Requirement raises issues around labour mobility
In 2001, the provincial HR associations agreed on a basic blueprint for the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation known as the Montreal Framework. This allowed for individual provincial associations to include a provincial legislation knowledge test as Part 2 of the National Knowledge Exam (NKE). However, none of the provincial associations ever acted on this possibility.
So this issue was put to the readers of Canadian HR Reporter in the latest Pulse Survey. This is an important question to consider — designations, as “warrants of competence,” should address in one way or another all important areas of professional competence.
Overall, 62.5 per cent of respondents indicated a legislation knowledge requirement should be added to the CHRP certification process, 26.8 per cent indicated such a requirement should not be added and 10.5 per cent were not sure. Virtually all respondents agreed a basic understanding of workplace legislation is important to performing one’s duties as an HR professional — 92.9 per cent said such basic understanding of workplace legislation is at least “quite important” and 50.1 per cent said it is “absolutely essential.”
Almost nine out of 10 (86.4 per cent) of respondents thought the level of knowledge of workplace and employment legislation among HR professionals is adequate or better. But only 52.9 per cent thought the level of knowledge of workplace and employment legislation among those who have recently obtained the CHRP is adequate or better.
This suggests many HR professionals learn what they need to know about workplace and employment legislation on the job. However, the fact only 52.9 per cent of recent CHRPs have adequate knowledge of such a critical area should be cause for concern (keeping in mind, nonetheless, this assessment is based on the evaluation of survey respondents).
It’s always instructive to look at the comments of respondents on both sides of an issue. Many of those in favour of adding a workplace knowledge requirement are surprised to find out this is not already included in the exam. Many of those in favour feel knowledge of workplace legislation is a “critical skill set” and “a core requirement for all HR professionals.” Many of these respondents feel the inclusion of a legislation knowledge requirement should be a “no-brainer.”
Some who are against the idea of adding a legislation knowledge requirement said they are concerned about the impact such a requirement would have on labour mobility. Interestingly, this specific issue is discussed in a guide to the implementation of the Ontario Labour Mobility Act, 2009, published by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.
According to this guide, regulatory authorities could still require an applicant holding an out-of-province certificate to meet “local knowledge/jurisprudence” requirements such as demonstrating knowledge of Ontario legislation and demonstrating knowledge of regulations and standards of practice governing the profession. However, such a demonstration should not “involve imposing material additional training, experience, examinations or assessments,” said the guide.
None of this precludes regulatory authorities from requiring knowledge of workplace and employment legislation of certificants. It could be argued having such knowledge in one jurisdiction is an indication a candidate for certification would be able to acquire “local knowledge/jurisprudence.”
Another criticism among those who are against the idea of adding a legislation knowledge requirement is there is no need to test for such knowledge because this information can be found on the Internet and changes all the time anyway. Applying such a criterion may be dangerous since most of what is assessed by the NKE is also found on the Internet.
On the other hand, this criticism suggests we need to be careful when referring to “legislation knowledge.” The critical skill set here may not be knowledge in the “memorizing facts” sense but in the “understanding and applying” sense.
All in all, however, the preponderance of opinion clearly favours the addition of a legislation knowledge requirement to the CHRP, as was indicated by the quantitative results — 65.5 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed the addition of a workplace legislation knowledge requirement would add value of the designation.
Claude Balthazard is director of HR excellence and registrar of the Human Resources Professionals Association in Toronto. He can be reached at [email protected].
