REGINA: A Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) survey reveals that public sector absenteeism is on the rise in Saskatchewan, costing taxpayers untold millions each year.

Of the 12 crowns, departments and agencies surveyed by the CTF using Freedom Of Information legislation, ten showed overall increases in absenteeism. While the Department of Corrections saw a significant decrease in absenteeism, their rates remain well above national averages. Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization also showed significant improvement.

The survey shows Saskatchewan absenteeism is nearly 14 per cent higher than the national average and has risen by 8.6 per cent since 2001. The departments of health, learning and labour, as well as Saskatchewan Transportation Corporation (STC) stand out as having increases of over 20 per cent since 2001. Learning posted a significant increase of 29 per cent.

Statistics from the Conference Board of Canada show that Saskatchewan's government-wide absentee rate is 13.6 per cent higher than the national average for government, 42 per cent higher than the oil and gas sector and 46 per cent higher than the finance and real estate sectors.

"It's clear we have a management issue that needs to be addressed in Saskatchewan," said CTF director David MacLean. "We need everybody at the table - including the public sector unions - to try and reverse this trend. Instead of raising taxes, government needs to look at issues like absenteeism in an effort to reduce overall expenditures."

"Union leaders and government need to look at departments where progress is being made and see if they can adopt their practices elsewhere to make improvements," said MacLean. "First and foremost we need to identify the root cause of rising absenteeism, whether it be worker morale, employee abuse, workplace health and safety, or all of the above. We need action on this."