Most of of Canada’s COVID-19 re-opening acts have now ended and companies are moving towards a general sickness policy to manage respiratory illness – here are a few things Canadian employers need to know:
- Most worker’s compensation boards are still recognizing COVID-19 as a communicable disease or illness, and workers can file a claim if they believe they contracted COVID-19 from the workplace. Most provinces are still reviewing these claims on a case by case basis.
- If you have an outbreak or cluster of COVID-19 cases in the workplace that were likely due to workplace transmission, most provinces still have the requirements to report the illness to the worker’s compensation board and to the ministry of labour.
- Most provinces are now issuing the cost of the claim on the employer’s profile – the costs are no longer being absorbed by the worker’s compensation board as a whole.
- A number of changes have been made to each province’s requirements for self-isolation and self-assessment questionnaires have been updated accordingly.