British Columbia has made changes to the Employment Standards Act (Act) that now provide five (5) paid days of sick leave for all eligible unionized and non-unionized employees in BC. Employees need to be employed for 90 days to be eligible. The majority of VIU employees already receive more than five (5) days of sick leave per calendar year and, consequently, these changes primarily impact CUPE casuals, BCGEU auxiliaries, project workers, student employees and some term Admin.
This FAQ is designed to help answer questions that may arise from the changes to the Act.
Employees Without Sick Leave Coverage
Yes. Fill out the timesheet for the days you were scheduled to work. Indicate on the timesheet which scheduled work day you were away sick.
If you are using the Timesheet module in the employee portal, please use the Time code SLESA (Sick Leave Employment Standards Act) to indicate on the timesheet which scheduled work day you were away sick.
No. Eligibility for sick leave coverage under the Act occurs after 90 consecutive days from the start of employment. At the time of the illness, you were only with VIU for about a month. This would not meet the eligibility criteria of 90 days.
As you were not scheduled for Tuesday, you would only be paid for the Monday and Wednesday you were scheduled to work but had to take sick leave.
You will be paid for one (1) of these three (3) days and unpaid for the other two (2) days as you have a maximum of five (5) paid days of sick leave in a calendar year.
Until we have the system configured to track this, please keep track on your calendar. Payroll will track this as well through the time sheets.
You will be paid for the hours you had been scheduled to work. In this case, your sick leave will be for the four (4) hours.
The sick leave entitlement under the Act is for five (5) paid sick days. These days may or may not be seven (7) hours. A day is a day, whether it is full-time or part-time.
No. Your Time Entry Designate will enter your absence in the Leave Management System.
VIUFA and BCGEU have provisions in their collective agreements for sessional and term instructors. All other temporary employees are covered under the Employment Standards Act for sick leave coverage.
Employees With Sick Leave Coverage
No. Employees who already have sick leave coverage that provides five (5) or more days within a calendar year do not receive any additional paid sick leave.
Yes, if you have not had time to accrue your sick leave and your bank is at zero, you will be allowed to go into the negative in your bank up to five (5) days. As your sick leave accrues, it will be applied to your bank.
If you have not had time to accrue your sick leave at the start of the calendar year, and your bank is at zero, you will be allowed to go into the negative in your bank up to five (5) days. As your sick leave accrues, it will be applied to your bank.
Yes, if you have not used the time for your personal illness, you will be allowed to go into the negative in your bank up to five (5) days for your own sick leave only. As your sick leave accrues, it will be applied to your bank.
You have already accrued and used the minimum of five (5) paid sick days in the year. This meets the requirements of the Act. If you do not have enough banked sick leave to cover additional sick days, you will be placed on unpaid leave.