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P.E.I. MLAs vote for bill to guarantee paid sick days — but not as many as opposition wanted

Government amendments mean Islanders will qualify for one paid sick day after 12 months on the job, two days the next year and three days after three years of service.

Islanders will qualify for 1 paid sick day after a year on the job, building up to 3 days

Carolyn Ryan · CBC News ·
A blonde woman sits on a bed and coughs into her elbow.
A bill to ensure P.E.I. workers have a number of paid sick days has passed in the legislature, after government amendments to sharply reduce that number. (Photo illustration by Ute Grabowsky/Photothek/Getty)

A Liberal bill meant to let sick Prince Edward Island workers still get paid has passed, but not in a form the Liberals are happy with.

Government amendments mean Islanders will qualify for one paid sick day after 12 months on the job, two days the next year and three days after three years of service.

The Official Opposition had written Bill 106 with a guarantee of five paid sick days per calendar year after the first six months of employment.

It also included a line that would let the relevant provincial minister "implement a financial support program to provide temporary financial support to be given to employers to help them adapt to any increased costs." 

The Progressive Conservative amendments to the bill also removed that suggestion of future support for business. 

They also left exactly when the bill will take effect up in the air, saying it will be "on a date that may be fixed by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council."

A man with a dark jacket, white shirt and beard taking questions in front of a P.E.I. Legislative Assembly backdrop.
Interim Liberal Leader Hal Perry was not happy with the government's amendments to his party's bill. (Ken Linton/CBC)

"I know it is not what we had put forward," said interim Liberal Leader Hal Perry. "Is it enough? Absolutely not. It's not what I wanted, it's not what our intention was — but it is a step in the right direction." 

Interim Green Leader Karla Bernard also voted for the bill despite what she called its "shameful" amendments.   

"I think it's pathetic," she said. "I will vote for it because guess what? It is better than absolutely nothing — but just barely, let me be clear."

The issue of paid sick days came to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic, when some suggested workers showing symptoms had to keep showing up for work because they could not afford to miss even part of their paycheques. 

It was heavily debated in the fall sitting of the P.E.I. legislature in 2022, after the Green Party tabled an unsuccessful bill on the subject that would have guaranteed 10 paid sick leave days a year. They followed up with Bill 107 this fall, at which time the number of days had fallen to five.  

A woman in a blue jacket and white shirt sitting beside another woman, taking questions from MLAs about the sick leave bill.
Interim Green Leader Karla Bernard has said that in the absence of paid sick days, many Islanders are having to choose between their health and their finances. (P.E.I. Legislative Assembly)

The Liberal bill gave employers the right to ask a worker who requests three consecutive paid sick days for a doctor's note. The Greens did not include such a provision.

As well, the Liberals did not intend for unused sick days to carry forward into the next year, while the Green bill did, as long as the maximum remained at five days per year. 

A Progressive Conservative spokesperson said in September that the government would not make any decisions around sick leave legislation until spring at the earliest, in conjunction with planned changes to the Employment Standards Act.

Some workers on the Island already have access to guaranteed paid sick days, though. Federal legislation that came into force last December requires 10 paid sick days per year for workers in federally regulated industries like banks, airlines, ports, telecommunications and rail transport. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carolyn Ryan

Journalist

Carolyn Ryan is the copy editor for CBC P.E.I.'s digital news operation. A graduate of the University of Prince Edward Island and the Carleton University School of Journalism, she has spent decades writing, editing and assigning other staff as a print, radio and digital journalist.

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