All workers should have paid sick leave. The pandemic has shown clearly that staying home when you’re sick is a public good – it saves lives. B.C. introduced legislation this week to allow all employees three days of paid sick leave related to COVID-19, but is it enough?
First, a few facts.
Most workers in Canada do not have employer-paid sick leave. Fifty-eight per cent of all workers and 70 per cent of those who earn less than $25,000 a year have sick leave, a policy note from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says. In B.C., about half of all workers do not have paid sick leave.
Several American states have brought in guaranteed paid sick days, including Washington, Oregon and California.
Women and new immigrants are affected the most by a lack of paid sick leave, which makes sense because they’re often the people who are working in low-paid jobs like cashiers, care aid or childcare provider. Nearly 90 per cent of low-wage workers do not have paid sick leave, the BC Federation of Labour says. Funny how these are the same jobs we deem “essential.”
B.C. Premier John Horgan was among the first and loudest voices calling for a federal sick pay program when the pandemic began.
The federal government did bring in a paid sick leave program last fall, called the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CSRB), which pays up to $500 a week to people who are unable to work because they have COVID-19, have been told to isolate or have an underlying health condition. But this benefit is complicated – you have to apply for it each week, after you’ve taken at least half of the week off work, and the $500 a week doesn’t even meet B.C.’s minimum wage. There is also an employment insurance benefit for sickness, funded by employee and employer contributions.
Horgan’s made-in-B.C. sick leave pay is meant to be a bridge until the federal benefits kick in. It can cover people waiting for test results, having symptoms or self-isolating.
“No one should have to make that difficult choice between staying home when they’re sick or going into work because they have an economic imperative to do so,” Horgan said. “Paid sick leave is good for businesses, it’s good for workers and it’s good for communities.”
B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says she has been advocating for paid sick days for more than a year.
“It is incumbent on the owners of workplaces to ensure that workers who are sick are able to stay home,” she said.
Under the B.C. policy, employers will pay employees up to $200 a day while they’re sick and the provincial government will pay them back. Horgan promises to make paid sick leave permanent in January, but says consultation is needed first.
Employers are not keen to foot the bill, and in fairness to small businesses, many of them are struggling mightily with the pandemic. Also, many mid-size employers who didn’t pay medical premiums for their employees got hit a couple of years ago with the new Employer Health Tax.
“In ordinary times, paid sick time holds many implications for small businesses, including who will cover the costs and how society will ensure sick time is used appropriately,” said Canadian Federation of Independent Business president Dan Kelly. “Small business owners just cannot be expected to take on any additional costs at this time.”
The BC Federation of Labour is calling for a provincial program that covers at least 10 days of worker wages, citing rising numbers of workplace exposures and increased hospitalizations.
"Workers struggling with a COVID-19 illness face far greater than three days of lost pay, they face potential economic devastation,” said BC Federation of Labour president Laird Cronk.
More than 5,000 WorkSafeBC claims have been made for COVID-19, and claims made in 2021 are already approaching the total number made in 2020.
The B.C. program seems like a good start. It’s likely not adequate to protect vulnerable, low-paid workers who are forced to self-isolate for two weeks or who get sick with COVID-19, but there are federal programs to pick up some of that slack.
Establishing a permanent program is the humane thing to do and supports the wellness of our entire society, but the onus of funding the program should not fall entirely on the government or employers. Let’s get it right so that this prediction by Cronk comes true: “Future generations will look back on the lack of permanent, paid sick leave as we look back in disbelief on driving without a seatbelt or workers not having paid vacation.”
Tracy Sherlock is a freelance journalist who writes about education and social issues. Read her blog or email her [email protected].
