DIVISION VIII — Bereavement Leave

Except when subsection (1.01) applies, every employee is entitled to and shall be granted, in the event of the death of a member of their immediate family or a family member in respect of whom the employee is, at the time of the death, on leave under section 206.3 or 206.4, a leave of absence from employment of up to 10 days that may be taken during the period that begins on the day on which the death occurs and ends six weeks after the latest of the days on which any funeral, burial or memorial service of that deceased person occurs.

Employee entitled — child

Every employee is entitled to and shall be granted, in the event of the death of a child of the employee or the death of a child of their spouse or common-law partner, a leave of absence from employment of up to eight weeks that may be taken during the period that begins on the day on which the death occurs and ends 12 weeks after the latest of the days on which any funeral, burial or memorial service of the child occurs.

Definition of child

In subsection (1.01), child means

Extension

At the request of the employee, the employer may extend, in writing, the period during which the leave of absence from employment may be taken.

Division of leave

The leave of absence may be taken in one or two periods. The employer may require that any period of leave be of not less than one day’s duration.

Notice to employer

Every employee who takes the leave of absence shall, as soon as possible, provide the employer with a notice in writing of the beginning of any period of leave of absence, the reasons for the leave and the length of the leave that they intend to take.

Notice — change in length of leave

Every employee who is on the leave of absence shall, as soon as possible, provide the employer with a notice in writing of any change in the length of the leave that they intend to take.

Notice — leave of more than four weeks

If the length of the leave of absence is more than four weeks, the notice in writing of any change in the length of the leave shall be provided on at least four weeks’ notice, unless there is a valid reason why that cannot be done.

Return to work postponed

If an employee who takes the leave of absence for more than four weeks wishes to shorten the length of the leave but does not provide the employer with four weeks’ notice, the employer may postpone the employee’s return to work for a period of up to four weeks after the day on which the employee informs the employer of the new end date of the leave. If the employer informs the employee that their return to work is postponed, the employee is not entitled to return to work until the day that is indicated by the employer.

Deemed part of leave

The period of the postponement is deemed to be part of the leave.

Bereavement leave with pay

If the employee has completed three consecutive months of continuous employment with the employer, the employee is entitled to the first three days of the leave with pay at their regular rate of wages for their normal hours of work, and such pay shall for all purposes be considered to be wages.

[Repealed, 2024, c. 15, s. 201]

Application of section 189

Section 189 applies for the purposes of this Division.

An employee who takes a leave of absence from employment under this Division is entitled to be reinstated in the position that the employee occupied when the leave of absence commenced, and the employer of the employee shall reinstate the employee in that position at the end of the leave.

Comparable position

If for any valid reason an employer cannot reinstate an employee in the position referred to in subsection (1), the employer shall reinstate the employee in a comparable position with the same wages and benefits and in the same location.

Wages and benefits affected by reorganization

If an employee takes leave under this Division and, during the period of that leave, the wages and benefits of the group of employees of which that employee is a member are changed as part of a plan to reorganize the industrial establishment in which that group is employed, that employee is entitled, on being reinstated in employment under this section, to receive the wages and benefits in respect of that employment that the employee would have been entitled to receive had they been working when the reorganization took place.

Notice of changes in wages and benefits

The employer of every employee who is on a leave of absence under this Division and whose wages and benefits would be changed as a result of a reorganization referred to in subsection (3) shall notify the employee in writing of that change as soon as possible.

The pension, health and disability benefits and the seniority of any employee who takes a leave of absence from employment under this Division accumulate during the entire period of the leave.

Contributions by employee

If contributions are required from an employee in order for the employee to be entitled to a benefit referred to in subsection (1), the employee is responsible for and shall, within a reasonable time, pay those contributions for the period of any leave of absence under this Division unless, before or within a reasonable time after taking the leave, the employee notifies the employer of the employee’s intention to discontinue contributions during that period.

Contributions by employer

An employer who pays contributions in respect of a benefit referred to in subsection (1) shall continue to pay those contributions during an employee’s leave of absence under this Division in at least the same proportion as if the employee were not on leave unless the employee does not pay the employee’s contributions, if any, within a reasonable time.

Failure to pay contributions

For the purposes of calculating the pension, health and disability benefits of an employee in respect of whom contributions have not been paid as required under subsections (2) and (3), the benefits do not accumulate during the leave of absence and employment on the employee’s return to work is deemed to be continuous with employment before the employee’s absence.

Deemed continuous employment

For the purposes of calculating benefits, other than benefits referred to in subsection (1), of an employee who takes a leave of absence under this Division, employment on the employee’s return to work is deemed to be continuous with employment before the employee’s absence.