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Information on
LABOUR STANDARDS
5
Maternity-Related Reassignment
and Leave, Maternity Leave
andParental Leave
LT-173-12-17E
Part III of the Canada Labour Code (Labour Standards)
The Canada Labour Code provides for maternity-related reassignment and leave, maternity leave,
andparental leave.
The following questions and answers will be of interest to employers and employees under federal
jurisdiction. Publication 1 of this series describes the types of businesses covered by the Code.
Itisavailable on the Government of Canada website at https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-
social-development/services/labour-standards/reports.html.
1 What is meant by “maternity-related reassignment”
and“jobmodification”?
An employee who is pregnant or nursing may request that the employer modify her job functions
or reassign her to another job if continuing any of her current job functions may pose a risk to her
health or that of her fetus or nursing child. This request must be accompanied by a certicate from
a qualied medical practitioner indicating how long the risk is likely to last and what activities
orconditions should be avoided in order to eliminate the risk.
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2 What is the employer’s obligation in such a case?
An employer must examine the request in consultation with the employee and, where reasonably
practicable, modify the employee’s job functions or reassign her.
An employee who has made a request for a reassignment or job modication is entitled to leave
with pay while the employer is examining her request and until the employer modies her job
function, reassigns her or informs her that it is not reasonably practicable to modify her job
functions or reassign her.
Where a reassignment or a job modication is not reasonably practicable, an employee may take
an unpaid leave of absence for the duration of the risk as indicated in the medical certicate.
An employee who is pregnant or nursing is entitled to an unpaid leave of absence during
theperiod from the beginning of the pregnancy to the end of the twenty-fourth week following
the birth, if she provides the employer with a certicate of a medical practitioner of her choice
indicating that she is unable to work by reason of the pregnancy or nursing and indicating
theduration of that inability.
For further details, please refer to Division VII of Part III of the Canada Labour Code.
3 Can the employer require a pregnant or nursing employee
to continue to work in a hazardous environment until
theemployee produces a medical certificate?
Part II of the Canada Labour Code (Occupational Health and Safety) enables the pregnant
ornursing employee to cease to perform her job if she feels there is a risk to her health
orthatof the fœtus or child, until a medical certicate can be obtained.
For further details, please consult Pregnant and Nursing Employees (Publication 5 –
Healthand Safety) in the Occupational Health and Safety series and Division VII of Part III
ofthe Canada Labour Code.
4 Who is entitled to maternity leave?
Female employees, including managers and professionals, who have completed six consecutive
months of continuous employment before their leave begins.
5 Who is entitled to parental leave?
Natural or adoptive parents, including managers and professionals, who have completed
sixconsecutive months of continuous employment before their leave begins.
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6 By six months of continuous employment, do you mean
anemployee must not have been absent from work during
six months to be eligible for leave?
No. Absences that are not terminations of the employer-employee relationship do not interrupt
continuity of employment.
7 How much leave is provided for under the Code?
The Code provides for up to 17 weeks of maternity leave. In addition, an employee who assumes
actual care of a newborn or newly adopted child is entitled to parental leave of up to 63 weeks.
However, the total duration of the maternity and the parental leaves must not exceed 78 weeks.
Note that there is an exception to these maximum leave durations – see answer to question 17.
8 Can both parents take parental leave?
Yes. If they both work for an employer falling under the jurisdiction of the Code, the two parents
are entitled to combined parental leave of up to 63 weeks. Parents have the option of taking their
parental leave at the same time, or one after the other, as long as the total combined parental
leave does not exceed 63 weeks. Also, the 78 week combined maternity and parental leave
limitation stated in the answer to question 7 above applies.
9 Must both parents work for the same employer to combine
parental leave?
No. Provided the employers are under the jurisdiction of Part III of the Code, even if they are
two separate employers, the two employees must combine their parental leave.
10 Can an employee take both maternity and parental leave?
Yes. An employee may take parental leave after completing her maternity leave, subject
tothemaximum combined amount of leave that may be taken by both parents.
11 When can leave be taken?
The 17 week maternity leave may be taken any time during the period that begins 13 weeks
before the expected date of delivery and ends 17 weeks after the actual delivery date.
For maternity leave, the employee must also provide the employer with a certicate
fromaqualied medical practitioner conrming that she is pregnant.
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Parental leave may be taken any time during the 78 week period starting the day the child
isborn or the day the child comes into the employee’s care. These periods can be extended
insome cases (see answers to questions 15 and 16).
12 What must an employee do to obtain leave?
An employee must give the employer written notice at least four weeks before beginning either
maternity or parental leave. The notice must advise the employer of the intended length of leave.
13 Must an employee have completed six months of continuous
employment before applying for leave?
No. An employee may apply prior to having completed six months of employment, but leave
cannot begin until six months of employment are completed.
14 Can an employer compel an employee to take maternity leave?
No. A pregnant employee cannot be required to take leave unless her employer can show
thatshe is unable to perform an essential function of her job.
15 Can maternity leave be interrupted?
Yes. The maternity leave can be interrupted if the employee’s child is hospitalized shortly
afterbirth.
In this situation, with the consent of the employer, the employee can interrupt the leave and
temporarily return to work. The period within which maternity leave may be taken is extended
by the number of weeks the child is hospitalized. However, maternity leave must end no more
than 52 weeks after the date of delivery.
16 Can maternity leave be extended?
Yes. The maternity leave can be extended up to the day on which the child is born if the birth
has not occurred within the 17-week leave period.
17 Can parental leave be interrupted?
Yes. The parental leave can be interrupted if the employee’s child is hospitalized shortly after
birth or adoption. In this situation, with the consent of the employer, the employee can interrupt
the leave and temporarily return to work.
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It is also possible for an employee to interrupt his or her parental leave to take compassionate
care leave, leave related to critical illness of a child, leave related to death or disappearance of a
child, sick leave, work-related illness or injury leave, or reservist leave (except for the purposes of
annual training). In such a case, parental leave resumes immediately after the other leave ends.
The period within which parental leave may be taken (as described in the answer to question 11)
is extended by the number of weeks during which the child is hospitalized or during which the
employee takes one of the other leaves mentioned above. However, parental leave must end
nolater than 104 weeks after the day on which the child is born or comes into the employee’s
actual care.
18 What must an employee do in order to return to work during
the hospitalization of his or her child?
An employee who intends to return to work, as a result of the hospitalization of his or her child,
must give the employer a written notice of the requested leave interruption, as soon as possible.
The employer must advise the employee in writing, within a week of receiving the notice,
ofhisor her decision to accept or refuse the employee’s request to return to work.
If the employer accepts the request to interrupt the leave, he or she may ask the employee,
within 15 days of the return to work, to provide a medical certicate conrming that the child
ishospitalized. An employee who has temporarily returned to work must also provide the
employer with a written notice as soon as possible of the date on which the leave will resume.
If the employer refuses the employee’s request to return to work or does not advise the employee
within a week, the employee’s leave can be extended by the number of weeks during which the
child is hospitalized (this also increases the combined maximum amount of maternity and parental
leave that can be taken by both parents). However, regardless of the duration of the hospitalization,
maternity leave must end no more than 52 weeks after the date of delivery and parental leave
must end no later than 104 weeks after the day on which the child is born or comes into
theemployee’s actual care.
19 What must an employee do if parental leave is interrupted
totake another leave?
An employee, who intends to interrupt the parental leave, must give the employer a written
notice of the interruption before or as soon as possible after it begins. The employee must also
give the employer a written notice of the day on which he or she intends to resume the parental
leave, before or as soon as possible after that day.
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20 What happens to the employee’s job upon return
frommaternity leave or parental leave?
As a general rule, the employee must be reinstated in her or his former position, or be given
acomparable position in the same location and with the same wages and benets.
However, an employee who has interrupted his or her parental leave to take compassionate care
leave, leave related to critical illness of a child, leave related to death or disappearance of a child,
sick leave, work-related illness or injury leave, or reservist leave is subject to the reinstatement
conditions that apply to these leaves. For example, an employee who has resumed parental leave
after taking a sick leave can be assigned to a different position, with different terms and conditions
of employment, if he or she is no longer able to perform the work performed prior to taking the leave.
21 Could an employee ever receive lower pay upon returning
towork?
Yes. If, during a leave period, the wages and benets of a group of employees are reduced as
part of a reorganization plan, an employee who is reinstated in that group will receive no more
than the wages and benets she or he would have received if she or he had been at work during
the reorganization.
Likewise, if wages and benets for the employee’s group are increased during leave,
theemployee would be entitled to the increases upon return to work.
22 Do pension, health and disability benefits and the seniority
of the employee accumulate during leave?
Yes. These benets continue during the leave period provided an employee pays any
contributions she or he would normally have paid. Likewise, the accumulation of seniority
continues during the absence.
23 What if an employee chooses not to pay normal
contributions related to pension, health and disability
benefits for the leave period?
Non-payment of contributions for the leave period has no impact on the employee’s employment
status. These benets may lapse during the leave period, but employment upon reinstatement
is considered to be continuous with employment before the leave, for purposes of calculating
future benets.
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24 Is the employer required to continue its contributions
tothe pension, health and disability benefits plan while
theemployee is on leave?
Yes. The employer must pay at least the same share of contributions as if the employee
werenot on leave, unless the employee does not pay her or his contributions.
25 Is an employee on leave entitled to receive information
about opportunities for training and promotion?
Yes. On the written request of the employee, employers must inform employees who are away
on leave of every employment, training opportunities or promotion that arise during the period
of leave.
26 Can an employer dismiss or lay off an employee because
she is pregnant or has applied for or intends to apply
formaternity, maternity-related reassignment or leave
orparental leave?
No. An employer may not dismiss, suspend, layoff, demote or discipline an employee
becauseshe is pregnant or has applied for or intends to apply for maternity or parental leave,
maternity-related reassignment or leave or modication of her job functions. An employer
cannot take pregnancy into account in any decision to promote or train an employee.
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27 When a collective agreement does not provide for maternity
or parental leave, is the employer still obliged to grant it?
Yes, provided the employee meets the requirements of the Code.
How Maternity and Parental Leave Available Under Part III of the
CanadaLabourCode(CLC) Compares with Maternity and Parental Benefits
undertheEmployment Insurance Act (EI).
Scenario Part III CLC Leave EI Benefits
Only parental leave taken
(e.g. in cases of adoption or
where mother does not take
maternity leave)
63 weeks of parental leave** A one week non-payable
waiting period* plus either up
to 35 or 61 weeks of parental
benets for a potential
62weeks in total time.
Only maternity leave taken 17 weeks of maternity leave** A one week non-payable
waiting period plus 15 weeks
of maternity benets for
16weeks in total time.
Both maternity and parental
leave taken
Up to 17 weeks of maternity
leave and up to 63 weeks of
parental leave with a legislative
cap of 78 weeks of combined
maternity and parental leave**
A one week non-payable
waiting period* plus 15 weeks
of maternity benets plus
either a potential 35 or
61weeks of parental benets
for 77 weeks in total time.
* If both parents share the parental benets, only one, one week waiting period applies.
** An employee does not have to collect EI maternity and/or parental benets to be eligible
to take Part III maternity and/or parental leave.
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This publication is provided for information purposes only. For interpretation and application purposes,
please refer to Part III of the Canada Labour Code (Labour Standards), the Canada Labour Standards
Regulations, and relevant amendments.
Information about these provisions may be obtained from the Labour Program by calling toll free
at1-800-641-4049, by visiting the website at https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-
development/programs/employment-standards/federal-standards.html or by submitting
yourquestions or comments through the Labour Program Contact Us form.
Information on Labour Standards 5 –
Maternity-Related Reassignment and Leave,
Maternity Leave and Parental Leave
This publication is available for download at
canada.ca/publicentre-ESDC.
It is also available upon request in multiple formats
(large print, Braille, audio CD, e-text CD, or DAISY),
bycontacting 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232).
Byteletypewriter (TTY), call 1-800-926-9105.
©Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2017
For information regarding reproduction rights:
droitdauteur[email protected].
PDF
Cat. No.: Em7-1/5-2018E-PDF
ISBN: 978-0-660-24122-7
ESDC
Cat. No.: LT-173-12-17E