By Katie Lewis
Compassionate is a peculiar word.Someone who is compassionate is sympathetic, kindhearted, considerate and caring.
It seems that most people should strive to be compassionate; however, a new government benefit program, the Compassionate Care Program, is promoting outrage and stinginess in business communities across the country.
The program allows anyone eligible for Employment Insurance who has a sick or dying family member to collect six weeks worth of wages worth 55 per cent of their insured earnings. Six weeks. One month and a half. This is not a particularly long time period.
If your child, parent, spouse or sibling is terminally ill, you can spend several weeks caring for them and not have to worry about losing your job.
The employer is not responsible for providing wages during this time. They simply have to hire them back after the benefit-receiving period ends.
A number of Centretown businesses disagree with the plan. They say it will force them to hire new staff, train them, and then sack them only a few weeks later.
One went so far as to say “it’s these things that shut down small businesses.”
Six weeks of time off should not have the power to shut down a business. Hire someone on a temporary basis — maybe a student who’s looking for several weeks of work, or someone who is here for a short visit.
It’s absurd to say that losing an employee for six weeks will shut down your business. It’s even more absurd to say on a humanitarian level.
Centretown businesses aren’t the only ones complaining – numerous groups across the country are also against the plan.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the benefits would put “undue hardship” on employers. They say most employees are satisfied with the leave benefits they had before the program was put into place in April 2004.These included parental and maternity leave and unpaid leave benefits.
Generally, programs are put in place for a reason. If business owners always granted compassionate leave when required, this program would have never needed to be put in place.
Several Centretown businesses say it is harder for them to comply with the program than for larger companies.
Understandably, there is a difference between a company employing two people and the McDonald’s down the street. However, a line can’t be drawn to give small businesses an exemption to the plan either. If a federal leave benefit program affects people working at large businesses, it must also apply to employees at small businesses.
Imagine finding out your wife is terminally ill, and because you happened to work for a small business, instead of a larger company, you wouldn’t be allowed to take time off or receive financial benefits. It just doesn’t work that way. The plan has to affect everyone, not just a chosen few.
Critics argue that taking advantage of the plan is possible. However, people don’t tend to lie about their family members being terminally ill. This seems like a no-brainer.
Taking advantage of the program seems next to impossible. The employee must present a medical certificate as proof that their family member needs care and support and is at risk of dying within 26 weeks.
The Compassionate Care Program has no small price tag either. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada is estimating it will cost $1.5 billion a year to run the program. However, compared to their estimate of $2.4 billion a year in lost productivity of people caring for a sick or dying loved one, it starts to look more feasible.
Very few businesses in Centretown even know the program exists. It has been reported about in the media across the country. This is in addition to government communication.
If small businesses want to be aware of which new programs will affect them, they must proactively find out — not simply wait until a press release falls into their lap.
The Compassionate Care Program is a program which is long overdue. Employees should be able to tend to their dying loved ones, without having to worry about losing their job, and they should receive benefits.
It’s called “compassion” for a reason.