Memo: Submit staff sick leave statistics for 2020 (by Jan. 29, 2021)

Memorandum
From: Michelle Berner, Managing Director, Human Resources – Total Compensation, Health & Wellbeing
To: Deans, Directors, Department Heads and Administrators at UBC Vancouver
Subject: Submit staff sick leave statistics for 2020 (by Jan. 29, 2021)

Every year, Human Resources presents the Board of Governors with a report on key health indicators at the University. The report provides a snapshot of the health of our staff and faculty, and includes statistics on the average number of paid sick leave days taken by staff.

In preparation for this year’s report, we request you ensure that your department’s administrator enters your unit’s sick leave statistics for the 2020 calendar year by Friday, January 29, 2021. With the transition to Workday during 2020, sick leave statistics will need to be submitted two ways.

Step 1. Submit Sick Leave statistics from January 1 to November 1, 2020

Department administrators can submit their unit’s sick leave statistics using the online reporting tool by Friday, January 29, 2021. If your sick leave data has already been entered into the Sick Leave System, no further action is required.

• Note that if you are off campus, you will need to connect to VPN before you can access the site.
• If you need access to the Sick Leave System, please email hrms.security@ubc.ca with the names of the departments you need access to.
• For more information on how to report your statistics, visit: Employee Attendance Management.

If sick leave was previously recorded using UBC IT’s Personnel Absence Tracker (PAT) application, department administrators do not need to re-enter the data into the online reporting tool above. Instead, download an excel report of your 2020 data by month and employment group and email it to Janet McHugh in Human Resources by Friday, January 29, 2021.

Step 2. Submit Sick Leave statistics from November 2 to December 31, 2020

1. Department administrators should work with the managers to ensure the “Place Worker on Leave” business process is completed in Workday for employees who need to be placed on leave due to sickness by Friday, January 29, 2021. Please refer to the job aid Place Worker on Full Leave for assistance. 
2. Department administrators should remind employees to use the “Request Leave of Absence” process in Workday to request sick leaves. Please refer to the job aid How Do I – Request a Leave of Absence? for assistance.

Aggregate Sick Leave Data from 2019 and Prior Years

To help you benchmark sick leave usage in your faculty/department, we have aggregated sick leave statistics from 2015 to 2019. This data reflects staff sick leave usage only, and is representative of the faculties and departments that have reported their data to Human Resources.

2019 Highlights

• The average number of sick days taken per employee in 2019 was 6.2 days, a decrease over the 2018 average of 6.6 days.
• The average number of sick days per employee in 2019 was 6.6 days for the Vancouver campus (a slight decrease from 6.9 days in 2018).
• The average number of sick days per employee in 2019 was 3.8 days for the Okanagan campus (a decrease from 4.3 days in 2018).

Sick Leave Data for Key Employment Groups (2015 – 2019)

The chart below summarizes the average number of sick leave days taken between 2015 and 2019 for the following employment groups: 

• IUOE 115
• CUPE 116
• BCGEU (Child Care)
• CUPE 2950
• Non-Union Technicians & Research Assistants (TRAs)
• CUPE 2278 English Language Instructors
• Management & Professional (M&P) (i.e., AAPS, SUDs, and Excluded M&P)
• BCGEU Okanagan
• Executive Administrative (i.e., excluded clerical staff)

Staff employment groups represented at UBC’s Okanagan campus include: M&P, BCGEU Okanagan, and Executive Administrative. With the exception of BCGEU Okanagan, the other employment groups at the Okanagan campus have been included in their general employment group. For example, M&P employees at the Okanagan campus were included along with M&P employees at the Vancouver campus in the general M&P group.

The chart below is based on submitted sick leave data, and as such may not be completely representative of all departments and faculties (on average, about 90% of staff “full-time equivalents” (FTEs) were captured – this varied by employment group).

In addition, the following employment groups are small in size (150 employees or less): Child Care Employees, IUOE 115, CUPE 2278, and Executive Administrative.  As such, the average sick time for these groups can be greatly impacted by only a few sick leave instances.

Average number of sick days taken by employment group across both campuses (2015 – 2019)

From 2015 to 2019, the average number of days taken by an employee across both campuses was:

• 2015: 9.0 days
• 2016: 8.9 days
• 2017: 7.8 days
• 2018: 6.6 days
• 2019: 6.2 days

Questions?

Please contact Janet McHugh at janet.mchugh@ubc.ca or (604) 822-6823.