Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Earlier this week, AMAPCEO filed its submission on the Ontario Public Service (OPS) Code of Conduct including the union’s recommendations on what the code should achieve, what the key elements of an effective code should be, and what is required to successfully implement the new code. To inform its recommendations, the union drew on consultations with the AMAPCEO Equity Committee and AMAPCEO members.
AMAPCEO proposed that one of the primary objectives of the code should be to clearly establish the OPS’s values regarding diversity, accessibility, inclusion, and respect (DAIR), and to empower OPS employees by providing them with the knowledge and resources they need to create a safe and equitable workplace.
AMAPCEO also strongly recommended that one of the key elements of the code of conduct should be an Equity Statement, similar to the one adopted by the union itself in 2014. An Equity Statement should include a concise summary of the OPS’s commitment to DAIR workplaces as established in the code of conduct, and information on how OPS employees are expected to support that commitment.
The union also suggested that the Code of Conduct should provide an opportunity for identifying behaviours or attitudes that are not explicitly addressed in existing workplace inclusion policies. The code can offer accountability and consequences for those violations but should also provide employees with the right to bargaining agent representation during the reporting and resolution processes.
Finally, AMAPCEO recommended that to effectively implement the Code, the OPS Employer develop and roll out:
- a change management strategy, including a strong communication strategy;
- comprehensive code of conduct training for all OPS employees, including senior leadership, and
- a code of conduct web page, similar to the existing Anti-Racism, Accessibility and Equity Hub, that includes specific commitments, progress updates and success metrics.