An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act
Chamber
pei
Stage
Introduced
This PEI bill gives most employees up to five paid sick days per year after 90 days of continuous employment.
Key Changes
- Employees with 90+ days of continuous employment earn up to 5 paid sick days per calendar year
- Paid sick days are earned in stages: 3 days after 90 days of employment, and 2 more after 180 days
- Unused paid sick days cannot be carried forward to the next calendar year
- Employers must include paid sick leave balances (accumulated and used) on pay statements and payroll records
- Employers may require a doctor's certificate for sick leave lasting three or more consecutive days
- The Minister may create a temporary financial support program to help employers offset costs
Gotchas
- Seasonal and temporary employees are explicitly excluded from the paid sick leave entitlement
- Paid sick days do not carry over year to year, meaning unused days are lost at the end of each calendar year
- The financial support program for employers is discretionary — the Minister 'may' implement it, not 'shall', meaning it is not guaranteed
- Any funding for the employer support program requires a separate appropriation by the Legislature
- Employees must use paid sick days before accessing any unpaid sick leave they are entitled to
Who's Affected
- Most PEI employees with at least 90 days of continuous employment
- Employers required to provide and track paid sick leave
- Seasonal and temporary workers (excluded from the entitlement)
- Provincial government (potential costs of employer support program)
Vibes
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Gotchas
- Seasonal and temporary employees are explicitly excluded from the paid sick leave entitlement
- Paid sick days do not carry over year to year, meaning unused days are lost at the end of each calendar year
- The financial support program for employers is discretionary — the Minister 'may' implement it, not 'shall', meaning it is not guaranteed
- Any funding for the employer support program requires a separate appropriation by the Legislature
- Employees must use paid sick days before accessing any unpaid sick leave they are entitled to
Summary
This bill amends Prince Edward Island's Employment Standards Act to create a paid sick leave entitlement for most employees. After working continuously for the same employer for at least 90 days, an employee earns three paid sick days, and after 180 days, they earn two more, for a maximum of five paid sick days per calendar year. Seasonal and temporary workers are excluded from this entitlement. The bill also requires employers to track and record how many paid sick days each employee has accumulated and used, and to include this information on pay statements. Unused paid sick days cannot be carried over to the next calendar year. The bill was introduced as a private member's bill by the Leader of the Official Opposition. It also allows the provincial Minister to create a temporary financial support program to help employers cover the added costs of providing paid sick leave.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
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