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Government Paid Sick Leave Surveys

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The B.C. Employment Standards Coalition (BCESC) is calling for 3-10 days of paid sick leave (PSL) be included in the Employment Standards Act (ESA).

The ESA currently includes 3 days of job protected, unpaid time off for ill or injured employees. A temporary measure under Section 52.121 of the ESA provides for up to 3 days of employer paid sick leave that is COVID-19 related. Under a separate WorkSafe administered program, employers can apply for government funded reimbursement of COVID-19 related sick leave pay paid to their employees for up to $200 per day.

In May 2021, the provincial government announced plans to legislate permanent PSL for workers, starting January 1, 2022. In line with this goal, on August 5, 2021, B.C.’s Ministry of Labour issued two public surveys, one for employers and one for employees, to gain input on the issue of PSL in B.C. There are two phases to this consultation process: the public availability and promotion of the two surveys (Aug. 5 – Sept. 14) and a public consultation related to the results of the surveys (Sept. 20 – Oct. 25). It is understood that following these discussions, the expected PSL model and number of paid sick days to be written into the ESA will be confirmed.

On August 11, 2021, the Coalition met over Zoom to discuss the Ministry’s consultation process and the two surveys. It was acknowledged that the two surveys, especially the worker’s survey, had considerable deficiencies and shortcomings. Despite this, it was agreed that Coalition members should circulate and promote the survey among workers. There was an emphasis on the need for workers in part-time, casual, seasonal, contract, low-paid, in precarious positions, and/or those without employer paid sick leave to fill out the survey.

Here is the survey: https://feedback.engage.gov.bc.ca/285848?lang=en

Please click here to read the Coalition’s August 24, 2021 letter to Minister of Labour Harry Bains.

The Coalition is calling for 3-10 days of legislated PSL for all workers according to their accumulated hours worked in a year, (i) regardless of employment status, (ii) effective immediately upon employment, (iii) accessible without the need for a medical note, and (iv) paid for by employers.

The BCESC is a network of workers, academics, lawyers, union representatives, government workers, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) advocating for decent working conditions in B.C., the realization of workers’ rights, and for a system that requires employers to treat all workers with respect and dignity.

To get involved, you can start by subscribing to this site to receive our updates!

New op-ed on piece rate wage for agricultural workers

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Photo by Erica Canepa /Bloomberg

As of June 1st, liquor servers have finally been guaranteed at least the hourly minimum wage in B.C. This positive, long-overdue move will benefit many workers, particularly women.

But as BC Employment Standards Coalition members Anelyse Weiler and David Fairey argue in a new op-ed published by the Vancouver Sun, the government continues to discriminate against piece-rate farm workers. Piece rate farm workers in the Lower Mainland are often racialized recent immigrants, including many older women hired through farm labour contractors. As recommended by the Fair Wages Commission, farm workers should be guaranteed at least the hourly minimum wage.

Background

The piece-rate wage for agricultural workers is a workers’ rights issue the BC Employment Standards Coalition and others have been encouraging the government to address for years. Here’s an overview of some of our advocacy.

In 2018, Coalition members met with Agriculture Minister Lana Popham, Labour Minister Harry Bains, and Green MLA Adam Olsen to discuss the provincial government’s disappointing decision to continue excluding piece-rate farm workers from the general minimum wage. As discussed in our briefing notes, we called on the provincial government to adopt the Fair Wages Commission’s recommendation of an hourly minimum wage floor, with the option of incentive rates.

As Fairey and Weiler note in their 2018 Vancouver Sun op-ed (and CCPA Policy Note), the Fair Wages Commission’s recommendation is based on rigorous research by Professor Mark Thompson, B.C.’s former employment standards review commissioner. However, the government postponed a decision on the sub-minimum piece rate wage until additional research was conducted by UBC economist and Adjunct Professor Karen Taylor.

Taylor and a co-author, Paulina Gonzalez, completed their report in January 2019. We submitted a request for a copy of the report through the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, but unfortunately all but two pages of the 82-page report were redacted. Our subsequent request to the Information and Privacy Commissioner for a review of our file was not successful. We published another op-ed on the issue in 2019 in the Penticton Herald (and CCPA Policy Note). Eventually the report by Taylor and Gonzalez was publicly released in December 2019, nearly a year after its completion. We submitted a critique of the report to the Labour Minister.

After we were unable to arrange a meeting with Labour Minister Harry Bains in the summer of 2020 to ask for an update on the government’s plans, we were eventually able to secure a meeting in January 2021. Disappointingly, the Minister indicated that ensuring a baseline hourly minimum wage for all piece-rate agricultural workers was not a priority for his Ministry.

Additional Resources

New op-ed on worker exclusions from minimum employment standards

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As it now stands, the Employment Standards Act and Regulation are so replete with exceptions, exclusions and special rules that the majority of workers don’t have full protection of the Act.

SunMedia

David Fairey, Co-Chair of the BC Employment Standards Coalition, published an op-ed in The Vancouver Sun on 23 April. He underscores that because of a wide array of loopholes, only a minority of workers in BC receive full protections under the BC Employment Standards Act. Further, Fairey calls on Labour Minister Harry Bains, “to establish an independent commission for the review of all regulatory exclusions and variances.”

https://vancouversun.com/opinion/david-fairey-time-for-minister-of-labour-to-act-on-worker-exclusions-from-minimum-employment-standards

Op-ed: To reduce gender inequality, introduce paid sick leave

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An alarming majority of low-income workers — 81 per cent of workers earning under $40,000 per year, and 89 per cent of workers earning under $30,000 a year — don’t have paid sick days. Women are a lot more likely than men to be in these income brackets. Photo by Lisa Maree Williams /Getty Images

“During and post-pandemic, access to paid sick days could lessen the economic burden faced by women who are likely to be the ones to need time off work to care for sick children who must stay home from school or daycare.”

During the week of International Women’s Day, B.C. Employment Standards Coalition members Kaitlyn Matulewicz and Iglika Ivanova published an op-ed in The Province. They underscore the multiple reasons why providing permanent paid sick days under the B.C. Employment Standards Act is an issue of feminist and immigrant justice: https://theprovince.com/opinion/kaitlyn-matulewicz-and-iglika-ivanova-to-reduce-gender-inequality-introduce-paid-sick-leave

Kaitlyn Matulewicz is the executive director of the Worker Solidarity Network and co-chair of the B.C. Employment Standards Coalition; Iglika Ivanova is a senior economist and the public interest researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives B.C. Office.

Op-ed: The New Federal Paid Sick Leave Program is Not Enough

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Close to 60 per cent of workers in Canada don’t currently have paid sick days. Photo by Mike Graeme, submitted.

“Access [to paid sick leave] should be immediate, seamless and universal for the health of all workers.”

On the heels of demonstrations across the country for paid sick leave, B.C. Employment Standards Coalition members David Fairey and Kaitlyn Matulewicz have published an op-ed in The Tyee. They explain why the new federal paid sick leave program is inadequate and call on provinces to implement permanent, employer-provided paid sick days through the Employment Standards Act: https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2020/07/21/New-Federal-Paid-Sick-Leave/

David Fairey is the co-chair of the BC Employment Standards Coalition. Kaitlyn Matulewicz is the co-chair of the BC Employment Standards Coalition and Executive Director of the Worker Solidarity Network (formerly Retail Action Network).