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ARTICLE · 30 JUNE 2014

Can I Help My Sick Family Member Without Losing My Job?

Lerners LLP
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Caring for a critically ill family member can be an emotionally taxing and stressful experience.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
John Brennan
John Brennan
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Caring for a critically ill family member can be an emotionally taxing and stressful experience.  Canadian law recognizes the inherent difficulties in balancing an employee's desire to care for an ill family member and their obligation to attend work as required.  To this end, the law permits certain employees to take a protected leave from work during which the employee should not be terminated provided certain statutory conditions are met.    

Section 206.4 of the Canada Labour Code ("CLA") permits federally regulated employees to take a compassionate care leave for a period of up to 8 weeks to care for a critically ill family member. The leave is available if the employee provides a certificate signed by a qualified medical practitioner stating that the family member has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death.  Employees with children that are critically ill may qualify for a leave of up to 37 weeks.  During a compassionate care leave or a

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