海角社区官网

“It is essential to use sick days only as intended under the collective agreement,” says a memo from 海角社区官网Elementary Catholic Teachers sent to its more than 4,000 members.

“The board has hired private investigators to observe members, attempting to identify what they deem as misuse of sick days,” says the memo, obtained by the Star. “This has led to disciplinary actions, up to and including termination. Protect yourself by adhering to the (collective agreement) guidelines.”聽

The Catholic board employs two such investigators. Sources told the Star that earlier this year, up to five teachers at one school were let go after calling in sick and spending the day at a Niagara casino. The school’s vice-principal, who reportedly knew of the outing, was also fired, sources say. (The sources were not authorized to speak publicly.)

The 海角社区官网public board also has an investigations unit and says it has, on occasion, hired outside private investigators to look into claims of misconduct, including sick leave abuse, and that employees have lost their job as a result.

Education unions have called the use of investigators “disturbing,” but school boards across the province say that while the vast majority of teachers use the days as allowed聽鈥� for illness, injury or medical appointments聽聽鈥� they can’t keep up with the escalating costs.聽

Absenteeism has also exacerbated the province’s already dire shortage of educators, leaving schools scrambling to find fill-ins, and students without a permanent teacher.

Last June, the province sent boards guidelines for implementing attendance support programs, noting that “absenteeism not only creates operational challenges for school boards to meet educational priorities, but it also adds financial pressure on school boards.”

Last week, the annual provincial auditor general’s report noted that the 海角社区官网District School Board 鈥� the largest in the country 鈥� could save $24 million聽if it better managed staff absences.

At the 海角社区官网Catholic District School Board, unfunded sick-leave costs account for about two-thirds of its $66-million budget deficit.

Chair Markus de Domenico said the board must “keep the integrity of the system and 鈥� deal with the funding issue we have.”

Staff “are very professional and dedicated ... but we are also responsible to the public to be good stewards of our finances and we just have to ensure that the system is being used for what it’s designed 鈥� to assist people that are ill or have a reason to be off,” he told the Star.

“There are, as there are in any large organizations, occasionally people that choose to abuse that. But they don’t represent the very vast majority of our staff.”

In recent years, some cases where teachers were on sick leave but posting vacation photos on social media have been uncovered, or teachers spotted shopping at Yorkdale Mall on a professional development day.

Roseline Dorcin, a 海角社区官网public board teacher, was placed on medical leave in September 2019, but after parents spotted social media posts showing her living in Montreal and campaigning for the federal election, the board hired private investigators.

Dorcin, who was found to be working at a Montreal school while collecting sick pay, was later fired from the board and stripped of her teaching certificate by the Ontario College of Teachers.

The 海角社区官网Elementary Catholic Teachers’ union has called hiring investigators “heavy-handed” and “deeply concerning,” but the board says sick leave is an “enormous contributor” to its deficit聽鈥� accounting for $44 million of its $66-million budget shortfall.

The 海角社区官网Catholic board is “committed to ensuring staff benefits are used appropriately,” said Shazia Vlahos, the board’s chief communications officer of policy, government relations and strategy.

“We take allegations of sick leave misuse seriously and are implementing reasonable measures to address such concerns,” including labour relations investigators looking into allegations of professional misconduct by employees, she said. She added that “we hope this approach will allow us to use the anticipated savings from these unfunded costs in a prudent manner to further support student learning and address current classroom instructional needs.”

Deborah Karam, president of 海角社区官网Elementary Catholic Teachers, said her members want to be in the classroom and “should not be vilified for accessing the sick leave that allows them to recover and return to work healthy.”

“If the (board) truly cared about the quality of student education and the welfare of school staff, it would focus on understanding and addressing why teachers are reporting higher levels of stress and burnout than ever,” said Karam.

Karam called the board’s hiring of private investigators a聽“heavy-handed and disturbing approach to employee relations.” The union has heard聽that the board is monitoring teachers’ social media accounts and that some have been followed by investigators 鈥� actions she called “dramatic” and designed to “intimidate.”

Antonella Di Carlo, president of the 2,500-member 海角社区官网Catholic teachers’ secondary unit, said the board is getting tough on attendance monitoring and that she has recently heard from teachers who’ve received letters asking them to justify their use of sick days.

Di Carlo says these teachers’ use of the sick days was legitimate.

“If it’s a problem in the minority, then identify it as such,” said Di Carlo, adding that teachers feel like they’re being surveilled by their employer. “So you’re terrorizing a profession right now ... for the minority?”聽

The Star asked both unions about disciplinary actions that their members have faced, or potential grievances launched by the union over sick-day cases, but they declined to provide details.

One board insider, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told the Star the use of private investigators “sends a message” to the few who misuse the system.

“The party’s over,” the insider said.聽

In 2012, the then-Liberal government cut the number of paid sick days and ended the practice of allowing teachers to bank unused days for a payout at retirement. Now all permanent school staff in Ontario are entitled to 11 sick days at full pay, and 120 days of short-term leave at 90 per cent of their salary.

When teachers are sick or on medical leave, a supply or long-term occasional covers for them. When none are available, school staff may have to give up preparation time, be reassigned, or combine classes. Principals can also use uncertified emergency replacements, such as the lunchroom monitor.

According to 2022-23 data compiled by the聽not-for-profit School Boards鈥� Co-Operative Inc., the average number of total paid sick days at the 海角社区官网Catholic board was 16.16 for elementary and 13.92 for high school teachers. At the 海角社区官网District School Board, it was 20.04 and 17.31, respectively.

The provincial average number of paid sick days for permanent board employees was 15.5 days a year, according to the data obtained by the Star.

At the 海角社区官网public board, total sick leave costs for 2022-23 were $213 million, which includes paying for replacement staff. The board has eight staff members working in accountability and investigations, which聽includes six investigators. They look into allegations of professional misconduct, including sick leave abuse. It also uses external private investigation firms to carry out workplace investigations.

“While we don鈥檛 currently have data readily available on terminations due to misuse of sick leave, we have terminated staff for this reason in the past,鈥� a board spokesperson told the Star.

础听recent report from the province’s auditor general “found that the lack of a formal attendance management program, an insufficient number of disability caseworkers and the (海角社区官网District School Board’s) lax processes around the collection and review of medical notes have all contributed to the increase in sick leave use and related costs,” adding with 40,000 employees this is a glaring gap. (A disability case worker administers the board’s short-term leave plan.)聽

The auditor noted that the board only conducted about six investigations a year on suspected sick-day abuse over a 10-year period, “all of which were initiated in response to complaints it received; none were initiated as a result of its own analysis.”

The York Region District School Board does have a plan in place that identifies and speaks to employees who are off more than 11 days during a school year,聽 and it has a slightly lower average sick-day count than the TDSB.

In Toronto’s Catholic board, a disability case administrator is called as soon as an employee is off for five days in a row, and then emailed a medical form they must complete, with a follow-up afterward.

The auditor says the 海角社区官网public board could save $24 million a year if its average sick days fell in line with the provincial average.

The board says it is developing an attendance support program, but that it would require funding from the province to add more disability case workers.