The Impact of the Fair Workplaces Act on Pregnancy and Parental Leave
Earlier this year we blogged about the proposed changes to the Employment Insurance Act which would allow new parents to receive their employment insurance benefits over 18 months instead of 12 months during their pregnancy and parental leave.
On November 9, 2017 the federal government implemented these proposals.
Although legislative changes were made to the Canada Labour Code to accommodate the changes to the Employment Insurance Act, comparable changes were not made to the Employment Standards Act. As a result, employees who were provincially regulated were unable to access the increased pregnancy and parental leave, and the associated employment insurance benefits.
Since about 90% of employees are provincially regulated, the provincial governments were required to change their employment standards legislation to allow employees to take an 18 month leave of absence. As a result, on November 27, 2017 the provincial government passed the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 which incorporated an extended pregnancy and parental leave. These changes will come into effect on December 3, 2017 and will allow new mothers in provincially regulated workplaces to take up to an 18 month unpaid leave of absence.
Lesson to Employers:
With the passing of The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017, there are many provisions such as the above change to pregnancy and parental leave which come into effect as early as December 3, 2017. MacLeod Law Firm offers a fixed fee service for employers who need help complying with these changes.
The material and information in this blog and this website are for general information only. They should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. The authors make no claims, promises, or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of any information referred to in this blog or its links. No person should act or refrain from acting in reliance on any information found on this website or blog. Readers should obtain appropriate professional advice from a lawyer duly licensed in the relevant jurisdiction. These materials do not create a lawyer-client relationship between you and any of the authors or the MacLeod Law Firm.
Recent Posts
Severance Pay Calculation Under Employment Standards Act based on Ontario Payroll says OLRB
Under section 64 of the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”), an employee with five years’ service is entitled to one week severance pay for each year of service (to a maximum of 26 weeks) in addition to notice of termination if “the employer has a payroll of $2.5 million...
read more30 months and counting
As we have written before, a wrongful dismissal occurs when an employee is terminated without just cause and the employer does not provide adequate notice of termination. An employee can claim damages equal to the remuneration the employee would have earned during the...
read moreTemporary Layoff Update: Can An Employee Refuse a Recall?
Contrary to popular belief, a temporary layoff usually constitutes a wrongful dismissal which requires an employer to pay the laid off employee termination pay. This general rule does not apply in all situations such as when your employment contract states that the...
read more