EWSP - Technical Committee Terms of Reference

Employee Wellness Support Program Task Force

Technical Committee Terms of Reference

As per the Memorandum of Agreement on Supporting Employee Wellness, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (the parties) are to establish a Technical Committee with a long-term focus and commitment from senior leadership of the parties.

Mandate

• The Technical Committee will develop all agreements and documents needed to support the implementation of an Employee Wellness Support Program during the next round of Collective Bargaining.

Members

The committee will be comprised of an equal number of Employer representatives and Union representatives, while this may be altered by mutual agreement.  The Committee will be co-chaired by an Employer and a Union representative.

Meetings

Scheduled meetings will go ahead as long as a quorum exists (50% of membership, bargaining agents and employer side). If members are unavailable for a meeting, they will inform the secretariat. Teleconferencing will be available as needed.

Upon agreement by the co-chairs, either party can invite an additional member as a subject matter expert.

Secretariat support will be provided by Pensions and Benefits Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat.

Deliverables

The work of the Technical Committee shall be completed within one year of signing the collective agreement (from September 5, 2017), unless otherwise indicated by the Steering Committee.

The Technical Committee shall provide interim recommendations for review by the Steering Committee as outlined in the work plan.  Where required, the Technical Committee co-chairs may also refer any issue to the Steering Committee for advice and/or resolution.

Responsibilities

The Technical Committee is to provide recommendations on the following matters through a series of regular meetings:

• Consequential changes to existing leave provisions within the collective agreements, and the Long Term Disability Plan (LTD);
• Definitions;
• Eligibility conditions for a new EWSP;
• Assessment and adjudication processes;
• Internal case management and return to work services;
• Workplace accommodations;
• Creation of a Centre for Workplace Well-being;
• Governance of the EWSP, including dispute resolution mechanisms;
• Coverage of operations stress injuries and other injuries sustained by employees deployed in military operations;
• Harassment;
• Domestic Violence;
• Other measures that would support an integrated approach to the management of health for federal public service employees.

The Technical Committee are to discuss the following subject areas, including but not limited to:

• Income support during appeal process;
• Updates and changes to the Long-term Disability Plan
• Medical Appointments
• Treatment Plans
• Enhanced treatment coverage
• Negative sick leave banks
• Utility for sick leave banks
• Disability management office
• Transitional provisions such as employees on sick leave at date of transition
• Additional sick leave days for health care professionals
• Allotment of sick leave days (earned vs annual advance)
• Services provided by the Centre of Workplace Well-being
• Privacy considerations
• Definition of chronic and episodic illnesses
• Shift workers

The Technical Committee shall review practices from other Canadian jurisdictions and employers that might be instructive for the Public Service, recognizing that not all workplaces are the same. 

Federal public service health and safety committees and leading Canadian experts in the health and disability management field shall be consulted as required.

Key Features

The EWSP will incorporate the following key features:

• Contained in collective agreements;
• Benefits for up to 26 weeks (130 working days) with income support replacement at 100%;
• The annual allotment shall be 9 days of paid sick leave for illness or injury that falls outside of the parameters of the EWSP;
• 100% income replacement during the 3 day (working) qualification period when the employee’s claim is approved;
• Qualifying chronic or episodic illnesses will be exempt of the waiting period;
• The qualification period will be waived in cased of hospitalization or recurrence of a prior illness or injury approved under EWSP within 30 days;
• Employees are entitled to carry over a maximum of 3 days of unused sick leave credits remaining at the end of the fiscal year, for use in the following fiscal year;
• The accumulation of current sick leave credits will cease once the EWSP is implemented. Employees with banked sick leave in excess of 26 weeks, will be entitled to carry over these excess days to provide extended coverage at 100% income replacement prior to accessing LTD;
• Travel time for diagnosis and treatment;
• Internal case management and return to work services focused on supporting employees when ill or injured;
• An employee on EWSP will be considered to be on leave with pay;
• Full costs of administering the EWSP to be borne by Employer;
• Increase quantum of family related leave by 1 day.