?

ICR is an acronym for Informal Conflict Resolution. ICR tends to be much shorter, less adversarial, and lead to healthier long-term relationships between parties than filing grievances. Whether it’s an interpersonal relationship or a personality conflict, we apply ICR whenever possible. In modern labour relations practice, our first step is to resolve issues on the lowest level possible or through mediation.

Should it be necessary to go beyond an ICR and should you wish to proceed, a next step could be to file a grievance. There are two different types of grievances:

• Collective agreement grievances are adjudicative requiring both ACFO-ACAF approval and representation, such as grievances related to leave or hours of work.
• Non-collective agreement grievances are department specific and would be covered by Treasury Board policy, such as telework or harassment. 

Although we’re happy to give you advice about non-collective agreement grievance issues, they don’t require ACFO-ACAF approval, and we offer representation on a case-by-case basis.

Workplace issue scenario

1. You’ve been asked to perform duties of a higher classification by your manager for which you are not being compensated, so you contact ACFO-ACAF.
2. To begin, we’d look into the nature of the duties asked of you and how long the issue has been going on.
3. From there, we’d ask if you want us to raise this to management or give you coaching on how to follow up with your manager yourself.
4. If this follow-up is unsuccessful, a number of options could be taken, including contacting a Labour Relations Advisor or Human Resource Officer at the department, mediation, or filing a grievance.

Please note that this is only an example of an issue that an ACFO-ACAF Labour Relations Advisor can help you with. If this specific example applies to you, please contact our labour relations team.

Remember, it’s our job to help you

We provide a free, confidential service, so simply having a conversation with us can do no harm – at every step along the way, the choice is yours.

If you are having an issue in the workplace and are not sure of how to proceed, please contact our labour relations team at labourrelations@acfo-acaf.com or call ACFO-ACAF’s office toll-free number 1-877-728-0695.