CSSEA Info

Login Form

2024 Compensation and Employee Turnover Report Form Now Available.
For a copy of the Report form, user guide, other information or to register for a session Click Here

March 31, 2022 - Government Announces Further Amendments to ESA Sick Leave Minimums

The BC government announced on March 28, 2022 that it has introduced additional amendments to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) concerning paid sick leave. The latest amendments follow government’s initial announcement in November 2021 that it would be introducing five annual employer-paid sick days effective January 1, 2022. Details of that announcement were documented in this CSSEA Info, and follow-up information regarding application can be found in this FAQs.

The latest amendments are being introduced through Bill 19 and contain three notable changes that, upon receiving Royal Assent, will replace some advice currently dispensed by CSSEA:

  1. ESA paid sick leave is removed from the “meet or exceeds” table in section 3 of the ESAmeaning it will be applicable to unionized employers regardless of their collective agreement provisions. In other words, the minimum five days of paid sick leave will be extended to casual employees and probationary employees covered by collective agreements who, until now, would have been excluded from ESA sick leave minimums in whole or in part.
  2. ESA paid sick leave is removed as an exception from section 3(6), meaning union employees will have to launch a grievance/arbitration in case of potential disputes, as opposed to using the Employment Standards Branch complaint process.
  3. “Employment year” is now replaced by “calendar year” for the purposes of calculating an employee’s entitlement to sick days, thus simplifying the need for employers to track each individual’s employment anniversary date to calculate their paid sick days entitlement. Please note that it is possible some employees may already have received more than five days of paid sick leave this year due to the current employment year calculation, and in those scenarios, there is currently no mechanism to seek repayment.

The amendments will be effective upon Royal Assent, which is expected before the end of the current legislative session. CSSEA will be examining the impact and cost of these changes at the bargaining table and will provide more information should further changes be negotiated. Members can read more about Bill 19 amendments here and any employers with outstanding questions are asked to contact their HRLR Consultant or Advocate.  

Communications Contact

Doris Sun
Director of Communications
604.601.3110
604.319.5010
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.