BILL 13 – 2021
EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS AMENDMENT ACT (No. 2), 2021
HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of
the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:
1 Section 3 of the Employment Standards Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 113, is amended
(a) in the table in subsection (2) and in the table
in subsection (3) by adding the following as indicated after the entry respecting statutory holidays:
|
Column 1
Matter |
Column 2
Part or Section |
| Paid personal illness or injury leave |
Section 49.1 (1) (a), (3) and (4) |
, and
(b) in subsection (6) by striking out "Part 6 [leaves and jury duty];" and substituting "Part 6 [leaves and jury duty] except for section 49.1 (1) (a), (3) and (4) [paid personal illness or injury leave];".
2 Section 49.1 is amended
(a) by repealing subsection (1) and substituting the following:
(1) After 90 consecutive days of employment with an
employer, an employee, for personal illness or injury, is entitled, in each employment year, to
(a) paid leave for up to the number of days prescribed, and
(b) unpaid leave for up to 3 days. , and
(b) by adding the following subsections:
(3) Subject to subsection (4), an employer must pay an
employee who takes leave under subsection (1) (a) an amount in money equal to at least the amount calculated by multiplying the period of the
leave and the average day's pay, where the average day's pay is determined by the formula
amount paid ÷ days worked
| |
where |
| |
amount paid |
is the amount paid or payable to the employee for work that is done during and wages that are earned within the 30 calendar day period
preceding the leave, including vacation pay that is paid or payable for any days of vacation taken within that period, less any amounts paid or
payable for overtime, and |
| |
days worked |
is the number of days the employee worked or earned wages within that 30 calendar day period. |
(4) An employer must pay an employee in a prescribed
circumstance who takes leave under subsection (1) (a) an amount in money equal to at least the amount calculated in accordance with the
regulations.
3 The following section is added:
COVID-19-related paid leave
52.121 (1) In this section;
"applicable period" means the period described in section 52.12 (3);
"eligibility period" means the period that begins on the date this section comes into force and ends on December 31, 2021.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), despite an employee being
entitled under section 52.12 (2) only to unpaid leave during the applicable period, an employee who is on leave under section
52.12 (2) (a), (b) or (c) is entitled, on request under this section, to paid leave for a period of that leave of up to 3 days.
(3) An employee is entitled to paid leave under this section of up to 3 days during the eligibility period.
(4) Subject to subsection (5), an employer must pay an
employee who takes leave under this section an amount in money equal to at least the amount calculated by multiplying the period of the leave
and the average day's pay, where the average day's pay is determined by the formula
amount paid ÷ days worked
| |
where |
| |
amount paid |
is the amount paid or payable to the employee for work that is done during and wages that are earned within the 30 calendar day period
preceding the leave, including vacation pay that is paid or payable for any days of vacation taken within that period, less any amounts paid or
payable for overtime, and |
| |
days worked |
is the number of days the employee worked or earned wages within that 30 calendar day period. |
(5) An employer must pay an employee in a prescribed
circumstance who takes leave under this section an amount in money equal to at least the amount calculated in accordance with the regulations.
(6) If a collective agreement contains any provisions
respecting paid leave that apply to a circumstance described in section 52.12 (2) (a), (b) or (c), and the provisions, when considered together,
meet or exceed the requirements, when considered together, of this section, those provisions of the collective agreement replace the
requirements of this section in respect of employees covered by the collective agreement.
(7) If a collective agreement contains no provisions
respecting paid leave that apply to a circumstance described in section 52.12 (2) (a), (b) or (c), or contains any provisions respecting paid
leave that apply to those circumstances that, when considered together, do not meet or exceed the requirements, when considered together, of
this section, this section is deemed, while this section is in force, to be incorporated in the collective agreement as part of its terms.
(8) This section is repealed on December 31, 2021.
4 Section 127 (2) (u.1) is amended by striking out "section 52.5 (5.2)" and substituting "sections 52.121 (5), 52.13 (4) and 52.5 (5.2)".
5 Section 127 (2) (u.1) is amended by striking out "sections 52.121 (5), 52.13 (4) and 52.5 (5.2)" and substituting "sections 49.1 (4), 52.13 (4) and 52.5 (5.2)".
Commencement
6 The provisions of this Act referred to in column 1 of the following table come into force as set out in column 2 of the table:
| Item |
Column 1
Provisions of Act |
Column 2
Commencement |
| 1 |
Anything not elsewhere covered by this table |
The date of Royal Assent |
| 2 |
Sections 1 and 2 |
January 1, 2022 |
| 3 |
Section 5 |
January 1, 2022 |
|