Employees who take the full one year maternity leave (known as
pregnancy and parental leave) under the unpaid leaves of absence
provided by Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000
("ESA") are in most cases required under
the ESA to take the vacation time accumulated during the one year
leave of absence immediately following the expiry of the maternity
leave. In other words, if an employee has accumulated two weeks of
vacation during the one year leave of absence, she must then take
those two weeks upon expiry of the one year leave. Those two weeks
vacation are unpaid unless she has an
employment contract that provides otherwise.
The ESA distinguishes between entitlement to vacation
time and vacation pay.
