As part of its “Labour Day Reality Check,” the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released data today showing an astounding gap between sick leave taken by government workers in the province and everyone else. The CTF is calling on all levels of governments to get its employee sick leave usage under control.
Statistics Canada data released by the CTF show bureaucrats in Manitoba (working for all levels of government) used the second highest amount of sick/disability leave in Canada; an average of 12.1 days in 2012. Only Quebec was higher with 12.2 days. Meanwhile, the average Manitoban working outside of government used just 7.1 days.
“It’s unacceptable for governments to be raising taxes while their employees are taking nearly double the number of sick days as everyone else,” said CTF Prairie Director Colin Craig. “Governments should cut back on sick leave abuse instead of raiding taxpayers’ wallets.”
Sick/Disability Days Per Year (2012)
|
Province |
Government |
Non-Government |
|
QC |
12.2 |
8.5 |
|
MB |
12.1 |
7.1 |
|
BC |
12.0 |
7.4 |
|
NS |
12.0 |
8.4 |
|
PEI |
11.3 |
6.3 |
|
SK |
11.0 |
6.9 |
|
NB |
10.7 |
7.1 |
|
NL |
10.7 |
7.9 |
|
AB |
9.1 |
5.6 |
|
ON |
8.8 |
5.8 |
Source: Statistics Canada (Custom Order)
Harper Government:
Across the country, federal government employees took 17.9 days of sick leave, according to the most recent Treasury Board survey. In comparison, the most recent national report from Statistics Canada shows employees working outside of government took only 6.7 sick days in 2012.
Government employees at the Department of National Defence booked off sick 18.6 days in the 2011-12 fiscal year – more than three and half weeks, in additional to paid vacations which range from three to six weeks. Veterans Affairs employees booked off 24.2 sick days, averaging more than a month of sick time.
Selinger Government:
Provincially, employees took an average of 8.76 sick days in 2012-13. The Companies Office and Property Registry led the way with 13.8 and 13.1 days respectively. Executive Council had the lowest utilization of sick leave with just 3.8 days per employee.
Data Sources:
Statistics Canada province by province data – click here
Freedom of Information data from Selinger government – click here
Federal government department by department data – click here
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