The Work Life Consultants in Human Resources have three areas of focus - Sick Leave, Return to Work/Medical Accommodation, Wellness, and Work Life Balance.

While the Return to Work program was officially launched in 2001, Wellness and Work-Life Balance initiatives are new and have an initial focus of promoting what is already available at the University and ensuring that staff and faculty are aware of these services.

Sick Leave, Return to Work & Medical Accomm.

The University of Victoria is committed to the principles of equity and human rights. This is a legal duty which arises from human rights legislation and is also a duty arising from our values and principles to ensure an inclusive and respectful workplace. The University of Victoria, like all employers in British Columbia, has a duty to accommodate the medical needs of workers. Policy #HR6115, the Policy Statement on Employment Accommodation formalizes this commitment and applies to all University employees.

In 2001, Guidelines for Employees with Disabilities in CUPE 917 and 951 were formalized and communicated to the University community. These guidelines were revised in July 2007 by the Joint Committee on Return to Work and Accommodation which consists of representatives from CUPE 917, CUPE 951, Human Resources and facilitated by the Diversity Advisor. For reasons of equity and fairness, these guidelines function as the basis for the program for other unionized employees such as PEA and CUPE 4163. The Faculty Agreement speaks to sick leave, return to work and medical accommodation for faculty members and chairs.

Any time an employee or faculty member has questions, concerns or comments related to temporary or permanent medical limitations impacting their ability to function in the workplace, you are encouraged to contact your supervisor, union representative or work life consultant.  A work-life consultant will provide support, guidance and consultation to employees, supervisors, faculty and chairs. Click here to view your Work Life Consultant.

Additionally, the following FAQs have been developed to assist you with a quick overview of the most commonly asked questions on the topic of sick leave, return to work and medical accommodation.

Wellness

Wellness combines seven dimensions of well-being into a quality way of living. Overall, wellness is the ability to live life to the fullest and to maximize personal potential in a variety of ways. Wellness places responsibility on the individual; it becomes a matter of self-evaluation and self-assessment. Wellness involves continually learning and making changes to enhance your state of wellness.

As this is a new area of focus for Human Resources, the initial focus is to determine what programs and services are already available in each of the seven dimensions of wellness and ensure that staff and faculty are aware of
these services.

Please have a look at the program and services site and let us know of any services that have been omitted by emailing worklife@uvic.ca

The following on-line assessments may help you identify your wellness priorities.

Are You Balancing the 7 Dimensions of Wellness?
from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point - Health Promotion and Human Development

Work-Life Balance

Research conducted by Health Canada operationally defines work-life balance as involving three areas:

• Role overload - having too much to do in the amount of time you have to do it in.
• Work-to-Family interference - when work demands and responsibilities make it more difficult for an employee to fulfill family role responsibilities.
• Family-to-Work interference - when family demands and responsibilities make it more difficult for an employee to fulfill work role responsibilities.

We will be developing more information on this new area of focus over the next year. If you are aware of programs
and services that we should be promoting, email worklife@uvic.ca