Ontario, like all Canadian provinces, has various statutory leaves for the purposes of family care, sickness, maternity, and parental, as well as other miscellaneous leave types such as jury duty, bereavement, and domestic violence leave. These leave types are generally covered under the province’s employment standards law.

Once provincial leave and company policy has exhausted, employers may have an obligation to provide accommodations under the Human Rights Code (HRC). Employers have this obligation for medical leaves and may also be obligated for family care leaves. The HRC laws are similar to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the United States, however the HRC is provided at the provincial level, and not the federal level.

The Larkin Company’s standard process is to agree to a period of time that we can approve medical and or family care leaves with doctor’s certification. After the agreed period of time, clients may then conduct their own interactive process to determine if they are able to accommodate further leave extensions. The Larkin Company does not engage in the interactive process for Canada accommodations. Where available, we have included a link to guidance on the Human Rights Code within our “Resources” section below.

The leave income replacement benefits for Ontario residents are called Employment Insurance (EI benefits). They are provided at the federal level through Service Canada, a department of the Canadian government. They cover medical, maternity, parental, and family care leaves.

Note: Employers may have an obligation to provide pay to the employee directly for certain leave types.

For an overview of the leave types (and income replacement benefits that may apply) in this province, please see the resource below in “Leave Types, Benefit Amounts and Durations”.

Federal Employment Insurance (EI) benefits are funded by employee and employer contributions. You can find the applicable EI contribution information here.

In the US, leave laws require that you notify your employees about their rights under the law, such as by providing a prescribed notice to new hires, displaying a poster in the workplace, and/or including information about that leave law in your company handbook.

There is no such formal requirement to notify employees of leave or leave income replacement benefits (e.g. Federal Employment Insurance and Quebec Parental Insurance Plan) in Canada.

However, for best practice, we do recommend including information about the provincial leave laws available (based on the provinces your employees work in). For example, including information about the leave types available and how the employee can go about requesting leave. We also recommend including information about Federal Employment Insurance (EI) benefits available and how to apply, in addition to any company pay available (e.g. salary continuation or STD). Larkin will also inform employees of their rights when they request a family, medical, maternity, parental or military leave.

Recommended Resources

Click here – to access a Canada Summary table for an overview of the leave types and durations available in each province.
Click here – to access a deep dive into the income replacements benefits in Canada

In the US, when an employee files for benefits with a leave income replacement program (e.g. California SDI and PFL), employers are required to provide supporting information, including the employee’s last day worked, employment history, and which forms of pay the employee is receiving while on leave. This option is referred to as an Employer Statement.

Similarly, in Canada, as an employer you are required to issue a Record of Employment (ROE) each time one of your Canadian employees experiences an interruption of earnings. Service Canada uses the information on the ROE to determine whether a person is eligible to receive EI benefits. An ROE is also required for Quebec employees eligible for QPIP.

The same (federal) form is used for Quebec employees, and can be provided to Service Canada also. Service Canada will forward the form onto the Quebec government.

For more information about the ROE or help on how to avoid common mistakes, we recommend this guide on How to Complete the ROE form

Leave

Ontario Employment Standard (ESA):

• Law https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/00e41
• Regulations https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/00e41#regulations
• Guide – https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0

Income Replacement

Please see the Canada Overview Page to find links to EI and QPIP laws and guides.