The Union position on the “Attendance Support Program” is that it is unnecessary and is an intrusion on your privacy. The employer has provisions in the collective agreement that cover the issue of attendance.
An attendance support program is damaging to morale because the employer assumes wrongdoing. No one should ever be forced to disclose deeply personal and confidential health information to management.
I want to remind all of you that under your respective professional standards of practice there is a clear responsibility not to report to work when sick, in order to protect our patients.
If you are required to attend one of these meetings with the Director of Patient Care, Please CONTACT A STEWARD; we will be there with you throughout the process. We will be there to help protect your rights and prevent this from becoming a discipline session.
Could these meetings be used to our advantage? Certainly. This is an opportunity for some meaningful discussion with the Director of Patient Care. Let's use this time to discuss working conditions, over capacity, high acuity and high patient: nurse ratios. Your steward will help guide you in the discussion.
We will be discussing with the employer our disapproval of the attendance support program during the next round of negotiations.
Mike Pare
PIPSC YHC Group
President