OC Transpo will go against city policy and hire replacement workers for some people on long-term disability, said the group's head Alain Mercier.

Temporary cuts to peak transit bus service were partly caused by a large number of staff on long-term disability, said Mercier.

"OC Transpo historically has depended on overtime as a means to compensate for vacancies … from day-to-day operations," Mercier told the city's transit committee Wednesday after pinpointing employees on long-term disability as a main source of those vacancies.

"Certainly, in the middle of winter when service is increasing, you cannot rely on overtime as the sole means to guarantee service."

Mercier was explaining why OC Transpo was temporarily cutting back morning and afternoon peak service on major Transitway high-frequency routes for six weeks starting Feb. 18.

He said about 40 to 50 employees are on long-term disability at any given time.

The city's auditor, Alain Lalonde, said the long-term disability issue raised by Mercier is not a new one, and has been brought up in three different reports since 2002. The reports recommended hiring replacement workers for some people on long-term disability.

Mercier said Wednesday that OC Transpo will begin to do just that. He said he had not done so earlier because it is against city policy to replace workers on long-term disability.