Nova Scotia revisiting temporary paid sick leave program

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says his government is revisiting the temporary provincial paid sick leave program in light of the jump in COVID-19 cases in the province.

Thursday's weekly report from Public Health showed an average of about 1,000 new COVID-19 positive PCR results each day in the province last week.

"We know when people aren't feeling well they should be staying home," Houston told reporters at Province House.

"We're looking at what's available and how we can best protect Nova Scotians. It's a serious issue, it's a real issue that faces Nova Scotians and we're just looking to see if there's a way we can support them."

The program provided people up to four paid sick days to deal with COVID-related issues if they missed less than half of their scheduled work week. It concluded at the end of March.

It was introduced for three months last year and then restarted in January.

Millions remaining in program budget

When it was introduced by the former Liberal government, the provincial program was intended as a bridge for people who required less time away from work or did not qualify for the Canada recovery sickness benefit. The federal program, which runs until May 7, is for people who miss at least half of a scheduled work week due to COVID-related issues.

Houston said Labour Department officials are doing an analysis of the uptake of the provincial program and how some option — whether it's the same program or something different — could complement the federal offering.

The provincial program had a budget of $16 million when it was launched last May. From May to July 2021, about $1 million was used. About $226,000 was used for the program from January to March so far, although people have until the end of April to file a claim.

Labour Minister Jill Balser said earlier this week that most Nova Scotians qualified for the federal program during the recent Omicron wave because they required more time off, and so there was less reliance on the provincial option. At the time, the minister gave no indication the government was considering a resumption of some kind of support.

Nova Scotians are still required to self-isolate while they await the result of a PCR test for COVID-19. Even if the test comes back negative, it can mean having to isolate for a day or two. That is not enough time for most people to qualify for the federal benefit.

Need for swift action

NDP Leader Gary Burrill, who is critical of the provincial government's decision to suspend its program, said he's encouraged the government is taking a second look, but it needs to happen fast.

"There are thousands of people testing positive," he told reporters.

"Lots and lots of people [need] to be able to stay at home for issues related to COVID and so they need to move on this with some haste."

The NDP has a bill before the legislature that would see all workers in the province get up to 10 days of paid sick leave each year, depending on how much they work each month.

Permanent program a bigger question

Whether the government would consider a more permanent program as part of the Labour Standards Code is a separate issue, said Houston.

"It's a bigger question. There's ramifications, so we try to be careful when we're establishing government policy that we understand all the moving parts."

Houston said there are "a lot of really good employers in this province" who consider their staff family and treat them as such.

"They do what they can under the pressures that they have and government should do what it can under the pressures that it has."