Payroll and Benefits Guide Canada – Ontario

Annual Leave (vacation)

In Ontario, under the Employment Standards Act employees are entitled to vacation days based on service length:

• less than five years of employment are entitled to 2weeks of vacation time after each 12-month vacation entitlement year.
• Employees with five or more years of employment are entitled to 3 weeks of vacation time.

Ordinarily, a vacation entitlement year is a recurring 12-month period beginning on the date of hire.

Employees are also entitled to vacation pay based on service length:

• For employees with less than five years of employment, vacation pay must be at least 4% of the gross wages (excluding any vacation pay) earned in the 12-month vacation entitlement year.
• For Employees with five or more years of employment, vacation pay must be at least 6% of the gross wages earned in the 12-month vacation entitlement year.

Vacation must be used within 10 months after completing the accrual year. The employer has an obligation to ensure the vacation time is scheduled and taken before the end of that 10-month period and can even dictate when the holiday  can be scheduled.

PTO Carryover

Note:

• For Papaya Direct, this varies by province; it’s allowed if going above and beyond the minimums but the policy must be reviewed by HR. Employees cannot skip taking vacation time that is mandated by law. Vacation that’s over and above the minimum entitlements can be carried over as per client policy.
• For People2.0, there is no carryover.

Public Holidays

When public holidays fall on a weekend it is customary to give off in lieu.

Employees that work on a statutory public holiday are paid premium pay of 150% of the regular hourly salary rate plus a substitue day off or an additional daily salary paid out.

Sick Days

Sick leave entitlement in Ontario depends on whether the employee falls under provincial or federal regulation, and whether they qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits.

• Regulated workers under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act are entitled to take up to 3 days of unpaid job protected sick leave per calendar year due to a personal illness, injury or medical emergency. Employees must have completed at least 2 consecutive weeks of service to be eligible. Unused sick leave days do not carryover into to the next calendar year. Employers are prohibited from requiring employees to provide a certificate from a qualified health practitioner in order to take sick leave. Additional information can be found on the Government of Ontario website.
• Federally regulated workers are entitled under the Canada Labour Code to receive up to 10 days paid sick leave per year. These 10 days paid sick leave is accrued during the year after an initial 30-day qualifying period of continuous employment has been completed.  Following this qualifying period, workers earn the first 3 days of paid medical leave. Following this, workers earn 1 further day of paid sick leave at the start of each month after completing 1 month of continuous employment until a maximum of 10 days paid sick leave per year has been accrued. Any days of medical leave with pay that are not taken within the year will be carried over to the beginning of the new year up to a maximum of 10 days. More details and eligibility criteria can be found on the Government of Canada website.
• Regardless of jurisdiction, workers may also qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits, which are administered federally. These benefits are available to employees who are unable to work due to medical reasons and meet the eligibility criteria. EI sickness benefits provide 55% of average weekly earnings, up to 695 CAD per week, for a maximum of 26 weeks. To qualify, employees typically need 600 insured hours worked in the 52 weeks prior to illness and must submit a medical certificate. More information can be found on the Government of Canada website.

Maternity Leave

In Canada, Maternity and Parental leave rights are set out through the nationwide Employment Insurance (EI) program, which is applied across all provinces and entitles eligible mothers to take up to 15 weeks of maternity leave with income support. For Federally regulated employees and industries, up to 17 weeks maternity leave can be taken. During this period, eligible employees will receive maternity benefits equal to 55% of their earnings, up to a maximum of 695 CAD per week. To receive this benefit, workers must provide a certificate from a healthcare practitioner confirming the pregnancy. For further guidance and eligibility criteria, refer to the Government of Canada website.

In addition to EI, each individual province sets their own set of employment standards that determine the full available leave entitlements for parents.

In Ontario, under the Employment Standards Act, eligible employees are entitled to up to 17 weeks of unpaid maternity leave if the employee started employment at least 13 weeks before the expected due date. Maternity leave may not begin before the 17th week preceding the expected delivery date. An employee must give their employer at least two weeks’ written notice before beginning a pregnancy leave. More information and eligibility criteria can be found on the Ontario Government website.

Following the completion of the maternity benefits, mothers can go on to take Parental Leave.

Paternity Leave

Paternity leave falls under the parental leave entitlement.

Parental Leave

In Canada, Parental leave benefits are available to parents of a newborn or newly adopted child through the nationwide Employment Insurance (EI) program, which is applied across all provinces. Parents can choose between 2 options:

• Standard parental benefits – up to 40 weeks leave shared between parents, but one parent cannot take more than 35 weeks, with pay equal to 55% of their earnings, up to a maximum of 695 CAD per week. This leave must be used within 52 weeks of the birth.
• Extended parental benefits – up to 69 weeks leave can be shared between parents, but one parent cannot take more than 61 weeks, with pay equal to 33% of their earnings, up to a maximum of 417 CAD per week. This leave must be used within 78 weeks of the birth.

The Parental leave period does not have to be taken consecutively but must be within the above mentioned timeframe. Further information and eligibility criteria can be found on the Government of Canada website.

In addition to EI, each individual province can set their own set of employment standards that determine the full available leave entitlements for parents. In Ontario, parents can take up to 61 weeks (birth mothers) or 63 weeks (other new parents) of unpaid parental leave as long as they were employed for at least 13 weeks before commencing the parental leave. Leave can start any time after the birth or adoption of a child (or after the maternity leave period ends), but must be used within 78 weeks of the date the baby is born or placed with the parents. Employees must give employers written notice at least 2 weeks before starting parental leave. Employees must give their employer’s written notice at least 4 weeks if they wish to return to work before using the 61 or 63 weeks. Additional information can be found on the Ontario Government website.

Other Leave

Bereavement Leave

This leave is in place for workers whose family member has died. There are two support systems; the system that applies depends on if the worker falls under the provincial sector or the federally regulated sector:

• Workers regulated under the Ontario Employment Standards Act are entitled to 2 days of unpaid job protected leave per calendar year in the event of the death of a family member. To be eligible, workers must have at least two weeks of continuous service.
• Federally regulated workers under the Canada Labour Code are entitled to up to 10 days of job protected bereavement leave following the death of an immediate family member. This leave can be taken within 6 weeks of the death. The first 3 days of this leave will be paid if the worker has completed 3 months of continuous employment.

Family Responsibility Leave

Employees have the right to take up to 3 days of unpaid job-protected Family Responsibility Leave each calendar year due to illness, injury, medical emergency or urgent matter relating to certain relatives. To be eligible for this leave, workers must have completed at least 2 consecutive weeks of employment. An employer may require an employee to provide evidence “reasonable in the circumstances” that they are eligible for family responsibility leave.

Family Medical Leave

There are two support systems in place to care for ill family members where the expected outcome is death within a short period of time:

• Under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, workers can take up to  28 weeks of unpaid  job-protected leave within a 52 week period to care for family members whom a qualified health practitioner has issued a certificate indicating that they have a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death occurring within a period of 26 weeks. There is no specific service length required in order to be eligible to use this leave. An employee must inform the employer in writing that they will be taking a family caregiver leave of absence.
• Under Canada’s Federal Employment Insurance (EI), eligible employees can take Compassionate Care benefits to look after gravely ill family member providing they have at least 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before the start of the claim or since the start of their last claim (whichever is shorter) is entitled to caregiving leave of up to 26 weeks. There might also be eligibility for income support equal to 55% of earnings, up to a maximum of 695 CAD per week.

Family Caregiver Leave

This leave is in place for workers who need to care for ill family members. There are two support systems in place which can both be applied to workers:

• Under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, Family Caregiver Leave is unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 8 weeks per calendar year per specified family member to provide care or support based on a qualified health practitioner issuing a certificate stating that the family member has a serious medical condition. The eight weeks can be taken consecutively or separately. However, leave for periods of less than a full week are still considered as if one week has been taken. There is no specific service length required in order to be eligible to use this leave. An employee must inform the employer in writing that they will be taking a family caregiver leave of absence.

• Under Canada’s Federal Employment Insurance (EI), eligible employees can take Compassionate Care benefits to look after gravely ill family member providing they have at least 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before the start of the claim or since the start of their last claim (whichever is shorter) is entitled to caregiving leave of up to 26 weeks. There might also be eligibility for income support equal to 55% of earnings, up to a maximum of 695 CAD per week.

Critical Illness Leave

This leave is in place for workers who need to care for a critically ill child or adult family member, regardless of whether they are at risk of death. There are two support systems in place which can both be applied to workers:

• Under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, eligible employees who have been employed by their employer for at least six consecutive months can take unpaid critical illness job-protected leave of up to 37 weeks in relation to a critically ill minor child, or 17 weeks in relation to a critically ill adult within a 52-week period. Employees must give their employer a qualified health practitioner issued certificate stating stating who is ill and the period that support will be required. Whilst this leave is unpaid, workers might still be eligible to receive income support under the EI.
• Under Canada’s Federal Employment Insurance (EI), eligible employees who have at least 600 insured hours of work in the 52 weeks before the start of the claim or since the start of their last claim (whichever is shorter) is entitled to caregiving leave of either 35 weeks to care for a child under 18 or 35 weeks to care for an adult family member. There might also be eligibility for income support equal to 55% of earnings, up to a maximum of 695 CAD per week.

Additional Leave

Under the Canada Labour Code and Ontario Employments Standards Act other types of leave are also regulated including Declared Emergency Leave, Reservist Leave, Jury Leave, Domestic Violence Leave and Death or Disappearance of a Child Leave.