May 6, 2021
Details of Ontario sick leave legislation
The government of Ontario has released further details about Bill 284, which received Royal Assent on April 29, 2021 and amends Section 50.1 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”).
I have summarized the information below. Further details can be found on this page of the Ontario government website: https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-worker-income-protection-benefit
Paid leave requirements
Employers are now required to provide eligible employees paid infectious disease emergency leave, up to $200 of pay for up to three days, if employees are missing work under certain conditions.
Reimbursement
Reimbursement will be available to eligible employers for up to $200 per employee per day taken.
Applications for reimbursement will be made to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). The specifics of the application process have not been released yet, I will keep you up to date as they become available.
Conditions for employee eligibility
Employees are eligible for paid infectious disease emergency leave under these conditions:
- employee having been advised to self-isolate due to COVID-19 by an employer, medical practitioner or other specified authority
- employee providing care or support to certain relatives for COVID-19 related reasons, such as when they are:
- sick with COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19
- self-isolating due to COVID-19 on the advice of a medical practitioner or other specified authority
NOTE: Conditions related to testing and vaccination:
Employees are eligible for paid infectious disease emergency leave to allow
- time for the employee to receive COVID-10 testing and results
- time for receiving COVID-19 vaccinations and/or experiencing a side effect from a COVID-19 vaccination.
Employers cannot require an employee to produce a medical note as evidence.
Employee eligibility
Eligible employees include:
- those covered by the ESA (independent contractors or federally regulated employees are excluded); and
- employees who do not already receive paid sick time through their employer.
If an employee is entitled to take paid leave under an employment contract for any of the circumstances covered by the COVID-19 paid leave, the employee’s entitlement to three paid days under the ESA is reduced by the employee’s entitlement under the employment contract.
If an employee is entitled to both paid and unpaid leave due to COVID-19, the employee can elect to take one or more days or parts of a day of leave as unpaid leave
NOTE: The employee must advise the employer of this in writing before the end of the pay period in which the leave occurs.
These paid leave days are not required to be taken consecutively and if an employee takes any part of a day as paid leave, the employer may deem the employee to have taken one paid day of leave on that day.
An employee must be paid the amount they are entitled to under the COVID-19 paid leave no later than the pay day for the relevant pay period in which the employee elected to take the leave.
Timing
This program is retroactive to April 19, 2021, and effective until September 25, 2021. If, between April 19, 2021 and April 29, 2021, an employee has taken unpaid leave and would be entitled to the three paid days of COVID-19 leave, the employee may elect to be paid for that leave
NOTE: The employee must advise the employer in writing of their election before May 13, 2021.
Please note that the right to take time off work under the ESA is not the same as the right to the payment of employment insurance benefits or federal government supports such as the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB). An employee may be entitled to a leave under the ESA whether or not they have applied for or qualified for federal benefits or supports.
I hope you find this information helpful and that you, your fellow workers and employees, families and loved ones stay safe and healthy in the coming weeks.Please contact me with any questions you may have or for assistance working through your staffing matters.
