Compassionate care leave – IPG-063
Effective date: January 9, 2004
Revised date: January 9, 2023
Subject
This Interpretation, Policy and Guideline (IPG) intends to clarify and provide guidance on the application of section 206.3 of Part III of the Canada Labour Code (Code) dealing with Compassionate Care leave.
Issue
There is a need to describe how Compassionate Care leave is related to:
- leave related to critical illness, and
- bereavement leave
Note: “employees” also includes “interns”. Student interns are not entitled to compassionate care leave.
Guiding principles
Compassionate Care leave and Leave related to critical illness
The length of leave is calculated using weeks. A "week" is defined as the period between midnight on Saturday and midnight on the immediately following Saturday.
In a 52-week period and in relation to each family member for whom care and support is provided, an employee may take or more than 1 employee may share a maximum unpaid leave as follows:
- compassionate care leave: 28 weeks
- leave related to critical illness of a child: 37 weeks
- leave related to critical illness of an adult: 17 weeks
More than 1 employee can take the same leave in relation to the same family member. Each employee can take leave at any time during the 52-week period. They can either take it at the same time or at different times. Their combined periods of leave may not exceed the maximum periods provided under the Code (see paragraph above). For example, if 2 employees are taking compassionate care leave, their combined periods of leave may not exceed a total of 28 weeks in the 52-week period.
Where more than 1 employee wants to take a leave in relation to the same family member, they cannot take compassionate care leave at the same time as a Leave related to critical illness of a child or an adult.
Compassionate care leave and bereavement leave
Upon the death of a family member, an employee is entitled to bereavement leave of up to 10 days. They may take it during the period beginning on the date of death and ending 6 weeks after the date of the:
- funeral
- burial, or
- memorial service, whichever is later
If the employee has completed 3 months of continuous employment with the same employer, he is entitled to the first 3 days paid. This is paid at the regular rate of pay for a normal working day. If not, he is entitled to an unpaid leave of 10 days.
In the case of compassionate care leave and bereavement leave, an employee cannot take these leaves at the same time. As a consequence, the employee must wait until the end of the week of the compassionate care leave and then start the bereavement leave on the following Sunday.
Description of the leaves
Division VII of the Code provides employees under federal jurisdiction with leaves, which some criteria may vary, such as the:
- purposes
- length
- eligibility criteria and
- individuals with respect to whom they can be taken
An employee may be entitled to more than 1 leave for the same event. Each leave is separate and the right to each leave is independent of any right an employee may have to the other leave(s).
The following table describes compassionate care leave, leave related to critical illness and bereavement leave.
- | Compassionate care leave | Leave related to critical illness | Bereavement leave | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Child | Adult | |||
Eligibility period | No | No | No | |
Paid leave | No | No | No | Yes Requirement to complete 3 consecutive months of continuous employment. |
Individual with respect to whom the leave can be taken must be a family member | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes Leave must be taken for an immediate family member who dies. |
Length of leave within a 52-week period | 28 weeks | 37 weeks | 17 weeks | Not applicable |
Leave must be taken in 1 period | Yes | Yes | Yes | No Leave can be taken in 1 or 2 periods. The employer may ask for these periods to be not less than a day. |
Leave can be divided in many periods of not less than 1 week's duration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not applicable |
Leave can be shared between 1 or more employees in respect of the same family member | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Certificate issued by a health care practitioner is required | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not applicable |
The certificate is valid for the 52-week period | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not applicable |
Written notice to the employer must contain reason(s) and length of leave | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not applicable |
4 weeks' notice must be provided to the employer if the leave is more than 4 weeks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not applicable |
Under the employees request, the employer can extend the period to take the leave. A written agreement is required | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Yes |
Interpretation
How compassionate care leave works if the employee is taking leave related to critical illness
Subsections 206.3(7), 206.4(5) and section 207.01 of the Code provides that, in a 52-week period, compassionate care leave and leave related to critical illness can be:
- shared between 1 or more employees (for the maximum combined leave periods, see Guiding Principles above)
- divided in many periods of not less than 1 week's duration, and
- taken in 1 consecutive period
Employees are neither required to, nor prevented from, taking their leave at the same time. However, subsection 206.3(7.1) of the Code provides 2 circumstances in which these leaves cannot be taken at the same time.
Firstly, an employee alone cannot take compassionate care leave and leave related to critical illness at the same time in respect of the same family member. If the employee is eligible to take compassionate care leave, the employee must wait for the leave related to critical illness to end first.
Secondly, more than 1 employee can share a leave related to critical illness in respect of the same family member. If these employees are eligible to take compassionate care leave for the family member, they must wait until the leave related to critical illness of all employees ends before starting the other leave.
The appendix provides a scenario.
How compassionate care leave works if the immediate family member dies during the leave period
The Code provides that an employee is eligible to take bereavement leave.
However, bereavement leave and compassionate care leave cannot be taken at the same time. This is because an employee cannot be absent from employment for the purposes of 2 different leaves at the same time in respect of the same family member. In the event that the immediate family member dies during the compassionate care leave period, the employee must wait until the leave ends before taking bereavement leave.
Appendix
The following scenario provides guidance on the application of compassionate care leave and leave related to critical illness.
Week 1: Parent 1 and Parent 2 have a 5-year-old child who is suffering from a critical illness. On Monday, the health care practitioner issues a certificate stating that the child is critically ill and requires care and support.
Both parents are eligible to take Leave related to critical illness. Although both parents can take this leave separately, they decide to take their leave at the same time by dividing the 37 weeks. Parent 1 takes 18 weeks and Parent 2 takes 19 weeks.
Week 19: This is Parent 2’s last week of leave related to critical illness. The child’s condition has deteriorated. On Tuesday, the health care practitioner issues a certificate stating that the child is seriously ill and there is a risk of death within 26 weeks. Parent 1 wants to take compassionate care leave. For this purpose, Parent 1 must wait until Sunday at midnight when Parent 2’s Leave related to critical illness ends to be entitled to take compassionate care leave since both leaves cannot be taken at the same time for the same child.
Week 20: Parent 1 takes compassionate care leave.
Week 46: Parent 1 has been on compassionate care leave for 26 consecutive weeks and the child remains seriously ill. Parent 1 wants to take the remaining 2 weeks of compassionate care leave. Since the certificate is valid for the entire 52-week period, Parent 1 can take the remaining 2 weeks without additional proof of eligibility.
However, Parent 1 does need to comply with the notification requirements (see table in Description of the leaves above).
Day | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schedule | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code |
Event | Not applicable | Certificate | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Parent 1 | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness |
Parent 2 | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness |
Schedule | Event | Parent 1 | Parent 2 |
---|---|---|---|
Not applicable | Not applicable | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness |
Day | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schedule | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code |
Event | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Parent 1 | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness |
Parent 2 | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness |
Day | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schedule | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code |
Event | Not applicable | Not applicable | Certificate | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Parent 1 | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Parent 2 | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness | Leave related to critical illness |
Day | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schedule | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code |
Event | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Parent 1 | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave |
Parent 2 | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Schedule | Event | Parent 1 | Parent 2 |
---|---|---|---|
Not applicable | Not applicable | Compassionate care leave | Not applicable |
Day | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schedule | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code |
Event | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Parent 1 | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave |
Parent 2 | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Schedule | Event | Parent 1 | Parent 2 |
---|---|---|---|
Not applicable | Not applicable | Compassionate care leave | Not applicable |
Day | Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schedule | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Day of regularly scheduled work | Regularly scheduled day of rest, as per section 173 of the Code |
Event | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Parent 1 | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave | Compassionate care leave |
Parent 2 | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
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