Sick leave changes applauded by business group
Posted Jun 10, 2013 11:04:35 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA, On – The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is applauding the federal government’s plan to scale back the sick leave benefits and disability premiums it pays out for federal civil servants. C.F.I.B President Dan Kelly tells 1310News it’s time to even things up with the private sector. “You know these things are just not fair. Why is it that we who kick in the dollars for the tax system end up with fewer benefits than the people that we pay in the first place?”
The C.F.I.B did a study comparing sick time in the public sector and private sector and found that on average, public sector workers booked 12.9 days compared to 8.2 in the private sector. Kelly tells 1310News the current system is being abused. “Nobody begrudges somebody from taking a sick day when they’re sick, but it’s gone far beyond that and it’s nice to see that Ottawa is starting to pull back on some of these extra benefits civil servants have that average Canadians just don’t”.
Kelly expects there will be a battle at the bargaining table when it comes to any changes to sick leave. Currently, on average public servants get 15 days of sick leave which they can accumulate and roll over.
