Bulletin
FortisBC-CSC – Is a Chronic Medical Condition or Disability Affecting your Attendance? You May be Entitled to an Accommodation
December 17, 2024
To: All MoveUP Members at FortisBC-CSC
If you are taking sick days as the result of a chronic condition or medical disability, I advise you to submit an accommodation request via Connector to have these absences tracked and excluded from counting against your AWL program eligibility.
Your request must be made in writing and substantiated where necessary by information from your doctor to ensure that your eligibility for AWL and job vacancies is protected.
Background:
As many of you are aware, the company enforces strict attendance requirements on workers who apply to work remotely under the Alternate Work Location program (AWL). Workers who have taken more occurrences of sick leave than the bargaining unit average over a rolling 12-month period are ineligible to participate in the program.
Further, as per Article 6.03(a) of your collective agreement, the company considers your attendance record as a factor if you apply on a job vacancy.
Although the company has repeatedly assured us that absences related to chronic conditions or disabilities are not counted against your AWL eligibility, as that would be a discriminatory practice, they have not satisfied us that they have a process in place to safeguard against this, which is why we are advising that you make this request.
Once your request has been made, the company will arrange to meet and discuss what medical documentation from your doctor will be needed to substantiate it.
Please reach out to me with any questions at pvoykin@moveuptogether.ca.
In solidarity,
Paul Voykin, Union Representative
