AHS Attendance Awareness Program remains on hold, subject to review, senior managers say

“We can confirm that there has been no recent change to our approach to attendance awareness.” - Ability Management Director Lindsey Simpson and Labour Relations Director Krystie Watson Boyd.

Alberta Health Services’ approach to attendance awareness issues is unchanged and the employer’s Attendance Awareness Program remains on hold, AHS directors of labour relations and ability management say in a letter to United Nurses of Alberta President Heather Smith.

“We can confirm that there has been no recent change to our approach to attendance awareness,” said Ability Management Director Lindsey Simpson and Labour Relations Director Krystie Watson Boyd in the letter dated June 24.

“Our ongoing advice to our managers remains that the formal Attendance Awareness Program is on pause and that they should continue to work with their staff at a local level to support them in staying healthy to attend work,” the letter says.

Simpson and Watson Boyd were writing in response to the June 21 letter from Smith that noted the union has heard increased discussion about the use of attendance management by AHS and noting that while UNA understands that the emplyer is facing significant human resources challenges, “health care workers in general and Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses in particular, face unprecedented levels of health concerns.”

Smith’s letter said that when nurses request reduced hours, transfers, employment status changes, vacation or special leave, their requests are often denied or otherwise thwarted by managers. “In the absence of these options, sick leave is their last resort,” she wrote. “It is our conclusion that implementing an attendance management program at this time will place our members’ health at risk.”

In their response, Simpson and Watson Boyd acknowledged that AHS “needs to focus on wellness as a key metric” and restated the employer’s commitment to employee health and well-being.

A review of the program is planned, and UNA will be included as a key stakeholder, they said.

To read the full letter, and Heather Smith’s June 21 letter, click on the links at right.

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