New paid sick leave rule applies to federally regulated workers

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OTTAWA — Employees in federally regulated private sector workplaces can now take 10 days of paid sick leave after lawmakers unanimously voted in favor of the move last year.

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Workers who have been in continuous employment for at least 30 days as of December 31 will be eligible for the first three days of paid sick leave.

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The employee then takes sick leave for the fourth time on February 1st, with an additional day at the beginning of each month, up to a maximum of 10 days per year.

The Federal Liberal Party has pledged to campaign for this policy in the 2021 federal elections, when parties battled over how best to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor Minister Seamus Oregan held a press conference on Thursday with representatives from Unifor and the Canadian Labor Council to mark the occasion.

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The minister acknowledged that labor leaders and the NDP had been calling for the policy “for quite some time”.

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He applauded every member of the House of Representatives who voted unanimously for paid sick leave last year.

Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labor Council, said the labor movement would encourage provinces to adopt similar legislation, and O’Regan was already encouraging provinces to do so.

“I have spoken to colleagues in the state and territory and they certainly argued,” he said, adding that he respects jurisdiction.

Last week, the federal government announced it would extend Employment Insurance sickness benefits from 15 weeks to 26 weeks.

Bruske said the labor movement will continue to work with the federal government on priorities such as full reform of the EI and anti-scab laws.