Recently, the BC Government passed Bill 19 to make further changes to paid and unpaid leave for personal illness or injury under the Employment Standards Act (the “Act”)
Background
Five days of paid leave for personal illness or injury were added to the Act, effective January 1, 2022, for provincially-regulated employers in British Columbia. This paid leave is in addition to the three days of unpaid sick leave currently required and is distinct from temporary paid COVID-19 leave. The leaves apply to all employees who are covered by the Act, including full-time and part-time employees.
Entitlement
Employees who have worked for their employer for at least 90 days will be eligible for up to five days of paid leave and three days of unpaid leave per calendar year for any illness or personal injury.
Previously, the entitlement was per “employment year”, which was based on an employee’s start date. This definition meant that each employees’ year of entitlement would be different, which caused significant administrative difficulties for many employers. The wording of the Act has now been changed to “calendar year”, which is the 12 consecutive months following January 1.
Unused paid and unpaid leave cannot be carried over at the end of the calendar year, and an employee’s entitlements are not pro-rated for a partial year of employment. For example, if an eligible employee starts work on August 1st, after they have been employed for 90 days, they are entitled to take up to five...
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