EI Sickness Benefits, Quarantine, and Self-Isolation Amidst COVID-19
Employee rights during the COVID-19 pandemic: You don't have to go to work. Your employer doesn't have to pay you, if you don't work. You may qualify for EI Sickness Benefits even without symptoms.
[This article was written in March 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded in Ontario, various different measures have been implemented at different times. Some of the information on this page may no longer apply in light of current response measures.]
Q. My employer hasn’t closed the workplace. Do I have to report to work?
Ontario employees do not have to go to work amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.
In normal circumstances, a failure to report to work could be construed as a resignation or abandonment of employment or could be a basis for an employer to terminate your employment.
But the Ontario legislature passed legislation on March 19, 2019 expanding the scope of emergency leave and “infections disease leave” available under the Employment Standards Act, 2000. An employee can take this unpaid leave from work, if they are self-isolating or caring for a family member in relation to the outbreak.
Employees do not have to provide a doctor’s note. They also do not have to be exhibiting symptoms. The unpaid infectious disease leave is available to employees who self-isolate as part of a “control measure” in response to information or directions disseminated by a variety of health officials “whether through print, electronic, broadcast or other means.”
The legislation also provides job protection to employees stranded outside the workplace because of travel restrictions.
Q. If I am away from work because of COVID-19, does my employer have to pay?
Your employer does not have to pay you for any period of time you are not actually working.
This general rule would apply whether you have chosen to self-isolate, whether your employer has chosen to close the workplace, or whether the workplace has been closed by government action.
But if you are instructed to work remotely from home, your employer must pay you your usual wages.
Q. Will I qualify for Employment Insurance Sickness Benefits?
If you are away from work due to illness, you can qualify for EI Sickness Benefits.
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the federal government has announced that it is waiving the requirement for a medical certificate and waiving the one-week waiting period which normally applies to EI Sickness Benefits.
Even if you are not symptomatic, you may still qualify for EI Sickness Benefits if your absence from the workplace is construed as a “quarantine” as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
EI Sickness Benefits cover “illness, injury, or quarantine.” When making an EI Sickness Benefits claim, a “quarantine” can be proven for Service Canada by providing a declaration that the quarantine was “imposed on the claimant by a public-health official for the health and safety of the public at large” or that it was recommended by such an official for the health and safety of the public at large and the claimant was “asked by their employer, a medical doctor, a nurse or another similar person in authority to place themselves under quarantine.”
For instance, someone who cannot work because of restrictions against gatherings of 50 or more people could fit the definition of “quarantine,” as well as workers in industries captured by government-ordered shut-downs.
The legislative definition of quarantine leaves some doubt as to whether an entirely asymptomatic person, who has not recently traveled, and who hasn’t been sent home by their employer can qualify for Sickness Benefits when they choose to self-isolate. If the voluntary self-isolation is purely fear-based without any connection to prevailing public health recommendations, such an employee may not qualify for EI sickness benefits while away from work.
Other usual criteria for Employment Insurance eligibility continue to apply.
The federal government has announced an Emergency Response Benefit for workers (including self-employed) who are out of work without income for reasons related to COVID-19 and who don’t otherwise qualify for Employment Insurance. The benefit is meant to be comparable to EI benefits. It is expected to be administered by the CRA through an individual’s online CRA account.
Any time you experience an interruption of earnings, your employer should prepare a Record of Employment form which is used by Service Canada to determine Employment Insurance claims after an employee makes an application.
