Average sick day payouts to regional employees drop

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

Despite the number of people receiving sick leave cash-outs from the region increasing once again in 2017, the average sick leave cash-out has dropped for the second year.

The region has released an update to the liability for unused sick days, which have been accumulated by employees who have left the region’s employment.

In 1975, the region adopted a bylaw that established a sick leave plan that would provide its full-time employees with a set number of sick days each month.

Under that plan, any unused sick days accumulates to the credit of the employee.

Those who qualify and are looking to terminate their employment, if they have reached five years of continuous service with the region, they are entitled to be paid half of their accumulated sick leave credits.

Employees receive their credits at their rate of pay at the time they leave, as long as the amount does not exceed six months salary.

However, the sick leave cash out does not apply to certain region employees. Employees of Paramedic Services, and Durham Region Transit do not receive the sick leave cash-outs.

Durham Regional Police Services also does not receive sick leave cash-outs from the region, as they have their own sick leave plan.

In 2017, the average sick leave cash-out for the region was $20,671 according to the report.

However, that is less than 2016, when the average was $21,111, which was also down from the 2015 average of $22,625

However, since 2015, the number of those employed by the region receiving sick leave cash-outs has increased from 87 to 109 in 2017.

The payout credit only applies to full-time workers, which represent about 70 per cent of the region’s 3,000 employees.