Attendance Management

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.