Sunday, August 14, 2022

Leaves of Absence—What You Need to Know

Information about leaves of absences that you can apply for to your employer are listed in your collective agreement and include bereavement leave, personal leave, and maternity and parental leaves.

In addition to leaves of absences listed in your collective agreement, additional personal leaves are available under employment standards legislation that you can request. These include leaves for

• Compassionate care;

• Long term illness;

• Death, disappearance, critical illness of a child;

• Domestic violence leave;

• Citizenship ceremony leave; and

• Up to five days of unpaid leave per calendar year where that leave is necessary for the employee’s health or for the employee to meet family responsibilities.

For more information, please see your collective agreement and the Alberta Employment Standards Code.

Please keep in mind that for some leaves of absence, pay is available through Employment Insurance. These include maternity and parental leave, compassionate care leave (up to 26 weeks), parents of critically ill children leave (up to 35 weeks), and sickness benefit (up to 15 weeks). The sickness benefit is particularly helpful for those who do not have access to a short term disability plan.

For more details, please see Employment Insurance at canada.ca.

Leaves of Absence—What You Need to Know

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