Nationwide, the only thing on anyone’s mind has been the effects of Covid-19 and how the virus will impact their employment status. In less than a month, the Canadian economic structure has been entirely turned upside down and employees are left to think, how will this virus affect the way I work? Though the next few months still seem to be unclear, there is no doubt that Covid-19 will leave many unemployed and have the remaining employees in organizations left with drastically changed employee rights.
A recent New York Times article states that for nearly all employees in large organizations, their access to sick leave pay and other employment rights may face compromises due to the current events (Ramsay, 2020). Especially for those workers who are paid based on hourly work, their access to income has come to an abrupt stop. Federal law requires that hourly workers be paid only for the time they work. Salaried workers, managers and executives will usually, but not always, be paid during a business disruption (Ramsey, 2020). For the service and many other interactive industries (such as sport and entertainment), this could result in more than half of their employee base and work functions to come to a halt with no determined end date. As for the many union workers in Canada, as a global pandemic is often unheard of in a collective agreement, the rights they are entitled to have become severely altered, and for some even frozen for the time being (Murphy, 2020). In the employer’s perspective, a survey conducted in mid-February suggests that over 20% of employers are unsure of how they plan to compensate their employees, and exactly how many people may need to be laid off in the upcoming weeks. With no end in sight of this employment freeze, many organizations do not have the budget to support their entire employee base with no work being conducted and nearly no profits being earned.
A survey in Alberta already predicts that with less than a month of the province in a state of emergency, the province’s economy will shrink by 5.5% this year, and the unemployment rate will rise to 9.5% (Bernard, 2020). These number can only expect to rise across Canada, especially as the nationwide lockdown may last for up to 8-10 weeks. For many small business owners, this means the hasty demise of their lifelong businesses. Many of these small business owners have invested 5, 10, or even over more than 20 years into their businesses, living on a tight personal budget and working for many long hours in an attempt to build their careers. In an attempt to help the businesses affected by this, the government has invested billions of dollars in supporting the continuing struggle (Government of Canada, 2020). Efforts such as temporary income to support workers and parents, bursaries, and frozen tax payments are currently in place. Only time will tell how these measures will impact those affected by Covid-19, but as it stands, it appears that Canada and the rest of the world could be entering a record-breaking recession.
Works Cited:
Bernard, T. (2020, March 01). Working From Home: How Coronavirus Could Affect the Workplace. Retrieved March 28, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/business/coronavirus-working-from-home.html
Government of Canada. (2020, March). Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan: Support for … Retrieved March 28, 2020, from https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2020/03/canadas-covid-19-economic-response-plan-support-for-canadians-and-businesses.html
Murphy, R. (2020, March 27). Rex Murphy: The financial impact of COVID-19 is enough to … Retrieved March 28, 2020, from https://nationalpost.com/opinion/rex-murphy-the-financial-impact-of-covid-19-is-enough-to-make-canadians-sick-with-worry
Ramsay, C. (2020, March 28). Alberta unemployment rate to reach 9.5% amid COVID-19 pandemic: Economic outlook. Retrieved March 28, 2020, from https://globalnews.ca/news/6744099/coronavirus-impact-alberta-economy-unemployment/
Mackenzie Hinshelwood - EMPR200 