1. 1 Greater Victoria School District and Service Delivery Project BCSSA Summer Leadership Academy 2014

2. Service Delivery Project Purpose-Attendance Support  Programs to improve employee wellness, provide safe and healthy workplaces, and support employee attendance  Result in better learning outcomes for students  Result in better long term health outcomes for staff  Research best practice models  Data requirements and how best to collect, store and report the data.  Provide draft programs  Respect legislation, collective agreements and other regulations that apply to the workplace 2

3. Provincial Cost of Replacement Staffing  Currently districts spend $154 million on replacement staffing or 3.1% of budgets  This is up from $73 million or 2.3% in 1993/94  In 20 years, replacement costs have increased 210% while total salaries have increased 47.5%  Student Enrolment is almost equal between the two periods (550,873 today versus 554,146 in 1993/94) 3

4. Service Delivery Project Focus of Work-Non culpable absences  Non-culpable or innocent absenteeism is absenteeism that is not within the workers' control  Categories :  chronic/catastrophic  finite absence  short term illness  non-medical leave  substance abuse/addictions  psychological and soft tissue illness/injury

5. What we Heard from CUPE and BCTF  Not about Attendance Management, if so no buy-in by unions  Needs to be an Integrated part of LTD and SIP plans  Early return to work and wellness focus  Return to work, mentorship, rehabilitation, limited intervention if critically or chronically ill

6. Service Delivery Project Worksafe Return to Work  Duration of claims for school districts is up for 2012 – 42 days versus 38 days in 2011  Need to educate and develop trust in a return to work program as it is the employer and employee that should determine what employee can do as light duties – not the doctor  Return to work is a necessary bridge between injury and full return to work

7. Service Delivery Project Return to Work-Stay at Work  Understanding the costs – associated costs – WCB for every dollar spent, WCB charging $3 to employer to cover costs  3 to 6 times the direct costs for the indirect costs of absenteeism  Managing the absence or return to work-real way to reduce cost is to reduce time off work – modified work, modified duties, modified own occupation  Supernumerary is a cost savings  Districts need to have budgets for return to work initiatives  Sick leave, short term disability and long term disability need to work together

8. Service Delivery Project Principles and Best Practice  Program should work with existing programs such as JEIS and BCTF Health and Wellness Program  Program should be open and transparent and share information about the cost benefit analysis of return to work programs  Purpose of program is supportive not punitive  Program has to meet the current collective agreement language  Cooperative between union and management in support of employees- all about relationships with employees  Fairness and consistency

9. Attendance Awareness

10. Greater Victoria Timeline 2012/13 Initial Conversations with Senior Leadership Oct/13 In-Camera Operations Committee Meeting Oct/Nov/13 Met with Union Presidents Nov/13 Operations Committee Meeting Jan/14 Operations Committee Meeting - GVTA Presentations Jan/14 Board Meeting - Motion Approved Mar/14 Hired a Wellness and Attendance Support Advisor

11. That the Board of Education of School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria) implement the Attendance Awareness Program and proceed to hire a Human Resource Advisor, Wellness and Attendance Awareness, to coordinate the program. Motion Carried Motion

12. Why?

13. Greater Victoria Principles and Best Practice  Attendance Support is part of the Health and Welfare Benefits  Program must have a return to work and modified duties component  Employer needs to understand the medical and work circumstances and receive specialist and independent advice  Program should have a supportive and coaching approach  Employer needs data to understand if absence is excessive and data needs to be shared  Program should have an educational component for staff, managers and union representatives

14. Objectives of Attendance Awareness To promote optimal and consistent attendance at work. To raise awareness of the importance of good attendance. To promote an atmosphere of mutual respect, fairness and concerns. To provide a framework for responding to excessive absenteeism. To assist individual employees overcome difficulties which adversely affect consistent attendance and to help prevent absenteeism problems from escalating. To preserve continuity of learning in the classroom.

15. Employee Group Average Days Absent 2012/2013 Teachers11.04 CUPE 74711.43 CUPE 38218.31 Exempt7.16 P & VPs6.19 Allied Specialists6.50 All Employee Groups 11.46 Absence Summary

16. Absence Rate for Full-Time Secondary and Elementary Teachers Employed in British Columbia 2008200920102011 8.48.16.38.9

17. Reduce employees who are replaced by one day $460,000

18. Provincially How do we Compare for Sick Leave?

19. Provincially How do we Compare?  Statistics Canada also indicates that in the Education Sector that an additional 1.8 days are taken for personal or family responsibilities which would cost about $21 million in replacement costs

20. Provincial Cost Benefit Analysis  Estimated Savings if achieve national averages of $35.8 million  Estimated Annual Costs:  Specialist Support $625,000 to $1,000,000  Modified Work $3,500,000  Total Cost of about $4.125 to $4.5 million which will need to be invested annually to implement the program prior to savings being obtained

21. Wellness and Attendance Support Advisor Wellness Disability Management Attendance Support

22. BSc and PhD - Kinesiology Katie Dragert

23. March – June 2014 Information gathering from other school districts Attendance Support Program (ASP) draft document Union Conversations Data – SRB DLT Principals Working Group

24. July – September 2014 Training Preparation Principals, Vice-Principals, Managers Training

25. The Program Culpable versus Non-Culpable Conversations at School Level Human Resources support and Involvement

27. Service Delivery Project Recommendations  School Districts adopt common policies and procedures with best practice guidelines.  District use the programs of the BC Public Service Agency and the City of Coquitlam and the principles outlined in this report as a basis for their polices.  Districts have access to shared specialized expertise such as medical advisors and occupational therapists  This would create a system wide solution that can be well understood by employees, BCTF and support staff unions and management.

28. Service Delivery Project Recommendations  Districts without internal claims management expertise should consider using the School District No. 23 (Central Okanagan) program for these services  In addition, expertise is needed for health and safety services and districts should ensure access to these services which could be available on a regional level.  The overall goal is to create a culture:  attendance support is part of the regular operations of schools and districts  employees feel supported,  employee representatives are involved  It is recognized throughout the system, that the work with and for our students is improved by employee wellness.

29. Provincial Benefits of Common Implementation  Common implementation may provide for less conflict at a district level-although each district will need to approve their policy and work with local employee groups  Cooperation and integration with WorkSafe BC, BCTF and PEBT programs  Is a wellness and support initiative not attendance management 29

30. Service Delivery Project Looking for Pilot Districts

31. Thank you and Questions