What is Stress Leave?
Stress leave is available to an employee under a “Sick Leave”. Sick leave, under Ontario’s Employment Standards Act (ESA), sets out the minimum requirements for sick leave.
Key Questions for sick leave
- Are you eligible for sick leave?
- How many sick days am I entitled to?
- What qualifies as a valid reason for taking sick leave?
- Is prior notice required for taking sick leave?
- Do I need to provide a medical note for my sick leave?
It is important to note that an individual’s employment contract can answer these questions, as well as set out more entitlements than the ESA provides. For example, your contract may give you more days for sick leave or a procedure for giving notice prior to sick leave.
If your employment contract or collective agreement grants you greater rights or benefits than those outlined in the ESA, the terms of your contract will prevail. For instance, if your contract provides 5 days of sick leave, you are entitled to those 5 days instead of the 3 days mandated by the ESA. Additionally, your employment contract might specify separate days for “stress leave.” If it does not, stress leave can be taken as part of sick leave, family responsibility leave, or bereavement leave.
Are you eligible for Sick Leave?
An employee who has worked for at least two consecutive weeks is entitled to take an unpaid leave of absence due to personal illness, injury, or medical emergency.
How many sick days am I entitled to?
You are entitled to a maximum of three sick leave days per calendar year. If an employee uses a portion of a day for sick leave, the employer may count it as a full day taken.
If your employment contract provides for one paid sick day, it will count as one of the three unpaid sick leave days under the ESA. This leaves the employee with two additional unpaid sick leave days for the year but no extra paid sick days as per their contract.
Unused sick days cannot be carried over to the next calendar year.
What qualifies as a valid reason for taking sick leave?
An employee can take sick leave for their own illness, injury, or medical emergency, regardless of the cause (e.g., even if it resulted from personal recklessness). If your employer denies your right to take sick leave, please contact us.
Is prior notice required for taking sick leave?
If an employee wishes to take sick leave, they should, therefore, inform their employer accordingly. However, if the employee needs to leave before informing their employer, they should do so as soon as possible before starting the leave.
Written notice is not required; therefore, oral notice is sufficient.
If the employer has a notice policy and the employee cannot provide the required notice, the employee will not lose their right to take the entitled leave.
Do I need to provide a medical note for my sick leave?
An employer may ask an employee taking sick leave to provide evidence that is “reasonable” under the circumstances.
What is considered reasonable will depend on the specifics of your situation, such as:
- The duration of your absence
- The number of other absences you have had
- Common practices in your workplace
In some cases, it may be reasonable to provide a medical note.
If an employer requires a medical note from a health practitioner, they may only request the following information:
- The duration of the absence
- The date the employee was seen by a health care professional
- Confirmation that the patient was examined in person by the health care professional who wrote the note
An employer cannot ask for details about the diagnosis or treatment of the employee’s medical condition.
The purpose of the note, therefore, is for the doctor to certify that the employee cannot work due to a medical condition. If the medical condition is a disability, the Ontario Human Rights Code protects the employee, and the employer must accommodate them. This is known as the “duty to accommodate.”
What is the Duty to Accommodate?
The employer has a duty to remove barriers that prevent employees from performing their job. For example, an employer may need to modify the workspace or make minor adjustments to an individual’s job to enable them to work effectively.
When an individual has a disability, such as an injury, illness, or addiction, that prevents them from doing their job as before, the employer must, therefore, attempt to accommodate the disability before considering termination.
Examples of reasonable accommodations include:
- Flexible working hours
- Job restructuring
- Retraining
- Assignment to an alternative position
- Accessible wheelchair ramps or entryways
What does my Employer have to do?
The duty to accommodate under the Ontario Human Rights Code requires an employer to accommodate an employee’s needs to the point of “undue hardship.” Consequently, this means the employer must take all reasonable measures to accommodate the employee unless doing so would cause health or safety risks. Added expenses alone do not constitute undue hardship.
If your employer has not attempted to accommodate your disability and has wrongfully terminated you, contact us immediately.
How to get Stress Leave in Ontario?
The first step in obtaining stress leave is to review your employment contract.
If your contract does not mention sick leave, you automatically receive three days of sick leave under the ESA if you have worked for your employer for at least two consecutive weeks.
If you are uncertain about the terms of your employment contract or find them confusing, you should speak with your supervisor, dedicated human resources manager, or contact us for assistance.
What are the Grounds for Stress Leave?
Since stress leave isn’t distinct under the ESA, it falls under sick leave for personal illness, injury, or medical emergency.
Additionally, you might take stress leave under family responsibility leave or bereavement leave.
Other Leaves Related to Stress Leave
Furthermore, you can also associate family responsibility leave and bereavement leave with stress. Both are unpaid; however, an individual employment contract may provide paid leave for these categories.
Family Responsibility Leave
An employee who has been employed for at least two consecutive weeks is entitled to a total of three days’ leave of absence, without pay, for an illness, injury, or medical emergency affecting the following individuals:
- Your spouse
- A parent, stepparent, or foster parent of yourself or your spouse
- A child, stepchild, or foster child of yourself or your spouse
- Your child’s spouse
- A grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild, or step-grandchild of yourself or your spouse
- Your brother or sister
- A relative who is dependent on your care or assistance
Bereavement Leave
An employee who has been employed for at least two consecutive weeks is entitled to a total of two days’ leave of absence, without pay, due to the death of any of the following individuals:
- Your spouse
- A parent, stepparent, or foster parent of yourself or your spouse
- A child, stepchild, or foster child of yourself or your spouse
- Your child’s spouse
- A grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild, or step-grandchild of yourself or your spouse
- Your brother or sister
- A relative who is dependent on your care or assistance
If your employer refuses to grant you stress leave, or retaliates against you for requesting them, you should contact us immediately.
