On June 4, 2021, the Ontario government extended the temporary relief measures from the termination and severance provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) until September 25, 2021. 

The majority of our clients have kept their employees working safely during COVID, but there may be people that are still off on leave and many of those will be returning to workplaces at the end of September when IDEL appears to be ending. 

Canada life did a communication piece to explain what this means to employers (see below). We’ve included it here in the event you find yourself in this position.

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IDEL extensions continue up to September 25^th, 2021

Earlier this month the Ontario government announced the “deemed” Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL) COVID19 period would be extended to Sept. 25, 2021.

All employees currently on layoff in Ontario continue to be protected under the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA) deemed Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL). Deemed IDEL allows all in-force coverage, including disability coverage, to remain in force on a premium paying basis, until Sept. 25, 2021. Any coverage that had terminated will remain so until the end of the leave or return to work date, whichever is earlier.

If the Ontario government ends deemed IDEL on Sept. 25, then starting Sept. 26, 2021 the following will apply:

• The Employment Standards Act (ESA) regular rules around constructive dismissal resume and an employee may be constructively dismissed, even for COVID-19 related reasons. In this case, the group coverage for the employee would be terminated.
• The ESA regular rules around temporary layoffs resume and the temporary lay-off clock resets. Employees who can’t return to work will be considered on a temporary layoff, with Sept. 26, 2021 being the first day of the temporary layoff. In this case, the employee’s group coverage will be extended (31 days for disability and six months for all other coverage) based on the termination provision of the group contract. If disability coverage was discontinued during the deemed IDEL, it will remain in terminated status.
• Employees can apply for regular IDEL (not deemed IDEL) if they meet the criteria. An employee’s benefits coverage, minus disability, would continue as this is considered an ESA leave.

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As many employers begin the task of bringing staff back to the office/shop/plant, we are hearing more questions around employee and employers duties and rights. The courts have not provided clear direction (yet), but both sides of the discussion are mentioned here. Take a read.

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To date, Canada’s federal and provincial governments have not introduced any legislation which would require all eligible individuals to be vaccinated against COVID-19.  However, would a mandatory vaccination policy introduced by an employer be legally enforceable?  If employees refuse to get vaccinated, would an employer be justified to prohibit the employee from attending at the workplace, to place them on an unpaid leave of absence, or to terminate their employment or otherwise discipline the employee?  In addressing this issue, there are two competing interests…

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Dear Mainstay Clients,

We periodically like to remind our clients that we have entered into a program with ConnectsUs HR ™ to gain free access to the proven HR & COVID-19 toolkit that will help your Canadian small business:

• Stay on top of the pandemic as it relates to your workforce with the COVID-19 Portal, notifications about important announcements, resources & templates.
• Gain continued access to pre-written templates and legislated updates, including jurisdiction-specific Employee Handbook updates for 5 provinces.
• Explore the latest and greatest content that’s continually added, including the most popular HR kits with detailed instructions:

       · Basic employee handbooks and comprehensive employee manuals for 5 provinces

       · Contracts & agreements

       · Pre-written and comprehensive job descriptions common to all small businesses

       · COVID-19 and legislation resources

The best part? There’s no cost to you – we’ve picked up the tab..

If you’re interested and want more details, follow the link here… https://connectsus.com/partner-programs/1002-mainstay-insurance-brokerage

If you want to take advantage of this offer, please call us for a 100% free discount code.

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