{"id":2524,"date":"2013-07-04T12:42:02","date_gmt":"2013-07-04T16:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.une-sen.org\/press\/?p=2524"},"modified":"2013-07-04T12:42:02","modified_gmt":"2013-07-04T16:42:02","slug":"so-what-about-sick-leave-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unesen.ca\/press\/?p=2524","title":{"rendered":"So what about sick leave, anyway?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>There are a lot of rumours going around about what\u2019s going to happen to our sick leave.\u00a0 What is going to happen?\u00a0 Let\u2019s break it down and have an informed discussion about this topic.<\/p>\n

First of all, sick leave is a benefit that is in our collective agreement.\u00a0 Any changes to the current regime will need to be negotiated \u2013 let\u2019s hope this happens at the bargaining table and not in the press!<\/p>\n

To have an informed discussion, we need to understand how the current sick leave regime works.<\/p>\n

Sick leave credits are accumulated each month where an employee has worked a minimum of ten days.\u00a0 Each month an employee accumulates a day and a quarter, for a total of fifteen days per year.\u00a0 Any unused credits at the end of the year are accumulated and banked. The accumulation of sick leave continues throughout an employee\u2019s career, with no maximum.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very much like an insurance policy. Your accumulated sick leave is your financial safety net should you succumb to illness or injury. It gives you peace of mind.<\/p>\n

This accumulation of sick leave credits becomes incredibly important for any employee who suffers an accident or a catastrophic illness; it provides them with a buffer until such time as they qualify for long term disability. Long term disability benefits become payable after 13 weeks of disability or illness, or after the member\u2019s accumulated paid sick leave is exhausted \u2013 whichever is later.<\/p>\n

If an employee does not have 13 weeks of sick leave available to them, any shortfall can be covered through EI sick benefits.\u00a0 During this period, an employee only receives 55% of their salary \u2013 and to top it all off, often that money takes a while to start trickling in!<\/p>\n

When an employee does not have any sick leave credits accumulated, management has the discretionary ability to advance up to 25 days of sick leave.\u00a0 These must be repaid with any sick leave credits earned at a later date.<\/p>\n

Why does the government claim that the system isn\u2019t working?<\/p>\n

We hear many arguments that the current sick leave system is out of date.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are abuses,\u201d the government says. \u201cGovernment employees are using more than employees in the private sector,\u201d it deplores. \u201cThere\u2019s a $5.2 billion liability,\u201d it cautions. \u201cNew employees are being discriminated against,\u201d it laments.<\/p>\n

And so on, and so forth.<\/p>\n

Some of this may be true, or not.\u00a0 There\u2019s always going to be people who abuse the system, but these individuals are in the minority.<\/p>\n

And that liability that keeps getting referred to isn\u2019t really a liability.\u00a0 It only becomes a liability in a la-la land where every public servant takes every sick day that they\u2019ve accumulated. By and large, the liability disappears when an employee retires, because any accumulated sick leave is not paid out in any way and vanishes in a puff of smoke upon retirement. Poof!<\/p>\n

As for new employees, they can be advanced up to 25 days of sick leave, depending on need.\u00a0 Maybe new employees could receive the same provisions as those in the EX group, who are advanced all the sick leave they need and whose disability premiums are entirely covered by the employer.<\/p>\n

Perhaps some of the government\u2019s woes are a result of downloading corporate services to individual managers. Human resources in the public service used to be delivered quite differently than today.<\/p>\n

When someone went on long-term sick leave, they were monitored by human resources who worked with the employee to ensure a smooth transition when they returned to the workplace.\u00a0 Today, it is up to manager to monitor the employee, along with everything else a manager does.\u00a0 Human resources departments provide information and guidance to managers; they no longer perform other tasks such as monitoring.<\/p>\n

Often, a manager will change jobs and the new manager will not even be aware that they have an employee on long-term disability. In many cases, they won\u2019t have acquired the skills and competencies to manage disability. And this is in addition to all other tasks that have been delegated to managers.<\/p>\n

So what is being proposed to \u201cmodernize\u201d sick leave?\u00a0 For the time being, nothing has been proposed.\u00a0 However, the 2013 budget indicates that \u201cthe government will be examining its human resources management practices and institutions in a number of areas, including disability and sick leave management, with a view to ensuring that public servants receive appropriate services that support a timely return to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further, the Seventh Report to the Prime Minister of the Prime Minister\u2019s Advisory Committee on the Public Service states:\u00a0 \u201cAnother area for change is the current regime for managing disability and absenteeism.\u00a0 Here too, we find a complex and costly system that is out of step with other sectors of the economy and that does not offer a level playing field for all employees.\u00a0 This too must change.\u201d\u00a0 This clearly indicates change is coming but what?<\/p>\n

We can get an idea by looking at the sick leave program in place at Canada Post.\u00a0 Sick leave has been drastically changed for those employees; in all likelihood, the model that\u2019ll be proposed for us will resemble what\u2019s been imposed there.\u00a0 The annual sick leave allowance will be reduced. \u00a0Unused sick leave will not be accumulated or carried over. After a short time on sick leave, the employee will go on short-term disability at 70% of their pay. The employee will graduate to long-term disability after a certain period on short-term disability.<\/p>\n

In effect, managers will not manage sick leave, a private insurance company will.\u00a0 And, there will be a cost to that administration; private insurance doesn\u2019t come free. Employees will lose seven to ten sick days per year, and there will be premiums to pay to be covered by a short term disability plan.\u00a0 One question that comes to mind is: who will pay those premiums?<\/p>\n

What will happen if the employee has used up their allotment of annual sick leave and then gets the flu?\u00a0 Will employees come to work when they are ill in order to avoid any disruption in pay? And how will the government handle an outbreak of a highly contagious illness, like the H1N1 virus a few years ago?<\/p>\n

Now is the time for us to talk about sick leave.\u00a0 Does the current regime really need to be changed?\u00a0 If there is change, what do we, the employees, want it to look like?<\/p>\n

Your comments and ideas are welcomed!<\/p>\n

Richard Ballance is the Regional Vice-President for the Union of National Employees\u2019 NCR-TB region. Join the conversation by leaving a comment below. This article was written as part of our union\u2019s member journalism program. If you\u2019d like to find out more, <\/em>click here<\/em><\/a> \u2013 to pitch a story or for any questions, please send an email to <\/em>communications@une-sen.org<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a lot of rumours going around about what\u2019s going to happen to our sick leave.\u00a0 What is going to happen?\u00a0 Let\u2019s break it down and have an informed discussion about this topic. First of all, sick leave is a benefit that is in our collective agreement.\u00a0 Any changes to the current regime will … <\/p>\n

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