British Columbians will get up to 3 hours paid leave to get COVID-19 vaccine Today, the Government of British Columbia took the first steps toward giving workers with up to three hours of paid leave to get their COVID-19 vaccine. The legislation is expected to pass, and once that happens it will ensure that no one will be forced to lose pay if they need time away from work to get vaccinated. If it does pass, the Employment Standards Act will be amended and the effective date will be retroactive to today. "We know that many workers can't afford to lose pay, and we need to make sure that it's as easy as possible for workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine," said Harry Bains, minister of labour.