TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – April 17, 2025

After returning home from the 2008 Summer Olympics, I was bed-ridden for three days with a nasty bug I picked up in Beijing. I was so sick I could barely lift my head from the pillow and lost close to 7 kilos in less than a week. Since I felt like death, it was one of the only times in my entire career that I called in sick. Given my track record of never missing a day of work other than for vacation, my employer didn’t bother to ask for a doctor’s note to prove I was ill.

In BC, the Employment Standards Act (ESA) pertaining to sick leave contains a provision that says if requested by the employer, an employee must provide reasonably sufficient proof to show that an illness or injury was the basis for their absence. While proof can take many forms, most often it’s a note from a doctor or other medical practitioner. However, that’s about to change. Earlier this week, government introduced changes to the ESA to eliminate the need for employees to produce a sick note from a physician or nurse as evidence that a short-term absence from work was warranted.

In the introduction to Bill 11, the Province argued that medical practitioners spend some 180,000 hours annually on unnecessary paperwork for things like sick notes and other time-wasting administrative processes that could otherwise be spent treating patients.

Government’s consultation process on the proposed amendments begins next week and TIABC has been invited to participate. While we don’t yet know the implications of the revised regulations, we will seek input from members and stakeholders to provide an informed view to senior officials.

In the meantime, a related issue on sick leave is even more pressing according to tourism operators we’re hearing from these days. As you are aware, under the ESA, after 90 consecutive days of employment, an employee is entitled up to five days of paid sick leave and three unpaid days of leave each calendar year. Among the nuances of the regulations, an employee that works multiple part-time jobs can take the requisite number of sick days per job and isn’t required to give a certain amount of advance notice when booking off.

Unfortunately, some seasonal operators experience pronounced spikes in staff sick days immediately following 90 days of employment and prior to the end of work contracts. I’ve heard of situations where a seasonal employee with a commitment to work from September 1st to March 31st takes five sick days in December and again in January. Notwithstanding situations where sick days are justified, employers have become acutely aware of misuse of the entitlement which is adding significant annual operating costs and compromising service delivery.

This issue is included within the submission TIABC is advancing to the Premier’s Task Force on Trade and Economic Security to identify and address various regulations that affect businesses. Among the recommendations is a call to increase the probation or eligibility period from three to six months per employee, and/or pro-rate paid sick days by contract length or hours worked rather than by calendar year.

It should be noted that many tourism employers actually have better sick day benefits than what the province has mandated but the abuse of the benefit is minimal for multiple reasons.

To be sure, the tourism and hospitality industry is not the only sector affected by the regulations on sick days. However, we have data that shows the impact on the visitor economy that ideally will compel the Province to take notice and consider further amendments to the Employment Standards Act to resolve the issue. Stay tuned.

If you have a view on Bill 11 or other components of the Employment Standards Act that impact your business or organization, feel free to reach out. I would appreciate hearing from you.

If the pandemic taught us anything, it is to stay home from the office when under the weather instead of spreading germs to vulnerable colleagues and customers. I’ve learned to adopt that practice although I usually continue to work from my den during the day and get plenty of rest at night to heal and recover. Lord knows the last thing I ever want to experience again is the dreaded Beijing bug.

Walt Judas

CEO, TIABC