Your Digest
Town hall recording and brief survey
During the Dec. 7 town hall, our CEO, Dr. Graham Sher, shared updates around collections, the Give 3 in 2023 holiday campaign and our new aspiring leaders program. He and guest panelist, Dr. Isra Levy, provided responses to employee questions on topics such as hybrid work, the recent information pickets and more. In case you missed it, you can access the recording on our employee portal. Please take a moment to provide us with your views by completing this three-minute survey. Our goal is to provide employees with the most value and accessibility possible and your insights will help us identify how best to improve these sessions. Please provide your response by Friday, Dec. 16 at 8 p.m. ET.
New, modern donor centre the first of many big changes in Regina
Employees in Saskatchewan are excited to welcome donors to a brand-new donor centre starting Dec. 12. This a big change for Regina employees who will move from having the donor centre with distribution, logistics and administrative support functions to having a stand-alone location for donors. This project is led by the National Facilities Redevelopment Program (NFRP), a key organization-wide initiative to transform and modernize our national infrastructure. Visit Connect to read more about the success so far and exciting plans for the future.
Physician/YouTuber learns about blood donation while educating others
Dr. Siobhan Deshauer, a Toronto physician with an interest in educating the public about health care, recently created a video for her popular YouTube channel, Violin MD, which has nearly 900,000 subscribers. She and her husband decided to donate blood for the first time and follow its path to find out what happens to those small vials and bags — and she caught it all on camera! The video, which now has over 68,000 views, gives a nod to Canadian Blood Services and inspires people to book and keep appointments to donate — a crucial message for collections this time of year. Read more about Dr. Deshauer and watch this extraordinary video on Connect.
Year-end fundraising campaign
In late November, we began our year-end fundraising campaign, inviting our community of donors to give financially over the holiday season. This year, blood and platelet recipient, Elias Martin, allowed us to share his story in a letter to financial donors to encourage financial giving. Financial gifts are another important way to help patients like Elias, as they are used to help recruit more donors of blood products. What’s more, financial donations made before midnight on Dec. 31 are eligible for a 2022 tax receipt. Read more on Connect about Elias and our final fundraising push this calendar year. Employees who are inspired by Elias’s story and want to make a financial donation can set up charitable donations to Canadian Blood Services through payroll deductions, via the Employee Direct Access portal.
Open board meeting recording now available
For employees who were unable to attend the open board meeting on Dec. 1, the recording is now available. Tune in to hear important updates from the chair of the board, inspiring stories from donors and recipients and hear our CEO, Dr. Graham Sher, present his mid-year report and welcome questions and presentations from the public.
Question of the day
What is happening with our personal vacation allotments? If I am still uncomfortable travelling or don’t have the chance to use all of my vacation this fiscal, how many days can I carry forward into 2023?
As per the Non-Union Employee Vacation Policy, POL 072, every reasonable effort should be made for employees to use vacation during the year in which it is accrued.
Canadian Blood Services also recognizes that exceptional circumstances may exist where an employee may not use all accrued vacation during the vacation year. An employee may carry over up to 37.5 hours (5 days) into the next vacation year without approval. Carry over in excess of 37.5 hours requires director approval and is limited to a maximum of 75 hours (10 days) into the next vacation year. Any unused vacation over 10 days at of the vacation year will be paid out.
Unionized employees should check their individual collective agreements for details on carrying vacation days into the next fiscal year.
For more information on this topic, check out Frequently Asked Questions on Connect or speak to your PCP business partner.
