After many years providing the ministry with contracted services, Eli found he was passed by on a big contract opportunity. Concerned that his seniority on the supply list was ignored, Eli contacted us.

We investigated and confirmed that Eli indeed had seniority on the local hired equipment list but Eli’s belief that he had been passed by was a misunderstanding. The work being done did not meet the list’s intended use of providing for day labour and emergency projects. In this case, the ministry was using its local, full-time maintenance contractor to handle some additional, longer term work.

While we were satisfied that Eli had not been unfairly denied the contract, the explanation provided by the ministry to Eli was lacking. The ministry agreed with our concerns and provided Eli with a better explanation of its contracting practices and that from now on it would put offers of work to him in writing to prevent future misunderstandings.