Bargaining Newsletter #17: MOA on Supporting Employee Wellness

December 12, 2016

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada and the Treasury Board have reached a tentative deal on a Memorandum of Agreement to support employee wellness.

You will recall when this round of negotiations began in 2014, the employer tabled proposals to eliminate the existing sick leave system and replace it with a short-term disability program. PIPSC, along with other federal public service unions, firmly stated that we would only negotiate improvements to the current system. The Harper government then passed Bill C-59, allowing it to impose a deal on unions if none could be negotiated. By April 2015, the employer had not budged from its proposal to:

reduce the number of fully-paid sick days from 15 to 6, with 2 days carryover of unused days

eliminate banked sick days (effective September 2018)

impose a short-term disability plan (including a 7-day unpaid waiting period for benefits), the first 6 weeks of which would be paid at 100% of salary, the remaining 20 weeks at 70%.

In April 2016, PIPSC established a sick leave team composed of representatives of Bargaining Groups to craft a PIPSC solution that would improve the sick leave program, rather than undermine our current system. The Institute is proud to announce that all of its principles were respected in the agreement it reached with the Treasury Board on a process for improving the current sick leave system. Our agreement was made in respect of the principles agreed to with all of the Federal Public Service Bargaining Agents.

The guiding principle on this issue is simple: you should never be forced to choose between going to work sick or staying at home without pay. We have established a process that will ensure that solutions based on the evidence for improving the current system and further, that until the new system has been agreed to by both sides, the existing sick leave system remains firmly intact.

In the MOA the parties agreed to negotiate the creation of an Employee Wellness Support Program (EWSP) to improve employee wellness and the safe and successful reintegration of employees into the workplace after being prolonged absences due to illnesses or injury.

In addition to forming part of the collective agreement and being internally administered by the employer, the new program outlined in the MOA will include a number of key features:

Full 26 weeks of 100% income replacement

A three-day paid qualification period for short-term disability benefits

Nine fully-paid sick days

Three-day carryover of unused sick leave days

Qualifying chronic or episodic illnesses will be exempt from the waiting period

The accumulation of current sick leave credits will cease on the implementation date of the EWSP

Existing sick leave banks in excess of 26 weeks can be used prior to going on LTD

Travel time for diagnosis and treatment

An employee on the EWSP will be considered to be on leave with pay

Full costs of administering the EWSP will be borne by the employer, and

Family-related leave will increase by one day.

The parties will develop all agreements and documents required to implement the EWSP within one year.

The final EWSP language and program design will be provided to individual PIPSC bargaining tables for ratification and inclusion in their collective agreements after it has been agreed to by the parties.

I want to emphasize again that our choices are between maintaining the current system or improving it. If we do not ultimately come to an agreement on changes at the bargaining table, the current system remains in place.

We have gone from what was supposed to be a concession of our rights to a significant opportunity for improving them. This could not have been accomplished without the strong solidarity of all our members and all the bargaining agents of federal public service.

Better Together!

Debi Daviau,

President