Categories: Lifestyle

BC becomes first province with official Paid Sick Leave in Canada – here’s what to know

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Talk about a beautiful idea, British Columbia! Today, the BC government announced that it is becoming the first province to offer official Paid Sick Leave in the entire country. The new plan, which goes into effect next year, applies to full-time, part-time and even casual workers. Here’s what to know about it.

Starting on January 1st, 2022, all workers in BC that are covered by the Employment Standards Act will be entitled to 5 paid sick leave days a year, in addition to 3 unpaid days. While this doesn’t cover every employee in the province (federal employees and independent contractors are a couple of exceptions), it does apply to over 1 million workers in BC that currently don’t have paid sick leave. That’s a win in our books.

Employees will need to be at their jobs for at least 90 days to be entitled to BC’s Paid Sick Leave and may be asked to provide “sufficient proof of illness” by employers. Keep in mind though, that this covers any personal injury or illness, so if you don’t think it’s a good idea to go to work, then it probably isn’t.

What started as a part-time fix to help those dealing with COVID-19 has rolled into a permanent decision, and we couldn’t be happier! If you’d like to check out the official press release about Paid Sick Leave in BC, just click here.