Contributing Author: Luisa D'Alessio

As of June 12, 2020, child care centers and home care providers are allowed to reopen across the province. The caveat is that these centers must implement the government’s strict safety plan and operational requirements. The new measures include the following:

Cohorting: Children and staff can only be in groups of 10 or less day over day;

Implement a COVID-19 Response Plan: All child care settings must have a plan in place if a child, parent or staff member/provider is exposed to COVID-19;

Screening: All staff and children must be screened prior to entry to the child care setting. Anyone feeling unwell must stay home;

Daily attendance records: Child care settings must keep daily records of all attendees in order to support contact tracing;

Cleaning: Child care settings must be thoroughly cleaned before opening and frequently thereafter;

No visitors: Only essential visitors are permitted entry into the child care setting;

Implement New Protocols: For example, drop-off and pick-up protocols should be revised to facilitate physical distancing.

This plan is intended to enhance safety through contact tracing while imposing requirements such as mandatory training and program restructuring. Operators will only be allowed to reopen once they have met these guidelines. Summer day camps are allowed to reopen as well, provided they follow the same guidelines.

Families who used the emergency child care system will continue to be assisted by service system managers to return to their previous arrangement or find new space during the transition back to regular childcare.

In order to help families through this difficult time, Ontario is providing parents with additional payments to help cover the costs associated with school and childcare closures due to COVID-19.

What does this mean for parents who are on leave from work as a result of daycare closures?

The Employment Standards Act, 2000 was recently amended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The emergency leave provision was expanded to provide an unpaid, job-protected leave to employees affected by infectious diseases such as COVID-19. This leave is available in various circumstances, including circumstances where an employee is required to provide care or support to their child because of school or daycare closures resulting from COVID-19.

If an employee’s child’s daycare reopens and there is space available for that child, the employee may no longer qualify for the emergency leave. The employee may have an obligation to put their child in daycare in order to perform their work duties. This obligation may be affected by factors such as whether the employee or their child are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, whether the daycare is operating at reduced hours, whether the daycare has space for the employee’s child, etc.

The provincial government is also allowing individuals to expand their “social circles” outside their households to 10 people at most (including members of the household). Therefore, if an employee’s expanded social circle includes individuals who could care for the employee’s child, this may disentitle the employee from the emergency leave.

An employer may require an employee to provide evidence reasonable in the circumstances at a time that is reasonable in the circumstances that the employee is eligible for emergency leave (but the employer cannot require an employee to provide a certificate from a qualified health practitioner). For example, an employer may ask for a note from the employee’s daycare provider evidencing the daycare’s inability to admit the employee’s child.

Remember – human rights considerations continue to apply! Family status is a protected ground under the Human Rights Code. Employers should consider their duty to accommodate to the point of undue hardship, and employees should be mindful of their duty to participate in the accommodation process.

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*Please note this article does not contain legal advice