Employment Standards Act of Ontario

1. How many days of paid sick leave are employees entitled to under the ESA? How
many days of unpaid sick leave are employees entitled to? Are there any
requirements to prove their sickness? Make reference to Employment Standards Act of Ontario

Employers are not obligated by ESA to give paid sick leave to their employees. However, if an employer does provide paid sick leave, the terms and conditions, including the number of days, must be specified in the employment contract. Some of these contracts include a collective agreement and they must offer a greater right than that of ESA to ensure they apply instead of the latter’s provisions on sick leave (Ontario 2022).

ESA entitles employees to three a 3-day unpaid sick leave per calendar year. This insinuates that employees can take a maximum of three days off without the insecurity of loosing their jobs due to personal ailment, medical emergency, and injury (Ontario, 2022). If an employee requests sick leave, the employer may require proof of illness or injury, such as medical notes from a doctor, but only if doing so is appropriate given the circumstances. In this sense, the employer must not put excessive difficulty on the employee. Other requirements include providing information on the period or expected period of the leave and the date the worker was attended to by the healthcare professional….Read more