Most workers in British Columbia are able to take a variety of different types of job-protected leaves of absence from their positions without fearing for their job security. While some leave types entitle a worker to receive pay through employment insurance, most types of job-protected leaves are unpaid.
During an employee’s leave, their employer is responsible to maintain their position and job and afford that employee all of the rights they would receive regularly, but they are not expected to pay that employee during their time away. If you feel like your right to take job-protected leave from your position is not being respected by your employer, make sure to reach out to the employment lawyers at Linley Welwood.
What are the Different Types of Job-Protected Leaves?
Each of the different types of job-protected leaves have different standards applied to them and operate in different ways. It is important to find out as much as possible about the kind of leave that you need to take to ensure that you and your employer are protected. Some of the different types of leaves that an employee can take without needing to worry about losing their employment include:
Personal Illness or Injury Leave
If you are sick or injured and need to take a few days off work in order to get better, the Employment Standards Act ensures that you are entitled to up to three days of unpaid time off each year. If an extended amount of time is needed for recovery, this will need to be negotiated with your employer.
Maternity or Parental Leave
New parents are entitled to maternity and parental leave, during which they can usually expect a portion of their salary to be covered by employment insurance.
Family Responsibility Leave
Employees are entitled to take up to five days of leave per year in order to aid in the care and education of a minor dependant.
Critical Illness or Injury Leave, Compassionate Care Leave
Certain types of leave are granted for those who need to care for a family member who has an injury or illness that has been deemed as critical or terminal.
Bereavement Leave
The death of an immediate family member entitles an employee to take up to 3 days off. These days off do not have to be consecutive or take place on the days of a funeral. The employee also does not need to give forward notice of these days.
Leave Respecting the Disappearance of a Child and Leave Respecting the Death of a Child
If a child in the care of an employee goes missing or dies, that employee is entitled to a set amount of time off of work without the added stress of needing to worry about losing their job. This is typically to be taken as unpaid leave. The details of the time off can be worked out with the employer so that the situation can work as well as possible for both parties.
Other Types of Job-Protected Leave
Some of the other types of job protected leaves for which BC outlines minimum standards include:
- COVID-19 leave
- Leave respecting domestic or sexual violence
- Reservists’ leave
- Jury duty leave
If you need to find out more about the different types of job protected leaves and how they affect your employment or if you feel like your rights as an employee are being infringed upon, make sure to contact a qualified employment lawyer like the ones at Linley Welwood.