So far, the Conservative government’s plan to crack down on absenteeism, while revamping sick leave and disability management in the public service, has focused on unionized employees. But studies obtained by the Citizen show the government also plans to move 6,560 federal executives into the new short-term insurance scheme.
Linda Duxbury, professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, said taking away sick leave sends executives the message that they are abusing it and can’t be trusted. Duxbury has long argued that absenteeism is a symptom of a toxic workplace that won’t be fixed by a new short-term disability plan.
“It’s wounding. (Executives) work hard, are available 24/7 to answer emails and implement changes and cuts they may not even agree with, and they are treated like they all abuse it,” she said.
Currently, executives get the same 15 days a year of paid sick leave as unionized employees. They can also request an advance of another five weeks of sick leave, which, like unionized employees, they have to pay back. The government is proposing to reduce the number of annual sick days for employees to six.
Unlike unionized employees, executives can get an extra 130 days of paid sick days once in their careers – at the discretion of deputy ministers – which they don’t have to repay. They can use it all at once for a prolonged illness or draw upon it as needed for a recurring illness or during recovery. It’s expected this special leave would disappear under the Conservatives’ plan.
Many executives have banked more unused sick leave than other workers as a cushion in the face of prolonged illness. That stockpile would disappear too.
The government has paid 100 per cent of the executives’ premiums for disability insurance since 1990, while unionized employees contribute 15 per cent of their premium costs. It’s unclear what would happen to that perk.
Executives – along with diplomats and scientists – use the least amount of sick leave in the public service, although they claim more than their counterparts in the private sector. They typically take off less than half the number of sick-leave days of other public servants, who average about 11.5 days a year.
The Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX) said the latest five-year trend showed 75 per cent of executives took less than five days annually; 54 per cent took less than one or two days and 30 per cent took no sick leave at all.
Still, APEX, which has tracked the health and work of executives with studies for more than 15 years, found executives are taking more sick days than ever. They averaged 3.5 days in 1997; 3.3 days in 2002 – then 4.3 days in 2007 and 5.4 days in 2012.
APEX’s most recent health survey found executives use their vacation as “stress” leave and half say they routinely go to work sick. They go to work ill on average 7.5 days a year. Those who felt their performance was affected by their illness said they worked at least 30 per cent below their normal capacity.
APEX hasn’t taken a position on Clement’s proposal to eliminate the existing sick-leave scheme, but it has emerged as a driving force to fix an increasingly sick and stressed federal workplace.
It was the first to urge the government to adopt the Mental Health Commission’s national standard on a psychologically healthy workplace. It strongly argued this should be a key piece of the Blueprint 2020 plan to modernize the public service, so that departments would be obliged to take a hard look at the policies and practices that could be making employees sick.
The 17 unions have also taken up that call at the bargaining table, where they asked that the standard be mandatory and embedded in employees’ contracts.
It’s unclear whether a growing number of executives are ending up on disability with mental health issues, as is happening with other employees. Nearly half of all claims in the disability plan for unionized employees are mental health claims.
The APEX study only surveyed working executives – none on sick leave or disability. It found 11 per cent of them reported mental health problems, nearly double the number in 2011. It also found 20 per cent of executives are taking medication to treat insomnia, depression or anxiety.
Treasury Board says it doesn’t have a breakdown of mental health or any other illnesses leading to disability claims for executives. The last major compensation study of the public service, led by former senior bureaucrat James Lahey, noted “mental/nervous” illnesses were on the rise and accounted for 58 per cent of claims in the Public Service Management Insurance Plan (PSMIP) by 2002.
The PSMIP, managed by Industrial Alliance Insurance, provides disability insurance for the government’s elite employees. The executives are among the plan’s 53,000 members, which also includes parliamentarians, judges, order-in-council appointees and 37,000 “excluded” employees working in managerial or confidential jobs. It has not publicly posted a report since 2012.
The public service is in the midst of a major transition and people management is one of its biggest challenges and priorities. It’s still swallowing budget cuts and has been hit with a rush of new technologies, new data, a diminishing policy role and an unprecedented generational turnover among its ranks.
Executives are under huge pressure to come up with new and faster ways to manage, develop policy and deliver services.
Duxbury said executives – particularly those at the director and director-general levels – have very stressful jobs. They end up as “toxic handlers” who shoulder the frustration and anger from up and down the organization, especially when changes are underway. The power of those jobs has diminished so much over the years that many can’t even “order a pot of coffee” without sign-off from their bosses, she said.
“Executives in the private sector have more decision-making autonomy and control over their work day,” said Duxbury.
“All my data shows these are really stressful jobs in the public service because they don’t have the increased control most people get as they go up the hierarchy. All they get is being closer to the people with the power, who can change their minds in a heart beat.”
Lisanne Lacroix, APEX’s chief executive officer, said the health of executives has to be a priority because they are responsible for leading the public service through the transition.
“Reform of the public service will require the full commitment and engagement of executives,” she said. “The degree to which they rise to the challenge will depend, in large part, on their state of health, which will largely be determined by the quality of the work environment,” she said.
Lacroix said four changes could make a dramatic difference in the health of executives; they need more respect, more recognition, more control over their jobs and more support from colleagues, especially bosses.
But the APEX study reveals a worrisome combination of rising stress, falling commitment and “disengagement” and health problems among executives, which raises questions about how able they are to lead that change.
The APEX study shows executives are more stressed than 75 per cent of all Canadian adults. Their organizational commitment is on the decline – from 64 per cent to 52 per cent. About 32 per cent are disengaged, feeling disconnected from their work and unable to deal with job demands.
They feel they have little control over their work, receive little support from colleagues and supervisors, and scant recognition for their efforts. They complained about incivility in the workplace and bosses who harass. About one-quarter reported symptoms of burnout, ranging from emotional exhaustion to cynicism and a declining sense of accomplishment and usefulness.
kmay@ottawacitizen.com
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Executive Sick Days, By The Numbers
5.4 – Number of sick days executives took in 2012
50.7 – Number hours a week executives work, on average
51 – Percentage who say most days are stressful
11 – Percentage of federal executives who report mental health problems
22 – Percentage who reported they were “verbally abused” by superiors in the past year
13 – Percentage who say their health is fair or poor
20 – Percentage who say they take medication to treat insomnia, depression or anxiety
60 – Percentage who report imbalance between their effort at work and the recognition they receive
Source: APEX 2012 Executive Work and Health Survey
Original Article
Source: canada.com/
Author: KATHRYN MAY
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