Do I Get Paid For Leave of Absence in Ontario?
For provincially regulated employees, the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the “ESA”) provides for entitlements to leave from your job, for various reasons, including but not limited to pregnancy leave, parental leave, organ donor leave, domestic or sexual violence leave, sick leave, family responsibility leave, and reservist leave.
The ESA also requires that periods of leave are included when calculating an employee’s length of service when it impacts rights or entitlements, such as seniority perks.
Do I get paid for leave of absence in Ontario?
Most of these leaves are unpaid, except for domestic and sexual violence leave, which provides 10 days and 15 weeks per year of leave, with 5 of those 10 days of leave being paid. It should be noted that even if an ESA leave is unpaid, there might be other ways to receive pay during the leaves. For example, while parental and pregnancy leaves are unpaid, those employees are generally eligible for EI benefits during those periods, which are administered federally.
Even if many of the available leaves are unpaid, employees’ rights to them must be upheld. An employee cannot be prevented from taking such leaves, and employers cannot engage in reprisal against employees for trying to enforce their rights under the ESA. Firing an employee for non-related reasons on paper is not enough to whitewash the ESA violation against them either.
How does sick leave work in Ontario?
One of the most commonly brought-up leaves is sick leave. While the ESA only provides for three protected unpaid sick days per year, this is not the end of the story. While this is the bare minimum protected by the ESA, employers often do allow for more, though they might be more likely to require medical notes for more sick days.
Even then, an employer’s decision to terminate an employee for taking more sick days could be found to be discriminatory and in violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code. Further, though sick leave is unpaid through the ESA, employees often have short-term disability benefits from their employment that gives them a source of income during sick leaves. If an employee does not receive such benefits from their employment, then they are often entitled to similar EI sickness benefits while they recover.
Why contacting an employment lawyer makes sense to understand your rights regarding on leave of absence from work?
The Ontario government helpfully breaks down the types of protected leaves the ESA provides online. However, working through the nuances of each one can be confusing. As discussed above, there is often also an intersection with other laws and entitlements that mean you might be entitled to more than what appears at first glance.
Leaves of absence tend to coincide with stressful life experiences. If you are asking yourself, do I get paid for a leave of absence in Ontario? An experienced employment lawyer can walk you through your rights to get through those tough times, including whether you get paid or not. If you have any questions regarding your entitlements to leaves under the ESA or otherwise, please contact Whitten & Lublin online or by phone at (416) 640-2667 today.
Author – Sohrab Naderi