{"id":19103,"date":"2020-07-27T09:15:32","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T13:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/news\/b-c-launches-online-tool-to-process-temporary-layoff-extension-applications-148319"},"modified":"2020-07-27T09:15:32","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T13:15:32","slug":"b-c-launches-online-tool-to-process-temporary-layoff-extension-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2020\/07\/27\/b-c-launches-online-tool-to-process-temporary-layoff-extension-applications\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. launches online tool to process temporary layoff extension applications"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"alignleft clearfix\">\n<div class=\"wp-caption feature-image alignleft\"> <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"316\" height=\"190\" src=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/BritishColumbiaFlag66360866_l-123RF.jpg\" class=\"attachment-feature size-feature wp-post-image\" alt=\"123rf.com\/photoroman\" title=\"B.C. launches online tool to process temporary layoff extension applications\"> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"byline\"> <span>Staff<\/span>&nbsp;|&nbsp;July 27, 2020 <\/p>\n<p>British Columbia\u2019s&nbsp;ministry of labour&nbsp;is introducing a new online portal&nbsp;to&nbsp;help the government process applications for temporary layoff extensions&nbsp;more quickly.<\/p>\n<p>In late June, the province extended the time period for temporary layoffs related to the coronavirus pandemic to a maximum of 24 weeks \u2014 up from 16 previously \u2014 expiring Aug. 30, following calls from opposition parties and&nbsp;businesses, which said&nbsp;many small&nbsp;organizations could go out of business if suddenly forced to pay out severance.<\/p>\n<p>Employers wishing to extend their layoffs beyond the end of August&nbsp;must apply to the government\u2019s employment standards branch for permission for a so-called variance of employment standards legislation. The online portal, launched last week,&nbsp;aims to expedite those applications.&nbsp;Employers must first obtain&nbsp;support from more than 50 per cent of their employees and&nbsp;document the consent in their applications, which are due&nbsp;by Aug. 25 to ensure&nbsp;they\u2019re&nbsp;processed before Aug. 30.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/news\/ontario-amending-employment-standards-act-to-allow-extentions-temporary-layoffs-146576\">Ontario amending employment standards to make temporary layoffs part of new emergency leave<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cGovernment recommends that employers submit their variance applications early to avoid the potential of permanent staff layoffs and compensation for length of service to eligible workers upon the expiry of the COVID-19 emergency layoff period,\u201d said the ministry in a press release.<\/p>\n<p>The portal also aims to eliminate the need for hard-copy documents and signatures, which the government&nbsp;said streamlines the process for employers and employees&nbsp;making a joint application for an extension. It also&nbsp;provides employers and employees with supportive templates and tools to help them through the process.<\/p>\n<p>If the extension is granted, employees will be able to retain their rate of pay, vacation accrual, years of service, benefits and leaves of absence when they eventually return to the workplace.&nbsp;The&nbsp;director of employment standards&nbsp;will only consider layoff extensions beyond Dec. 31, 2020 in \u201cexceptional circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/news\/feds-extending-time-period-for-temporary-layoffs-during-pandemic-147468\">Feds extending time period for temporary layoffs during pandemic<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/news\/b-c-launches-online-tool-to-process-temporary-layoff-extension-applications-148319\">Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Staff&nbsp;|&nbsp;July 27, 2020 British Columbia\u2019s&nbsp;ministry of labour&nbsp;is introducing a new online portal&nbsp;to&nbsp;help the government process applications for temporary layoff extensions&nbsp;more quickly. In late June, the province extended the time period for temporary layoffs related&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}