The Public Service Act requires the Merit Commissioner to monitor the application of merit by conducting random audits of appointments to, and from within, the public service.     If you are responsible for one of the selected appointments, you are required to submit your competition file. If you have properly documented the hiring process that is all [...]

As the hiring manager in a selection process, it is your responsibility is to ensure the process is comprehensively documented. Do your best to collect the documentation that you can find for the process. For missing documents, see if other panel members kept copies or check your email for draft versions. We will conduct the [...]

If you are in a ministry, BC Public Service Agency staff will collect the documentation from you and then submit it to our Office. A representative from the Agency will provide instructions on how to submit the file.   If you are in one of the agencies, boards or commissions that are subject to oversight by [...]

Yes. There are situations where hiring managers are unable to participate (e.g., leave, wildfire season, the COVID pandemic). In these circumstances, an audit can be delayed but not avoided. If you think you require a delay, please contact our Office at merit@meritcomm.bc.ca, or call 250-953-4208. 

We contact hiring managers when we are missing documentation or do not understand part of the process. We ask you, the hiring manager, because you are the expert on the position and the competition process and accountable for the hiring decision.  

We recognize that the original hiring manager may have changed jobs. If you were not the hiring manager but the appointment is now under your area of responsibility, we may contact you for information or to help us contact someone who was on the panel. We understand that you may not have answers to all [...]

It depends. Temporary appointments of seven months or less are not included in the annual merit performance audit. If your appointment falls into that category, we will not audit it.   If your appointment started as short-term but became permanent, you will need to submit the documentation, and we will audit the appointment.  

Once we receive a copy of the competition file, we will assign it to an auditor. The auditor will review the file using a standardized audit tool. If they have questions about the hiring process, they will call or email you for more information. If the process was well documented, the auditor will be able [...]

No. To preserve the role of independence, the Merit Commissioner does not provide any staffing advice; providing that type of advice is outside the Merit Commissioner’s mandate. It is the role of the BC Public Service Agency to:   Provide staffing guidance and advice on best practices  Set human resource policies  Set the Accountability Framework for [...]