Your local wants to raise awareness on issues related to influenza season; specifically, facility outbreaks and quarantines. Some members have reported issues regarding an employee’s status and the placement of staff when their facility/department is under quarantine. As such, we wanted to highlight your collective agreement Article 15.13 – Influenza/Quarantine, which reads:

Any time lost as a result of:

• immunization required by the Medical Health Officer in accordance with the Saskatchewan Immunization Manual or the Canadian Immunization Guide; or
• quarantine as determined by the Medical Health Officer; or
• being prohibited from working by the Employer as a result of exposure to an infectious disease as a result of her employment;

shall not result in loss of pay or reduction of the Employee's sick leave credits.

In the case of other than full time Employees, wages and benefits shall be based on the average number of paid hours in the last fifty-two (52) weeks preceding the date of such time lost or date of hire whichever is greater.

The employer agrees to provide immunizations as required for health care workers in accordance with the Saskatchewan Immunization Manual and the Canadian Immunization Guide.

To summarize, and for emphasis, no employee should have their wages or sick leave credits deducted as a result of time lost due to any of the above provisions. Where a facility/department outbreak occurs, our preferred process is that we meet with the employer to determine the scope of the outbreak and number of employees affected. Typically, a meeting would serve to develop options for the reassignment of staff, which may include but not be limited to: reassigning to other departments/facilities not under quarantine; time and travel arrangements to other sites; process for presenting options to staff; other options such as vacation time or time-in-lieu utilization; etc. 

As always we welcome your feedback and questions if you have any regarding the above. It is important that if you have any concerns that you contact your local union office immediately at: