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ARTICLE · 01 DECEMBER 2021

BC Announces Five Permanent Paid Sick Days Under Employment Standards Act

Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP
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Effective January 1, 2022, British Columbia employees subject to the Employment Standards Act who have worked 90 consecutive days with an employer...

CanadaEmployment and HR
Michael Watt
Michael Watt
Sarah Richmond
Sarah Richmond
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Effective January 1, 2022, British Columbia employees subject to the Employment Standards Act who have worked 90 consecutive days with an employer, will be entitled to 5 days of paid leave in each employment year, for personal illness or injury. Employment year will be the common date used for calculating entitlement for all employees which may be the calendar year or some other date. Unpaid sick leave of 3 days will be on top of the paid entitlement. As previously discussed in our article dated May 11, 2021, BC introduced changes last spring to the Employment Standards Act, allowing for temporary paid COVID-19 leave up to December 31, 2021 and permanent paid sick days thereafter; but, the number of paid sick days was to be prescribed at a later date. The Minister of Labour has now signed OIC 637, prescribing the number at 5 paid sick days.

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