Deemed IDEL No Longer Available
In May of 2020, Ontario filed O. Reg. 228/20, which provided that a non-unionized employee who did not perform their job duties during the “COVID-19 period” because their work hours were temporarily reduced or eliminated for reasons related to COVID-19, was deemed to be on Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (Deemed IDEL). The Regulation amended layoff and constructive dismissal rules exclusively under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), and in most cases, eliminated temporary layoffs and the risk of a constructive dismissal claim under the statute for the defined COVID-19 period.
The end date of the COVID-19 period, which commenced retroactively on March 1, 2020, was extended by regulation several times, most recently until July 30, 2022. Accordingly, the temporary rules relating to Deemed IDEL were in effect until that date.
Since July 31, 2022, employees can no longer be on Deemed IDEL, and the ESA’s regular rules pertaining to constructive dismissal resumed. Accordingly, depending on all the facts and circumstances and applicable law, a significant reduction or elimination of an employee’s hours of work or wages could be alleged to constitute a constructive dismissal under the ESA, even if it occurred for reasons related to COVID‑19. As well, on July 31, 2022, the ESA’s regular rules around temporary layoff resumed, i.e., for practical purposes, an employee’s temporary layoff clock was re-set on July 31, 2022.
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