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Shared by Mcdonald HR Law

Sent June 11, 2021

Legal developments regarding:

1. Three days of IDEL pay
2. Layoffs/reduction of hours due to COVID-19

SUMMARY

1. The 3 days of Infectious Disease Emergency Leave pay (“IDEL pay) provisions of the Ontario Employment Standards Act (“ESA”) have been explained in more detail by the Ministry of Labour at https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-worker-income-protection-benefit.  Although IDEL pay can be set off against an employer’s paid leave policy, employees who have used some or all of their sick pay under the employer’s paid leave policy as of April 19, 2021, are entitled to at least 3 days of IDEL pay. Specifically, employees who have used all their employer’s paid sick leave as of April 19, 2021 are entitled to the additional 3 days of IDEL pay.
2. Employers who have laid off or reduced an employee’s hours of work due to COVID-19 are protected from:
   1.  Employee claims for layoff and/or constructive dismissal claims under the ESA until September 25, 2021 (an extension from the former deadline of July 3, 2021)
   2. Employee common law claims for constructive dismissal (as long as the protection exists under the ESA; therefore, also until September 25, 2021).

To read more, view the full memo here (PDF).