January 31, 2012
Labour Article Added: B.C. Supreme Court- No Separate Procedural Duty To Treat Employee Fairly Throughout Accommodation Process
December 20, 2011
Evans, Philp is proud to sponsor the Hamilton Health Sciences 2012 Gala – “A Roaring Affair” on February 11, 2012
December 14, 2011
Labour Article Added: Court Upholds Limits on Principal’s Discretion to Conduct Teacher Performance Appraisals
November 30, 2011
Labour Article Added: Arbitrator: OHSA Violence Provisions Have Significantly Changed Workplace Law
November 23, 2011
Jury returns a zero verdict in Evans, Philp tort defence trial. Congratulations to Kieran Dickson

Compassionate Care Benefit

EP Update - January 15, 2004

As of January 4, 2004, employees who take time off work to care for a seriously ill family member may be entitled to up six weeks of employment insurance benefits, specifically called the compassionate care benefit.

The family member must be a child, step-child, parent, step-parent, common-law spouse of a parent, spouse or common-law partner and must have a serious medical condition entailing a significant risk of death within six months.

Care includes providing emotional or psychological care, arranging for third party care or actually providing the care.

To be eligible for the benefit, employees must otherwise be eligible for employment insurance benefits, must have worked at their current job for 600 hours and must provide a medical certificate from the attending doctor or medical practitioner confirming the family member’s condition and need for care. The medical certificate is a form available through the employment insurance branch entitled, “Medical Certificate for Employment Insurance Compassionate Care Benefits”.

The six week entitlement is not given to each relative of the ill individual. Rather, there is a six week entitlement available to care for the ill individual, which can be shared by the family members who are EI-eligible or taken by one family member. For example, if it is a father who is ill, a daughter can take 2 weeks, the mother can take 2 weeks and a son can take 2 weeks. The division of the time available to relatives of the person in need of care is governed by the regulations.

The Canada Labour Code, which governs federally regulated employers, has been amended to provide recourse to employees whose employers have penalized the employee for taking, or attempting to take, this type of leave. Pursuant to these amendments, employers governed by the legislation may not dismiss, suspend, lay off, demote or otherwise discipline an employee for taking compassionate care leave. Further, the employee is to be reinstated in his or her former position, or is to be given a comparable position in the same location and with the same wages and benefits, once the leave ends.

To date, the provincial government has not indicated whether it intends to amend the Employment Standards Act to provide similar rights to employees of provincially regulated businesses.