THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce is calling on the provincial government to temporarily cover the costs of employee sick days in the effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
President Charla Robinson on Monday said while she agrees paid sick days are necessary, expecting small businesses already struggling because of lockdowns to foot the bill is unrealistic.
Unfortunately, she said, until some measures are put in place, employees who are not feeling well will continue to head to work, unwilling or unable to sacrifice a day or more of pay.
“We’re calling on the government to enact paid sick days, with the government providing the support for those sick days, in order that folks that are not well and shouldn’t be at work don’t have to choose between whether they’re going to put food on the table or if they’re going to protect the work place and the people they work with from COVID,” Robinson said.
Ontario does not have paid sick leave legislation in place at the present time, though Premier Doug Ford last week said they were working on some sort of a paid sick leave program, supplementing a federal program that pays workers affected by COVID up to $450 a week for a maximum of four weeks.
However, Ford’s government recently voted against an NDP bill that would have provided paid sick days, the bill footed by employers. And on Monday it voted down a Bill 247, introduced by the Liberals, which would have provided 10 paid sick days, which Liberal MPP John Fraser (Ottawa South) said was the 21st time the Conservatives had voted against some form of paid sick leave.
Not only that, upon assuming office three years ago, they took away what was already in place, passing a labour reform bill that killed two paid personal leave days.
Expediency is the key to any new legislation put in place.
Robinson said workers can’t afford to wait weeks to get paid through the federal program, especially those most likely to be affected by lack of paid sick days in the workplace – employees in the retail and hospitality sector, for example, where a shift missed amounts to no pay.
Variants of concern make it an even more pressing issue, a race against the COVID clock.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit on Monday announced 11 new VOC cases, nearly doubling the entire total to date.
“We need to be able to be sure they’re not going to work sick, but then we also need to ensure if they are feeling sick that they feel comfortable to stay home, to make sure it’s not COVID. It’s really a two-piece thing,” Robinson said.
“We do know there is still a lot of asymptomatic COVID and people don’t even know that they’re sick. That’s where the rapid testing comes in.”
Robinson said it’s her belief the best way to manage the program would be to have businesses cover the cost up front and submit an invoice to the province for reimbursement, adding that employees might have to attest to the fact they were out sick to eliminate or lessen fraud.
