Data shows paid sick leave is affordable for Nova Scotia: NDP

Nova Scotia NDP Leader Gary Burrillisconvinced the provincial government can afford to give workers who don't have sick leavepaid days offwhen they're ill, and he's basing that on facts and figures his party received through an access to information request.

This summer, the previous Liberal government set up a COVID-19 sick leave program. Workers who took time off because of illness betweenMay 10, 2021, and July 31, 2021, were eligible for up to four days of paid sick leave.

At the time, the Department of Labour and Advanced Education estimated more than 100,000 workers might take advantage of the programat a cost to the province of $16 million.

According to documents released to the NDP for the first half of the program (between May 10 and June 30), only 642 individuals took advantage of the program.

They were paid for a total of 1,313 days off. The total cost to the province was $157,498.39.

Burrill saidwhat those figures show is that Nova Scotiansdid not flood the program.

"There was really quite a modest and a measured uptake of the program," saidBurrill. "We had always heard from the government, for a couple of years prior to bringing this forward, that one reason they were concerned about bringing forward a program is they thought there would be a lot of abuse.

"The potential for abuse that a lot of people have spoken about as being a big issue, in fact, iszero issue at all."

Burrill said the fact the province has only spent afraction of the $16 millionset aside for the program shows there's money for a more generous and permanent program that should bepart of Nova Scotia's Labour Standards Code.

"The time to bring in a sick leave program is before you're in the middle of the [COVID]wave, so that people are able to stay home when they have symptoms and not go to work, not spread the virus, not spread the infection, so that you don't end up in the middle of a worse wave," said Burrill.

Instead of just fourdays, the NDP would like to see the province give people 10 days of sick leave a year.

In an email statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for the Labour Department said as of Sept. 17, there hadbeen a total of 2,216 claims approved for a total payout of $469,073.In total, 3,862 sick days were covered.

KhalehlaPerraultsaid the program closed on July 31, although applicants have 90 days from the date of the missed work time to file a claim with the program.

"Nova Scotians and businesses helped to curb the spread of COVID-19 during the third wave. $16 Million was reserved, if needed, for Nova Scotia's COVID-19 paid sick leave program based on epidemiology at the height of the third wave," saidPerrault in the statement Tuesday evening.

"Due to Nova Scotians' ability to effectively curb the third wave, this reserve was not required. This was a temporary program and no decision has been made to reinstate the program at this time."