Join the call for paid sick leave in Peel
Paid sick days are long-overdue, urgent, and required to protect our community against COVID-19.
Staying home when sick is one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Without paid sick leave, many people in Peel must make a very hard decision: go to work, and risk spreading COVID-19, or stay home and face financial struggles. Paid sick leave is necessary to protect our community.
This pandemic has highlighted the fact that lack of access to paid sick days is a health hazard, particularly for low-income workers, contract and agency workers, those who cannot work remotely, and health-care workers, many of whom are considered essential but do not have access to paid sick days.
Despite the recent expansion of the federal Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) from two to four weeks, more must be done to support essential workers in Peel. The application process and waiting period for payment under the current CRSB program continue to create a gap in income and a disincentive to stay home when sick. Timely income supports for individuals who want to do the right thing and stay home when sick needs to be implemented with minimal administrative burden. Delayed release of funds, lack of linguistic cultural support for applicants and eligibility criteria further limit the ability of programs such as CRSB and Employment Insurance to address COVID-19 transmission in the workplace.
For essential businesses to remain open during the pandemic, essential workers need to continue to go to work. Given the risks to their own well-being that these employees face, every effort must be made to protect their health and safety as well as their families, co-workers, and the public in general.
We are calling on the federal and provincial governments to provide paid sick leave benefits in Ontario immediately.
Act today!
Paid sick leave will help save lives. Join the call to implement Paid Sick Days to protect our community against COVID-19.
