COVID-19 continues to put unprecedented stress on members like you. As the number of cases continues to rise across the country, balancing work and life responsibilities remains difficult. Many Canadians are now facing a new series of school and childcare closures.
Yet, the Treasury Board has made it more difficult for members to access ‘Other Leave with Pay (Code 699),' granted in our collective agreements.
PIPSC has filed a series of policy grievances against the Treasury Board’s guidelines for the use of Code 699 – following similar actions by fellow federal public sector bargaining agents. In addition to filing these grievances, we are keeping up the pressure in consultations with the employer on weekly calls with the Treasury Board and in COVID-19 labour relations meetings. We have also written to the Minister of Finance and the Minister for the Status of Women asking for them to intervene given these changes to Code 699 we see as disproportionately impacting women and other caregivers.
In November, we surveyed our members to understand how they’ve accessed Code 699 and other types of leave to manage with caregiving responsibilities or if they cannot access their work equipment to do their job. In the preliminary results, the vast majority of our members who accessed Code 699 since the pandemic began identified that it was for childcare duties. Of those members, the majority were women.
The Treasury Board’s new guidelines leave it up to individual managers who may force employees to exhaust other forms of leave, such as vacation, sick leave, or leave without pay, inappropriately. As our survey has found, this is a discriminatory change that will have a larger impact on women, and caregivers, in the public service.
The pandemic continues to wreak havoc – we must ensure those who need to access it are provided with fair access. We must protect those who are vulnerable to discrimination.
Get the help you need
If you have been denied access to Code 699 or forced to use inappropriate leave such as vacation, sick leave, or leave without pay, please reach out for support: