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29 April 20215 minute read

Government of Ontario enacts paid sick leave

On Thursday, April 29, 2021, the Government of Ontario introduced and passed the COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act, amending the Employment Standards Act, 2000, and requiring employers to provide employees with up to $200 of pay per day for up to three days if the employees are required to miss work for certain reasons related to COVID-19, including:

  • going for a COVID-19 test;
  • staying home awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test;
  • being sick with COVID-19;
  • going to get vaccinated;
  • experiencing a side effect from a COVID-19 vaccination;
  • having been advised to self-isolate due to COVID-19 by an employer, medical practitioner or other authority; or
  • taking care of a dependent who is:
    • sick with COVID-19 or has symptoms of COVID-19, or
    • self-isolating due to COVID-19.

If an employee takes paid sick leave pursuant to this section, the employer is required to pay the employee the lesser of $200 per day and either:

  • the wages the employee would have earned had they not taken the leave, or
  • if the employee receives performance-related wages, including commissions or a piece work rate, the greater of the employee’s hourly rate, if any, and the minimum wage that would have applied to the employee for the number of hours the employee would have worked had they not taken the leave.

Employees are not entitled to compensation for lost overtime, shift premiums or premium public holiday pay when calculating the entitlement to paid sick leave. In addition, if an employee is already entitled to take paid sick leave under an employment contract for any of the COVID-19 related reasons, the employee’s entitlement to paid sick leave under this program is reduced by the employee’s entitlement under their employment contract.

The Government of Ontario is partnering with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (the “Board”) for this time-limited sick leave program whereby employers may submit claims to the Board and be reimbursed up to $200 per day for each employee who must not attend work due to COVID-19. Employers may not seek reimbursement for an employee who takes paid sick for days the employer was already required to pay the employee for pursuant to the terms of an employment contract.

Eligible employers will need to make their applications for reimbursement within 120 days of the employee taking the paid leave. All applications to the Board must include the following information:

  • A completed application in the form approved by the Board.
  • An attestation, to be completed by the employer in the form approved by the Board that,
    • confirms that the employer made a payment to the employee for paid leave taken;
    • specifies the dates on which the leave was taken by the employee,
    • specifies the date on which the payment was made and the amount of the payment made, and
    • confirms that, on or after April 19, 2021, the employer was not otherwise required under an employment contract to make the payment to the employee.
  • A record of the payment made to the employee in the form approved by the Board.
  • Information about claims filed with the Board under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 in respect of the employee.
  • Any other information required by the Board.

This paid sick leave program is retroactive to April 19, 2021 and effective until September 25, 2021, the date the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (“CRSB”) will expire.

For longer term absences related to COVID-19, the province has also announced a plan to provide funding to the Federal Government of Canada to double CRSB payments to Ontario residents. Currently, individuals in Canada are eligible for up to $500 per week under the CRSB from the Federal Government of Canada. The province of Ontario plans to add an additional $500 per week to eligible individuals for a total of $1,000 per week.

In addition, under the Government of Ontario’s paid sick leave program and the increase to the CRSB, if an eligible worker learns that they must isolate for longer than 50 percent of the time they would have otherwise worked for the week, whether because of a positive COVID-19 test or risk of exposure, the employee may apply for the CRSB if they haven’t taken a paid leave day under this proposal.

Employers and their workers can call a dedicated COVID-19 Sick Days Information Centre hotline at 1-888-999-2248 or visit Ontario.ca/COVIDworkerbenefit to get more information and updates about the proposed Ontario COVID-19 paid leave days.

For further information, please consult our ‎Coronavirus Resource ‎Centre or feel free to ‎contact any member of our DLA Piper Canadian Employment and ‎Labour Law Service ‎Group, who will ‎‎ensure that you are acting upon the most up-to-date information.‎

This article provides only general information about legal issues and developments, and is not intended to provide specific legal advice. Please see our disclaimer for more details.

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