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Changes to sick leave and layoff rules related to COVID-19
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In July, the Ontario government made big changes to the leave program created because of COVID-19.
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- giving paid and unpaid sick leave to employees affected by COVID-19, and
- allowing employers to place employees on an unpaid, lengthy layoff if there was not enough work available because of COVID-19.
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Paid sick leave
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The government recently extended the paid sick leave portion of the IDEL to March 31, 2023. It was set to end on July 31.
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The IDEL gives employees unlimited unpaid days and 3 paid sick days if they have to miss work because:
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- they're getting a COVID-19 vaccine or recovering from side effects caused by the vaccine
- they have COVID-19
- they have to self-isolate or quarantine because they might have COVID-19
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Employees can also take the sick days to care for a family member if one of the reasons above applies to them.
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And they can take the sick days if their employer orders them to stay home because they might spread COVID-19 at work.
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The most an employee can get paid while on IDEL is $200 a day.
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If an employer has not paid an employee for these sick days, it's a good idea for them to get legal help as soon as they can. |
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Number of paid sick days not increased
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While the program has been extended, the government has not increased the number of days an employee can get the paid leave.
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Employees get only 3 days from April 19, 2021, to March 31, 2023. The number of days does not reset each calendar year.
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This means, for example, that an employee will have no remaining days of paid leave available if they used:
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- 2 days to care for a sick relative in 2021, and
- one day to get a booster shot in 2022.
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But they'll be able to take unpaid days.
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Temporary layoffs
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Regular temporary layoff rules were put on hold between March 1, 2020, and July 30, 2022, because of COVID-19. But beginning July 31, the regular rules apply again.
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Back to regular temporary layoff rules
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If an employer does not bring the employee back to work by the end of the 13 weeks, the employee can consider themselves fired. This is called constructive dismissal. |
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The employee then has the option of either filing a claim through:
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Sometimes the employee can also claim severance pay through the Ministry of Labour, if they work for a large company. As of July 31, these rules will apply even if an employer lays off an employee because of COVID-19. |
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The rules during COVID-19
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Because of COVID-19, the government of Ontario changed the rules for temporary layoffs.
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These rules said that employers could temporarily cut an employee's hours and pay or give them no work, without it being counted as a temporary layoff. But this rule applied only:
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- from March 1, 2020, to July 30, 2022, and
- if the employer made these changes because of COVID-19.
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While on IDEL, the employer did not have to pay the employee or continue their benefits. With some exceptions, the employee also could not make a claim through the Ministry of Labour for termination pay or severance pay based on how long
they had been on this leave. |
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Related resources
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