legal words
New Leave of Absence Provisions
under the Employment Standards Act
UNDERSTANDING THE NEW TYPES OF LEAVE FOR FAMILIES
By Michael Donsky
On April 29, 2014, the Employment Standards Amendments
Act (Leaves to Help Families), 2014, passed third reading
in the Ontario legislature. As such, three new types of
leaves of absence come into effect under the Employment
Standards Act, 2000 (the “Act”), starting October 29, 2014.
According to Kevin Flynn, the Minister of Labour, “The one
thing working Ontarians need most when it comes to caring for se-riously
ill or injured family members is time to be with their loved
ones.” In order to satisfy that need, the Government of Ontario
IT WILL BE IMPORTANT TO
UNDERSTAND WHAT IS PROVIDED
BY THESE NEW TYPES OF LEAVE,
WHO MAY QUALIFY FOR THEM
AND HOW THEY INTERACT
WITH THE EXISTING LEAVE
PROVISIONS UNDER THE ACT.
Terekhov Igor/Shutterstock
has established three new types of leave. It will be up to HR pro-fessionals
to make these new leaves work in practice.
As with the other types of leave provided under the Act, these
new types of leaves are provided for under Part XIV of the Act
and are all leaves given without pay. The types of leave coming into
effect October 29, 2014 are:
■■ Family Caregiver Leave
■■ Critically Ill Child Care Leave
■■ Crime-Related Child Death or Disappearance Leave
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ OCTOBER 2014 ❚ 15