$38M sick day and overtime costs in public service hard to digest

It’s a cost that’s being paid by Nova Scotia taxpayers, and overtime and absenteeism costs within civil service don’t show any sign of slowing down.

According to the public service commissioner, the numbers have been consistent for the past few fiscal years.

Progressive Conservative finance critic Tim Houston said not only is the $38-million price tag concerning, but the fact that workers take 12.6 sick days a year on average is something that needs to be dealt with.

“There’s a lot of employees in the public sector and there will be a lot of employees that will be absent for very valid reasons,” he said. “Bad things happen to good people, there’s no question that that’s part of it. I just want to make sure that’s the reason for it.”

The province’s public accounts committee found out yesterday that $12-million was paid in overtime costs for public service, with an additional $26-million for sick days.

Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Kevin Lacey told Global News the government should be taking action to bring the high numbers down.

“The question is, why hasn’t the government done something about this sooner to control these runaway costs and the amount of absenteeism and overtime?”

Acting NDP leader Maureen MacDonald told the Chronicle Herald she’s not sure if nova scotia’s numbers are that staggering compared to what other provinces’ absenteeism costs may be.

The priciest department for overtime costs is Justice — racking up $4.5-million last year, and $4.4 the year before.

Following behind are Transportation and Community Services, coming in at $3.7-million and $1.8-million last year, respectively.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today