As Senators scrutinize paid sick leave bill, minister says it can change

Senators on a committee doing a pre-study of the bill say that makes no sense on a number of fronts, including stipulations made difficult by COVID-19.

Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan says the government is open to amending legislation that would provide 10 days of paid sick leave for federally regulated workers.

O’Regan acknowledges that at least two provisions in Bill C-3 could undermine the objective, which is to ensure ill workers don’t have to choose between going to work sick or staying home without pay.

The bill would allow employers to require a doctor’s note verifying that an employee is ill.

Senators on a committee doing a pre-study of the bill say that makes no sense on a number of fronts, including the fact that a person with COVID-19 symptoms is not even allowed to enter a doctor’s office these days, and would inhibit workers from taking sick leave.

As the bill is currently written, workers would accrue their 10 days of paid sick leave at a rate of one day per month.

Senators point out that would do little to help a worker who contracts COVID-19 or another illness within a month or two of the bill’s enactment.

O’Regan told the Senate’s social affairs committee Monday that the government is open to amendments on both those issues.

Sen. Patricia Bovey, a member of the Progressive Senate Group, asked why the bill doesn’t start from the premise that every worker is entitled to 10 days of paid sick leave each year, starting immediately.