New Excluded Employee Classification System

Deputy Premier Frank Corbett today, Oct. 5, announced a new classification and pay plan for the 1,800 provincial government managers (MCP) and administrative support (AS) staff who are not represented through collective agreements.

At the same time, Mr. Corbett announced that those employees will not receive an economic pay increase this fiscal year. Instead, the province will spend up to one per cent of payroll to move the employees to the new classification system. The government will also provide a one per cent payroll increase in the 2010-11 fiscal year to adjust salary levels.

"We wish we could do more," said Mr. Corbett. "We have to make tough choices now or we'll have no choices left at all."

The majority of employees will move to the new classification system at the same rate of pay. A very small number of employees will see an increase of more than one per cent in order to move them to the minimum level of the range for their position in the new system.

The Public Service Commission has been working toward this new classification structure for more than two years. The system it replaces is more than 25 years old and out of date as the structure of government, the nature of work and classification practices have evolved significantly during that time.

Next year, government will re-instate the economic adjustment in the form of a one per cent payroll increase.

"These civil servants work hard, every single day, for Nova Scotians," Mr. Corbett said. "But Nova Scotia has been on an unsustainable path. Everybody will have a part to play in helping us live within our means."