A trustee with Prairie South School Division (PSSD) believes the board of education could make better decisions if the division asked staff for reasons about why they take time off.
The division’s human resources department provided an accountability report to trustees during the January board meeting that included statistics about employee absences during the 2019-20 school year. The data focused on absences by position and the general reasons for the time off, such as illness, medical/dental, collective agreement, or as directed by the division.
This data piqued trustee Lew Young’s interest in whether the division office could provide a more comprehensive breakdown for the absences.
Today’s society is focused on self-care, wellness and other aspects related to maintaining one’s physical and mental health, he said. This report is the only time the board can see how employees are doing and their well-being. Moreover, this report is important since it helps the board make better decisions.
Young wondered if it was possible to learn what staff are doing to maintain their self-care, why they are taking time off —burnout, stress, or other ailments — and whether division administration could determine.
“Probably not,” replied education director Tony Baldwin.
Staff have access to medical leave for various reasons when they are away from work, so it’s not any of the division’s business why they are taking that absence, he continued. The division’s responsibility is to provide medical leave as it exists in legislation and collective agreements.
Teachers have access to local counselling services through the LINC agreement, but the division office does not ask for reports related to those services. Furthermore, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) also provides individual and family counselling should educators require additional support.
“Again, we would have no interest in knowing who was accessing that or what for, but I’m really happy that it’s in existence and it’s a support for our staff,” said Baldwin.
“We do a lot of counselling work for one another. Schools are challenging places to work, and people who sign up to be teachers or other school division employees — they understand that this isn’t an easy sector to work in … .”
Based on anecdotal evidence, Baldwin thought that most staff within Prairie South were doing “really well” given the ongoing pandemic. He said he wished he could give a clear-cut answer on how employees were doing. However, unless staff called the division office every day to say how they were doing and those comments were recorded, there was no way for PSSD administration to say how staff were doing on an individual basis.
The Prairie South Teachers’ Association says its members are “highly satisfied” to work for the division, Baldwin added. He noted that teachers are effective at their jobs, which signifies that they are doing well at work and home.
“I’m glad to hear that verbally because nothing like that is shown in this report … ,” said Young. “It would be nice at someplace in the annual report to celebrate those things.”
While Young’s concerns aren’t explicitly stated outright in the report, the attendance management program — while unpopular — gives some idea to division administration of how staff are doing based on absences, said HR superintendent Amy Johnson. This allows the division office to then have conversations with staff about how they are doing and how PSSD can support them as an employer.
The next PSSD board meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 2.
