Swine flu raises questions about sick leave policies
Last Updated: Friday, September 25, 2009 | 3:55 PM ET
CBC News
Smaller businesses that can't afford to pay employees to take time off when they are sick are struggling with what to do if a second wave of swine flu hits this fall.
"A lot of people cannot afford not to work and not to have an income," said Heather Medwick, president of the International Centre for Infectious Diseases, in Winnipeg, which has been trying to create awareness among businesses about what they should be planning for. "Odds are they're going to come to work and they're going to be contagious."
The centre received a $1 million from the federal government in August to tour the country in October and help businesses develop pandemic plans.
'Odds are they're going to come to work and they're going to be contagious.'— Heather Medwick, International Centre for Infectious Diseases
Few small businesses approached by the CBC News were willing to talk about whether they have such plans. Mark van der Pas, owner of Tulips & Maple catering in Ottawa, was an exception.
He said his business can't afford to pay people when they're off sick, but at the same, the nature of its work makes employees vulnerable to both catching and spreading diseases such as the flu.
"We help people with the drinks. We help people serving their appetizers and we take coats," said van der Pas, whose company caters 400 functions a year. "And every party's a different party with different people."
Caterer finds compromise
However, he said he's come up with a compromise to encourage his 20 full-time employees to stay home when they are sick.
"If you take [things] a little bit easier this week, because you don't feel too well, next week you work a little bit more without any financial repercussions."
Statistics suggest that not that many businesses have come up with a plan as van der Pas has. The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association surveyed its members in May and found 87 per cent of its members have no plan in place to deal with the pandemic.
Jeff Brownlee, vice-president of the association, said he doesn't believe that has changed much, as most small and medium-sized businesses are too busy struggling with the recession to cope with possible scenarios such as pandemics.
Meanwhile, the federal government website dealing with H1N1 states that federal government employees, who are usually entitled to sick leave, may be asked not to report to work if they are suspected of having the virus or being in the incubation stage.
George Vuicic, a partner at the law firm Hicks Morley, has been giving workshops to employers about their rights and obligations when it comes to infectious diseases like swine flu, also known as H1N1. He thinks it's "entirely reasonable" for employers to require employees to notify them if they have been exposed to the flu virus.
Employees could refuse work: lawyer
However, Hélène Larendeau, who is in charge of occupational health and safety at the Treasury Board of Canada says there are privacy issues when it comes to monitoring employees for illness, so employers will just have to trust their employees to stay home when they are sick.
On the flip side, Vuicic said that under federal and provincial laws, employees can refuse to work if they have a "reasonable basis" for believing the workplace poses a danger. Even though they don't specifically include the danger of pandemics like swine flu, Vuicic said, "because the key word is reasonable, there are no hard and fast rules."
Vuicic said if there is a widespread pandemic, disputes over whether employees should remain at work could arise in some workplaces.
Larendeau said if an employee refuses to work for such a reason, a labour inspector could be called in to investigate.
