Resident says region “virtually alone” in paying out sick days

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

Regional staff will investigate the merits of paying out unused sick days to employees who leave their position. This comes after a local resident questioned the policy, claiming he cannot find any other organization that has a similar practice.

Greg Milosh appeared before regional council to voice his concerns with the practice, calling it “uncommon and perhaps questionable.”

Explaining he searched high and low to find any other organization that has a similar policy, Milosh said he was unable to identify a board of education, hospital or government, including Durham Region’s seven lower-tier municipalities.

“Not only [is Durham Region] in the minority, it is virtually alone,” Milosh said.

“I believe this should be eliminated,” he continued. “It’s too expensive and unfair to ask taxpayers to bear this cost.”

Under regional policy, any regular employee who has at least five years of continuous employment are eligible to receive, upon termination for any reason, payment for half of their sick days as long as the gratuity does not exceed six months of the employee’s current salary.

However, just how much money this policy cost the region over that time remains unclear.

Regional staff declined The Express’ request for the dollar amount paid out through this policy, stating more information would be available in the upcoming report.

Upon hearing Milosh’s delegation, regional councillors approved a motion directing staff to bring a report on the policy in question back to committee of the whole by the end of the year.

However, Milosh also voiced his opinion that it would be an unsuitable situation for staff to make recommendations on.

“I do not believe that the report should include any recommendations because staff are also entitled to this benefit and therefore would be in a conflict of interest if they make any recommendations as to its retention or elimination,” he said.

Milosh also indicated he would like to see research into whether this type of benefit payment is as rare as his ‘informal survey’ suggested.

Citing that some may argue such a policy improves work attendance, Milosh said since a similar benefit was eliminated from agreements between the province and its teachers, the average number of sick days increased from 8 1/4 to 9 3/4, which he called “not a significant increase.”

According to information provided to Milosh by Joanne Cermak, director of financial services for Durham, 430 employees, not including Durham Regional Police Service members, received payment for accumulated unused sick days between 2011 and 2015.

Tania Laverty, manager of communications for the region, stated in an emailed response that “the sick leave gratuity matter is a contractual obligation, pursuant to long-established agreements and/or regional policy.”