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COVID-19: Labour + Employment Update (March 25, 2020)

March 24, 2020

Michael Watt

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The Federal Government introduced COVID-19 related changes to the Canada Labour Code that was passed into law on March 25, 2020. While these changes are not expected to vary for how most employers are governed by federal legislation, we think it is important you are aware of the changes.

The complete legislation which includes the changes to the Canada Labour Code can be found here.

A summary of the changes are as follows:

• Medical certificates are not required for statutory leaves related to COVID-19
• Employees may interrupt vacation and leaves for COVID-19 related leave
• Sick leave may be used for quarantine period
• A new type of leave of 16 weeks will be available for employees unable to work for reasons related to COVID-19, which prohibits layoff because of leave and requires continuation of benefits

Our Labour + Employment team continues to monitor changes for employers as they are happening. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to reach out to any members of our team here.