Ottawa’s Auditor General has found that OC Transpo engaged in hiring practices which prioritized underqualified candidates.
“Some of these cases were very blatantly obvious,” Auditor General Natalie Gougeon told the committee at a recent meeting.
The investigation also found OC Transpo failed to publicly post certain management and professional-exempt (MPE) positions. And, the auditor general reported, many job descriptions have been unchanged for well over a decade.
The city also requires job vacancies of greater than 12 months must be posted for competition. Gougeon found 10 instances where OC Transpo violated this requirement. Seven of these cases led to candidates being hired that “did not meet the education or the experience requirement of the position as outlined in the job description.”
“These practices create unfairness and inequity in staffing processes, as individuals with the same qualifications are not treated consistently,” Deputy Auditor General Joanne Gorenstein said. “It also raises questions as to the appropriateness of the minimum education and experience levels identified and the need for these positions to undergo job evaluation.”
The investigation came about because of a tip from the city’s anonymous Fraud and Waste Hotline, following an increased awareness campaign in March for Fraud Prevention Month.
Kanata North Coun. Cathy Curry, the audit committee chair, expressed concern over the signal this sends to new hires and the public.
“It speaks to the culture of an organization like OC Transpo and the message that we’re trying to send as a city,” Curry said.
Orleans South-Navan Coun. Catherine Kitts wondered about a lack of “messaging around recruitment” when it came to senior management jobs, something OC Transpo’s Interim Manager Troy Charter said is largely because these positions make up a small per cent of OC Transpo’s total hires.
“We’re not talking about hundreds or even dozens of positions in the way we do with bus operators or mechanics,” Charter told the committee. “But we need to do a better job of documenting and communicating our practices to staff and the public.”
Charter added the organization aims to balance promoting qualified internal candidates while also respecting the competition process.
“We value the competition process,” Charter said, “but there are circumstances where appointments make sense, knowing that you have internal staff that have the knowledge and in-house experience, but not necessarily the education.”
“There is a lack of documentation for how they tried to determine equivalency, and many of these supposed equivalences were too far to even be justifiable,” Gougeon said.
The Auditor General’s report made three recommendations, all accepted by OC Transpo. The report calls on OC Transpo to consistently post new vacancies of more than 12 months, properly document any rationale regarding appointments and competitions and periodically review minimum education and experience requirements tied to positions.
The recommendations, accepted by the committee, go to City Council on April 8.