WE NEED 10 PAID SICK DAYS

Ontario details plan for 3 paid sick days after a year of mounting pressure


Shanifa Nasser, Lucas Powers · CBC News · Posted: Apr 28, 2021 

A man holds up a sign as a group advocating for provincially mandated paid sick days for workers participates in a 'die-in' rally outside Queens Park earlier this year. The proposed Ontario COVID-19 Worker Protection Benefit Program will pay up to $200 per day, and will be retroactive to April 19. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press)

After months of urgent calls about the need for paid sick leave by medical professionals, labour advocates, political leaders and even top doctors from some of the province's hardest-hit regions, the Ontario government has announced a plan to provide three paid sick days through a temporary program ending in September.

The proposed Ontario COVID-19 Worker Protection Benefit Program would pay up to $200 per day for workers who are sick, have symptoms, have a mental health issue or need to be vaccinated, and will be retroactive to April 19. The sick days would not need to be taken consecutively and no sick note is required.

If the legislation is passed, the program will be administered through the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and employers will be reimbursed in full, the province says.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton also said the province has offered to cover the cost of doubling the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit payments, adding an additional $500 per week to eligible individuals, for a total of $1,000 per week.

Ottawa earlier this week rejected an offer by the province to top up the program, saying the federal benefit is designed to support workers who don't have a regular employer, or as a stop gap until their province mandates paid sick days.

WATCH | Trudeau responds to Ontario's offer to double sick leave payments:



Ontario calls on federal government to double sick leave payments: Minister of Labour2 days ago  1:35

During Question Period at Queen’s Park Tuesday, Ontario’s Minister of Labour Monte McNaughton said the province is calling on the federal government to double payments under its sick leave program from $500 a week to $1,000 a week, with Ontario picking up the extra cost. Later, during a press conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said provinces need to look at delivering sick leave through employers, which he said Ottawa can’t do. 

Last week, Premier Doug Ford pledged that Ontario would soon unveil details of a paid sick leave program, claiming it would be "the best program anywhere in North America, bar none."

But as reported by CBC News, the Ford government initially sought to top up the federal program, rather than create its own. On the same day as Ford's emotional news conference, Ontario's finance minister wrote a letter to the federal government detailing the proposal.

Critics have long pointed out the federal benefit pays less than a full-time minimum wage job, involves days, if not weeks, of processing time and doesn't guarantee job security for workers who use it.

Accessible paid leave needed, science advisory table says

Following the announcement, Ontario's science advisory table responded with a brief that outlined the benefits of an effective sick pay program.

"Ontario workers need 10 days of adequate #PaidSickLeave that is easily accessible, immediately paid and supports them in following all public health measures," Dr. Nathan Stall, a member of the table, tweeted on Wednesday.

"In the United States, the introduction of a temporary paid sick leave resulted in an estimated 50 per cent reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases per state per day," the brief points out.

Asked if the province consulted with its own science advisory table on the plan, the labour minister did not answer definitively.

"We certainly had lots of advice from the medical community," McNaughton said, pivoting to the province's disappointment with the lack of additional sick leave measures in the federal budget.

McNaughton was also asked why it took the province so long to respond to the repeated calls for such a measure. On that, he replied, "We moved decisively when COVID-19 hit the province ... We advocated to the federal government to improve this program."

The province has argued repeatedly that the federal program was adequate as a reason not to implement a provincial program, with Ford saying earlier this year he didn't want to double-up on existing measures.

"We aren't going to duplicate and waste taxpayers' money, double dipping into their pockets," Ford told CTV's Your Morning on Feb. 16.
'3 days of paid sick leave will not cut it'

The cost of the proposal announced today was not included in the provincial budget, unveiled in March.

Unlike Quebec and Prince Edward Island, where sick days are in place permanently, Ontario's proposed program ends in just five months. The province has has passed legislation that protects workers' jobs if they can't work due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

WATCH | Ontario announces plan for 3 paid sick days at up to $200 per day amid pandemic:


Ontario announces plan for 3 paid sick days at up to $200 per day amid pandemic
1:50 The Ontario government has announced a plan to provide three paid sick days through a temporary program ending in September. Lorenda Reddekopp has the details — and reaction to the announcement. 

Speaking to reporters after the announcement, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said, "Three days of paid sick leave will not cut it."

"I don't know where the premier thinks this is the best program in North America. It certainly is not."

Horwath also said that with just three days of sick leave proposed, she fears workers may not be able to self-isolate for the required amount of time if exposed to the virus.

The NDP leader said her party will have to look at the details of the bill before committing to voting to pass it.

Liberal MPP John Fraser also said his party will need to see the legislation before deciding whether to support it.

"For 400 days people had to make the decision between going to work sick or putting food on the table. The government didn't have their backs and I would argue that they don't now," he said.

The Liberals had asked for Ontario to institute 10 paid sick days, Fraser said.

On Monday, the provincial government voted down a Liberal bill that would have required employers to provide workers with 10 paid days for medical emergencies.

According to the Opposition NDP, the vote marked the 25th time the Ford government has voted down a proposal for paid sick days in 2021 alone.

In a statement reacting to the announcement, CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn said the Ford government had "chosen chaos and confusion" over delivering the type of program Ontarians truly need.

"Everyone engaged here needs to keep fighting for real paid sick days we need: permanent, universal, employer-paid, and accessible. That demand did not let up today. Today's announcement only makes it clearer we must fight to get what every worker so desperately needs."