On November 24, 2021, the Government of British Columbia announced its plans to implement a permanent paid statutory sick leave entitlement for employees under the Employment Standards Act beginning January 1,2022.

Under the proposal, employees who have been employed by an employer for 90 consecutive days will be entitled to up to five days of paid leave each year if they need to stay home due to injury or illness. This is in addition to the entitlement to three days of unpaid leave in cases of injury or illness. Prior to this announcement, employers were free to provide paid sick days to employees, but were not required to do so.

It is anticipated that if an employer already has a paid sick leave program in place, any sick days provided to employees under that program will count toward the statutory paid sick days. However, employers may need to review their existing policies and consider whether any changes should be made once the legislation is formally amended.

This permanent paid sick leave entitlement is intended to replace the temporary paid leave entitlement of three days in cases of certain absences related to COVID-19, such as a COVID-19 diagnosis or caring for children during a school shutdown, which is set to expire at the end of 2021.

For assistance with any employer related questions, please feel free to contact a member of our Dentons Employment and Labour group.