Human Resources Committee charter

1. Mandate

1.1 The Human Resources Committee (Committee) of the Board of Management (Board) of the Canada Revenue Agency (Agency) assists the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities reviewing the management of human resources within the Agency, and providing recommendations and advice on the Agency’s human resources management strategies, initiatives, policies, internal controls, and considering the associated risks.

2. Composition

2.1 The Committee will be comprised of a minimum of three directors of the Board, including a Chair and Vice-Chair.

2.2 Based upon changes in Board membership and/or on an annual basis, the Chair of the Board, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee, will review the composition of the Committee and recommend to the Board any changes in Committee membership, if required. All changes in Committee membership will be approved by resolution of the Board at the earliest opportunity.

2.3 The CRA’s Commissioner is a member of the Committee.

2.4 The Chief Human Resources and Assistant Commissioner of the Human Resources Branch may attend, as an observer, regular closed sessions of the Committee meetings. Board directors who are not members of the Committee may attend the regular closed sessions and/or in-camera sessions as observers, by request or by invitation of the Committee Chair. Requests to observe should be submitted to the Board Secretariat at least two business days in advance of the meeting. Any other person not having business before the Committee may attend the regular closed session with approval from the Committee Chair.

3. Responsibilities and duties

3.1 In discharging the duties under this mandate, each member of the Committee shall be is obliged to exercise the care, diligence, and skill a reasonable person would exercise in comparable circumstances.

3.2 In discharging the duties under this mandate, the Committee may seek and rely in good faith upon any report of a lawyer, accountant, an officer of the Agency or any other person whose profession provides credibility to the statement made by such person.

To fulfill its mandate, the Committee will:

3.3 Governance

1. Review and monitor the development of the Agency’s human resources management strategy to determine whether human resources plans and initiatives will enable the Agency to achieve its strategic objectives;
2. Review and, when appropriate, recommend to the Board for approval the Agency’s human resources policies related to the Committee’s mandate;
3. Review and make recommendations to the Board on the Agency’s compliance with legislative requirements in areas dealing with human resources management such as the Canada Labour Code, the Official Languages Act, Employment Equity Act, and the Accessibility Act, as they relate to the Committee’s mandate;
4. Review the Agency’s culture initiatives, including the relevant performance indicators and change management strategies, and report to the Board on the extent to which the Agency’s culture is aligned with its business strategy, organizational structure and practices;
5. Monitor the internal social responsibility culture of the Agency including employee participation in charitable, and other socially-minded activities;
6. Monitor employee engagement plans and results, and provide related advice to the Agency as appropriate and report to the Board any implications on the achievement of Agency priorities;
7. Oversee the Agency’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion and a fair, equitable, supportive, welcoming, respectful and safe workplace;
8. Manage the involvement of the Board in collective bargaining processes and approve, on the Board’s behalf, collective bargaining mandates for the Agency during negotiations (pursuant to Resolution # 2010-2011-09);
9. Review the terms and conditions of employment for executives and non-represented employees, and may recommend the approval of same to the Board;
10. Review and monitor the Agency’s plans and risk mitigation strategies related to real property management;
11. Review investments and strategies for employee training, education, development, recruitment and retention;
12. Review and monitor the processes in place for succession planning within the Agency;
13. Receive regular updates on the progress of action plans and risk mitigation strategies resulting from internal and external audit reports related to topics which fall under the Committee’s mandate;
14. Review and ensure that the Agency has adequate policies, procedures, reporting, and mechanisms in place to address acts of misconduct and wrongdoing as it relates to the Code of Integrity and Professional Conduct for employees, which includes the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector;
15. Oversee an annual performance evaluation for the Commissioner/CEO by reviewing and approving the Commissioner/CEO annual performance objectives and associated assessment, and recommending it to the Board for approval to complement the federal government’s performance assessment process for Deputy Heads, for transmittal to the Clerk of the Privy Council; and
16. Provide input into the annual performance evaluation of the Assistant Commissioners of the Agency’s corporate branches.

3.4 Accountability

1. Develop a Human Resources Committee work plan on an annual basis, identifying priorities and objectives;
2. Review the charter annually and make a recommendation to the Governance and Service Committee for Board approval; and
3. Undertake any other duties the Board may delegate to the Committee.

4. Operating procedures

4.1 Meetings

1. Meetings of the Committee will take place in accordance with the procedures set out in sections 9, 17, and 18 of Board of Management By-Law # 1. All meetings of the Committee are closed meetings. At the start and at the end of each meeting of the Committee, there may be an in-camera session for independent Board members scheduled on the agenda. There may also be an in-camera session with the Commissioner scheduled on the agenda, at the beginning and/or the end of each meeting of the Committee;
2. The Chair of the Committee may adopt any combination of in-camera sessions as they may deem appropriate;
3. Section 7.1 of the Manual – Meeting Modalities defines and describes the procedures for closed and in-camera meetings/sessions; and
4. A majority of committee members shall constitute a quorum of the Committee.

4.2 Absence of Committee Chair

1. In the absence of the Committee Chair, the Committee Vice-Chair will act as Chair.

4.3 Secretary

1. Unless the Committee specifies otherwise, the Corporate Secretary will act as Secretary for all meetings of the Committee.

4.4 Reporting to the Board

1. The Committee, through its Chair, will report to the Board, in an abridged manner, at the next regular Board meeting while ensuring the following elements are included in the report:
   • an overview of items discussed;
   • an opportunity to receive comments or questions from other Board members; and
   • any recommendations and/or decisions for the Board.

4.5 Minutes

1. Minutes of each meeting of the Committee will be prepared by the Board Secretariat and provided to members for review and approval at the next meeting of the Committee. The Chair will, as required, brief the Corporate Secretary and the Commissioner following in-camera sessions.

4.6 Reading material

1. Reading material for each Committee meeting will be available in both official languages and provided to Committee members by the Board Secretariat. Every effort is to be made to allow Committee members at least two weekends to review the material before the meetings. Committee members will be expected to have read the material prior to the meeting and thus will be expected to participate fully in Committee discussions on the subject matter contained within the reading material.

4.7 Legal Advice

1. At any time, Committee members may seek legal advice from the legal counsel assigned to the Board of Management by the CRA. All requests for advice will be made in writing to the Agency's legal counsel, with a copy provided to the Corporate Secretary.