Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River (Jan 02/06) - There may have been some misgivings in the beginning, but Donny Days have grown on territorial government workers.

Donny Days, officially called mandatory leave, are a cost-saving unpaid week off work mainly at Christmas for all GNWT employees.

Chairs at government desks around the Territories are empty until Jan. 3 as workers take their annual "Donny Days" leave. - NNSL photo

"I love Donny Days," says Sheila Ryan-Hachey, a Hay River court worker with the department of Justice.

Ryan-Hachey says it's an opportunity to spend more time with family over Christmas.

"It's a great time to relax and visit friends," she says, adding she doesn't miss being away from work.

However, she notes when Donny Days first began in 1996 it was a little tough, because it happened suddenly.

Workers get paycheques during Donny Days from money skimmed off their salaries over the rest of the year.

Donny Days are named after former premier Don Morin, whose government introduced mandatory leave.

Mike Couvrette, the regional program co-ordinator with the department of Industry, Tourism and Investment in Fort Smith, also likes Donny Days, even though he notes there was some hesitation among workers in the beginning.

"Looking at it now, you'd be hard pressed to get a lot of us to give it up," Couvrette says.

Donny Days give people more time to get into the Christmas spirit, work around the house and travel, he says.

"It's like a hell of a long weekend." Donny Days began Dec. 22, and workers return to their jobs Jan. 3.

Hay River's Kelvin Yee, a partsperson with the department of Transportation, enjoys the time off.

"But I still don't like the leave without pay," says Yee, vice-president of the Union of Northern Workers' Local 6.

Yee estimates 60 per cent of workers like Donny Days, while 40 per cent don't because of the 1.9 per cent salary cut represented by the week off.

The union official says people have become accustomed to the time off, and don't even think of the impact on their wages. "They just seem to ignore it," he says. "They just don't care.

:"t's time off."

Not all of the territorial government's approximately 4,000 permanent workers must take Donny Days at Christmas, although well over 80 per cent do.

Workers in "continuous" services - such as highway maintenance, corrections and nursing - take Donny Days at other times of the year.

"We've determined some services need to be there all the time," says Lynn Elkin, assistant deputy minister with the Financial Management Board Secretariat.

Elkin says most employees have a positive view of the mandatory leave. "People appreciate the time off."