This article was originally published January 17, 2018. It has been updated as of April 2019 to reflect the latest changes to Ontario sick leave legislation.
Sick Leave in Ontario: The Law in 2019
In January 2019, parts of Bill 148 were repealed, and Bill 47 became law. Under Bill 47, the Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018, employers are required to provide:
- Three days of unpaid sick leave (when an employee falls ill or is injured).
- Three days of unpaid family responsibility leave (when an employee needs to care for a family member).
- Two days of unpaid bereavement leave (after the passing of a family member).
An employee may use sick leave days for an illness, injury, or medical emergency. Generally, employees can also use sick leave for pre-planned elective surgery but not for cosmetic surgery. Sick days are not pro-rated, which means that if an employee is hired partway through a calendar year, they are still entitled to three days of leave for the year. Unused sick leave days do not carry over to the following year. Employees must provide some form of notice, which does not have to be in writing, before starting sick leave (or as soon as possible after starting the leave). Although employees are required to provide such notice, they do not lose the right to take leave if they fail to do so. Also, an employer may ask for evidence “reasonable in the circumstances” (e.g. a medical note) to demonstrate that the employee is eligible for sick leave. For more information on sick leave in Ontario and Bill 47, download our free guide.
Recap of the Changes That Happened With Ontario Sick Leave in 2018
There were many changes to Ontario’s sick leave laws in 2018 with the coming into force of Bill 148. Because parts of Bill 148 were repealed and replaced with Bill 47 in January 2019, many business owners may be left confused as to what all the changes mean. We recap these changes.
What Bill 148 Changed for Sick Leave in Ontario in 2018:
Before the passing of Bill 148, Ontario employees were entitled to 10 unpaid days of Personal Emergency Leave (PEL) per year. This minimum standard only applied to employers with 50 or more employees. Here is what changed when Bill 148 became law:
- The employee threshold was removed.
All employers were required to provide PEL, no matter the size of the business.
- Almost all employees became entitled to up to 10 full days of job-protected PEL per calendar year.
Employers were required to provide PEL to all employees, whether they were full-time or part-time.
- Employers were required to pay for the first two days of PEL taken in a calendar year.
This applied to employees who had worked for the employer for a minimum of one week. For those who were employed for less than one week, they were still entitled to the 10 days of job-protected leave as unpaid days from their date of hire.
- Employers could not ask for a doctor’s note.
When an employee took PEL, an employer could not ask for a doctor’s note from a physician, registered nurse, or psychologist.
Do you have a sick leave policy in place?
With the change in Ontario’s sick leave laws, some employers may start to experience employee management issues, such as a pattern of absences. Do you have a policy in place to help with absence management? We provide HR support when it comes to sick leave. Start by checking out our blog post on the 5 HR best practices to prepare an effective sick leave policy
