Short Term Illness and Injury Plan for B.C. government employees

An instance refers to any period of time an employee takes sick leave. Under ESAPII, employees are entitled to five instances of leave, which is equivalent to five paid days. However, not all instances of ESAPII are full workdays. For example: 

• Scenario one: An employee comes to work, and three hours into their shift feels unwell and takes the remainder of the day as sick time. They can take four hours of ESAPII sick time, and this would use up one of their instances of ESAPII. They can’t roll the remaining three hours over to another sick day. They enter this into Time and Leave and the four hours they were away from work are paid in full under ESAPII. The employee could also choose to take the sick time as STIIP which is paid out at 75% and save the ESAPII instance for another day.
• Scenario two: An employee wakes up sick in the morning and takes the entire day off. This uses up one instance of ESAPII. They enter this into Time and Leave and the hours they are away from work are paid in full under ESAPII. 

ESAPII is intended to work with the existing Short-Term Illness and Injury Plan (STIIP). However, the Employment Standards Act requires employees to request the leave as it doesn’t occur automatically.

An ESAPII leave code is now available in Time and Leave.

All employees are entitled to the equivalent of five paid days of ESAPII leave, or five instances of sick leave. There is no carryover from one year to the next and employees can’t carryover hours from one instance of ESAPII to the next.

All time reporting for ESAPII must have the actual hours of leave recorded. A full shift is reviewed and adjusted to make sure the instance of ESAPII is paid out and the employee does not lose compensation because they are ill or injured.  

You do not need to submit a new service request as it will be processed.

No. After six months of employment, all regular excluded employees are entitled to the annual 10.5 hours of supplementary credit for sick leave top-up (S57 bank), which in combination with the 75% of pay base benefit provides 100% of pay for up to six days of sick leave. As such, there are no changes to sick leave for regular excluded employees.

Yes. To comply with the requirements of the Employment Standards Act, regular excluded employees are now eligible for the annual 10.5 hours of supplementary credit for sick leave top-up (S57 bank) after being employed for 90 days, which in combination with the 75% of pay base benefit provides 100% of pay for up to six days of sick leave.

It depends. All excluded auxiliary employees with over 1,827 hours of service (auxiliary with benefits) are entitled to the annual 10.5 hours of supplementary credit for sick leave top-up, which in combination with the 75% of pay base benefit provides 100% of pay for up to six days of sick leave. As such, there are no changes to sick leave for these employees.

Excluded auxiliary employees with less than 1,827 hours of service (auxiliary with no benefits) are now eligible for the new ESA leave after 90 days of employment, as are included auxiliary employees with less than 1,827 hours of service.

Yes, employees eligible for ESAPII leave may request an absence due to illness or injury be taken as ESAPII instead of STIIP. Some auxiliary employees receive weekly indemnity benefits in lieu of STIIP benefits. The five instances of paid ESAPII leave are inclusive of the STIIP or weekly indemnity period. 

See article 31.8 of the BCGEU Collective Agreement for further details about indemnity benefits. 

No, employees can choose when to request ESAPII or STIIP. However, employees must request ESAPII leave for an absence due to illness or injury as it doesn’t happen automatically. Some auxiliary employees receive weekly indemnity benefits in lieu of STIIP benefits. The five instances of paid ESAPII leave are inclusive of the STIIP or weekly indemnity period.  

See article 31.8 of the BCGEU Collective Agreement for further details about indemnity benefits. 

No. Once you’ve made your choice of either STIIP or ESAPII, your choice is irrevocable. This is also true if for other leaves taken. You cannot go back and reverse that leave and replace it with ESAPII.

In 2022, a one-time opportunity was provided to employees to reverse previous leave taken and replace it with ESAPII. This was because eligibility for ESAPII started later in the year, rather than on January 1.

Your supervisor may request a doctor’s certificate form if they require additional information regarding your illness or injury and your ability to be at work. Depending on the circumstances, a doctor’s certificate form may not be required. The STIIP plan outlines when a doctor’s certificate form may be needed. 

ESAPII absences impact the STIIP requalification period the same way as STIIP absences. Employees who return to work after being absent because of illness or injury and become unable to work again because of illness or injury within 21 calendar days, are considered to still be within the original STIIP period.  

See Appendix 4 1.3 Recurring Disabilities in the BCGEU Collective Agreement for further details.