ONTARIO PASSES PAID SICK LEAVE PROGRAM

As promised in our last Dealer Alert on the subject of paid sick days in Ontario, we are following up with our Members to confirm the legislation passed on April 29^th.

Full-time and part-time workers in the province who need time off due to COVID-19, will be eligible to receive up to three paid days as part of a temporary sick leave program.

This program will be retroactive to April 19, 2021 and effective until September 25, 2021.  It is administered by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board who can answer any questions you may have.

For more details, please click here

For all COVID related information, please see our previous Dealer Alerts at  www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/

ONTARIO ANNOUNCES PAID SICK LEAVE PROGRAM

Yesterday, the Ontario government announced that full-time and part-time workers in the province who need time off due to COVID-19, will be eligible to receive up to three paid days as part of a temporary sick leave program.

This measure will not come into effect until it is passed by the legislature

If it does, as expected, employers will be required to provide employees with up to three days of paid leave because of certain reasons related to COVID-19, including:

• going for a COVID-19 test
• staying home awaiting the results of a COVID-19 test
• being sick with COVID-19
• going to get vaccinated
• experiencing a side effect from a COVID-19 vaccination
• having been advised to self-isolate due to COVID-19 by an employer, medical practitioner or other authority
• taking care of a dependent who is:
  • sick with COVID-19 or has symptoms of COVID-19
  • self-isolating due to COVID-19

If the legislation passes, employers will be required to pay employees up to $200 a day for up to three days. The three days would not need to be taken consecutively.

This does not apply where employees already get paid sick leave from their employer.

Employers would be able to apply for a reimbursement of up to $200 per employee day taken, from the Ontario government. If the employee’s regular rate of pay is less than $200 day, the employer will only be eligible for a reimbursement of the employee’s regular rate of pay.

Although it is not yet officially in place, this program would be retroactive to April 19, 2021 and effective until September 25, 2021.

We will provide an update once it has passed into law.

For more details, and links to other employee benefits, please visit:  https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-worker-income-protection-benefit

For all COVID related information, please see our previous Dealer Alerts at www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/

www.ucdasearches.com

 

As a result of the current State of Emergency Order, the UCDA has temporarily suspended evening and Saturday phone in search services. In conjunction with the current Order, the suspension of services will remain in effect until at least May 20. Faxed in search requests will be filled during regular 9:00 am to 5:00 pm weekday hours.

 

Online searches continue to be available as always at www.ucdasearches.com.

ONTARIO EXTENDING STATE OF EMERGENCY AND STAY AT HOME ORDER

 

As most Members know, on Friday, Premier Doug Ford announced a two-week extension of the State of Emergency and Stay at Home Order effective Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 12:01 a.m.  The extension means the orders, first put in place on April 8^th, will remain in place until at least May 20, 2021.

Dealer operations are largely unaffected by Friday’s announcement.  For the benefit of Members, we are repeating those rules here:

Full details about the new measures can be found at:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/enhancing-public-health-and-workplace-safety-measures-provincewide-shutdown#section-4

• Sales by Appointment only
• 25% capacity limit (divide the total square metres of floor space accessible to the public [not including shelving and store fixtures] by 16 and round down to the nearest whole number)
• allowable hours of operation restricted to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
• Work from home where possible
• Must post capacity limits
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request, see https://www.ontario.ca/page/develop-your-covid-19-workplace-safety-plan for template
• Retailers must have passive screening notice for customers and active screening for staff
• Individuals must physically distance (2 metres) and wear a face covering
• Curbside pick-up and delivery permittedCurbside pickup and delivery permitted, as are online sales
• Test Drive Restrictions in effect:

• • limited to no more than 10 minutes
  • a maximum of two people, including up to one sales representative permitted
  • windows must be opened at all times if two people who are not members of the same household are present in the vehicle

For more information on remote sales please visit:

https://www.omvic.ca/portal/NewsPublications/DealerBulletins/2020/tabid/559/aid/457/Default.aspx

Members may be eligible for relief from the Federal and Provincial Governments. Please visit Federal: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan/covid19-businesses.html and Provincial: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid-19-help-businesses-ontario#financial-relief for more information.

Please visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse for the full list of public health region classifications.

 

For your region, and more information, see our previous Dealer Alerts at  www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/

PROVINCE-WIDE STATE OF EMERGENCY AND STAY AT HOME ORDER

Ontario is once again in a State of Emergency with another Stay at Home Order in effect as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, April 8, 2021.  This will be the case for at least another month due to rising COVID-19 case counts and overloaded hospital ICUs.

Full details about the new measures can be found at:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/enhancing-public-health-and-workplace-safety-measures-provincewide-shutdown#section-4

This is what it all means for motor vehicle dealers, repairers, rental, leasing, their staff and customers:

• Sales by Appointment only
• 25% capacity limit (divide the total square metres of floor space accessible to the public [not including shelving and store fixtures] by 16 and round down to the nearest whole number)
• restricting allowable hours of operation to 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
• Work from home where possible
• Must post capacity limits
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request, see https://www.ontario.ca/page/develop-your-covid-19-workplace-safety-plan for template
• Retailers must have passive screening notice for customers and active screening for staff
• Individuals must physically distance (2 metres) and wear a face covering
• Curbside pick-up and delivery permittedCurbside pickup and delivery permitted, as are online sales
• Test Drive Restrictions in effect:

• • limited to no more than 10 minutes
  • a maximum of two people, including up to one sales representative permitted
  • windows must be opened at all times unless if two people who are not members of the same household are present in the vehicle

For more information on remote sales please visit:

https://www.omvic.ca/portal/NewsPublications/DealerBulletins/2020/tabid/559/aid/457/Default.aspx

Members may be eligible for relief from the Federal and Provincial Governments. Please visit Federal: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan/covid19-businesses.html and Provincial: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid-19-help-businesses-ontario#financial-relief for more information.

Please visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse for the full list of public health region classifications.

For your region, and more information, see our previous Dealer Alerts at  www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/

 

PROVINCE MOVES TO SHUTDOWN LEVEL

The third wave of this stubborn virus is upon us.  On April 1, the Ontario Government announced its intention to move the entire Province into the SHUTDOWN level as of Saturday, April 3, 2021 at 12:01 a.m.  All public health units will move into this level regardless of what level they were in previously.

For dealers, this is what the SHUTDOWN level looks like:

SHUTDOWN

• 25% capacity limit (divide the total square metres of floor space accessible to the public [not including shelving and store fixtures] by 16 and round down to the nearest whole number)
• Work from home where possible
• Must post capacity limits
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Retailers must have passive screening notice for customers and active screening for staff
• Individuals must physically distance (2 metres) and wear a face covering
• Curbside pick-up and delivery permittedCurbside pickup and delivery permitted, as are online sales
• Test Drive Restriction in effect

• • limited to no more than 10 minutes
  • a maximum of two people, including up to one sales representative permitted
  • windows must be opened at all times unless if two people who are not members of the same household are present in the vehicle
• For now, dealers are not restricted to appointment only selling, but this may change

Public health officials cite the rapid deterioration of trends in key indicators, as the reason the emergency brake is being applied to help reduce further spread of the virus in the Province.  This level is expected to remain in place for at least the next 4 weeks and specific rules for businesses, including dealers, may change during that time. The UCDA will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates as needed.

Please visit https://www.ontario.ca/page/enhancing-public-health-and-workplace-safety-measures-provincewide-shutdown for SHUTDOWN level details.

Please visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse for the full list of public health region classifications.

For your region, and more information, see our previous Dealer Alerts at www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/

 

LONDON MOVING TO RED-CONTROL LEVEL

Effective Tuesday, March 30, 2021 at 12:01 a.m. the Middlesex-London Health Unit moves to the Red-Control level due to rising case counts.

RED – CONTROL

• Open for business but at 50 per cent capacity
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Retailers must post capacity limits publicly
• Retailers must have passive screening for patrons and active screening for staff
• Line-ups and patrons congregating outside must be managed by venue; 2 metres distance inside and outside; face coverings are required in line

Please visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse for the full list of public health region classifications.

For your region, and more information, see our previous Dealer Alerts at  www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/

 

 

 

HAMILTON AND EASTERN ONTARIO HEALTH UNIT ON THE MOVE

Effective Monday, March 29, 2021 at 12:01 a.m. the City of Hamilton Public Health Region moves into GREY-Lockdown and the Eastern Ontario Health Region moves into RED-Control:

GREY – LOCKDOWN

• 25% capacity limit
• Retailers must post capacity limits
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Retailers must have passive screening notice for customers and active screening for staff
• Individuals must physically distance and wear a face covering
• No test drive restrictions and no longer by appointment only

RED – CONTROL

• Open for business but at 50 per cent capacity
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Retailers must post capacity limits publicly
• Retailers must have passive screening for patrons and active screening for staff
• Line-ups and patrons congregating outside must be managed by venue; 2 metres distance inside and outside; face coverings are required in line

This is based on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health made in consultation with local medical officers of health and are based on the trends in public health indicators and local context and conditions.

NOTE:  Targeted enforcements are being applied, with an enhanced focus in public health regions identified in the Yellow-Protect, Orange-Restrict, Red-Control and Grey-Lockdown levels. This includes conducting field visits to check for compliance with the Reopening Ontario Act.

Please visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse for the full list of public health region classifications.

For your region, and more information, see our previous Dealer Alerts at  www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/

 

TIMISKAMING MOVING FROM GREEN TO RED

Based on the latest data, the Province has moved the Timiskaming Public Health Region to the RED-Control level effective today, March 26, 2021  as of 12:01 a.m.:

RED – CONTROL

• Open for business but at 50 per cent capacity
• A safety plan is required to be prepared and made available upon request
• Retailers must post capacity limits publicly
• Retailers must have passive screening for patrons and active screening for staff
• Line-ups and patrons congregating outside must be managed by venue; 2 metres distance inside and outside; face coverings are required in line

This Region, covering municipalities such as New Liskeard, Kirkland Lake and Englehart, was previously in the Green level since mid-February, but due to concerning trends in public health indicators in the region, public health authorities have deemed the move necessary.

Please visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse for the full list of public health region classifications.

 

For your region, and more information, see our previous Dealer Alerts at  www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/