Arbitration Decision Limits Employment Standards Act Sick Leave to Casual Employees

An arbitration decision regarding the five annual days of sick leave available to BC workers under the Employment Standards Act (ESA) allows BCNU members employed on a casual basis to access this entitlement, while regular employees cannot.

Arbitrator Ken Saunders’s Aug. 2 decision in favour of the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC), who argued that new ESA sick leave entitlements should not apply to regular unionized employees, means that only casual workers will benefit from the five statutory sick days, while regular employees must rely on the sick leave provisions outlined in their collective agreements.

While this decision is disappointing, BCNU’s advocacy efforts have nevertheless been important for ensuring that casual workers, who previously had no paid sick leave, are now covered by the ESA and reflect the union’s ongoing efforts to support and protect all our members.

Due to this arbitration decision, BCNU will be closing individual grievances that sought the additional five ESA sick days for regular employees. The labour relations team will be contacting the impacted members to ensure they are aware of the outcome of their grievances.

Background

On March 31, 2022, the ESA was amended to ensure all workers in BC receive at least five paid sick days per year. Initially, unionized workers were excluded from this entitlement. However, thanks to the strong advocacy efforts of BCNU and other unions, this oversight was corrected. On June 1, 2022, the law was amended to allow unionized employees access to these paid sick days.

Despite this progress, HEABC maintained that regular employees who already receive five or more annual paid sick days under the terms of their collective agreements should not be entitled to the additional statutory sick leave. BCNU disagreed, arguing all workers, regardless of their current benefits, should be eligible for the new ESA provisions. To resolve this disagreement, BCNU filed an industry-wide application dispute (IWAD) that ultimately entered arbitration.