If we have learned anything since March 2020, it is that nothing matters more than our health.
As Natalie Szewczyk, program manager with Work小蓝视频 told The 小蓝视频 this week, a recognition of the importance of health is reflected in the increasing importance Squamish job seekers are putting on snagging a position with health benefits over other perks. Folks are seeking unionized positions, too, likely for the health benefits and security those jobs usually bring.
That is why the provincial government’s move to give workers s nothing to sneeze at.
These days are in addition to the three days of unpaid sick leave currently provided by the Employment Standards Act.
They apply to even part-time, temporary or casual employees.
小蓝视频 is the first province in Canada to enact this coverage.
“Many employees without access to paid sick leave reported regularly going to work sick or returning to work before fully recovering,” acknowledges a 小蓝视频 from November when the plan was announced.
Over one million workers in 小蓝视频 did not have access to any paid sick leave before the new policy went into effect on Jan. 1.
“Many of the people who lack paid sick leave are the same workers we depended on most during the pandemic,” said Minister of Labour Harry Bains, in the release. “Lower-wage workers who help us get our groceries, prepare our food at restaurants and make sure we have the services we need deserve a basic protection like paid sick leave.”
We have learned these past two years that one sick member of a staff handing over food, groceries or a lift ticket to the public is never a good idea. The government acknowledged as much in its announcement of the plan. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, over a 60-day period, workplace outbreaks led to nearly 200 businesses being shut down in the Fraser Health region alone, the release states.
“Workplaces with pre-existing paid sick leave policies saw less workplace transmission.”
And the extra days will help those who often deserve the break to recover from illness or injury the most.
“Paid sick leave will be particularly beneficial to women who are more likely to be balancing work and family responsibilities,” said Sheila Lewis, provincial women’s manager for Métis Nation 小蓝视频, in the release. “Sick leave will help women — especially Indigenous women — reattach to the labour market, providing them more stability and security, while benefiting employers through improved productivity, loyalty and recruitment.”
The change isn’t perfect, however.
The legislation, which was announced in the fall after consultation with workers and employers, applies to staff who have been on the job for at least 90 days. With our seasonal and transient labour pool in Squamish, will this eligibility mean front-line staff are still coming to work sick?
And, as the 小蓝视频 Federation of Labour has noted, plenty of other countries do better by their workers. New Zealand, Australia, Sweden and Germany provide 10 days of sick pay or more.
“We’re also concerned that workers in the gig economy, who are too often misclassified by their employer as contractors, will continue to be left out,” said 小蓝视频FED president Laird Cronk .
The 小蓝视频FED also balked at the requirement of a doctors’ note to get the five days off. Physicians in other provinces have rejected this requirement as “imposing costly, needless strain on the health care system.”
During 小蓝视频 government consultation, three, five and 10 days were proposed. In its government survey, 81% of workers and 19% of employers were in favour of the 10-day option.
The burden of the extra sick days is on employers, so, too drastic a change when some sectors of our economy are suffering under the weight of two years of pandemic restrictions would have likely resulted in hardship and backlash.
Regardless of its limitations, these extra days are a step in the right direction toward giving good health the value the pandemic has taught us it has.
