You believe you have suffered from reprisal
"A reprisal may be any adverse action taken against you because you reported wrongdoing or participated in an investigation into alleged wrongdoing."
The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (the Act) protects federal public servants from reprisal in the workplace if they have reported wrongdoing or participated in an investigation into alleged wrongdoing. This protection also applies to members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and employees of federal Crown corporations.
Our Office is the only organization that investigates reprisal complaints under the Act. If, during an investigation, the Commissioner finds that it is more likely than not that a reprisal has occurred, the case may be referred to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal, which has the authority to order remedies.
In many cases, our Office can facilitate conciliation to help the parties reach a settlement without involving the Tribunal. Conciliation allows the parties to play a direct role in resolving the matter and to receive support from an expert conciliator. Participation in conciliation is entirely voluntary.
The Act states that you must contact our Office within 60 days of knowing that you have been reprised against. This period can be extended by the Commissioner depending on the circumstances of each case. The Commissioner must decide whether to investigate within 15 days of your complaint being deemed complete.
Before making a reprisal complaint, find the answers to the following questions:
Is it reprisal?
A reprisal measure may be any adverse action taken against you because you made a disclosure of wrongdoing or participated in an investigation into alleged wrongdoing.
Reprisals can come in many forms and may not always be obvious. Examples outlined in the Act include:
- A disciplinary measure;
- The demotion of a public servant;
- The termination of employment of the public servant, including, in the case of a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a discharge or dismissal;
- Any measure that adversely affects the employment or working conditions of the public servant;
- And even a threat to take any of those measures.
Are you protected?
To be protected under the Act three criteria must be met:
1: You have made a protected disclosure of wrongdoing or participated in an investigation. That means that you have either reported alleged wrongdoing to your supervisor, to a Senior Officer in your organization, or to our Office. Alternatively, you may have reported wrongdoing during a Parliamentary proceeding or a procedure established under another Act of Parliament, or have been lawfully required to report wrongdoing.
Please note that reporting wrongdoing to the media or through social media is usually not considered for protection against reprisal.
2: At the time you reported wrongdoing or participated in an investigation, you were a federal public servant. Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and employees of federal Crown corporations are included.
3: The adverse action must have been taken against you because you reported wrongdoing or participated in an investigation.
Does our Office have jurisdiction over the organization where the reprisal occurred?
Our Office can investigate most federal public sector organizations, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Crown Corporations.
- The Commissioner does not have jurisdiction over:
The Canadian Forces - The Canadian Security Intelligence Service
- The Communications Security Establishment
- Elected officials or their staff
- Employees of the House of Commons and the Senate
- Political parties
- Organizations falling under provincial, territorial, regional and municipal legislation, such as hospitals or schools
- The private sector
Have you gathered enough information?
Ensure that you can clearly describe what happened and identify the alleged reprisal taker(s).
You will have to:
- name who (name, title, and contact information) you believe committed reprisal;
- describe specific allegations; and
- specify when and where (which federal department/organization) the alleged reprisal occurred.
Have any documents that support your allegations ready to attach to your submission. Electronic documents can be uploaded via the online form. Online submissions accept documents in the format of PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, XLS, and XLSX files. File size limit is 10 MB. Any files over this limit or in other formats may be submitted by mail.
Do not include Cabinet confidences—documents containing information that concerns the making of government decisions or the formulation of government policy—or information that is protected by solicitor-client privilege. Do not include protected personal information, such as immigration applications, tax forms or medical documents.
If you have already raised your concerns through another mechanism, be prepared to tell us when and to whom you reported your concerns, what the outcome was. If you have filed a grievance, you will be asked to provide copies of any written proof of your grievance.
If you were a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) when the alleged reprisal occurred, and your reprisal complaint concerns an action under section 20.2 of the RCMP Act or a matter that is the subject of an investigation or proceeding under Part IV of the RCMP Act, you will be asked to provide information on whether you have exhausted all other available proceedings.
How do you want to submit your reprisal complaint?
You can submit your reprisal complaint online, or by mail. Do not submit your complaint by email.
If you need accommodations to access the form or to make a complaint, contact our Accessibility Representative.
Do you want to be assisted or represented?
Proceedings under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act are meant to be as informal as possible. Although not required, you have the right to be assisted or represented by any person of your choice, including a counsel or a union representative, when making a disclosure of wrongdoing.
Our Office may provide up to $3,000 for legal advice, if you do not already have access to legal advice at no cost to you.
If you are being represented, will be asked to provide your representative’s coordinates.
The Investigation Process
The Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (the Act) states that you must contact our Office within 60 days of knowing that you have been reprised against. This period can be extended by the Commissioner depending on the circumstances of each case.
We carefully review every complaint. An investigation may take place if the Commissioner has reason to believe a reprisal may have occurred. Once your submission and all required information have been received, the Commissioner must decide whether to investigate within 15 days.
Whether or not the Commissioner decides to pursue an investigation into the allegations, the complainant is notified in writing of the reasons for her decision.
The investigations conducted under the Act are neither criminal investigations nor court proceedings. Instead, our investigations into allegations of reprisal seek to establish the facts and determine whether the requirements of the Act have been met.
When starting an investigation, we advise the head of the organization involved. We also advise persons against whom allegations have been made. They will have fair opportunity to respond.
During the investigation, our team may review documents, videos, or other evidence. They may also conduct interviews with witnesses and alleged reprisal takers.
Although not required, any person involved in the investigation may choose to be represented by someone else, like a union representative or a legal counsel. This individual can attend any interviews with the represented party.
Conciliation
At any time during an investigation into a reprisal, the investigator may recommend to the Commissioner that a conciliator be appointed to attempt to bring about a settlement between the parties. Generally, it is the complainant and the employer who participate in the conciliation process, for the purpose of determining appropriate remedies for the complainant. The conciliation process is voluntary. It allows participants to have a direct role in settling the matter and to be supported by an expert in conciliation. The Commissioner appoints the conciliator after consulting with the complainant and the employer.
A conciliation session unfolds very much like a mediation session: the participants attempt to settle their dispute with the assistance of a neutral third-party. Any information received by the conciliator remains confidential and may not be disclosed except with the consent of the person who gave the information.
If the participants come to an agreement, the terms of the settlement must be referred to the Commissioner for final approval. If the Commissioner approves the terms of the settlement on remedies for the complainant, the reprisal complaint is dismissed.
In order to remain impartial, the investigator does not participate in the conciliation process. In cases where a settlement cannot be reached, the investigation is continued. At the conclusion of the investigation, the Commissioner will decide whether a case should be referred to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal. The Tribunal is composed of judges of the Federal Court or a superior court of a province.
A decision whether to refer a reprisal complaint to the Tribunal is made, according to the Act, on the basis of whether there are “reasonable grounds for believing a reprisal was taken”.
Complaints that proceed to the Tribunal will conclude through a decision by the Tribunal or a mediation process. The Commissioner cannot make a final determination of whether reprisal occurred, only the Tribunal can confirm reprisal.
How long does it take?
Our Office has a published service standard of one year for the completion of investigations. This standard is only a target as each case is unique, it is not possible to set out a specific timeframe for the conclusion of an investigation.
Factors that affect the length of time the process can take include:
- availability of documentation and key witnesses;
- complexity of issues; and/or
- whether specific expertise or research is needed.
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