Absence-rate gap due to age, gender: study
Public, private sectors compared
Canada’s public servants are absent more than their private-sector counterparts because they are unionized and a higher proportion of them are women and older workers, says Statistics Canada.
A Statistics Canada study that examined the differences between absences from work in the private and public sectors concluded those three factors explained about 80 per cent of the gap between the average 12.4 days public sector workers booked off work in 2012 and the 8.3 days taken by private-sector employees.
The study is more fodder for the debate over absenteeism that has the Conservative government at loggerheads with unions representing federal public servants over its plans to overhaul sick leave.
Absenteeism is a major productivity issue for both sectors, and the soaring rate among federal bureaucrats is one of the big drivers behind the government’s plan to overhaul sick leave benefits and replace the existing regime with a short-term disability plan. Concessions on sick leave will be the key issue in what promises to be a heated round of collective bargaining in 2014.
Treasury Board President Tony Clement, who is leading the charge for the overhaul, claims public servants are taking an average of 18.2 days a year in unpaid and paid sick leave. That translates into 19,000 people off work on any given day on some kind of leave for illness and disability.
Those numbers sparked a war of words with the unions, led by the Public Service Alliance of Canada. It argued the numbers were inflated and unfair, saying comparisons with the private sector was like comparing “apples and oranges,” and demanded Clement provide the data to support his claims.
The Statistics Canada study was based on work absences due to “personal reasons” for illness, disability, personal and family responsibilities. This means absences due to parental or maternity leave are excluded.
It found that federal public servants were absent an average of 14.9 days in 2012, compared to 8.3 days in the private sector. Provincial public servants were close behind with an average of 14.6 days.
Of those 14.9 days, federal public servants were off sick for 11.4 days and took 3.5 days for family or personal responsibilities. For the 8.3 days private-sector employees are off work, 6.7 days are because of illness and disability and 1.5 days for personal reasons.
The study found that differences in age, gender and rate of unionization accounted for all but about one day of the absence gap between the public and private sectors. Some occupations are more dangerous or prone to injury, but the study found both sectors have such occupations.
The rate of unionization in the public sector, where 76 per cent of employees are unionized, accounted for the biggest chunk of the difference. Union members are covered by collective agreements and are typically entitled to a certain number of sick and personal days every year. Only about 19 per cent of private-sector workers are union members. Some don’t have any sick leave provisions and so would go to work ill rather than lose pay.
About one quarter of the absence gap was explained by age and gender. Women are absent more than men largely because they still take on more family responsibilities.
In a statement, PSAC argued the study confirms its view that comparing public and private-sector absences is like comparing “apples and oranges” and that the differences are insignificant when unionization, gender and age are taken into account.
The union said the study makes the case for legislation so privatesector employees can enjoy the same kind of sick leave and disability benefits negotiated by unions.
Matthew Conway, a spokesman for Clement, said the study doesn’t affect its commitment to fix an “inefficient” sick leave system “that doesn’t work for employees who need support or for Canadian taxpayers, who are footing the bill.”
He noted the differences in federal absenteeism rates between Treasury Board and Statistics Canada is explained by different methodology. Statistics Canada collects data for the broad public sector, including employees working for the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments.
Treasury Board’s absenteeism data included all employees off work on paid or unpaid sick leave in the 20 largest departments of the core public service.