Excerpt from E2r-Alert – July 21, 2022

If you thought COVID-19 was over, think again.  The Ontario government has just announced that it will be extending the Worker Income Protection Benefit program yet again until March 31, 2023. Set to expire on July 31st, 2022, this extension means that employers will still be required to provide three paid infectious disease emergency leave days to employees affected by COVID-19.
As a reminder, employees can take the three paid days for reasons such as:
  • going for a COVID-19 test
  • staying home awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test
  • being sick with COVID-19
  • going to get vaccinated
  • experiencing a side effect from a COVID-19 vaccination
  • having been advised to self-isolate due to COVID-19 by an employer, medical practitioner or other authority
  • taking care of a dependent who is:
o   sick with COVID-19 or has symptoms of COVID-19
o   self-isolating due to COVID-19
As set out in our last alert regarding this topic here – if an employee has already used up their 3 days, they are no longer entitled to any additional paid days (unless, of course, you already have a sick day policy in place that provides for additional days).
Employers must pay the employee their normal rate of pay for the day off, up to $200, and will have up to 120 days to make a claim for reimbursement. Information on employer reimbursement of these days can be found in our previous alert here.