A Conference Board of Canada study last year found only a third of employees between the ages of 18 and 24 have any paid sick days; and fewer than half of Canadians young and old are covered by employer sick leave.
In the U.S., there’s an active campaign to improve sick day benefits, and its gaining momentum. There, nearly 40% of private sector employees have no access to paid sick leave for themselves or to take care of a sick relative.
Last week, voters in the state of Massachusetts and the cities of Trenton and Montclair in New Jersey and Oakland, California voted for everyone to get the benefit of paid sick leave. So far, 3 U.S. states and 15 cities have agreed to similar legislation.
To examine the different laws and realities in Canada surrounding sick leave, Kendra Coulter was interviewed on CBC’s “The Current”. Dr. Coulter is an Associate Professor at the Brock Centre for Labour Studies and author of “Revolutionizing Retail: Workers, Political Action and Social Change“.
