Care Leave Frequently Asked Questions

Personal leave is leave with pay for reasons of a personal nature. Members are entitled to 15 hours per calendar year of personal leave.

Yes. Sick leave is used when an employee is unable to work due to illness or injury. Taking sick leave for mental health reasons is perfectly legitimate.

In this unfortunate event, you should speak with your manager. Upon request, the Deputy Head of a department, after considering the particular circumstances involved, may grant additional leave with pay.

Domestic violence leave is available to individuals who are victims of domestic violence as well as parents who need to support their dependent children who are victims of domestic violence.  

You can take up to 75 hours per calendar year of domestic violence leave. 

Learn more about domestic violence leave.

At the discretion of the employer, if you are sick but you have used all of your sick leave, you can request an advance on your sick leave from the following calendar year.

Your collective agreement allows up to 37.5 hours per calendar year of leave with pay for family-related leave. It can be used for medical or dental appointments for a family member who can’t attend the appointment alone. 

Check your collective agreement to see who is included under the “family member” definition.

An employee can be granted leave without pay (LWOP) for the care of immediate family if:

• the leave is for a minimum of 3 weeks and does not exceed 5 years 
• the employer is notified in writing no later than 4 weeks before the start of the leave – unless there are urgent or unforeseeable circumstances

You would use LWOP for care of immediate family after you’ve used your paid care leave options. You may be able to access EI caregiving benefits during your LWOP.

Code 699 can be used for caregiving responsibilities for children or dependents due to the pandemic. For help with Code 699, contact a steward or use our COVID-19 help form.

If you contract COVID-19, you should use your sick leave to isolate and recover. Code 699 can be used for caregiving responsibilities due to the pandemic. It is not a replacement for sick leave.

Care leave varies from employer to employer. Consult your collective agreement (found on your group page) for more information. If you have questions about the leave types in your collective agreement, contact your employer’s human resources department or your steward.