Report No. 045-12

TO: Chair and Members of the Board of Health
FROM: Graham L. Pollett, MD, FRCPC, Medical Officer of Health
DATE:   2012 March 22

PUBLIC SECTOR SALARY DISCLOSURE ACT- 2011 RECORD OF EMPLOYEES SALARIES AND BENEFITS

Recommendation

It is recommended that Report No. 045-12 re Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act – 2011 Record of Employees Salaries and Benefits be received for information.

Background

The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996 (the Act) makes Ontario's public sector more open and accountable to taxpayers. The Act requires organizations that receive public funding from the Province of Ontario to disclose annually the names, positions, salaries and total taxable benefits of employees paid $100,000 or more in a calendar year. The Act applies to organizations such as the Government of Ontario, Crown Agencies, Municipalities, Hospitals, Boards of Health, School Boards, Universities, Colleges, Hydro One, Ontario Power Generation, and other public sector employers who receive a significant level of funding from the provincial government.

The main requirement for the organizations covered by the Act is to make their disclosure or, if applicable, to make their statement of no employee salaries to disclose, available to the public by March 31.  Organizations covered by the Act are also required to send their disclosure or statement to their funding ministry or ministries by the fifth business day of March.  

Salary Disclosure List

Attached as Appendix A(PDF 29.6KB) is the record of Health Unit employees whose 2011 salaries total $100,000 or more. As can be seen, 10 Board of Health employees earned $100,000 or more in 2011. Of these, two are on the list due to unique circumstances. They are Ms. Charlene Beynon and Ms. Patricia Simone. In Ms. Beynon’s case, Board members will recall she held the position of Manager, Special Projects for four months in 2011, before retiring. As Ms. Beynon was hired prior to 1982, she was entitled to a 6 month sick bank payout. This, together with her four months of employment, account for her placement on the list. Employees hired after 1982 are not entitled to a sick bank payout. 

For Ms. Simone, Manager, Emergency Preparedness, this position underwent a formal job evaluation process in 2011 together with a number of other positions. The outcome of this process was to change its placement on the non-union salary grid from Band 5 to Band 6. This alteration led to a retroactive payment which resulted in Ms. Simone having earned $101,523.84 in 2011.

In reviewing the salaries for the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) & CEO and Dr. Bryna Warshawsky, Associate Medical Officer of Health (AMOH) and Director, Oral Health, Communicable Disease and Sexual Health Services, Board members will recall that in 2009, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) implemented a provincial salary grid for MOHs and AMOHs. This was as a result of the 2008 Physician Services Agreement between the province and the Ontario Medical Association. It represented the first time MOHs and AMOHs were included under this Agreement.

The provincial salary grid was established to address the many vacancies which existed for MOH and AMOH positions and was part of the government’s response to the SARS reviews recommendations, calling for the strengthening of public health resources. Under the terms of the Agreement, 2009 was determined as the base salary year, with the MOHLTC funding 100% the difference between what a MOH or AMOH was earning in 2009 and the salary required in 2010 under the new provincial salary grid. That is, there was no additional cost to municipal funders (City of London and Middlesex County for this Health Unit) resulting from the implementation of the provincial salary grid. A breakdown of the 2011 MOH and AMOH salaries by funder is provided in Appendix C(PDF 13.2KB).

The Physicians Services Agreement, which is the collective agreement between the provincial government and Ontario physicians, was exempt from the Public Service Restraint Act, as it was negotiated well in advance of the March 24, 2010 implementation date of the Act. As longstanding public health physicians, (28 years as a MOH for the MOH & CEO, and 17.5 years as an AMOH for Dr. Warshawsky), both the MOH & CEO and AMOH were placed at the top of the applicable bands on the salary grid.

The provincial salary grid also calls for stipends to be paid for specialty training in Preventative Medicine and Public Health (FRCPC-CM) and for after hours availability. Both the MOH & CEO and Dr. Warshawsky qualify for these stipends.

Finally, the MOH & CEO was requested by the MOHLTC and The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, to act as a supervisor for the then Acting Medical Officer of Health of the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. He received a stipend for these duties in 2011, as per the provisions of the provincial salary grid.

Attached as Appendix B(PDF 21.5KB) is the current Provincial Salary Grid for MOHs and AMOHs.

Graham L. Pollett, MD, FRCPC

Medical Officer of Health