Sat, Aug 1, 2009
In the recent City of Toronto Worker’s strike, the issue of banking sick days became the sticking point for negotiations. Do you think that employees in any place of business, including the Army, should be allowed to bank sick days? That means if they don’t use them then the days will accumulate. Take our poll.
Praying Scripture – 1 Chronicles 16:29
“Ascribe to the LORD
the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the LORD
in the splendour of his holiness.”
Living Scripture - Hebrews 12:8-9
If you are not disciplined
(and everyone undergoes discipline),
then you are illegitimate children
and not true sons.
Moreover, we have all had human fathers
who disciplined us
and we respected them for it.
How much more should we submit
to the Father of our spirits and live!
Praying Scripture – 1 Chronicles 16:29
“Ascribe to the LORD
the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the LORD
in the splendour of his holiness.”
Living Scripture - Daniel 6:10
Now when Daniel learned
that the decree had been published,
he went home to his upstairs room
where the windows opened toward Jerusalem.
Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed,
giving thanks to his God,
just as he had done before.
This Easter CFOT Cadets and Officers had the privilege of participating in a variety of Easter activities and services at Corps in Alberta.
Small goups of Cadets/Officers participated in all aspects of the Easter Services and were also able to spend some valuable time with youth groups. In Calgary tradition, some of our CFOT folks were “white hatted” (see photos below). A wonderful time of worship, outreach and fellowship was had by all.
A big thank you to the Alberta Divsion for hosting us! You have been so gracious to us in sharing your ministries, your homes and your hearts with us…
PERHAPS YOU HAVE QUESTIONS…
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Click here for questions & answers about:
…The Salvation Army & Officership
…The Officer Training Program
…The application process
…The College for Officer Training
The prayer room is a sacred space on our website for prayer and reflection. Please click here to go to the prayer room. Check out the most recent contribution to the prayer room by Cadet Laura Hickmen titled “Do you See what He sees?”
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Below you will find links to other recent prayer room contributions to encourage your faith journey:
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An Eye to See | Cadet Jennifer Ivany
Have You Stopped to Love Today | Adolpho Quezada
Time to Reflect | Major Ann Braund
Sojourning| Cadet Laura Van Schaick
Can you hear that??? | Cadet Kelly Fifield
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August 1st, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Rick, you may already know this but the Army allows employees to accumulate sick days up to eighty days. However, the issue for the Toronto workers is different. They want to accumulate the days and when they retire they get a cash pay out for unused days. See below for information.
The situation: City workers are entitled to 18 sick days each year. Unused days can be banked and cashed in on retirement, subject to certain limits. In practical terms, the system can deliver as much as an extra 130 paid days when an employee leaves the city’s payroll, according to a report last year from Toronto’s auditor general. Including the police and fire departments (which are not involved in these negotiations), the system represents an unfunded liability of about $250 million.
The argument to keep it: Union officials argue that the sick-bank system rewards good attendance and, therefore, serves the public by limiting absenteeism.
The argument to drop it: The system implies that simply coming to work warrants a bonus. The perk is exceedingly rare in the private sector, and increasingly scarce even in other municipalities.
August 5th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I am very pleased that I had the opportunity to use my sick time when I recently had a knee injury. I was off work for 2 weeks by using my sick time and did not have to worry about financial worries. I think if people do not abuse the sick time policy, let it be…I still have over 45 days of sick time in my bank.
August 10th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Banked sick time is an awesome incentive – it really does keep employees more faithful. At times when they might have called in sick for something minor they will now push through because they only want to use up those days if they really, really need them – knowing they will never lose them. I wish it were in the private sector! It also boosts morale – no bosses complaining that employess are “always sick on fridays or on mondays”. Should the TSA do it – yes! Taking care of your employees is critical to an organizations success! Other incentives offered to employees have proven to be well worth the investment to keep them long term, why not this too?
August 10th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Deana’s former employer used to give people who had perfect attendance a weekend in a Toronto hotel including dinner out at a nice restaurant. That is how they rewarded good attendance. The reward for unused sick time, when it is paid out in a lump sum at the end of your employment with a company or organization can be incredibly taxing financially. Reward? Yes, but I don’t think banked sick time is the answer. Sick time is a benefit for those who need it, and we can’t assume that because people use it they’re not “faithful”. It would be like me and my dental benefits. They’re there for me to use, but if I don’t use them this year I can’t accumulate them. If that was the case I’d get a set of dentures then start to watch my dollars climb. Now I’m being a smart alec, but I think we can find other ways to reward people.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Maybe if people were treated better by their employer and work was a fun and exciting place to work, people would not take as many sick days. Reducing sick days starts with treating people with respect and dignity, along with having incentives to come to work like better wages, yearly wage increases, and a bonus now and again, along with great health benefits. I feel banking sick days is a must to help families deal with major health problems. The Salvation Army currently allows their employees to bank up to 80 sick days. I am not sure why only 80 but that is better then nothing. However, using them as a bonus for a finacial reward I am not in favour. Anyway thats my two penny’s.
Peace
September 9th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Just a note: The Salvation Army provides an employee the ability to bank unused sick days (actually up to 85) to be able help them get to Long Term Disability, if they are in need of it. If a person becomes sick or has an accident and they have banked their days over time then they will be able to get to LTD without a loss in wages. EI sick leave does not cover 100% of a person’s wages (usually only 50-60%). This is to acknowledge long term employees (you would need to work for TSA for over 7 years with no sick time taken) and to validate the great contribution they make to us as an employer! I have had the wonderful experience of working with many great employees of TSA who have reached the “85″ day threshold! Some have needed those days when a major event occurred, others continue to stay at that number!
Our Human Resources are a great resource to us in our Ministry and we have been privileged to work with great staffs in our officership!
Karen