New numbers obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) through the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act shows the number of New Brunswick provincial government workers calling in sick has fallen over the past two years.
Since 2011-12 sick days fell by 17%.
That decline falls short of a 20 per cent sick time reduction target by March 31st, 2015 set in the 2013-14 budget. Former Finance Minister Higgs indicated at the time the cut would save $20 million.
“The government deserves credit for wrestling the sick time problem down, but it is still short of their own 20 per cent reduction target,” said Kevin Lacey Atlantic Director with the CTF.
Departments that saw the largest declines in employees booking off sick include Healthy and Inclusive Communities, Natural Resources, Social Development and Human Resources.
The departments that have seen an increase in number sick time taken off include Regional Development Corporation, Invest New Brunswick and Environment and Local Government. Employees at the Department of Transportation take the most sick days on average at 10.66 in 2014-15.
The Premier’s Office averaged just 1.18 sick days a year over three years. In 2014-15, they did not take any sick days.
“Abuse of sick time costs taxpayers millions, and by curbing it, needed dollars can instead go back into important government services,” added Lacey.
Government workers are entitled up to three weeks of paid sick time a year.
A breakdown of total amount of sick time taken by government employees from 2012-13 to 2014-15 by department can be found HERE.
Note: Numbers are for Part 1 of the New Brunswick public service only.
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