Can You Tell Me? Caregiving Leaves
Caregiving Leaves
Situations may arise where an employee needs time off work to care for a family member with a serious illness or injury. Leaves are available through the AESES Collective Agreements and the Employment Standards Code of Manitoba allowing members time off work to manage longer-term caregiving obligations.
Members required to care for a family member facing a significant risk of death can take Compassionate Care Leave. As covered in Article 18.5 in the AESES-UM Collective Agreement and Article 16.5 in the AESES-UW Collective Agreement, Compassionate Care Leave provides eligible members with up to 28 weeks of unpaid leave. It can be taken in one or two periods, but each must be at least one week long.
UM members are eligible for this leave once they have completed 30 calendar days of employment, and UW members are eligible once they have completed 90 calendar days of employment. When possible, UM members are to provide their supervisor with notice of at least one pay period, and UW members are to provide at least 10 working days’ notice. Members must also submit a medical note as soon as possible stating that the family member has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death within 26 weeks and requires the care and support of one or more family members.
Compassionate Care Leaves in both the AESES-UM and AESES-UW Collective Agreements state that an eligible family member means a family member as defined by the Employment Standards Code of Manitoba. Family is defined very broadly in the Employment Standards Code. Children, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, spouses, common law spouses, brothers, sisters, step-brothers, step-sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews are all considered family members. The definition also includes those who are not related, but whom the employee considers to be like a close relative.
If the family member is not at risk of death, another option available is Leave Related to Critical Illness provided under the provincial Employment Standards Code. Employees can take up to 37 weeks of Leave Related to Critical Illness within a 52-week period to provide care to a critically ill child under 18 years old, and up to 17 weeks within a 52-week period to provide care to a critically ill adult. It can be taken in one or more periods, however, each period must be at least one week long. Leave Related to Critical Illness is an unpaid leave.
An employee caring for a critically ill child must have worked at least 30 days with the employer to be entitled to this leave. While an employee caring for a critically ill adult must have worked at least 90 days with the employer to be eligible. When possible, employees must give at least one pay period of notice before the leave and provide their employer with a medical note as soon as possible. Employees are still entitled to Leave Related to Critical Illness even if they are unable to give notice.
Compassionate Care Leave and Leave Related to Critical Illness allow employees time off to deal with these obligations without the loss of their job, but they are unpaid leaves. AESES members may be eligible for the federal EI (Employment Insurance) special benefits for workers who take time off work due to caring for a critically ill or injured person or family member. To find out more, call Service Canada toll-free at 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232) or use their online Benefits Finder: canada.ca/en/services/benefits/finder.html
If you need consultation on a caregiving situation, contact us at LabourTeam@aeses.ca.
For info on short-term family care leave options, see the Can You Tell Me: Resources for Family Care article in the December 2023 insideAESES newsletter.