The Canada Labour Code has seen changes to the provisions for a Personal Leave of Absence. In the past an employee was entitled to take a Personal Leave of Absence to attend a regular medical appointment. This entitlement has been moved to the Canada Labour Code medical leave provisions. The details are found below. Once again, if you need guidance about this leave, we encourage you to reach out to your local office.
MEDICAL LEAVE
When an employee can take medical leave with pay
Any employee may take medical leave with pay for any of the following reasons:
- personal illness or injury of the employee
- organ or tissue donation from the employee
- medical appointments for the employee during working hours
- quarantine of the employee
Employees are entitled to take medical leave with pay when their employer:
- schedules them to work, or
- reasonably expects them to be available for assigned work.
The Regulations came into force on December 1, 2022. The Canada Labour Code provides 10 days for medical leave. Our collective agreement provides for 12 days of sick leave, which is a greater benefit. There is no ability to “stack” this sick time.
(iii) the employer does not require the employee to provide a medical note if the employee is absent for fewer than five consecutive days
(iv) the employee is entitled to:
(a) receive their regular rate of wages for each day of the leave
(b) maintain and accumulate pension, health, and disability benefits, as well as seniority, during the leave
(c) be reinstated after the end of the leave
If you have any impediments to being granted this leave, please reach out to your local office. We have an open policy grievance on this issue and specific examples can be helpful to have. It helps us to know what is happening and how these provisions are being applied by the company.