Workers: Answers to your questions

• ?

  Will my union still be able to refer me to employers after September 9? +

  Your union will continue to refer you as usual until September 9 2013. After that, the union will simply have to have a permit to refer you via the referral service each time an employer expresses a need for workers in the Carnet référence construction. The association with a permit may then ask for details, send its own list to the employer, and put forth candidates.
• ?

  If I don’t fill out my Professional Profile, does that mean that I won’t be referred? +

  No, you will still be referred, though less effectively than your colleagues who have filled it out. Only your trade and your region of residence will be taken into account. With the new possibilities of advanced searches, which enable employers to specify vocational skills that they’re looking for, the referral system will select the candidates to refer according to the specific information contained in the profiles. The more specific your profile, the better the chance that jobs offered by employers will meet your expectations.
• ?

  I know a number of employers who appreciate my work and offer me the jobs I need. Will I be able to continue getting work this way? +

  Yes. This is what is called direct hiring. These employers will be able to call you directly and offer you a job, as before. The employer will still have to declare your hiring to the CCQ, which will be done via the Carnet référence construction.
• ?

  Are there tips to make my name come up more often? +

  No. Starting on September 9, workers referred by the Carnet référence construction will be selected at random from among the workers whose profile indicates that they are a match for the needs in the employer’s request. So, our advice is to make sure that you’re as specific as possible with what you put into your profile.
• ?

  I know how to install Duraform partitions, but I don’t like that task. If I remove the checkmark in front of this task in my profile, will the system still refer me for a job in which I have to do that? +

  It’s unlikely but not impossible. If the employer has specified this skill in its request, the list generated by the system will automatically give priority to those who indicate that they want to be referred for jobs in which they would install Duraform partitions. If you are referred after you have removed the checkmark, it would be because the labour pool in your region is so small that no one else indicated an interest in installing Duraform partitions.

  As for associations with permits, they will choose workers responding to the criteria that they refer in their own way.

• ?

  Will the choice of names to refer still be made on the basis of number of hours accumulated? +

  Starting on September 9, the system will favour the criteria requested by employers and will then make a random selection from among the workers whose profile corresponds to the requests. The order of appearance on the list will, however, be determined by the number of hours worked over the last 10 years.
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  Am I obliged to fill out my Professional Profile? +

  No. The worker’s only obligation, as defined in Act R-20, is to indicate his or her availability to be referred. This is one of the components of the Professional Profile.

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  Can I ask to be referred even if I have a job? +

  Starting on September 9, if you did indicate that you want to be referred to a new employer even if you have a job, you will appear in the Carnet’s referral lists.
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  Who can consult my Professional Profile? +

  You control access to your Professional Profile. Starting on September 9, if you decide to make your profile accessible, the employers who receive your name as a referral will be able to consult it in a way that highlights your skills or not. It’s up to you to decide.
• ?

  Do women benefit from a priority referral service, as has been the case up to now? +

  Yes. Each list supplied by the CCQ to an employer will present the women corresponding to the specified criteria at the top of the list, without considering them in the total of workers referred.
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  How much time will it takes me to fill out my professional profile? +

  It will takes you between 10 to 15 minutes to complete your professional profile.
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  What is your employment status? +

  Your employment status indicates your current availability and is updated when employers perform notices of hirings or layoffs or when the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ) verifies its availability lists (labour pools). A person is considered available when he or she does not have a job and is considered unavailable when he or she has a job or cannot hold a job for a specific reason.
• ?

  What is your referral status? +

  Your referral status allows you to indicate if you wish to be referred when you are working (unavailable) or, on the contrary, not to be referred even if you are not working (available).

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  Can I continue to ask for referrals from the union representatives with whom I’m already working? +

  Yes, but you must not contact them until you have declared your workforce needs on the Carnet référence construction. If the union association has a permit, it will, in any case, be informed of your request at the same time as the CCQ. It may then ask you for details on your needs, send you its own list, and highlight particular candidates on that list. The other associations with a permit may do the same.
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  What guarantee is there that the list will meet my needs? +

  With the new advanced search functions (June 20), you can specify the vocational skills that you’re looking for. The referral system will select the candidates referred according to specific information contained in their profiles in relation to your expectations. For each position to fill, you will receive a predetermined number of candidates, which, if the labour pool permits, will meet your criteria, be available to work, and reside in the region of the job offered. You may also add specific comments to your request.

  We can thus guarantee that the CCQ’s list will contain candidates who offer the best possible match to your needs. Moreover, associations with a permit will also be able to bring candidates to your attention in their own ways. The final choice will always be yours.

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  I have a network of contacts among workers, and I usually contact them directly. Will I be able to continue to do this? +

  Yes. This is what we call direct hiring. You can offer a job to a worker you know, as before. The only difference is that you will have to use the Carnet référence construction to fill out your CCQ hiring notice.
• ?

  Starting on September 9, how will the candidates in the Carnet référence construction lists be classified? +

  The workers referred by the Carnet référence construction will be selected primarily according to how well they match the criteria in your request, and then at random from among workers without a job and workers who asked to be referred even though they have a job. If the labour pool doesn’t contain enough candidates who meet your criteria, the system will select workers whose profile corresponds partially until there is a list with the required number of referrals. In compliance with the regulation, women will be referred first.
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  Starting on September 9, what information will the Carnet référence construction list present? +

  The list will give the workers’ names, their personal information, their employment status, their level of correspondence with the criteria requested, and a link to their Professional Profile (if they have authorized access to it).
• ?

  How long will it take for me to get all of the lists? +

  Starting on September 9, when you submit a request for workers through the Carnet référence construction, you will receive a preliminary list generated by the system almost immediately. The associations with a permit will have 48 hours to refer their candidates to you. Therefore, you will have the lists within two days. Note that if you modify your request, the deadline for the list to be delivered is reset to zero.
• ?

  There are emergency situations when I won’t be able to use the Carnet référence construction. What should I do? +

  Such emergency situations are defined in the regulation on referrals and correspond to the definitions used in the four major 2010-13 collective agreements: a situation in which work must be executed immediately to avoid material damages to an employer or a work provider or danger to public health and safety. If such a situation occurs, you may contact a union association directly to deal with this extraordinary situation. The associations with a permit will submit the list of referred workers and mention that the employer is invoking an emergency situation. For your part, you must use the Carnet to submit a justification report within 48 hours.

  The CCQ will be vigilant with regard to use of this exceptional measure. For example, a lack of planning never constitutes an emergency situation.

• ?

  Once I have submitted a request via the Carnet référence construction, will all of my communications have to be made via this system? +

  No. Once the request is submitted, you may contact the people involved in any way you wish. Note that referrals, however, must always be made through the Carnet.
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  Will the Carnet référence construction validate the list from associations with a permit? +

  No, the system does not check the lists of associations with a permit.
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  Will the Carnet référence construction offer province-wide lists? +

  No, the system functions by region.
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  Will the customized referral service still exist to help employers find workers? +

  Yes, the service is still there if the employer is not able to find the workers needed from among those referred on the lists received.
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  What additional benefit does the customized referral service offer employers? +

  If an employer doesn’t find what is needed through the lists, the customized referral service will be offered. The team takes the time to contact workers and target those who correspond the best to the employer’s needs. In addition, follow-up is done with the employer after a list is submitted to check whether the referral objectives have been met.
• ?

  How can I fill out my hiring and layoff notices after September 9? +

  Effective September 9, hiring and layoff notices should only be filled out using CCQ’s online services. In fact, in keeping with the implementation of the Carnet référence construction, administrative formalities related to workforce management will be grouped onto a common platform. We will however be offering a transition period during which you may contact our customer service department service by phone at 1 877 973-5383 to notify us of your hiring and layoff notices.

• ?

  Starting on September 9, who will have the right to refer workers? +

  Only the CCQ and associations with a permit will have the right to refer candidates.

  When an employer declares a need for workers on the Carnet référence construction, the system will generate a list, and all associations with a permit will be asked simultaneously to refer their own workers. They will be the only bodies with the legal right to send lists of workers to employers. The regulation does not forbid an employer from referring a worker to another employer, but this is an informal mechanism, outside the system.

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  How can I obtain a permit so my association can access the Carnet référence construction? +

  You must apply at the Bureau de permis.
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  Which associations can apply for a permit to refer workers? +

  The associations listed in Loi 20. These are the industry’s union associations, employer associations, and certain corporations of specialized contractors.
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  Will all associations with a permit be notified at the same time of all applicable requests for workers? +

  Yes. Then, the decision whether or not to refer is yours. The Carnet will also offer integrated electronic messaging functions so you can ask employers for details.
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  What actions may be taken against an association that refers workers without holding a permit? +

  The legal recourses are set out in Act R-20.
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  Will the lists of workers sent to employers take into account the regulations and provisions in the collective agreements regarding worker mobility? +

  The lists are generated by region in conjunction with Section 35 of the Regulation respecting the hiring and mobility of employees in the construction industry. Employers should therefore check the workforce mobility parameters for the collective agreements in force.
• ?

  After September 9, will employers still have to report the source of workers hired? +

  Yes, this information will continue to be part of the hiring notices transmitted to the CCQ.
• ?

  Starting on September 9, will employers still be able to hire directly without going through the Carnet référence construction? +

  Yes. Each employer can choose its workers as it wishes. The Carnet oversees the industry’s referral process in order to make it more transparent; it is not designed to be the unique gateway for the hiring process. Most hirings will continue to be done through employers’ informal networks, as they are today. However, it will be obligatory to use the Carnet when an employer wishes to have employers referred for its job openings.
• ?

  I’m hearing that some union associations may recommend that their members not create a professional profile. What will happen in a situation like that? +

  Act R-20 sets out certain infractions, including one that covers interfering with the activities of the Carnet référence construction. Such interference harms the referral service’s operation and creates an obstacle to it. An association that encourages all of its members to indicate that they are not “available” in order to exclude them from the system may be found guilty of interference.
• ?

  Will the union associations be informed if one of their members is referred or asked to update his or her profile? +

  No.