Nova Scotia Public Service Commission, Compensation Section
UPDATE: November 21, 2013
PROCEDURE FOR ADDING POSITION NUMBERS TO
APPROVED CLASSIFIED JOB DESCRIPTIONS
PURPOSE
The Civil Service Act states that it is the duty of the Public Service Commission to “evaluate and classify
each position in the Civil Service.” This duty is the responsibility of the Compensation unit.
It is recognized that due to work load, Departments often have to hire additional staff to do work that has
already been described in a job description, evaluated and classified by the PSC, Compensation unit.
In the interest of streamlining processes and reducing duplication of effort, departments have been
provided with the ability to add new positions to approved classified bargaining unit job descriptions.
The following outlines the criteria and the documentation required to support adding new positions on to
approved classified bargaining unit job descriptions.
“Add-on” is defined as a new additional position (FTE) that is doing the same work as an existing
classified bargaining unit position. All of the following criteria have to be met in order to qualify as
an “add-on” position.
Departments can add-on new additional positions to bargaining unit job descriptions that:

Have been classified by the PSC, Compensation unit.

Have the same duties as those described in the approved job description.

Are within the same department, division and section/unit.

Have the same reporting relationship.
Process to “Add” a Position to a Classified Job Description
1.
HRU Consultant reviews Managers request to determine if all add-on criteria are met to add the
new position number(s) to an existing classified job description. If criteria are met, the HRU
Consultant forwards the PHP, classified job description, and all other required documents through
the appropriate approval process.
2.
Once the PHP is approved, Organizational Management (OM) notifies the HR Assistant,
Compensation, on a bi weekly basis, of all new position numbers established. The HR Assistant
will add the new position number(s) to the classified job description and update all related files
accordingly (i.e., filenet).
RESTRICTION
Departments are not authorized to add-on to the following positions without the prior written approval of
the Compensation unit:
3.
4.
Restricted job classifications, e.g., Program Administration Officer IV, PR 17.
Excluded Classifications (EC), Medical Services (MS), Legal Services (MCL), and Liability
Management (LM) classifications.
Please note departments are not authorized to add-on to Job Fact Sheets (JFS) or to reclassify a position
by adding it on to another classified job description.
Process to Request Approval to “Add” to a “Restricted” Bargaining Unit or “Excluded”
Job Description
1.
HRU Consultant reviews Managers request to determine if all add-on criteria are met to add the
new position number(s) to an existing classified job description. If criteria are met, the
Consultant forwards the PHP, classified job description, and all other required documents to the
Compensation Consultant for approval.
2.
Compensation Consultant reviews all documentation and determines if position(s) can be added
to the classified job description. If the Compensation Consultant approves the add-on, the PHP is
approved (i.e., continued). If the Compensation Consultant does not approve the add-on request,
the PHP is “sent back” to the HRU Consultant with a written explanation.
3.
Organizational Management (OM) notifies the HR Assistant, Compensation, on a bi weekly
basis, of all new position numbers established. The HR Assistant will add the new position
number(s) to the classified approved job description and update all related files accordingly (i.e.,
filenet).
EXCEPTION for casual/temporary positions, in consideration of the short term nature of these
positions i.e., casual (10 weeks or less) and temporary (more than 10 weeks but less than 39 weeks),
departments are granted approval to add to a “restricted” classified bargaining unit job description as
identified in the Civil Service Master Collective Agreement. In addition, departments can also add a
casual position to a classified non-bargaining/excluded job description.
Human Resource staff are to ensure the add on criteria is meet and the classified job description is
attached to the PHP submission.
REQUEST TO ADD-ON NOT APPROVED
If it is determined that a position request does not meet the criteria to be an add-on or PSC, Compensation
unit approval has not been provided to add on to a restricted or excluded job classification, all position
review documentation is to be forwarded through the PHP process to Compensation for the purpose of
determining the job classification.