On 28th March, 2022 British Columbia has introduced a bill 19-2022 for the first reading. The amendments were made to the existing British Columbia Employment Standards Act to strengthen paid sick leave legislation to protect workers and simplify the administrative process for businesses.
Proposed Amendment:
- Calender Year” to Replace “Employment Year”-
Section 49.1 (1) is amended by striking out “each employment year” and substituting “each calendar year”.
British Columbia became the first province in Canada to implement a minimum standard of five days of paid sick leave every year.
2. Section 3 of the Employment Standards Act, Revenue Service of British Columbia (R.S.B.C) 1996, c. 113, is amended
(a) in the table in sub-section (2) and in the table in sub-section (3) by repealing the following as indicated:
| Column 1 Matter |
Column 2 Part or Section |
| Paid personal illness or injury leave | Section 49.1 (1) (a), (3) and (4) |
(b) in sub-section (6) by striking out “Part 6 [leaves and jury duty] except for Section 49.1 (1) (a), (3) and (4) [paid personal illness or injury leave];” and substituting “Part 6 [leaves and jury duty];”.
Research shown that most workers do not take full entitlement of the sick days. It has also been shown that cost increases for most companies were less than expected while significant benefits resulted , including increased productivity, improved morale, retention of trained staff, and reduce risk of injury.