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ARTICLE · 09 MAY 2024

Ontario Considering 27-Week Personal Illness Leave

The Ontario government is conducting a consultation on amending the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to include an unpaid 27-week personal...

CanadaEmployment and HR

The Ontario government is conducting a consultation on amending the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) to include an unpaid 27-week personal long-term illness leave, which would align with the length of federal Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits. Currently, the ESA provides for three unpaid days of personal leave per year for illness, injury, or medical emergency.

The government is considering two possible approaches:

  1. Expand the existing critical illness leave in the ESA to apply to critically ill employees and align the leave with the length of EI benefits. "Critically ill" means that the individual's baseline state of health has significantly changed, and their life is at risk. This definition would exclude individuals with a chronic illness or condition that is their normal state of health.

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