Advocacy Win — Province Announces Extension to Temporary Lay-Off Deadline

June 25, 2020 — This afternoon, following consistent advocacy from the Burnaby Board of Trade and the our chamber of commerce network, the provincial government announced an extension to the 16-week deadline for temporary lay-offs to 24 weeks. This new extension is slated to expire on August 30, 2020, until which time the Burnaby Board of Trade and the chamber network will continue to engage with government on the needs of the business community.

Until today, an employee could only be temporarily laid-off for 16-weeks — after that they would be deemed terminated and therefore eligible for pay in-lieu of notice and possibly severance.  Without an extension to the 16-week layoff time frame, these Burnaby businesses will be forced to either hire staff back potentially before they can afford to, or terminate their staff and potentially have to pay a significant new severance/pay-in-lieu obligation. This would have caused a significant expense for businesses at a time when they could least afford it.

The Burnaby Board of Trade has been calling on the provincial government to immediately extend the allowable duration of temporary layoffs beyond this limit and are pleased with today’s announcement,

We applaud the provincial government for being responsive to the need of our business community and making this change to support employers during COVID-19.

Read the full announcement from the government here.