A. Bill 28 updates a 20 plus year old act to reflect today's realities in the workplace and the evolving importance of HR professionals. Specifically, it does a better job of spelling out HRPA's regulatory powers and also covers areas which are necessary but left silent in our current Act (for example, "accommodation" in situations where members are incapacitated in some way). Bill 28 will also;

• Enhance the protections for the public and for members and would now be embedded in Bill 28.
• Adds three Lieutenant-in-Council appointees to the HRPA Board.
• Places our various regulatory processes under more scrutiny than is currently the case and
• Ensures checks and balances by requiring all new processes to be encoded in by-laws, subject to approval by members at an Annual General Meeting of the membership (AGM).

A. It will enable members to ensure the quality of the HR profession in Ontario. These include:

• More control over our own destiny as a profession
• Ability to Command a Premium in the Marketplace
• Increased opportunity to influence Public Policy
• Increases the Attractiveness of HR as a Career Choice
• Controlling the use by unauthorized individuals of the "CHRP" designation

A. This new act acknowledges that HRPA members possess a high-level of professionalism, and are protected by regulatory safeguards to complete this work, to both create value for the organizations that employ them, and ensure the legislative rights of workers in the workplace. This is supported by a recent HRPA study that looked at information about convictions under the Employment Standards Act, 2000, posted on the Ontario Ministry of Labour website. HRPA cross-referenced the list of convicted employers with HRPA membership records. Of the 489 ESA convictions between October 2008 and January 2010, none (0.0%) could be liked to an HRPA member..

A.Members will be able to contact to their MPP directly to provide input on Bill 28.

A.It will benefit HR practitioners by allowing HRPA to fully clarify and monitor the standards and practices of the profession. The public will have complete confidence that the Association's members are fully qualified for the job, and possess the most current qualifications; the result will be a heightened prestige for the HR profession, and the HR practitioner.

A.Bill 28 does not grant any new powers to the association in relation to the chapters

A.The public can place greater confidence in accredited professionals such as those human resource practitioners who hold the CHRP designation. The updated regulatory powers resulting from Bill 28 would enable HRPA to better protect the public interest from incompetent or unethical human resource practitioners, help prevent abuse of corporate positions and, if abuse should occur, provide the public with an effective means by which to seek recourse.

A.HRPA has no jurisdiction over employers business operations. Any investigation conducted by HRPA would need to relate to specific allegations of professional misconduct on behalf of a member. All information sought would need to be relevant to the allegations. Any disciplinary actions taken by the Association can only be directed at members and firms registered with HRPA

A.Subsection 2 of the Act states: "This Act does not affect or interfere with the right of any person who is not a member of the Association to practice in the field of Human Resources.

A.HRPA will have the authority to grant only those designations that we own and we have that right today. Anyone can establish an HR designation and grant it as long as it does not conflict with any that fall under HRPA intellectual property rights.

A.By government legislation, all professional self-regulating bodies must follow rules and guidelines that offer protection to the public by ensuring that the professionals they regulate are competent and act in an ethical manner. Part of this obligation requires HRPA to deal with complaints and investigation of claims. They are intended for use in exceptional circumstances only and are the same as those granted to all professional regulatory bodies governed by a public act in Ontario.

A.An investigation is triggered when (1) there is a complaint filed with the Association in writing against a member of the Association and (2) the Complaints and Investigations Committee is of the opinion that the allegation requires investigation. HRPA has a duty to investigate all credible complaints against a member of the Association.

A.Any entry into business premises is not a power that would be used lightly and would only be carried out under the authority and direction of the Complaints and Investigations Committee. There must be a credible complaint and the Committee must be fully convinced that this kind of investigation was the only possible option in the circumstances. Under normal civil law, there are also checks and balances that ensure that such powers are not abused, the exercise of all regulatory powers is subject to review by courts and any processes put in place by the Association would be governed by-laws that require member approval.

A.The government and the courts view these powers as essential to ensure that professional bodies are able to deal with complaints effectively. They are intended for use in exceptional circumstances only and are the same as those granted to all professional regulatory bodies governed by a public act in Ontario

A.Section 37 of the bill gives the Discipline and the Appeals committees the authority to award costs of proceedings against the member such as costs incurred by the Association arising from the investigation, prosecution, hearing and, if applicable, appeal of the matter that is the subject of the proceeding. This would be ordered only in exceptional circumstances, for example, when a member has been found guilty of misconduct and the actions of the member have caused the Association to incur costs that could have been avoided.

A.HRPA's Complaints and Investigations Committee reviews all claims and before any formal investigation is conducted; it determines if a complaint is frivolous, groundless, vexatious or in bad faith. If so, it would notify the complainant of its intention to dismiss the complaint and unless further information was received to substantiate the complaint, it would be immediately dismissed as frivolous or vexatious without any investigation or hearing.

A.Investigators appointed by HRPA may "question and require the individual or anyone who works with the individual, or anyone who works in the firm, as the case may be, to provide information that the investigator believes is relevant to the investigation." "Anyone who works with the individual" includes non-members of HRPA.

A.Teaching HR is within the scope of practice of HR professionals. Members of HRPA who teach HR are subject to HRPA's Rules of Professional Conduct

A.In Ontario licensing is granted for public accounting, and only 7% of the members of Ontario's three accountancy professional bodies are licensed to practice public accounting. Bill 28 is based on a voluntary regulation model and does not consider "licensure" in any way. It is about providing the public and HR professionals with a choice. Individuals practicing HR do not need to be members of HRPA, do if they choose not to be regulated. For its part, however, the Association wants to make the public aware of the advantages of dealing with regulated professionals.

A.It is not needed by HR professionals who practice HR as employees of an organization. However, since 2009, HRPA members in full time or part-time independent practice (i.e. practicing Human Resources management on behalf of an organization, but not as one of its employees) are required to have professional liability insurance adequate for their situation.