Paid Sick Leave for BC Employees Starting January 1, 2022
By: Georg ReuterOur Employment & Human Rights Lawyers have been fielding many questions from clients regarding the recent announcement by the provincial government that starting in January, employers will be required to provide 5 paid sick days to BC employees. Here are responses to those questions:
- The start date for the new 5 sick days is January 1, 2022, and new employees are eligible for the 5 sick days after 90 days of employment;
- The 5 paid sick days are in addition to the current 3 unpaid sick days, for a total of 8 sick days (5 paid and 3 unpaid) per year;
- If employers currently have a sick day policy that meets or exceeds the new 5 paid sick day requirements, we recommend they add wording to clarify that the paid sick days under an existing policy include the paid sick leave required by the BC Employment Standards Act (the “ESA”). This will avoid “doubling up” on sick days;
- Employers can ask for “reasonably sufficient proof” of an employee being sick. This may include in some cases , asking for a doctor’s note;
- Paid sick days only apply to employees – they do not extend to employees taking time off to care for a sick family member. There are however other provisions of the ESA which provide unpaid leave for employees who need to take time off to care for family members;
- It appears that unused sick days:
- don’t carry over from year to year; and
- may not have to be paid out on termination;
- The new sick day provisions will not apply to:
- employees working in the Federally-regulated sector; and
- employees in professions or occupations excluded from the ESA;
For more information about this post, or if you require support updating your policies, email Employment & Human Rights Lawyer, Georg D. Reuter at greuter@rbs.ca, or call at 604.661.9208.
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Parmar v. Tribe Management Inc., 2022 BCSC 1675 is the first civil court decision to tackle whether an unpaid leave of absence for noncompliance with an employer’s mandatory vaccination policy can be considered constructive dismissal. The issue before the Court was whether Tribe Management Inc.’s decision to place Ms. Parmar on an unpaid leave of absence was reasonable following the implementation of a mandatory vaccination policy given the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time. Ms. Parmar refused to be vaccinated due to choice. She did not apply to her employer to be exempt from the mandatory vaccination policy based on medical or religious reasons. The BC Supreme Court found that it was not a constructive dismissal. Instead, it found that Ms. Parmar had repudiated the employment contract. As a result, the claim was dismissed, and Ms. Parmar was not entitled to any damages.
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“Layoff” is a commonly misunderstood term. A layoff occurs when an employee’s work is reduced by 50% or more of their previous hours but the employer expects to recall that employee in the future.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this procedure was often used only in seasonal or other cyclical industries, however, as the business community faced the impacts of COVID-19 and the provincial government broadened the applicable rules, it became more widely used. Now, as businesses have reopened only to face closures again, a refresher on the current rules is key.
