As a follow up to the bulletin we issued on June 7, 2023 regarding sick leave substantiation (CLICK HERE to view), we would like to advise you that the Union has filed two (2) more policy grievances on this matter.

CHQ-23-41, found HERE, is about the time limit the Canada Labour Code specifies regarding when employees need to provide a certificate (issued by a health care practitioner) to Air Canada to substantiate a book off.   The Canada Labour Code specifically states:

“You must provide one in writing if requested by your employer within 15 days of your return to work”.

Air Canada is asking that you provide the certificate within 10 days from book on (your return to work), which is a violation of the Canada Labour Code.

CHQ-23-42, found HERE, is about the way Air Canada is improperly calculating how many sick days you have used to support their new blanket policy of requesting notes for book offs of 5 days or more.  Air Canada is basing their request on how many calendar days you have booked off on. However our Collective Agreement clearly specifies the calculation that must be used, which is based on twenty-four hour periods or less starting from commencement of your next scheduled duty period, found in Article 9.

9.04.01 Sick Leave Charged – Where a Regular Blockholder reports unavailable for duty as a result of sickness, his/her sick leave credits shall be charged one (1) day for each period of twenty-four (24) hours or less, excluding guaranteed days off, calculated as follows:

Commencement: The commencement of the next scheduled duty period.
Termination: The actual time reported available for duty.

NOTE: An employee will be charged at least one (1) day of sick leave for each book off if the first flight in his/her cycle is missed and no other flight is operated on that day.

9.05.01 Sick Leave Charged – Where a Reserve Blockholder reports unavailable for duty as a result of sickness, his/her sick leave credits shall be charged one (1) day for each period of twenty-four (24) hours or less excluding guaranteed days off calculated as follows:

Commencement: The actual time s/he is unavailable for duty on a scheduled Reserve Duty Day.
Termination: The actual time reported available for duty.

Please reach out to your Local Office with your examples that will support our policy grievances.

In Solidarity,

Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE

We have recently been advised by Air Canada Mainline that there were changes to the sick leave substantiation policies and practices.

Members have reported to us that they have been impacted by this change. They are being advised that they will be asked for a medical note if their absence is five days or more. We corresponded with the employer and gave them the case law examples found HERE to indicate past arbitral decisions asserting that they cannot make blanket substantiation requests.  It is our opinion that the case law is very clear and unambiguous. To put it simply, we do NOT agree with this change.

We will continue to address this in a proactive manner and utilize all resources available to us. In our mind this is not a demonstration of the appreciation and value that our members bring to the company. We have filed the following grievance linked HERE and will pursue it all the way to arbitration if need be. We will be reaching out to external legal counsel on this as well to ensure that we have a strategy and do not accept this inappropriate and unwarranted change in practice.

It is discouraging to see this shift.  The Canada Labour code does allow employers to make requests for substantiation in some circumstances, but it is certainly not a carte blanche and open-ended management right.  As we are all acutely aware, the medical system in Canada is under strain.   Access to physicians is limited and our hard-earned sick time should be used to rest and recover and not to be chasing increasingly rare doctor’s appointments.  We will update you as soon as we have news to provide. Please reach out to your Local Office with your examples of how this change in practice has negatively impacted you. We can use them to our advantage for legal purposes and seek a meaningful remedy.

In Solidarity,

Wesley Lesosky
President, Air Canada Component of CUPE
w.lesosky@accomponent.ca