Common menu bar
Breadcrumb
Pamphlet 5 - Labour Standards
Maternity-Related Reassignment and Leave, Maternity Leave and Parental Leave
Part III of the Canada Labour Code (Labour Standards)
The Canada Labour Code provides for maternity-related reassignment and leave, maternity leave, and parental leave.
The following questions and answers will be of interest to employers and employees under federal jurisdiction. Pamphlet #1 of this series describes the types of businesses covered by the Code. It is available from any Labour Program office of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC).
- Title page
- What is meant by "maternity-related reassignment" and "job modification"?
- What is the employer's obligation in such a case?
- Can the employer require a pregnant or nursing employee to continue to work in a hazardous environment until the employee produces a medical certificate?
- Who is entitled to maternity leave?
- Who is entitled to parental leave?
- By six months of continuous employment, do you mean an employee must not have been absent from work during six months to be eligible for leave?
- How much leave is provided for under the Code?
- Can both parents take parental leave?
- Must both parents work for the same employer to combine parental leave?
- Can an employee take both maternity and parental leave?
- When can leave be taken?
- What must an employee do to obtain leave?
- Must an employee have completed six months of continuous employment before applying for leave?
- Can an employer compel an employee to take maternity leave?
- What happens to the employee's job upon return from maternity leave or parental leave?
- Could an employee ever receive lower pay upon returning to work?
- Do pension, health and disability benefits and the seniority of the employee accumulate during leave?
- What if an employee chooses not to pay normal contributions related to pension, health and disability benefits for the leave period?
- Is the employer required to continue its contributions to the pension, health and disability benefits plan while the employee is on leave?
- Is an employee on leave entitled to receive information about opportunities for training and promotion?
- Can an employer dismiss or lay off an employee because she is pregnant or has applied for or intends to apply for maternity, maternity-related reassignment or leave or parental leave?
- When a collective agreement does not provide for maternity or parental leave, is the employer still obliged to grant it?
Full text of Pamphlet #5 - Maternity-Related Reassignment and Leave (Labour Standards) in PDF format (176 KB)
To access the Portable Document Format (PDF) version you must have a PDF reader installed. If you do not already have such a reader, there are numerous PDF readers available for free download or for purchase on the Internet:
Primary navigation (left column)
Labour
- Labour Minister
- Overview
- News and Events
- Employment Standards
- Health and Safety
- Workers' Compensation
- Fire Protection
- Labour Relations
- Equality in the Workplace
- Labour Law
- Labour and Globalization
Department
- Ministers
- About Us
- Newsroom
- Publications and Resources
- Funding Programs
- Consultation and Engagement
- Success Stories