Attendance Management is a DSBN procedure (AP 5-30) for which implementation began in 2011, before the government forced the implementation of the new sick day system. The Board has set a threshold of 10 incidences of absence using sick days in a rolling 12-working-month period, which triggers entry into a “coaching” program. Note that this means 14 calendar months for teachers. In the fall of a school year, the rolling 12-working-month period could cover all of one school year and a month in each of two other school years. The threshold of 10 instances is not directly related to the 11 available sick days per year at 100% in the new sick leave plan. Note that one “instance” could be one period of absence for a root canal, or four days absence for the flu. 10 instances of sick day use is supposed to be two standard deviations above the average usage. Absences for other types of leave are excluded, as are sick-day absences for five or more consecutive days.

Absences which arise from an ongoing medical condition are also to be excluded from the count of incidences toward the threshold of 10 under the Attendance Management program. In order for absences for such ongoing medical conditions to be excluded from counting toward the 10-incidence threshold, OSSTF members must provide medical documentation to the DSBN Disability Management Co-ordinator. By providing the required medical information to the Disability Management Co-ordinator, the OSSTF member would enter the Disability Management program (AP 5-25), which is separate from the Attendance Management program. The member may also become eligible for appropriate accommodations as required for a disability under the Ontario Human Rights Code. School administrators are not entitled to medical information, only the workplace restrictions or accommodations that might be required to accommodate a disability. OSSTF members who may have any such medical condition should consult the OSSTF District 22 office for assistance.

OSSTF’s biggest concern with the Attendance Management program, beyond its very existence, is that it includes the following: “ The Board reserves the right to consider the termination of an employee for non-culpable absenteeism”, which relates to “absences as a result of illness or injury that arise due to circumstances beyond the employee’s control.” Our other major concern with the Attendance Management program is that each level of the “coaching” process requires the OSSTF member to set “attendance goals” for the next 90 working days. Clearly, nobody (outside of some in the Disability Management program) can have any idea of how often they will get sick in the next four to seven months. If you are scheduled for an Attendance Management meeting with your principal, you are entitled to have an OSSTF rep with you, but it is often sufficient to contact the OSSTF District 22 office for assistance in understanding the process.

The DSBN Human Resources Department also identifies patterns of absence taken in proximity to holidays or leaves for other purposes, and the Attendance Management program passes the responsibility for followup to school administrators. Thus, patterns of absences for illness on Mondays or Fridays, or for illness on days before or after long weekends or Family Care Days, or on PD Days or Black Friday, can result in greater scrutiny, and may trigger the collective agreement provision (12.04 (b), as above) for a OSSTF TBU member to provide a medical certificate for an absence of fewer than five days. Sometimes a school administrator will contact a sick OSSTF member at home on such days in order to exercise their discretion regarding 12.04 (b). Thus, if you answer the phone you may be less likely to get asked for a medical certificate than if you let it ring. While this apparent lack of faith in OSSTF members’ professionalism is regrettable, it can fall within the bounds of labour law. OSSTF District 22 TBU has grieved certain DSBN practices pertaining to sick days and medical certificates in the past, but whether we can do so successfully in any given situation depends on the particular facts of the case.

Our current allotment of sick days comes as a result of the OSSTF Memorandum of Understanding with the government in April 2013, which modified our 2008-12 TBU and OTBU collective agreements for 2012-14. (No modified CA has been issued because there has been no agreement with the DSBN as to what those modifications would say.) Teacher Bargaining Unit members now have access each year to 11 sick days at 100% pay and 120 sick days at 90% pay. (During an LTO assignment, OTBU members are eligible for 11 sick days/year at 100% and 60 sick days/year at 90%, pro-rated to the length of the assignment.) There is an exception to this when an absence due to the same illness extends over the end of a school year, and access only to the 120 days at 90% from the old school year continues into the new year. Then, if the member is able to return to work at any time during the new school year, the member is issued a new allotment of 11 + 120 days. Any 90% sick days can be topped up to 100% pay based on 10 days for every one of the eleven 100% days unused from the previous school year, e.g., 5 unused 100% sick days in 2013-14 would allow 50 sick days at 90% to be topped up to 100% in 2014-15.

Entitlement for TBU members to use the 11 + 120 sick days is based on the language in the 2008-12 collective agreement, article 12.01 (b): “An employee shall be entitled to draw upon his/her sick leave credits ... for personal medical absences which shall include illness, injury, medical diagnosis, treatment and consultation.” By virtue of past practice, dental is included in “medical”.

Note that sick leave cannot be used for illnesses of parents or children, which are covered under article 13.01 (g), Family Care Leave: “A teacher shall, in cases involving serious illness/injury, be granted leave without loss of pay to a maximum of three (3) days in any one (1) year for the purpose of tending to the teacher’s own children, parents, spouse, parent-in-law, or any other relative who resides in the household.” If family care leave is required beyond three days in one school year, application must be made using HR-003, Request for Absence form, which is available in FirstClass (DSBN Education Centre/ Human Resources/ HR forms), as a request for Special Circumstances leave (13.01 (h), which may be with or without pay). It is also worth noting that OSSTF TBU members may also apply for up to eight weeks’ unpaid Family Medical Leave with benefits continued (article 13.11) when a family member has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death within 26 weeks.

Absence Reporting is covered in another DSBN procedure (AP 5-28) and in articles 18.18 and 12.04 of the TBU 2008-12 collective agreement, which remain in effect:

18.18 Reporting of Absence
(a) For the purpose of reporting an unanticipated absence, a teacher should make an entry (by telephone or web) in SEMS prior to 6:45 a.m. on the day of absence. Provided such entry is made before the specified time, this shall be the only reporting of absence required.
(b) If it is necessary for a teacher to report an unanticipated absence after 6:45 a.m., the teacher shall make a phone call to the teacher’s school, as directed by the school administration, and make an entry (by telephone or web) in SEMS if so directed.

12.04 Deductions
(a) After five (5) consecutive days of absence, no Sick Leave Credits shall be allowed unless a medical certificate is furnished to the Director of Education (or designate) by a physician or dentist, certifying the teacher’s inability to attend to his/her duties due to personal illness or injury. Updated medical information specifically outlining limitations and restrictions may be required for the purposes of accommodation. The Board shall, if required, reimburse the teacher for the cost of obtaining such documentation.
(b) Notwithstanding the above, the Board may require a teacher to submit the certificate thereunder for a period of absence of less than five (5) days. The Board shall, if required, reimburse the teacher for the cost of obtaining a medical certificate where the period of absence is less than five (5) days.

Note that school administrators are not entitled to see a doctor’s note or other “medical certificate”. When a “medical certificate” is required, it should be sent to the DSBN’s Disability Management Co-ordinator. One way to do this is to hand the document to the school administrator in a sealed envelope addressed to the DSBN Disability Management Co-ordinator.

The Early Retirement Incentive PLan (ERIP) and Voluntary unpaid Leave of Absence Plan (VLAP) are two features of the 2013 OSSTF Memorandum of Understanding with the Ontario Government.  They pertain only to the current 2012-14 Collective Agreement.  Both are designed to generate savings to the school board to offset pay for what would otherwise be unpaid PD Days in 2013-14. March 7th is currently scheduled to be an unpaid PD Day.  However, if the savings from ERIP and VLAP are equivalent to more than the cost of 83% of a day's salary for all TBU members, then March 7th will be a paid PD Day for all TBU members.  Regardless, March 7th will be a paid PD Day for all OTBU members then on LTO.

A link is provided to the DSBN memo on the ERIP, which provides for $5,000 to be paid to TBU members who retire between November 29th and January 29th with at least two school-weeks' notice.

Members considering the Early Retirement Incentive Plan are advised to contact the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan at 1 800 668 0105.