Ontario’s consultation on possible amendments to its Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) that provide job-protected leave to workers is coming to a close on Monday.
Launched early in April, the consultation seeks input from stakeholders on a potential new long-term job-protected leave of up to 27 weeks and will close next week. That would align Ontario’s leave with the length of Federal Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits and provide Ontario workers with the longest job-protected sick leave among the provinces and territories.
Under the ESA in Ontario, there are 14 leaves of absence that provide job protection to employees for various reasons. Employees, whether full-time, part-time, permanent, or contract, who are covered by the ESA, may be entitled to these leaves.