Update by James Hsu, Lawyer

Effective January 1st, 2022, eligible employees in BC will be entitled to 5 days of paid sick leave per “employment year”.

To be eligible for these 5 paid sick days, an employee (including full-time, part-time, temporary and casual employees) must have 90 consecutive days of employment with their employer and not otherwise be exempt from the BC Employment Standards Act (“ESA”). 

To recap how this impacts the recent wave of sick leave amendments:

1. The existing 3 day paid COVID-19 related sick leave, made available in May 2021, ends on December 31, 2021. The new entitlement to 5 days of paid sick leave comes in to effect the next day on January 1, 2022, as a broader and permanent paid sick leave benefit;

2. The existing 3 days of unpaid personal illness or injury days remain.  To be eligible for this benefit, employees must have 90 days of employment with their employer and not othewise be exempt from the ESA; and

3. In other words, eligible employees in BC will have 8 statutorily protected “sick days” per year: 5 paid and 3 unpaid.

 Regarding the new 5 days of paid sick leave, employers should take note that:

1. Employers are responsible for the cost, with no reimbursement from the government (in contrast to the 3 paid COVID-19 related sick days);

2. Employers with existing paid sick leave programs should ensure (a) that their sick leave programs meet these new statutory minimums, and (b) if so, the statutory sick days are incorporated into the existing, or new, sick leave program (rather than an addition); and

3. Employers can request that employees provide “reasonably sufficient” proof they missed work due to personal illness or injury.

If you are a BC employer with questions about this new requirement, contact us.