In response to the ongoing pandemic, on May 29, 2021, the Ontario government passed a new Regulation that again extends the timeline when temporary lay-offs are deemed permanent job losses.
The "COVID-19 period" was set to expire on July 3, 2021 and has now been extended to September 25, 2021. The "COVID-19 period" commenced on March 1, 2020.
As discussed in our previous publication, employees temporarily laid-off during the "COVID-19 period" are deemed to be on a job-protected infectious disease emergency leave. Further, employees will not be considered as constructively dismissed under the ESA if their wages or hours of work have been temporarily reduced due to COVID-19.
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