Given the confidential nature of the information, the report should only be shared with immediate staff who need to understand the specific facts and findings of the audit.   If you are uncertain with whom you may share the results, we recommend you contact your deputy minister’s office or your strategic HR advisor. 

We cannot give you a copy of the audit results. By law, the Merit Commissioner provides the individual audit results to the respective deputy ministers. As part of our correspondence, we encourage them to share the respective results with the responsible hiring manager.     To learn about your organization’s approach to sharing audit results, we [...]

We review the entire hiring process and the qualifications of the person appointed. Starting from the posting, all the way through to the final notification (offer and regret letters).   Specifically, we examine the overall approach as well as the five common stages of hiring which include:  Short-listing   Interviewing and testing   Past work performance   Years of [...]

No. All information provided to and collected by our Office is confidential and protected under the:   Public Service Act   Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act 

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 [...]