Proof And Personal Emergency Leave: Determining What Evidence Is "Reasonable In The Circumstances"

The Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 ("ESA") saw another significant set of amendments come into force on January 1, 2018 as a result of Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017. As we have previously in our November 2017 bulletin, these amendments range from the introduction of a higher general minimum wage to the creation of new and/or expanded leaves of absence for an array of specific circumstances.

Change in Personal Emergency Leave Entitlements

One of the more significant amendments is the change to Personal Emergency Leave ("PEL"). All employees in Ontario are now entitled to 10 PEL days in a calendar year, the first two of which are paid. The pay is equal to the wages the employee would have earned had they not taken the PEL day (or part-day, as the case may be). Prior to Bill 148, only employees in workplaces with more than 50 employees were entitled to PEL, and PEL days were unpaid. The entitlement criteria for PEL have not changed: