IMPORTANT: Deadline for IDEL Reimbursement is July 29, 2023

July 20, 2023

As I advised on March 30, the 2023 Ontario Budget of March 23 provided that the Paid Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (Paid IDEL) introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, would expire on March 31, 2023.

This important reminder regards the deadline of July 29, 2023 for reimbursements.

I have highlighted the information about the deadline in yellow and further information regarding IDEL is in the March 30 email included below.

Please contact me with any questions you may have or for assistance working through your staffing matters.

Reimbursement
With the expiration of the program on March 31, 2023, employers can apply for reimbursement for any eligible Paid IDEL up to and including that date. 

Applications for reimbursement can be made through this link:
https://ontario-covid19-worker-income-protection-benefit.ca/en

Applications must be made within 120 days of the date the employer paid the employee, or by July 29, 2023 (whichever is earlier). The WSIB cannot process applications submitted after 120 days .

Unpaid IDEL (Infectious Disease Emergency Leave) remains available as Paid IDEL expires March 31.

March 30, 2023

The 2023 Ontario Budget released on March 23, 2023, provides that Paid Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (Paid IDEL) will expire on March 31, 2023.

Paid IDEL first became available in April 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic was having significant impact on all aspects of work and social life.

It required employers to provide employees with up to three days’ pay if they missed work for certain reasons relating to COVID-19.

Reasons for leave included self-isolating, getting tested for COVID-19, awaiting the results of a test; being sick with COVID-19, getting vaccinated, experiencing side effects from a vaccination, getting individual medical treatment for mental health reasons relating to COVID-19, and providing care or support to certain relatives for COVID-19-related reasons.

Eligible employers were entitled to apply for a reimbursement from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) of payments made to employees who took paid IDEL, up to a maximum of $200 per day per employee.

Paid IDEL, including provision for reimbursement, was extended several times by Regulation. As I advised in July of 2022, Ontario filed Regulation 464/22, amended O. Reg. 228/20: Infectious Disease Emergency Leave Regulation to extend the availability of Paid IDEL until March 31, 2023.

Reimbursement
With the expiration of the program on March 31, 2023, employers can apply for reimbursement for any eligible Paid IDEL up to and including that date. 

Applications for reimbursement can be made through this link:
https://ontario-covid19-worker-income-protection-benefit.ca/en

Applications must be made within 120 days of the date the employer paid the employee, or by July 29, 2023 (whichever is earlier). The WSIB cannot process applications submitted after 120 days .

Unpaid IDEL available for eligible employees
Although Paid IDEL will not be available after March 31, 2023, for as long as COVID-19 is designated an “infectious disease” by O. Reg. 228/20, employees will continue to have the right to take unpaid IDEL if they are not performing the duties of their position for any of the following reasons related to COVID-19:

  • the employee is under individual medical investigation, supervision or treatment related to COVID-19; 
  • the employee is following a COVID‑19-related order issued under the Health Promotion and Protection Act; 
  • the employee is in quarantine, isolation (voluntary or involuntary), or is subject to a control measure implemented as a result of information or directions related to COVID-19, and issued by a public health official, qualified health practitioner, Telehealth Ontario, the government of Ontario or Canada, a municipal council, or a board of health; 
  • the employee is under a direction given by their employer in response to the employer’s concern that the employee might expose other individuals in the workplace to COVID-19; 
  • the employee is providing care or support to specified individuals (family members) because of a matter related to COVID-19; or 
  • the employee is directly affected by travel restrictions related to COVID-19 that prevent them from travelling back to Ontario. 

There is no specified limit to the number of days an employee can be on unpaid IDEL. Employers may ask for “evidence reasonable in the circumstances,” “at a time reasonable in the circumstances,” to verify the unpaid IDEL; however, they cannot require medical certificates.

Please contact me with any questions you may have or for assistance working through your staffing matters.