Some non-union AHS staff told to take 2 days off, no pay as ‘cost savings measure’

An Alberta Health Services sign is pictured outside the Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary, Thursday, March 20, 2025.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta Health Services (AHS) has told some of its non-union workers to take two days off without pay as a “one-time cost savings measure.”

An email from Erin O’Neill, the senior vice-president of finance and shared services with AHS, said non-union exempt employees (NUEEs) within certain salary grades are required to take 15.5 hours of unpaid time off between now and March 31, 2026.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

“We understand that this will be difficult news and that any financial impact is particularly challenging at this time,” said the email that went out to employees. “Please know that we explored many options before taking this step, but that it is necessary to meet our financial commitments as we continue to face budgetary pressures.”

AHS spokesperson Kristi Bland said the measure will not impact frontline staff and no health care services will be affected.

Some non-unionized positions are exempt to ensure those earning below a certain threshold are not impacted, said Bland in a statement.

“AHS has already implemented other cost saving measures such as vacancy and vacation management and is making efforts to limit the impact to our people wherever possible,” she said.

The measure does not impact staff who have been transferred out of AHS to other provincial agencies including Acute Care Alberta.