Maternity, Pregnancy, Parental and Personal Emergency Leaves from work
Pregnancy, Parental and Maternity Leave
By global standards, Canadians enjoy some of the best provincial and federal laws permitting birth mothers, the other parent and adoptive parents time off with newborns with some income.
In most cases, an employee in Ontario has the right to return to their job after a pregnancy, maternity or parental leave.
For people in Ontario, the rights to return to work and to the time off is set out in the provincial Employment Standards Act and the replacement income is through the Federal Employment Insurance regime. You may check if you qualify for Federal Employment Insurance.
This does not mean all employees or employers are aware of these rights or that all employers obey them. It also does not mean the parent wishes to return to work when the allowed leave is over.
Recent amendments to the Ontario Employment Standards Act which became law on January 1, 2018:
- increased the number of weeks of a parental leave from 35 to 61 (or from 37 to 63 if the employees also took pregnancy leave);
- increased the number of weeks of leave in a miscarriage from 6 to 12;
- increased the start date for parental leave to 12 from 6 weeks after the birth of the child for the birth parent.
WARNING: However the new PC / Ford government is making major changes to the Employment Standards Act, which may significantly change or roll back these new provisions.
Generally, an employer is prohibited from not giving an employee back their previous job following a birth, a miscarriage or a parental leave. Furthermore, an employer cannot penalize an employee because the employee takes or plans to take a maternity, parental or pregnancy leave.
When every attempt is made to provide helpful information in this website, you may not rely on the information above as legal advice.