Paid Sick Days in Ontario

Do you get paid sick days in Ontario?

No. Provincially regulated employees working in Ontario do not get paid sick days, or paid leave of absence, under the province’s Employment Standards Act (ESA).

Previous legislation expired

The Ontario government previously ran a paid leave program that gave non-unionized employees up to three paid sick days for reasons related to COVID-19. The program, also known as paid Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL), was made retroactively available on April 19, 2021 and expired on March 31, 2023.

The three paid days were not in addition to any paid leave that employees were eligible for under their employer’s policy.

Under Ontario’s paid sick day program, an employee was able to receive up to $200 per day of paid leave (less if the employee’s regular wages were less than $200 per day, in which case they received their regular wages for the day).

WATCH NOW: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru discusses employee entitlements under Ontario’s sick leave program during COVID-19.

Employers were required to provide staff with sick day pay no later than the pay day for the pay period during which they elected to take a paid day of leave. The employer could then apply for reimbursement through WSIB for payment.

Employees weren’t required to provide a doctor’s note (sick note) to their employer in order to access the three paid sick days.

Penalized for taking paid sick days

If your employer penalized you for using paid IDEL and imposed significant changes to your job, such as a demotion, cut in hours or wages, you had the option of consulting with a lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP.

Any major changes to your employment without your consent can be treated as a termination of your relationship with the company, in which you can pursue a constructive dismissal claim and get a proper severance package.

Termination for using paid sick days

Your employer may let you go for any reason. This is called a termination without cause. However, if they choose to let you go in this situation:

• They must provide you with full severance pay
• The reasons for the termination can’t be discriminatory

During the paid sick leave program’s run, employers in Ontario were not allowed to fire employees because they used their paid sick days (paid IDEL). It was a job-protected leave of absence under the ESA. This meant that an employer couldn’t penalize or fire an employee for taking paid sick days.

It is illegal for your employer to fire you because you have taken sick leave or are unable to work due to COVID-19. It is considered a human rights violation, and you are owed additional compensation in addition to a severance package.

What are my other sick leave entitlements in Ontario?

While Ontario no longer provides paid sick days, other sick leave options may be available:

• Employer sick leave policy: Some employers provide a paid or unpaid sick leave program for employees. This policy should be outlined in your employee handbook or employment contract.
• Unpaid sick leave: Any worker who has been employed for at least two weeks is entitled to up to three days of unpaid sick leave a year through the ESA.
• Infectious Disease Emergency Leave: Ontario still provides Infectious Disease Emergency Leave. It is an unpaid leave that Ontario employees can take for an unlimited period of time if they can’t perform their due to COVID-19, need to quarantine, or must care for a family member suffering from COVID-19.
• Federally regulated employees: If you work for a federally regulated employer in Ontario, you may be able to access up to 10 paid sick days.

Workplace Accommodation

Beyond what is provided in the ESA, we must remember that the Ontario Human Rights Code states that employers must accommodate employees with disabilities to the point of undue hardship. This may mean that an employer must allow a seriously ill worker to stay away from work due to an illness unless doing so would cause the employer undue hardship. That said, it is the employee’s responsibility to prove that their condition rises to the level of a disability.

Unrelated to the ESA, Employment Insurance provides for disability benefits for up to 15 weeks to workers who are unable to work due to a disability. Many employers also offer short-term and long-term disability benefits.

Timeline of events

• July 21, 2022: In order to continue to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Ontario provincial government has decided to keep its paid sick leave program (Paid IDEL) in place until March 31, 2023.
• December 7, 2021: Senior government sources inform media outlets that the paid sick leave program will be shifted to a July 31, 2022 expiry date in response to rising case numbers in Ontario.
• September 1, 2021: The Ontario government announced that it plans to extend its paid sick leave program by three months, to December 31, 2021, so that it runs until the end of the year as new data emerges about the quick spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.
• April 29, 2021: Bill 284, or the COVID-19 Putting Workers First Act, is passed in Ontario and receives Royal Assent.
• April 28, 2021: Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy unveil a $1.8B paid sick leave plan for Ontario workers. The plan will be run by WSIB, and includes three paid sick days for workers in the province who are affected by COVID-19.
• April 27, 2021: On Monday, a bill that proposed 10 paid sick days for workers in Ontario was voted down at Queen’s Park. The bill would have amended the current employment standards and allowed for paid sick days for workers experiencing illness, personal injury, a medical emergency, or urgent family matters.
• April 22, 2021: Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that the province is working on a paid sick leave program to provide assistance to employees who can’t work due to COVID-19. This announcement comes amid a potent third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The provincial government has resisted multiple requests for paid sick days over the past several months, point instead to the federal government’s CRSB benefit program.
• May 25, 2020: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would push the provinces to provide 10 paid sick days to workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Right now, Public Health officials usually require those who have been exposed to Covid-19 to self-isolate for 14 days, which means that they must not leave their home and certainly not attend work. As there are generally 10 working days in any 14 day period, the Prime Minister’s proposal would mean that the most vulnerable workers would not have to choose between earning a paycheck and complying with self-isolation requirements (which can be enforced with a fine of up to $5,000).
  • It is important to note, however, that the Prime Minister can only suggest to the provincial Premiers what to do, he cannot force them to change provincial laws. As provincial laws govern 90% or more of Ontario workers, it is really up to the ruling Conservatives to decide what’s best for our workers.