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Treasury Board softened the original offer by offering public servants six days – rather than five – of annual paid sick leave.

After using those days, employees would still face a seven-day unpaid waiting period before they can apply for short-term disability benefits. Once on disability, they can collect 100 per cent of salary for five weeks, rather than the original four weeks proposed. After that, benefits are reduced to 70 per cent of salary, under the government’s plan.

But the new proposal introduces a formula that will allow employees with accumulated sick leave to convert it into credits that can be used to top up benefits from 70 per cent of salary to 85 per cent.

Under the formula, sick leave is converted from time banked into “top-up credits” at a rate of 15 hours for 15 per cent of income. This means someone off work sick for six weeks (five weeks plus the unpaid seven-day waiting period) can use about two days of banked sick leave to top up benefits from 70 per cent to 85 per cent of salary.

The credits can also be used to bridge the unpaid seven-day waiting period for disability.

These credits, however, are only good for the first year following the plan’s implementation. In September 2017, the government plans to abolish the sick-leave bank. Similarly, the banking of sick leave will stop once the new disability plan is up and running in September 2016.

The new proposal, however, will allow public servants who don’t use their six days of sick leave to carry over one day a year to a maximum of seven days.