Report Finds Public Servants’ Sick Days Negligible to Ottawa

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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A recent report issued by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Jean-Denis Fréchette, has found that employees in a few federal departments take an average of mere 13 sick days per year, adding that the cost to government is not “fiscally material” partly because workers are rarely replaced when sick. The report concluded that there is a “notable variance” between departments in how often employees take a paid sick day, but the costs are not “fiscally or operationally material.”

The report has been issued in light of recent statements from Treasury Board President, Tony Clement, as he vows to roll back paid sick leave benefits in the public sector. Clement is essentially fighting the “banking” of unused sick days, which he says are a large liability on the federal government’s books. In his comments, Mr. Fréchette said he hopes the report will play a role in those negotiations. According to a statement issued by Mr. Fréchette in his Ottawa office on Wednesday morning, he said that “I hope the report will help them to have a better debate, and better information on what they can do.” He reiterated that the cost of replacing sick workers, in the departments that actually do so, is “really marginal.”

In response to the report’s release, Mr. Clement gave a replied on Twitter in a post on Wednesday. He posted that “the root issue is that wellness and productivity are not encouraged by the current system. So I’m looking [forward] to bargaining,” he wrote, adding in another message “the purpose of reform is to get employees back to work healthier and sooner.”