The Ontario government has passed legislation that will entitle employees to a maximum of three days of paid leave time for Infectious Disease Emergency Leave.
This leave time enhances, not replaces, the unpaid Infectious Disease Emergency Leave.
This leave currently applies to qualified absences from April 19- Sept 25 of 2021.
The "upside" for employers is that there is a reimbursement program for the leave pay that will be administrated by the WSIB.
There are also a number of caveats attached to the program and the leave provisions.
One key matter to note is that the maximum reimbursement will be $200/day, per employee and the leave entitlement is a maximum of three days.
The time off for vaccinations will be a qualifying reason to access the leave, including time off to recover from any side effects of getting the vaccine. If an employee takes a part of a day off, it will be considered use of a full day of the entitlement.
Not all COVID related absences will apply to the leave, especially if you already offer a paid sick leave benefit. As well, the leave may apply to an employee who needs to care for a family member, not just the employee themselves.
There are also some parameters to the program that dealership's should also be aware of:
1) Be sure that any submissions for reimbursement are submitted within 120 of the leave.
2) Be sure that all the required information is included in the submission, incomplete submissions may not be processed.
3) Be sure that you closely review your current employee entitlements and leave provisions/absences to ensure that the employee payout qualifies for reimbursement.
As like other leave provisions, it is highly recommended that dealerships adopt a policy regarding this leave, even if it is temporary. As well, do not forget to track the leave dates in your system to ensure that your reimbursement records are accurate and that the employee leave is being used appropriately with correct time -tracking.
To review a copy of the amendment to the ESA you can access it here.
If you would like more information on creating a policy, the details of the program (including a copy of our FAQs) or how we assist dealers in managing this leave, please contact us at info@dealerpilothr.com.
Commentaires