N.S. NDP promise to add 10 paid sick days to provincial Labour Standards Code
Nova Scotians will be given 10 paid sick days under an NDP government, says party Leader Gary Burrill ahead of the provincial election.
Burrill announced the proposed legislation on Saturday at the midpoint of the campaign for the province's 41st election, to be held Aug. 17.
The NDP plans on legislating the sick leave days as a part of the provincial Labour Standards Code in short order if they come into power, Burrill said.
The NDP's sick leave program won't require employees to have a doctor's note, he said, to avoid overworking the province's physicians with requests.
He also said studies have shown significant spread of the COVID-19 virus within workplace settings over the past year of the pandemic.
The province's sick leave program, which began on May 10 and expires Saturday, allowed Nova Scotians to qualify for up to four paid sick days.
During the program, businesses were tasked with applying for reimbursements for the employee's pay within 90 days of the leave.
The party leader said the legislation would help Nova Scotia's workers avoid "having to go to work not feeling 100 per cent knowing the risks that that involves, or (staying) home and know that you're going to be missing (pay)."
That same decision was faced by one early childhood educator, Leanne Partridge, during the course of the pandemic.
Partridge said Saturday she previously took two days off work to get tested for COVID-19 but with the end of the program, she's concerned about how she'll be able to take days off for her health in the future.
"Knowing that now I'm either going to have to use vacation days to cover sick days or just take the hit obviously isn't a great feeling," Partridge said.
"It's hard because I would never want to say I go into work sick, but sometimes it's a big decision to have to make."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Nine suspects arrested in $24M gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport: Peel police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Father of boy accused of stabbing 2 Australian clerics saw no signs of extremism, Muslim leader says
The father of a boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics in Australia saw no signs of his son’s extremism, a Muslim community leader said on Wednesday as police began arresting suspected rioters who besieged a Sydney church demanding revenge.
500 Newfoundlanders wound up on the same cruise and it turned into a rocking kitchen party
A Celebrity Apex cruise to the Caribbean this month turned into a rocking Newfoundland kitchen party when hundreds of people from Canada's easternmost province happened to be booked on the same ship.
Liberals must now sell a budget they say will help younger Canadians catch up
It's now up to the federal Liberal government to sell a spending plan it says will help younger Canadians catch up to their elders.
Ontario woman out $30K after investing in mortgage company accused of being unlicensed
An Ontario nurse is fighting to recover tens of thousands of dollars in savings she invested in a mortgage company that has since been accused of operating without a licence.
Canada is expected to win 22 medals at the Paris Olympics
Canada is expected to win a total of 22 medals, including six gold, at the Paris Summer Olympics, which open on July 26.