If you’ve ever experienced a personal emergency, like a medical emergency or death in your family, and needed some time off work to deal with it, you know how difficult it can be. In Canada, the Employment Standards Act requires employers to provide employees with at least two days of unpaid leave per year for these personal emergencies. Read along to learn details about this vital worker’s right and what it means for your workplace.

What Personal Emergency Leave Can Be Used For

Each year, an employee who qualifies for personal emergency leave may take up at most ten days off for the following reasons:

Urgent matter

An urgent situation is unanticipated or beyond the employee’s control, which, if ignored, could have significant adverse effects, including emotional injury. An employee could request personal emergency leave due to an “urgent matter” involving family members, including the following:

• Their spouse. This applies to married and unmarried couples of the same or opposite genders.
• Some of their relatives or those of their spouses. For example, parents, stepparents, foster parents, children, stepchildren, foster children, grandparents, step-grandparents, grandchildren, or step-grandchildren.
• Their brother or sister, the spouse of the employee’s child, or any other relative who depends on them for support or care

The following are examples of an “urgent matter” under the Employment Standards Act:

• The worker has an appointment with the child’s counsellor about behavioural issues at school. Making the appointment outside the employee’s regular working hours was impossible.
• The employee’s elderly parent’s home has been broken into, and the parent is angry and in need of assistance from the employee to handle the problem.
• The employee’s babysitter requests sick leave.

Examples of situations that don’t meet the criteria for an urgent matter include:

• Requesting the day off so you can be a bridesmaid at your sister’s wedding.
• Asking to leave work early so they can watch their daughter play soccer at the school tournament.

If the employer denies you leave for an urgent matter, consult with an employment lawyer in Toronto to ascertain that your issue meets the criteria under ESA.

Illness, injury, or medical emergency

Employees may request personal emergency leave for their illnesses, injuries, or medical emergencies or those of one or more of the family members mentioned above. Whether the disease, accident, or medical emergency was brought on by the employee or by uncontrollable outside events makes no difference. 

For instance, even though their negligence brought on the injury, a worker who caused their knee injuries while showing off to friends while water skiing would still be entitled to personal emergency leave.

Even if it is booked in advance and is not a medical “emergency,” employees are typically allowed to take the leave for pre-planned (elective) surgery if necessary due to an illness or injury. Employees are not permitted to use the leave for cosmetic procedures that are neither medically required nor connected to an illness or accident.

Employment Contracts that Guarantee Paid Sick or Bereavement Leave

The employment contract requirements, including a collective agreement, take precedence over the personal emergency leave standard under the Employment Standards Act (ESA) if they offer significant rights or benefits.

The employee is subject to the personal emergency leave requirement in the ESA if the contract does not grant a greater right or benefit.

Personal Emergency Leave (PEL)Vs. Other Types of Leaves

For the same incident, an employee may be granted many leaves. Each leave is distinct, and a worker’s right to one leave does not affect their ability to use another leave (s). This indicates that a single absence can only be used with one statutory leave, even if the incident that caused it qualifies for more than one leave.

The Duration Of Your Personal Emergency Leave

Whether they are employed full- or part-time, employees are entitled to up to 10 full days of job-protected personal emergency leave each calendar year. No proration of the 10-day entitlement is allowed. A worker who starts working in the middle of a calendar year is still eligible for ten days of leave for the remainder of the year.

Employees cannot carry unused personal emergency leave days to the following calendar year. The ten days of leave don’t have to be used all at once. Employees can take their leave in increments of one day, multiple days, or both.

The employer may treat a partial day of personal emergency leave taken by an employee as a full day of absence.

Qualification for Paid Personal Emergency Leave

The first two days of personal emergency leave taken in a calendar year must be paid to an employee working for the company for at least a week. A new worker working less than a week is eligible for unpaid leave. However, the first and second days must be compensated if additional leave is taken within the same calendar year. A worker might be able to file a claim with the Ministry of Labour if an employer fails to comply with the ESA through your employment lawyer.

If you experience a personal emergency in Toronto, Canada, you are entitled to a ten-day unpaid leave. Firstly, you want to check with your lawyer if you are eligible. If your employer denies you a PEL for a genuine reason, you could bring a claim with the Ministry of Labour.