Earlier this year we shared that the Employment Standards Act (ESA) was providing eligible employees with up to three days paid leave for infectious disease emergency leave (IDEL) related to COVID.
This paid leave started retroactively on April 19, 2021 and will continue until December 31, 2021. Paid IDEL is available for the following reasons:
- Going for a COVID test
- Staying home while waiting for COVID test results
- Being sick with COVID
- Getting treatment for mental health related to COVID
- Getting vaccinated
- Experience side effects from the vaccine
- Self-isolating due to COVID as advised by an employer, medical practitioner or other authority
- Caring for relatives for COVID related reasons including being sick with or having symptoms of COVID or self-isolating as advised
While employers are required to make the payments to their employees, once paid, employers can request a reimbursement of up to $200/day through their provincial insurance board. In Ontario, you would need to apply to WSIB (Workplace Safety Insurance Board) for the Worker Income Protection Benefit. This can be done even if you do not have a WSIB account.
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If this is your first-time hearing about the IDEL, don’t stress just yet. Applications for reimbursement of paid IDEL can be made within 120 days of the date the leave was taken or April 30, 2022, whichever is earlier. While you won’t be able to receive a reimbursement for time employees took from April to June, dates starting in late July are still eligible.
But before you apply, there are some important details to take note of.
As the employer, you can choose to count part days as a full day of leave. This means that the employee would have only two days of leave left. Whatever you choose to do, you as the employer will only receive reimbursement for two additional days. For example, if an employee takes a half day on Tuesday, a full day Wednesday and Thursday and a half day on Friday, the employer will only receive reimbursement from WSIB for 3 of the four days.
It is also important to note that if the employee's contract allows for three paid sick days or more, an employee is only entitled to their paid IDEL if they had less than three days of paid sick leave remaining prior to April 19. If they used all of their contractual paid sick days prior to April 19, the employee would be entitled to all three days.
If they had one day of contractual sick leave remaining after April 19, they would be entitled to two paid IDEL days under the ESA. If they had two sick days, they would be entitled to one day.
There are two exceptions to the above rule. The first is if the employment contract provides for sick day pay that is less than the ESA entitlement, the day of contractual paid leave will not reduce the employee’s entitlement to paid IDEL and the employer can apply for reimbursement. The second is if the employment contract is more restrictive than the ESA conditions. A good example would be if the employment contract requires the employee to provide a doctor’s note to get paid sick leave. Under the ESA, a doctor’s note is not required and, therefore, the employer could apply for reimbursement.
The only other exclusions from reimbursement are if the employee was already receiving WSIB benefits for the same days of leave or the employer cancelled or rescinded the paid leave in the employment contract on, or after, April 19.
How to apply for reimbursement
Applying for reimbursement is relatively straightforward. You will apply for reimbursement through your provincial insurance board, even if you don’t have an account with them. In Ontario, you would apply through WSIB.
According to the Ontario website, you will need the following information to apply:
- Your business registration details such as legal name, trade name, CRA number and business bank account details, including a digital file of a void cheque
- If you are a WSIB registered employer, you will need: Your Premium Remittance Statement (Schedule 1 employer), Your Monthly Statement (Schedule 2 employer) for details such as your WSIB account number/firm number and last payment details
- Your six-digit NAICS industry classification code (you can find this on your tax return; if you cannot find it please speak to your accountant)
- Your work site address details as you will be filling in one application per work site address
- Details of any current paid sick leave coverages already available to the employees in question including number of days in coverage, daily dollar amounts and policy documents
- Employee details you are claiming for including their contact information, address, SIN, Date of Birth, proof of wage payment via a paystub or other documentation
Once you have this information, go to the application webpage and proceed with the online form. This form will allow you to submit applications for up to 10 employees at a time. If you have more than 50 employees to submit applications for, it is recommended that you submit a bulk application.
Upon completing the online form, you will be sent an email with a confirmation number and a link to your claim status. It takes approximately three weeks for applications to be processed. Once processed, you will receive a confirmation email and payment. Payments are made on a bi-weekly basis.
If you would like help submitting a claim, please contact us today.
