City of Warman employees will officially be getting an additional statutory holiday beginning this fall.
Warman City Council voted unanimously at its meeting on Monday, April 8 to recognize September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as a statutory holiday for all civic employees.
The vote on amending the city’s Paid Holiday Policy (HR-701) to recognize September 30 as a statutory holiday was designed to bring the policy in line with what has already been the practice for the past three years.
Warman City Council voted at a meeting on September 27, 2021 to recognize September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and to designate it as a holiday for civic employees. The day was designated as a civic holiday in 2022 and 2023, and City Hall was closed on September 30 in both those years as well.
However, the city’s HR policy, which lists all designated paid holidays, did not include the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The amendment which received approval at the April 8 meeting added it to the list, which also includes: New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Saskatchewan Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, “and any other day proclaimed as a holiday by Federal, Provincial or Civic authority.”
During discussion on the motion to amend the city’s HR policy, Warman City Councillor Kevin Tooley observed that while it applies to federal employees, the day has not been designated a statutory holiday by the province.
Warman City Councillor Tracy Johnson, who is council’s representative on the Prairie Rivers Reconciliation Committee, said she strongly favours incorporating the day into the city’s HR policy.
“I believe it’s an important gesture of support to First Nations communities,” she said.
Warman Mayor Gary Philipchuk said the city’s past practice has been to recognize national holidays, and the amendment reflects what is already in place.
The city policy states that any employee required to perform work on any of the above-mentioned holidays shall receive, in addition to the holiday pay, one and one half (1.5) times their regular rate of pay for all such hours worked.
In 2021, the City of Martensville council also voted to recognize September 30 as a statutory holiday for civic employees. Martensville has recognized the holiday officially since 2021, and it is included in the city’s collective bargaining agreement with its unionized employees, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
The City of Warman civic employees are not unionized, but their pay levels and benefits are comparable to employees of other municipalities across the province.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is marked each year on September 30. The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process. This federal statutory holiday applies to federally-regulated employees and was created through legislative amendments made by Parliament.