Half of NPCA staff worried about intimidation, harassment
When it comes to workplace satisfaction, Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority is a house divided, says Ontario’s Auditor General.
Nearly half of staff working at NPCA believed the embattled agency has a “negative work environment” while 38 per cent of employees said the work environment is “positive,” according to a survey done by Auditor General investigators.
“These views were further communicated during our interviews where half of NPCA employees told us the workplace was generally positive, respectful and supportive, while the other half expressed concerns of harassment, fear and intimidation,” says the Auditor General report on NPCA, which was released last Thursday.
Employees who thought NPCA was a positive place to work pointed to the conservation authority’s “investment in staff training” and said those with a negative outlook were resistant to change.
Employees who had a negative view of NPCA “said they were fearful that if they disagreed with management, or otherwise raised concerns about management’s strategic direction, they would be fired or laid off.”
The report also said NPCA staffing has been unstable, in part due to “frequent and costly” restructuring plans.
The agency has undergone
four reorganizations under four CAOs between 2012 and 2017, the report said. A total of 32 full-time employees out of an annual average of 60 were laid off or terminated. Three were subsequently recalled or reassigned to a contract position.
“Because of these reorganizations, the NPCA’s average involuntary turnover rate in the 201217 period was 11 per cent — twoand-a-half times the average rate of 4.4 per cent for the public and private sectors in the same period reported by the Conference Board of Canada.”
During the same period of time, NPCA’s administration expenses rose 48 per cent.
The agency also spent $1.3 million in “staff compensation, settlements related to grievances filed at the time of termination, HR counselling and consulting fees related to terminations,” and could spend another $40,000 on open cases.
NPCA also spent $217,000 on legal fees relating to terminations and grievances, “some which can be attributed to the restructurings.”
The report also says that harassment complaints filed by NPCA staff are not always dealt with in accordance with provincial legislation.
The Auditor General team hired human resources specialist to examine “the reasonableness” of NPCA’s response to 16 harassment complaints filed by staff in 2017 and 2018.
That review found that “for 13 of the 16 harassment grievances and complaints, the NPCA did not conduct an appropriate or timely investigation of the incident or obtain sufficient information to determine if an investigation was required.”
Moreover, the report said because NPCA’s HR staff reports directly to the CAO, staff members are concerned complaints against the CAO won’t be handled fairly. Although NPCA policy allows HR staff and the CAO to hire an external investigator, it has never done so.
The Auditor General recommendation said NPCA must treat complaints as prescribed by law.
It also said when complaints are filed against the CAO, an external investigator be hired or NPCA has to “develop mechanisms to ensure that complaints against the CAO are investigated by a party who does not report directly to the CAO.”
In its response, conservation authority agreed with the recommendations, but said “due to the cost of external third-party investigations, the NPCA will assess the need for other mechanisms to allow internal staff to determine if a complaint is frivolous or vexatious in nature, as a means to effectively management costs.”
Employment issues at NPCA are a major focus of the report, which found the hiring of two senior members of staff — former NPCA CAO Carmen D’Angelo, now the Niagara Region CAO, and current corporate director and Port Colborne regional councillor David Barrick — raised concerns about the fairness and transparency of the agency’s hiring practices.