Manulife Financial Corp. and its subsidiary John Hancock is educating and thanking its employees for continuing to work hard amid these tumultuous times. This is the second year the companies have given staff an extra day off since a global coronavirus pandemic was first declared in March 2020. And this year, the company also held […]
While the rates of drug and disability claims are returning to their pre-pandemic levels, employers are still contending with the impact of the coronavirus crisis on their benefits plans. Following the declaration of the pandemic in March 2020, there was a subsequent surge in drug claims attributed to medication stockpiling, said Frédéric Leblanc, strategic advisor […]
Starbucks Corp. is offering all of its Canadian retail employees three temporary paid sick days from April 19 to Sept. 25. The move comes after Ontario announced a similar three-day sick leave policy that would reimburse employers up to $200 a day for what they pay out. Read: Ontario giving employees three paid sick days, […]
Employees affected by the coronavirus in British Columbia will qualify for up to three days of paid sick leave under proposed legislation that Premier John Horgan expects will plug holes in a federal plan and lay the groundwork for a permanent program. Horgan says the program will bridge the gap for workers between the time they first feel […]
While the debate over paid sick days intensifies across Canada, only two provinces currently offer this benefit on a permanent basis. On April 30, Ontario passed a three-day sick leave policy — to be administered through the Workplace Insurance and Safety Board — retroactive to April 19 and ending on Sept. 25. Employers will be […]
Workers in Ontario will soon be able access three paid sick days to help them self-isolate during the coronavirus pandemic, but critics said the policy announced April 28 falls far short of what’s required to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government had for months resisted intense pressure from health experts and advocates […]
As it becomes increasingly clear that workplaces are a key transmission location in the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, some Canadian employers are offering paid sick leave to their employees in the absence of government action. Paid sick leave benefits, which allow workers to call in sick without fear of losing a day’s pay, […]
Ontario’s two biggest coronavirus hot spots are moving to temporarily close businesses with recent outbreaks of the virus, in an effort to rein in surging case counts experts said were fuelled by workplace spread. The City of Toronto and Peel Region announced within hours of each other Tuesday that they would issue updated orders requiring […]
In advance of the federal government’s 2021 budget, released on Monday, the Ontario government struck down a motion by the New Democratic Party seeking to create a provincial paid sick leave program. Advocates have long called on the province to bring in paid sick leave, saying it would help support essential workers during the coronavirus […]
New Zealand’s parliament unanimously approved legislation last month that gives couples the right to three days of paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth, making it one of the first countries in the world to do so. While the country had previously required employers to provide paid leave in the event of a stillbirth — […]