By Harinder Mahil
There has been a lot of discussion these days about paid sick leave for workers. There is a general agreement that workers should not go to work while they are sick and that they deserve paid sick leave. Most provinces were waiting for the federal government to introduce a program of paid sick leave in its budget. That has not happened.
The recent pandemic has made it clear that everyone’s health and well-being depends on workers being able to stay home when they are sick. In BC, workers now have a legal right to time off when they are ill three days for regular illness and unlimited time for COVID-19 but not paid time off. As a result, for many in BC, staying home when sick means losing income.
For the second year in a row, the province and WorkSafeBC marked the national Day of Mourning for workers killed, injured or made sick by their jobs with a sombre virtual ceremony, highlighted by a. . .
Worker fears getting COVID-19 without sick leave, wants B.C. to act
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British Columbia Premier John Horgan arrives before the budget speech in Victoria on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Horgan says the province is working on bringing in its own paid sick-leave program after the federal government didn t come up with a national program . THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
VANCOUVER – Avtar Badesha says he fears getting COVID-19 or being exposed to the virus because he couldn’t support his family without any paid sick leave during quarantine.
The 33-year-old power engineer in Vancouver’s education sector said his wife doesn’t work and they have a six-month-old baby so affording rent and groceries would be tough if he lost two weeks’ wages.
The province will also finish phasing out the lower wage for liquor servers, which critics have called sexist since it is mainly paid to women. Under the policy, critiqued in The Tyee’s Slaves to Tips series, servers could legally be paid $1.25 less an hour than other workers.
Both of those moves follow through on commitments the government made three years ago in response to recommendations from the government-appointed Fair Wages Commission.
At that time, Bains also announced an initial increase to the piece rate amounts paid to farm workers but said the government would need another six months for further study before mandating any more increases. On that timeline, the work would have been completed in the fall of 2018.
VANCOUVER Avtar Badesha says he fears getting COVID-19 or being exposed to the virus because he couldn t support his family without any paid sick leave during quarantine. The 33-year-old power engineer in Vancouver s education sector said his wife doesn t work and they have a six-month-old baby so affording rent and groceries would be tough if he lost two weeks wages. The possibility of infection is a daily worry and he is taking every precaution when meeting with contractors, co-workers and others on the job, which requires the maintenance of boilers and heating systems. “I m just dodging the bullet,” he said in an interview.