Ontario should offer more than 3 days of paid sick leave for COVID-19: Kingston MPP, labor council – Kingston

The Ford government is extending its temporary pandemic coverage for three paid sick days through March 2023.

That may be enough to cover one bout of COVID-19 for eligible workers, but the benefits quickly dry up if you catch the virus a second time.

However, maintaining the three-day cap does not sit well with the Kingston and District Labor Council.

« These three days are strictly for COVID-related illnesses and no one who has COVID is sick for just three days, which means workers are, again, going to be required to report to work, » said Labor Council Treasurer Jordan Morelli.

The Liberal MLA for Kingston agrees that three days isn’t enough, but says he’s glad the extension has taken place.

Hsu also raised the issue of not being able to claim the benefit more than once.

He says he hoped the renewal would have included a provision for people who test positive a second time.

“It would have been a bit better if the government had allowed people infected with COVID a second time in a year, which I have heard several instances of, allowing them to qualify for paid sick leave as well,” he added.

Morelli added that the sick leave program should be broader.

« It’s just really misguided. We need at least 10 paid sick days and that shouldn’t just be about COVID, it should be a broader program, » Morelli added.

According to the provincial government, 470,000 workers claimed a COVID-19 sick day, most of whom were in the Toronto area, at a total cost of about $189 million.