A new emergency leave from work is now available on P.E.I. to those who can't work because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation&nbsp;passed third reading and received Royal Assent last&nbsp;week.

The unpaid leave offers increased job security and is&nbsp;available to anyone affected by an officially-declared&nbsp;emergency by the Chief Public Health Officer.

It covers those who are in quarantine due to self-isolation or who tested positive to the coronavirus and are not allowed to work, or can't access child care..

Before this leave was introduced, there were&nbsp;two forms of leave available to Island employees: three days of unpaid sick leave&nbsp;or&nbsp;four days of unpaid leave plus one day of paid leave, and that was only available to employees who have been with the same employer for five years or more.&nbsp;

CFIB report looks at bankable sick days among public employees in P.E.I.

The P.E.I. chapter of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business is calling for an end to banking sick days in the public sector.

Showing up for work when sick appears to be more common among those who are insecure about their jobs.

cold-work-220-cp-is

A new report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses looks at the practice of banking sick days.

COVID-19 forces hundreds of layoffs on P.E.I., businesses face 'heartbreaking' decisions

As businesses are forced to shut down because of COVID-19, employers and employees across P.E.I. are dealing with layoffs.

Victoria Row in Charlottetown in the winter.

Victoria Row

All restaurants were ordered to close their dining rooms on Tuesday to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"Those leaves were not long enough to deal with the situation that was occurring," said Patricia McPhail, director of labour and industrial relations with the province.

"The alternative to a leave of absence was that employers would have to lay off their staff which is not necessarily in the best interests of all the parties. So this leave was to introduce another option for employers and employees to use."&nbsp;

The emergency leave does not apply to an employee with a personal emergency that is not part of a provincially-declared emergency.

"I think it will ease the issues that are cropping up, particularly when it came to child care, because not all child care centres are at full capacity right now," said McPhail.&nbsp;

"So an employee who is unable to return to work because they don't have child care could utilize the emergency leave for that reason as well, because it's stemming from the direction of the chief public health officer."

McPhail says those who qualify for this leave&nbsp;will ideally also qualify for compensation through the federal government's Canada Emergency Response Benefit &nbsp;or Employment Insurance&nbsp;benefits.&nbsp;

The new leave is available retroactively to March 16 of this year, which is the date P.E.I.&nbsp;&nbsp;first declared a Public Health Emergency due to COVID-19. It&nbsp;can be used until the employee is able to return to work.&nbsp;

P.E.I. government deficit huge but 'manageable,' says APEC economist

Given the economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the record deficit forecast in the P.E.I. budget this week is not unreasonable, says an economist at the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council.

Fred Bergman, senior policy analyst, APEC

Looking over the last 40 years, this deficit stands out as very large, says APEC economist Fred Bergman.

'Unprecedented' increase in demand leaving shelves of some P.E.I. stores bare

Some P.E.I. retailers say an unexpected increase in demand for products is leading to shortages on their shelves.

Soil and garden supplies are hard to come by now at Home Hardware in Charlottetown.

Empty Shelves Charlottetown

Soil and garden supplies are hard to come by right now at Home Hardware in Charlottetown.

The unpaid emergency leave should offer more job security to those who can't work during the pandemic, said Patricia McPhail, director of labour and industrial relations in P.E.I. 

New emergency leave available for Islanders unable to work during pandemic

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