Tuesday, December 5, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • The Promised Land: The Israel-Hamas war and the future of the Jewish community in Canada
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • The Promised Land: The Israel-Hamas war and the future of the Jewish community in Canada
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Curing the public sector’s sick leave malaise: MLI report by Philip Cross

November 27, 2015
in Economy Policy - papers, Latest News, Papers, Releases
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A

MLICrossSickLeaveInfographic774x427-11-15-V2

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute finds sick leave use in the federal civil service dwarfs rates in the private sector

OTTAWA, Nov. 27, 2015 – The federal government’s ailing sick leave system is in need of a cure.

A new Macdonald-Laurier Institute report finds federal employees are calling in sick more often than their private-sector counterparts – and the gap is growing larger with each passing year.

Author Philip Cross, Statistics Canada’s former chief economic analyst, delves into the numbers to show federal government employees take at least two-thirds – and likely nearly twice as much – sick leave as the private sector.

“Both the level and trend of sick leave use in the federal government and throughout the public sector is troubling”, says Cross.

“The research suggests that the most important determinant of sick leave use is whether you are in the public or private sector, not your exposure to possible injury or illness in the workplace”.

To read the full paper, titled “A Sickness in the System: How public sector use of sick leave benefits really compares to the private sector”, click here.

“Both the level and trend of sick leave use in the federal government and throughout the public sector is troubling”

A growing problem

Federal employees took an average of 10.5 sick days per year in 2014, a major increase from an average of 7.2 days in 1987.

By contrast, private sector employees took only 6.4 days on average in 2014. That’s basically the same as the average 6.1 days taken in 1987.

The problem, says Cross, is unlikely that federal employees are getting sick more often.

“The research suggests a primordial role for motivation and cultural attitudes in taking sick days, rather than biology and medicine”, writes Cross.

Cross points out that there are considerable differences in sick leave use between the private and public sector even when you look at individual industries, occupations and different federal ministries.

For example: People who work indoors in the private sector, the environment most comparable to the public sector, use less than half the sick leave of the public sector.

“The research suggests a primordial role for motivation and cultural attitudes in taking sick days, rather than biology and medicine”

Unparalleled benefits

The total number of leave days available to federal workers is staggering. Cross finds that a federal employee with 30 years of experience – when you factor in vacation, sick days and other forms of leave – can take 26 per cent of his or her working days off each year.

“Needless to say, no private sector employer could compete paying its employees to be on leave almost one-quarter of the year”, he says.

Concocting a fix

To Cross, it all suggests a sick leave system that is in desperate need of reform.

He recommends the newly-elected Liberals, who have promised to repeal the previous government’s changes to civil service sick leave, try to align these benefits more closely to what employees get in the private sector.

Part of this solution, he believes, needs to address ongoing problems with long-term disability benefits. As it stands now, only one-third of employees have banked the 65 sick days needed to access these benefits.

“This is clearly a risk for employees with little seniority who have not had time to accumulate significant sick leave benefits and for people with chronic but not disabling illnesses or injuries”, says Cross.

***

Philip Cross is a Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. He previously served as the Chief Economic Analyst for Statistics Canada, part of a 36-year career with the agency.

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute is the only non-partisan, independent national public policy think tank in Ottawa focusing on the full range of issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government. Join us in 2015 as we celebrate our 5th anniversary.

For more information, please contact Mark Brownlee, communications manager, at 613-482-8327 x105 or email at mark.brownlee@macdonaldlaurier.ca.

Share this:
Tags: Philip Crosspublic sectorsick leave
Previous Post

Don’t blame Paris attacks on intelligence ‘failures’: Christian Leuprecht in the Globe

Next Post

Going another round with the stimulators on the virtue of balanced budgets: Brian Lee Crowley in the Globe

Related Posts

A summary of federal investments and program actions related to Indigenous water supplies
Commentary

A summary of federal investments and program actions related to Indigenous water supplies

December 5, 2023
Academic freedom is under attack in the Americas – overcoming silence and intimidation: Isaac Nahon-Serfaty for Inside Policy
Inside Policy

Academic freedom is under attack in the Americas – overcoming silence and intimidation: Isaac Nahon-Serfaty for Inside Policy

December 4, 2023
As Gaza demonstrates, Canada needs the tools to counter international kidnapping: Sarah Teich for Inside Policy
Inside Policy

As Gaza demonstrates, Canada needs the tools to counter international kidnapping: Sarah Teich for Inside Policy

December 1, 2023
Next Post
Brian Lee Crowley

Going another round with the stimulators on the virtue of balanced budgets: Brian Lee Crowley in the Globe

Newsletter Signup

  Thank you for Signing Up
  Please correct the marked field(s) below.
Email Address  *
1,true,6,Contact Email,2
First Name *
1,true,1,First Name,2
Last Name *
1,true,1,Last Name,2
*
*Required Fields

Follow us on

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

  • Inside Policy Magazine
  • Annual Reports
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • The Promised Land: The Israel-Hamas war and the future of the Jewish community in Canada
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Justice Report Card
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Provincial COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
      • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Past Projects
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Inside Policy
    • Papers
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Video

© 2023 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.