Personal Leave (paid and unpaid)
As an employee, you are entitled to up to 5 days of personal leave per calendar year to:
- take care of health obligations for any member of your family or care for them
- take care of obligations related to the education of any family member under age 18
- manage any urgent situation that concerns you or a family member
- attend your citizenship ceremony under the Citizenship Act, or
- manage any other situation prescribed by regulation
You can take this leave over more than 1 period, however your employer may require that each period be at least 1 day.
Your employer may request that you provide supporting documents concerning the reasons for the leave. Your employer may request this up to 15 days after your return to work. You must provide supporting documents if it is possible to obtain and provide them.
Paid Personal Leave
If you have 3 consecutive months of continuous employment with the same employer, the first 3 days of leave are paid. If your salary varies from one day to another or you receive pay on a basis other than an hourly rate, you must receive the average of your daily earnings, exclusive of overtime hours, for the 20 days you have worked immediately before the first day of leave.
Medical leave with pay (new as of December 1, 2022)
As an employee, you are entitled to up to 10 days of medical leave with pay per year for:
- illness or injury
- organ or tissue donation
- attending medical appointments, or
- quarantine
You are entitled to take medical leave with pay when your employer:
- schedules you to work, or
- expects you to be available for work
You cannot take medical leave with pay on a day your employer does not schedule or expect you to be available for work. Your employer must pay you for each day of medical leave with pay that you take at your regular rate of wages for your normal hours of work. That pay is for all purposes considered to be wages. You may take medical leave with pay in 1 or more periods. However, your employer may require that each period of leave be not less than 1 day’s duration.
Earning your medical leave with pay
You will earn medical leave with pay after you complete an initial 30-day qualifying period of continuous employment with your employer.
After completing your initial 30-day qualifying period, you will earn your first 3 days of medical leave with pay. After receiving your first 3 days, you will earn 1 further day at the start of each month after completing 1 month of continuous employment, up to a maximum of 10 days per year . Any days of medical leave with pay that you do not take in a year will be carried over to the beginning of the new year up to a maximum of 10 days. In other words, any unused days will count toward the maximum of 10 days that you can earn during the year.
Below are 2 examples of when you will have access to your medical leave with pay.
Example 1: If you are an employee as of December 1, 2022
After completing 30 days of continuous employment, you will receive 3 days of medical leave with pay. This means that you will have access to your first 3 days of medical leave with pay as of December 31, 2022. Afterwards, you will earn 1 day of medical leave with pay at the beginning of each month following a completed month of employment, up to a maximum of 10 days per year. This means you will have access to your 4th day of medical leave with pay on February 1, 2023, your 5th day on March 1, 2023, etc.
Example 2: If you start working as an employee on January 25, 2023
After completing 30 days of continuous employment, you will receive 3 days of medical leave with pay. This means that you will have access to your first 3 days of medical leave with pay as of February 24, 2023. Afterwards, you will earn 1 day of medical leave with pay at the beginning of each month following a completed month of employment, up to a maximum of 10 days per year. This means you will have access to your 4th day of medical leave with pay on April 1, 2023, your 5th day on May 1, 2023, etc.
For more information please review the CLC website
Medical leave (paid and unpaid) and leave for work-related illness and injury (unpaid)
