UW prof weighs in on debate over paid sick leave

A recent question and answer with a University of Waterloo professor shares there's wide consensus that workers should not go to work when they have COVID symptoms, but what can the Canadian government and employers do to ensure this doesn't happen? 

Mikal Skuterud, an economics professor said there is no single policy that can ensure workers never go to work when experiencing COVID symptoms. However a policy should do what it can to make the decision for workers to stay home as easy as possible. This means providing workers with confidence that taking time off will not jeopardize their job security and will not result in lost pay, and be willing to force workplace closures where outbreaks occur. 

“In a time where there is contingent and a disease like COVID that have a higher fatality rate than the average cold then keeping people at home when they have symptoms is clearly a good policy for containing contagions.”

Outside of a pandemic, governments are reluctant to legislate paid sick leave because guaranteeing workers a fixed number of paid days off for illness tends to increase employee absenteeism.

“In a pandemic the cost of making the wrong decision that is going to work when I maybe infected is very high compared to normal times. We want to err on the side of caution and keeping people at home even if they may not be infected.”

Skurterud states the economic research highlights that paid sick leave policies increase discrimination in employee recruitment against applicants who are expected to take more sick days, such as workers with disabilities. He said “a health pandemic is not the time for governments or employers to worry about excessive absenteeism.”

When asked how feasible is it for the government to compensate employers for employees' time off due to COVID-related issues, he says it is entirely feasible if the political will is there. 

“Unfortunately, sick leave policies became a political football during the pandemic as proponents of provincially legislated paid sick leave have argued that the federal government's sick leave policy – the Canadian Recovery Sickness Benefit – is inadequate.”  Adding, this resulted in misinformation about the federal policy, as well as exaggerated claims about the efficacy of paid sick leave policies in mitigating workplace virus spread. This has likely distracted us from advocating for other measures that may be more effective, including rapid testing and targeted vaccinations in workplaces. 

Skuterud says our best chance of containing the COVID virus and its variants are vaccines. With the supply of vaccines expected to accelerate through the spring and summer, we will soon reach the point where the constraint isn't supply, but vaccine hesitancy in the population. “The single most effective measure employers can take to protect their workers and their businesses is to encourage their employees to get vaccinated and support them in taking time off work to get it done.”