Alberta Health Services is mandating some employees to take two unpaid days off by the end of March due to ongoing financial challenges, as revealed in a memo obtained by CBC News. The directive, issued by Erin O’Neill, AHS’s senior vice president of finance and shared services, affects non-unionized exempt employees (NUEEs), with exceptions for specific salary groups.
According to the memo, the decision was made after exploring various options to address budgetary constraints. AHS spokesperson Kristi Bland confirmed that this temporary measure impacts certain non-unionized staff members, although the exact number of employees required to take 15.5 hours of unpaid leave was not disclosed.
Bland emphasized that the initiative aims to maintain financial commitments without affecting patient care and clarified that frontline employees are not included in the mandate. Additionally, specific positions have been exempt to protect those earning below a certain threshold from the impact.
Dr. Braden Manns, a professor of medicine and health economics at the University of Calgary, expressed understanding of the situation, noting that AHS has been prohibited from running a deficit. He highlighted his experience witnessing budget constraints during his tenure as an interim AHS vice president, citing the disparity between budget increases and population growth.
Prior to the restructuring of the province’s health care system, NUEEs comprised approximately 10% of the AHS workforce, encompassing managers and senior leaders, as per Manns. He estimated that the enforced unpaid leave could save AHS between $8 million and $15 million, underscoring that such measures are taken after exhausting other cost-saving avenues.
The circumstances surrounding the financial challenges at AHS coincide with the government’s ongoing health system restructuring efforts. While the restructuring may impact some staff, those who have transitioned to Alberta’s new provincial health agencies are unaffected. Manns pointed out that despite the modest cost savings from the mandated time off, it signifies the value contributed by managers within the system.
AHS assured that affected employees will have a say in scheduling their unpaid leave days, aiming to mitigate the impact on personnel wherever feasible.