83Referral to Merit Protection Commissioner

83  Referral to Merit Protection Commissioner

 (1) If an affected employee makes an application for review of a Parliamentary Service action to the relevant Secretary under subsection 82(1), the Secretary may, with the Merit Protection Commissioner’s agreement, refer the application to the Merit Protection Commissioner.

 (2) The Secretary may, for example, refer the application to the Merit Protection Commissioner if:

 (a) the Secretary was directly involved in the action; or

 (b) the Secretary thinks that it is not appropriate, because of the seriousness or sensitivity of the action, for the Secretary to deal with the application.

 (3) If the Secretary refers the application to the Merit Protection Commissioner, the Secretary must tell the affected employee in writing.

Note: Section 86 deals with review of applications referred to the Merit Protection Commissioner by a Secretary.