Susie Chant

BC NDP

11/25/2025

Bill 30 — Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025 (continued)

I call the committee back to order. We are working on Bill 30, the Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025.

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Susie Chant

BC NDP

11/25/2025

Bill 30 — Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025 (continued)

I call the committee back to order. We are on Bill 30, Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025. We have a motion in amendment on Bill 30. It has been reviewed and found to be in order.

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Bill 30 — Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025 (continued)

Good afternoon, Members. I call Committee of the Whole on Bill 30, Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025, back to order.

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Bill 30 — Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025 (continued)

Good afternoon, Members. I call Committee of the Whole on Bill 30, Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025, back to order. We’re on clause 1.

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Raj Chouhan

BC NDP

11/25/2025

Bill 30 — Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025

Bill 30, Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, has been read a third time and has passed.

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Raj Chouhan

BC NDP

11/25/2025

Bill 30 — Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025

Members, the question is third reading of Bill 30, Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025.

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Susie Chant

BC NDP

11/25/2025

Bill 30 — Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025

Section C reports Bill 30 complete without amendment.

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Bill 30 — Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025

Good morning, Members. I call Committee of the Whole on Bill 30, Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025, to order. We’ll begin by recognizing the minister if she should have any comments to make.

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Bill 32 — Mental Health Amendment Act (No. 2), 2025

Section A reports progress on Bill 30 and asks leave to sit again.

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I’d like to present a petition from my community of Fort St. John. They’ve gathered this petition to be brought forward. This is a tough one, when it comes to…. They’re requesting to reduce the costs and increase access to innovative cancer drugs by lowering drug prices and guaranteeing access. Lighten the load for patients and families by reducing additional costs for cancer care, including lab fees, transportation, prosthetics, treatments, incontinence products, cooling caps and more. This was brought to me from a member of my community, Justin Hupanda. He is a member of the Canadian Cancer Society. He also said that he really appreciated that Bill 30 got brought forward and that he was happy to see it proceed through the House.

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Hon. Jennifer Whiteside

BC NDP

10/20/2025

Bill 30 — Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025

I move the bill be introduced and read a first time now. I am pleased to introduce Bill 30, the Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act. This bill amends the Employment Standards Act to add a new, unpaid, job-protected leave for employees dealing with serious injury or illness. The entitlement is for up to 27 weeks within a 12-month period. The proposed amendments will bring provincial legislation in alignment with financial supports available through the federal insurance sickness benefits program. Workers are at the centre of the economy we are building in our province, and at the core of the proposed amendments is a commitment to people and to the principle that they should never have to choose between their job or their health. For people facing a serious health diagnosis and maybe a life-altering situation, the certainty of knowing that their jobs will be there for them provides relief and alleviates an unnecessary burden on their journey to recovery. Currently there are no provisions in the Employment Standards Act that protect the jobs of people who are unable to work due to their own long-term illness or injury. This change reflects what patient advocates have been telling us; what we heard from worker, employer and business organizations earlier this year. They all recognize the importance of accommodating workers who suffer from a life-altering diagnosis, and there was broad agreement that workers deserve to be able to return to their jobs when they and their health care providers say that they are ready. Every British Columbian knows someone who has been affected by a life-altering diagnosis, or they may well have experienced it themselves, diagnoses such as cancer or multiple sclerosis, heart disease, Parkinson’s; or experienced serious injury through a motor vehicle accident; or are survivors of intimate partner violence. These proposed changes ensure that their jobs are protected by including this leave in the Employment Standards Act. This leave is already in place in federally regulated industries and workplaces, as well as other Canadian jurisdictions, including Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador. I am very pleased that we are moving forward to enshrine this principle in our act in British Columbia.

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