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Ontario Consultation on Personal Long-Term Illness Leave


Release Date: 05/01/2024
Staff Reference: Sheila Burns

Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) currently provides three days of unpaid personal sick leave per year for illness, injury, or medical emergency. The government is proposing a potential increase of this leave of up to 27 weeks, aligning with the Federal Employe Insurance sickness benefits. The CLHIA is supportive of this and in our submission emphasized that job protection does not equate to benefit protection and group insurance contracts could stipulate eligibility for benefits when an employee is not actively at work. Our submission also outlined the waiver of premium benefit(s) that may be included in group policies. In addition, we emphasized the work being done to reduce the administrative burden on physicians, suggesting that job-protected leave should not require additional forms or notes from physicians.