By Camille Bains
VANCOUVER Avtar Badesha says he fears getting COVID-19 or being exposed to the virus because he couldn’t support his family without any paid sick leave during quarantine.
The 33-year-old power engineer in Vancouver’s education sector said his wife doesn’t work and they have a six-month-old baby so affording rent and groceries would be tough if he lost two weeks’ wages.
The possibility of infection is a daily worry and he is taking every precaution when meeting with contractors, co-workers and others on the job, which requires the maintenance of boilers and heating systems.
“I’m just dodging the bullet,” he said in an interview.
Worker fears getting COVID-19 without sick leave, wants B C to act
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Worker fears getting COVID-19 without sick leave, wants B C to act
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VANCOUVER More than a year after the B.C. government began trumpeting the importance of paid sick leave to keep people from bringing COVID-19 into the workplace, officials have yet to implement a provincial policy supporting workers. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Premier John Horgan said his administration is still planning to introduce a program to address gaps in the federal government s Canada Sickness Recovery Benefit, and that more details would be shared in the days ahead. Work was done through the summer to bring forward a provincial plan and we re taking those off the shelf and looking at how we can implement that in a seamless way, without putting more burden on business at a time when business can least afford it, Horgan said.