FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE
Hello, and welcome to our employment standards podcast on MOL Radio.
In this segment, we're going to discuss Family Medical Leave.
With Family Medical Leave, you may qualify for unpaid, job-protected leave to provide care or support to family members, and others who consider you to be like a family member.
The person requiring care or support must have a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death occurring within 26 weeks.
This must be confirmed in a certificate issued by a qualified health practitioner.
Your employer is entitled to ask you for a copy of the certificate to prove that you are eligible for a family medical leave.
You are required to provide the copy as soon as possible after the employer requests it.
This unpaid, job-protected leave can be taken for only some family members.
For a complete list, go to our family medical leave page on our website.
We'll give you the address at the end of this segment.
Family Medical Leave allows for unpaid, job-protected leave of up to eight weeks.
The eight weeks do not have to be taken consecutively. You may take a single week of leave at a time.
If you take only part of a week off work as family medical leave, it will count as a full week of leave.
There are rules about the earliest and the latest dates that you can take the leave.
In some situations, you could become eligible for another 8-week leave.
Go to our family medical leave page on our website for details.
If you need to take family medical leave, you must inform your employer, in writing.
If, due to circumstances, you have to begin a family medical leave before notifying your employer, you must inform your employer in writing as soon as possible after starting the leave.
If you do not take the eight-week leave all at once, you are required to provide written notice to your employer each time you begin a new part of the leave.
This leave is unpaid. Your employer does not have to pay you wages when you are on family medical leave.
Your employer cannot intimidate, threaten, fire or penalize you in any other way because you take or plan on taking a family medical leave, or because you are or will become eligible to take the leave.
You may also be qualified to receive Employment Insurance compassionate care benefits.
Contact your local Service Canada office for more information on this federal program.
For more information on family medical leave, please go to our website.
Go to Ontario.ca—forward slash - family medical leave - one word.
That's Ontario.ca—forward slash - family medical leave - one word.
There you will find detailed information on when and how you can take family medical leave.
And that's it for this employment standards podcast.
Thank you for listening.