COVID-19 Update – COVID-19 Leave of Absence Now Included in the Canada Labour Code

On the morning of March 25, 2020, the first wave of federal COVID-19 legislation, An Act respecting certain measures in response to COVID-19 was passed by the Senate and received Royal Assent. This omnibus legislation provides for a number of legislative changes that will impact employers and employees, some of which were outlined in our bulletin from yesterday.

This bulletin addresses the new COVID-19 leave of absence of up to 16 weeks’ duration that is now included in the Canada Labour Code. The leave is available to employees of federally regulated employers who are unable or unavailable to work for reasons related to COVID-19.  There may be additional changes of interest to you in the amendments but a high-level summary of the new leave is set out in this bulletin. As a preliminary point, we note that by regulation, terms may be defined for the purposes of the new leave and the 16 week duration of the leave is subject to amendment.

To read the full March 26th, 2020, bulletin, please see the link below: 

COVID-19 Update – March 26, 2020

As with all of our previous COVID-19 updates, we caution that the pandemic and the responses of federal and provincial governments continue to evolve by the day and by the hour. If you have any questions at all about how your workplace should be addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, please do not hesitate to contact us.