The Vancouver School Board should roll out an employee attendance support program across the district to cut down on absenteeism, which costs the board upwards of $20 million annually, according to the company hired to review the VSBs finances.
Its one of a number of short and long-term recommendations outlined in a PricewaterhouseCoopers report released last week. The combined recommendations could save the district as much as $16.3 million.
In terms of absenteeism, costs for teachers-on-call have remained consistent at about $10 million annually over the past three years. Replacement costs for all VSB employees ring in at more than $20 million.
The employee attendance support programwhich the school board had developed but hadnt fully deployedwould monitor, manage and promote employee wellness for potential savings up to $890,000 each year.
PricewaterhouseCoopers analyzed VSB absenteeism data and compared it to other school boards to come up with that figure. The $890,000 figure was calculated based on VSB aligning their absenteeism rates with other comparative school boards and public sector organizations, explained Winifred Whelan, PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting services managing director and co-author of the report, in an email to the Courier. She added, Staff replacement costs can be high and constitute a major financial burden for school boards. The figure is typical for a school district of [the] VSBs size that has not fully implemented a comprehensive employee attendance support program across the entire system.
PricewaterhouseCoopers notes in its report that the VSB needs to consider sensitivity to existing collective agreements and an overall focus on employee wellness rather than a disciplinary model.
Whelan said PricewaterhouseCoopers has worked with more than 36 school boards in Ontario, many of which have implemented such programs. Due to client confidentiality, she wouldnt identify specific school districts.
Vancouver School Board spokesman Kurt Heinrich described the program as an early intervention system that identifies and assists frequently absent employees through support and wellness resources.
Its primary task is to create a work environment thats committed to assisting struggling employees, he said.
If the program is rolled out, Heinrich said human resource personnel would handle the majority of the work, although a coordinator might be needed to administer it. The coordinator would manage timesheets and identify employees who appeared to be chronically absent or whose attendance records were markedly different from previous attendance profiles.
The aim is to provide genuine concern for the employees well-being and help them with health-related resources.
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