New, Extended and More Flexible Statutory Leaves in British Columbia

On April 12, 2018, the British Columbia government granted third reading to Bill 6, Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2018 to better support working families by providing new, extended and more flexible maternity, parental and compassionate care leaves. The Act comes into force on the day it receives royal assent. Specifically, when enacted, the Bill will:

Pregnancy leave:

• Allow mothers to start their unpaid pregnancy leave, also known as maternity leave, as early as 13 weeks before the expected birth date, up from the current 11 weeks. This will provide workers with more flexibility to consider their personal, health and workplace circumstances when choosing to begin their pregnancy leave. Pregnancy leave is 17 consecutive weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave taken by expectant or new mothers near the end of a pregnancy and immediately after childbirth.

Parental leave:

• Extend parental leave for a birth mother to 61 consecutive weeks of unpaid leave (previously 35 weeks), which must begin, unless the employer and employee agree otherwise, immediately after the end of maternity leave, for a total possible leave of 78 weeks (18 months).
• Extend parental leave for partners, non-birth parents or adopting parents to 62 consecutive weeks (previously 37 weeks) of unpaid leave, which must begin within 78 weeks (18 months) after the birth or adoption of the child or children. As before, this slightly longer leave recognizes the EI one week waiting period.
• Allow parents to take longer unpaid parental leave to care for their new child while ensuring job protection.

Compassionate care leave:

• Extend compassionate care leave from eight weeks to 27 weeks for employees to care for and support a family member who has a significant risk of death within 26 weeks.
• Allow the leave to be taken at any time within a 52-week period, though the actual amount of leave cannot exceed 27 weeks in total.

Leave respecting disappearance of child:

Introduce a new unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 52 weeks to help a worker if their child is missing as a result of a crime. If a missing child is found alive, the parent is entitled to remain on leave for 14 days after the child is found. Under this leave:

• “Child” means a person under 19 years of age.
• “Crime” means an offence under the Criminal Code other than an offence prescribed by the regulations made under section 209.4 (f) of the Canada Labour Code.
• If an employee is charged with the crime that resulted in the disappearance of the employee’s child, the employee is not entitled, or, if already on leave, is no longer entitled, to leave.
• The leave must be taken during the period that starts on the date the child disappears and ends on the date that is 53 weeks after the date the child disappears.
• The leave may be taken by the employee in one unit of time, or more than one unit of time, with the employer’s consent.
• The employee must provide notice he or she is taking the leave as soon as practicable, and provide to the employer reasonably sufficient proof that the employee’s child has disappeared in circumstances in which it is probable the disappearance is a result of a crime.
• The leave ends on the earliest of the following dates, if any apply:

(a) the date on which circumstances indicate it is no longer probable that the child’s disappearance is a result of a crime;

(b) the date the employee is charged with a crime that resulted in the disappearance of the child;

(c) the date that is 14 days after the date on which the child is found alive;

(d) the date on which the child is found dead;

(e) the date that is the last day of the last unit of time in respect of which the employer consents under subsection (b).

Leave respecting death of child:

Introduce a new unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 104 weeks if a worker’s child under 19 years of age dies under any circumstances-a significant addition to the three days of unpaid “bereavement leave” currently available. B.C. Under this leave:

• If an employee is charged with the crime that resulted in the death of the employee’s child, the employee is not entitled, or, if already on leave, is no longer entitled, to leave.
• The leave must be taken during the period that starts:

a) on the date the child dies, or
b) on the date the child is found dead, in the case of the child disappearing before the child dies,and ends on the date that is 105 weeks after the date the child dies or the child is found dead in the case of the child disappearing before the child dies, as applicable.

• The leave may be taken by the employee in one unit of time, or more than one unit of time, with the employer’s consent.
• If requested by the employer, the employee must, as soon as practicable, provide to the employer reasonably sufficient proof that the employee’s child is dead.
• The leave ends on the earlier of the following dates, if any apply:

a) the date the employee is charged with a crime that resulted in the death of the child;
b) the date that is the last day of the last unit of time in respect of which the employer consents.

Transition period and other information

The legislative amendments will align B.C.’s pregnancy and parental leave periods with new federal EI maternity and parental benefits, which came into effect in December 2017. It will also align B.C.’s compassionate care leave with the federal EI compassionate care benefit implemented in 2016.

Sections 5 (maternity leave), 6 (parental leave) and 7 (compassionate care leave), deal with transition periods for the application of the new provisions for people requesting or currently on leave.