Employers Obligations Towards Foreign Workers In Quarantine

Since COVID-19 related travel measures took effect, foreign workers arriving to Canada have been obligated to quarantine for 14 days before they could safely integrate with the general population. What was less clear about this arrangement is how this period of time is treated in terms of employment status.

Effectively, an employee is officially commencing their employment on the day they arrive and begin their quarantine. This means that the employer is expected to have the employee officially on payroll at that time. The employer must provide salary and all applicable benefits for the employee. Due to practical constraints, such as the worker not being able to leave quarantine to open a bank account and apply for their social insurance number, the official pay slip may be produced once these items are completed. The important point is that the quarantine period is to be treated as the start of official employment.