Why Not Do It Sooner And End The 'thon?
Posted on 03/02/2015 5:58:53 AM PST by rickmichaels
TORONTO - The city and its two largest agencies, the TTC and the Toronto Police, spent $55.6 million last year supporting a roster of more than 1,600 employees on long-term disability, the Toronto Sun has learned.
According to information obtained under municipal freedom-of-information (FOI) legislation, there were 1,636 unionized and staff employees on the LTD rolls at City Hall, the Toronto Police Service and the TTC at the end of 2014.
On average, these employees have been off work and covered by LTD for six-and-a-half years, with a sizable 23% of them on LTD for more than 10 years.
The departments with the highest LTD rates may be surprising. Long-term care homes have 178 staff on LTD with employment and social services (welfare) close behind at 124 individuals.
The statistics provided through the city’s human resources department shows that 51 city employees have been on LTD for more than 20 years and one between 30 and 35 years.
At the TTC, 57 staffers have been on LTD for 10 years or more. At the TPS, that number is 23.
Mayor John Tory told the Sun he felt the process the city is following to monitor LTD cases is “reasonable” but he found the magnitude of the numbers “troubling.”
He referred specifically to the number of people on LTD and the length of time “in some cases.
“I will be asking them (city officials) — as a minimum — if the process if being applied rigorously,” he said. “Do they make the maximum effort that’s provided for in our own policy to re-employ these people in another job?”
The FOI request was initiated in early December. It took two-and-a-half months to get all of the figures back from the three respective bodies. The city and the TTC did not charge to provide the information.
The Access and Privacy officials at the Toronto Police Service refused to release the data on what they call their Central Sick Leave Bank (CSLB) unless the Sun paid $300. Considering the nature of policing, the TPS had the fewest LTD cases outstanding and the lowest costs, which might have something to do with the fact that their CSLB is administered internally and not by a third party.
Both the TTC and the city pay Manulife to administer the plan and assess claimants but the costs of the actual benefits come out of city coffers.
In general, city, TTC and police employees become eligible after exhausting their sick leave and short-term disability — six months in total — plus their annual vacation time and lieu days.
LTD pays between 60%-85% of regular pay, depending on an employee’s contract and job classification. For example, 32 TPS staffers currently on LTD make 85% of their regular salary. At the TTC, all non-unionized employees get up to 66% of their regular earnings with no upper limit per month.
Asked what conditions are covered, the TTC’s Susan Sperling indicated they are “hard to define” and it is “more about what is not covered.” She listed conditions not covered as intentional, self-inflicted injuries or illnesses, cosmetic surgery and a disability for which an employee is under continuing medical supervision or treatment not considered satisfactory to the TTC/Manulife.
City spokesman Wynna Brown said for the first 24 months, an employee is considered totally disabled — which can come as result of bodily injury or illness — when they are “not physically or mentally fit” to perform their own job and are under the care of a physician and other treatment providers.
She did not elaborate what conditions might lead to total impairment, although at least two former bosses at City Hall have related to me incidents of employees disappearing on stress leave for years and not returning.
John Have, a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, said stress leave is becoming “more and more common” — and two-thirds of the claims on the federal government plan are now “stress-related.”
After two years, the LTD status switches and an employee is considered totally disabled if he or she is unfit, physically or mentally, to do his or her own job or any other jobs that pay a comparable salary or for which he or she would qualify after some training, noted Brown.
Employees are eligible for LTD benefits up to age 65, including medical and dental benefits, provided they continue to meet the total disability definition, she added.
Asked how claimants are monitored, Brown said Manulife is responsible for assessing and following up with employees on LTD (using internal and external tools such as medical consultants and independent medical evaluations.)
She added that the city has “regular, quarterly” meetings with Manulife to review and discuss claims management processes. The city also receives a quarterly status update for all employees, Brown said.
Asked for a comment about how the company monitors the city’s claimants, Manulife spokesman Rebecca Freiburger said Manulife does not comment “our relationships with customers.”
The practice at the city, TTC and police is to hold someone’s job during the initial 24 months of LTD, after which the position can be filled permanently if the employee is considered totally disabled. Should the employee eventually be fit to return, the city seeks to find them “comparable work,” said Brown.
Toronto Police Services Board chairman Alok Mukherjee could not be reached for comment as he was in India. But TTC CEO Andy Byford said after two years on LTD, you can’t just throw people “on the scrap heap” especially those with pretty nasty diseases (cancer and cardiovascular problems) and have had long years of service.
“This is something we keep a close eye on,” he said.
But Byford added it is “certainly different” than most other places where he has worked, which did not have an “open-ended” LTD plan to age 65.
“In the U.K., normally people would be medically terminated if they’re unable to do anything,” he said. “It’s unusual to be required to keep people forever, in my experience.”
At the end of the day, they do try to get people back to work, said Byford.
“We’re not in the business of having a whole army on our books who are unable to work,” he added. “To be fair to the individuals, most of the time they want to do something.”
Have said the typical LTD plan in the private sector starts after four months short-term disability and may continue to age 65. The typical private sector LTD plan pays two-thirds of a worker’s salary to a maximum of $4,000 a month.
He said the city’s incidence of ongoing claims — about 3.2% of staff — is probably close to average but that there is always “room for improvement.”
Have did think the average length of time on LTD of six-and-a-half years does seem “high,” adding a “wow” when I told him.
“The problem we are facing is that 40 years ago the claim incidence rates were about 25%-30% less on average and incidence rates keep increasing each and every year,” he added.
Have, who has been an actuary for 39 years, said the biggest problem is that most municipalities — Toronto especially — self-insure and quite often “don’t set the money aside” to pay for LTD (not to mention other sick leave, WSIB and other post-retirement benefits). Instead, taxpayers cover the cost of claims on a “pay-as-you-go-basis” — something no longer permitted in the private sector in Ontario.
“The problem with that is the number can kind of creep up,” Have said.
Indeed, according to the city’s audited financial statements for 2013, the city’s post-retirement and LTD liabilities (money that has not been set aside for future costs) jumped 34% from $1.5-billion in 2009 to $2.1 billion in 2013.
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Stressed out on the job? A bad boss making you sick?
If you work in the public sector, a long-term disability claim awaits you.
John Have, a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, confirmed stress leave has become more common in LTD claims.
He noted that when he started in the LTD business 39 years ago, the claims were mostly related to cardiovascular issues or back problems. Stress issues comprised 5%-10% of the LTD claims, at most, he recalled.
“Now stress claims can easily exceed 50%,” he said.
TTC CEO Andy Byford agreed, saying when he started his career, stress “wasn’t prevalent” as a reason for LTD.
A source who administers disability insurance for a range of companies and did not want to be named, said there’s often a “fuzzy line” between real psychological stress and workplace issues (like not being able to get along with a bad boss).
“In my experience, one would have to be under the continuing care of a psychologist or psychiatrist to qualify for that,” the source said.
Asked about people who take leave because they just can’t work with a bad boss, Have said those claims “certainly exist.”
He added that management has to work better with claimants and maybe alter their workload instead of giving into an LTD claim.
“Disability” has become the next big thing all over the world since Barry and his ‘RAT took “powah”.
The only way to get the public sector disability situation under control is to force the legally disabled person to work full time, even if it’s a somewhat demeaning job, if that’s all they can do because of their limitations.
I wonder if they didn’t have socialized medicine if some of these people would have been “cured”. I had a cabin north of North Bay, and our neighbor needed triple bypass surgery. She had to drive to Toronto (250+ miles) to have the first diagnosis confirmed, which it was, then was told to wait 19 months for her surgery. She died 4 months later. “Free medical care” depends upon which side of the fence you’re standing on.
TTC?
Toronto Transit Commission. Buses, subways and streetcars.
If it’s too stressful to do a desk job, transfer them into waste disposal, street repair, or the dog pound. If they hurt their back throwing trash, filling potholes, or toting dog food, put them on a desk job.
Had a mechanic do the “stress” thing at a shop I ran in LA. What a crock!
This graph indicates a continuously rising slope for disability awards since 2001 and a decrease in recent years.
This problem extends beyond the President.
Why are so many jobs suddenly the province of government ?
a simple quantity does not mean abuse. the author is using the politics of envy to generate animosity against disabled people. when they generate proof of abuse i’ll be with you in condemning the abusers, but let us not fall for the line and get all worked up with no evidence other than the number of people collecting
I can’t find the statistics now, but something like more than 50,000 heart operations in the greater Seattle area are performed on Canadians. It seems that “free” health care takes a back seat to “survivable” health care. Odd that Obozo (and Hillary) both trot out the Canadian systems as the model for our own health care. Makes sense from their perspective: they get to keep the Social Security payments the deceased made into the SS system.
There's part of the problem. As others have pointed out, there's some job these people can do, just not at their old wage.
Need pie chart showing what disabilities are happening.
90% Stress
Cause: Had to show up to work....
thanks
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