The Yukon government’s paid sick leave rebate program could live to see another year.
The territorial government announced in Feb. 27 press release that the program, which initially was scheduled to run from April 2023 to March 2025, will now be extended to March 31, 2026.
The program allows employees to take up to 40 hours a year of paid sick leave: their employers can then apply to the government to cover the costs of paying that employee for the time they were sick. The rebate is for positions whose hourly wage is equal to or less than the average hourly wage in the private sector in the Yukon.
Government employers are not eligible for the rebate.
According to the press release, $850,000 is set aside for the rebate in the 2025-2026 budget and thus is subject to legislature approval of the budget.
More than 170 Yukon businesses have applied for the rebate and 1,100 employees have been able to access paid sick leave through the program since it launched, according to the press release. Around half of the employees who were able to get paid time off through the program worked in retail: 19 per cent of the employees worked in accommodation and food services and another 13 per cent worked in health and social assistance.
The program does not discriminate on the basis of the sickness the employee is suffering: as the News reported at the time of the current rebate program’s launch, it acts as a replacement to a similar program that was set up in response to COVID-19.
Per the program webpage, employees must have used up all paid sick leave available to them through their employer before being eligible to receive paid sick leave through the program.
The Yukon government does not require that employers in the territory provide paid sick leave for their employees, but rather offers them reimbursement for it on a voluntary basis.
All employees in federally-regulated industries are entitled to 10 days of paid sick leave, as of December 2022, according to the federal government’s labour policies. Some provinces in the country — Quebec, P.E.I and British Columbia — mandate that employers in their respective provinces offer paid sick leave to employees.
A mandate is not what the Yukon is doing, according to economic development department spokesperson Damian Topps.
“Our Paid Sick Leave Rebate Program is available to protect public health and allows workers to make decisions regarding their health without losing wages,” said Topps in a Feb. 27 email to the News.
Premier Ranj Pillai told the News in an interview on Feb. 27 that mandating paid sick leave is not being contemplated at this time.
In 2022, before the rebate program was introduced, there were discussions being had at the territorial level about a permanent sick leave program, as the News reported at the time.
Pillai said the government is still understanding how to improve the program, or if the program is the most effective tool for workers and employers.
He said they want to use this next year of the program as a learning tool. Once the government gathers data on the program and receives feedback from third-party organizations, he said, it will in a better place to make final decisions on a permanent program.
---with files from Dana Hatherly
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
