N.L. government, St. John's offering paid leave to employees to volunteer at Canada Games

Both the Newfoundland and Labrador government and the City of St. John's are encouraging their public service employees to volunteer at the Canada Games this August, and offering them paid time off to do it.

St. John's Mayor Danny Breen told CBC News time off would need to be approved by their managers, but the city is offering 16 hours of paid leave for volunteering — eight hours per week for each week of the event.

"It's a way that we can support the Canada Games, a way that we can support the volunteer capacity and allow our staff to volunteer," Breen said.

"Many city employees will be volunteering far more than that, so it's seen as kind of just a small part of their total commitment."

In an email sent on behalf of the provincial Treasury Board Secretariat, communications director Diana Quinton said they're "offering public service employees up to six paid days of leave to volunteer directly with the Canada Summer Games, where operationally feasible."

"Employees who have already booked leave during the games may switch to special leave with pay under this exemption, provided they meet the criteria," the email said.

Quinton's email said they didn't know yet how many employees would be included in the paid leave.

On Wednesday, the Canada Games said they had officially exceeded their 5,000 volunteer recruiting goal.

Speaking with reporters on June 18, host society co-chair Karl Smith said around 500 people came forward when the paid leave was introduced.

In a recent interview, Premier John Hogan said he welcomed the plan. Public sector employees want to volunteer, he said, but can't control that some events happen during the workday.

"It's a big production, and it needs lots of volunteers. And I think it's a great thing that people throughout the community be given that time if necessary [and] they want to volunteer," Hogan said.

"This doesn't come along very often. It's an honour to host the Canada Games here and have all Canadians from across the country coast-to-coast-to-coast come to St. John's."

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