PIDA
(The Public Interest Disclosure Act) protects employees who make a
disclosure of wrongdoing in good faith, which occurred in their workplace that
relates to public interest.
PIDA applies to all employees of provincial ministries, Crown corporations, as well as a large number of government agencies, boards and other government institutions, which are set out in The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Regulations. PIDA also applies to most employees of the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.
For training on PIDA, please go to the My Learning App. If you do not have access to the My Learning App, click here.
You can learn more about PIDA below.
A wrongdoing is defined as:
- contraventions of any federal or provincial legislation;
- acts or omissions that create substantial and specific danger to life, health, safety or the environment;
- gross mismanagement of public funds or a public asset; and,
- knowingly directing or counselling someone to commit a wrongdoing of these kinds.
To disclose a wrongdoing you must first contact the
designated officer in your organization or the
Provincial Interest Disclosure (PID) Commissioner. Contacting a designated officer or PID Commissioner is confidential.
A designated officer or the PID Commissioner will determine if a disclosure falls under the
PIDA and if further investigation is required.
You may also be required to fill out a
Disclosure of Wrongdoing.
If a wrongdoing is found, a designated officer or the PID Commissioner will conduct an investigation and make recommendations to the head of your organization on how best to resolve it.
PIDA
protects you from reprisal if, in good faith, you sought advice about making a
disclosure, made a disclosure, cooperated in a PIDA investigation or declined
to participate in a suspected wrongdoing.
A reprisal is any measure that adversely affects the public service employee's
working conditions (e.g. a dismissal, layoff, suspension, demotion or transfer,
discontinuation or elimination of a job, change of a job location, reduction in
wages, change in hours of work or reprimand), as well as a threat to take any
of the measures mentioned above.
If you believe a reprisal has been made against you, contact the PID
Commissioner's office as soon as possible to submit a Complaint of Reprisal form. Only the
Commissioner can process complaints of reprisal. Each case will be
managed individually; and reprisal matters may be subject to a $10,000 fine.The PIDA Designated Officer's Toolkit links to the legislation and forms that provide designated officers with visual aids and pertinent tools in order to perform their role. The tools strengthen consistency in logging and reporting inquiries, disclosures, investigations, and recommendations.
The PIDA log book reporting template provides designated officers a visual to identify items they should keep track of during the course of their role.
For more information, please visit the PID Commissioner's website.