Parental leave is meant to ensure that our children have the best possible start in life, and to improve the health and well-being of parents and their children.  Success in a child's early years is the key to long term, healthy development. Parental time and investment in the first years of life have a decisive and long-lasting impact on how children develop. Employers play an important role in helping parents balance their work and personal lives.  Parents who are able to balance work and family responsibilities are emotionally available to their children, and able to effectively nurture their children.

Who is Eligible?

On January 1, 2001, parental leave benefits in Canada were extended from 10 weeks to 35 weeks.  These benefits are payable to both biological and adoptive parents, and are available to both fathers and mothers.  Maternity benefits continue to be available for a maximum of 15 weeks to the biological mother.  Other changes to the Employment Insurance Act include lower entrance requirements, only one waiting period, and the possibility of working while on leave.

Employees are now required to work 600 insured hours instead of 700 hours to be eligible for pregnancy and parental benefits.  If an employee is sharing parental benefits with a partner, only one waiting period needs to be completed.  Claimants can now work while receiving parental benefits.  They may earn $50 or 25% of their weekly benefits, whichever is higher. 
 

Time with young children fosters  effective parenting.

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Benefits for Business and Parents

Family-friendly workplace practices, including parental leaves, provide a competitive way for organizations to meet business needs, and to help employees balance their work and personal lives.  With an imminent labour shortage, successful employers need to acknowledge employees' complicated lives in order to attract and retain workers. 

Employers benefit from parental leaves by improving retention rates.  It is also an opportunity for other workers to widen their job experiences, therefore, increasing the pool of cross-trained employees available.  It is more cost-effective to have a well-planned parental leave policy than to lose employees, and have to recruit and replace them.  Employers can also benefit by keeping in touch with employees through part-time work while on leave. Employees may be able to stay attached to the workplace by working one full-day, or 2 half-days, a week without jeopardizing their income. 

Lengthened parental leaves encourage women to breastfeed longer.  Extended breastfeeding improves the health and development of children.  Having the opportunity to spend time with young children reduces household stress, and fosters effective parenting.

An Employer's Obligations

The Employment Standards Act has been changed to reflect these changes in the Employment Insurance Act.  The employer must give employees back the jobs they were doing when they went on parental leave.  Employers cannot fire, lay off, penalize, or suspend employees that have applied for leave, or taken leave.  If the wages of the job increase while an employee is on leave, the employer must give the higher wage upon return to work. 

For more detials see Employment Insurance (EI) and  Maternity, Parental and Sickness Benefits at: www.hrsdc.gc.ca/asp/gateway.asp?hr=en/ei/types/special.shtml&hs=tyt
or
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/ei/types/special.shtml

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Options for Managing Extended Parental Leave

• Discuss with expectant mothers and fathers their plans for parental leave. 

• Discuss with employees their option to work part-time while on leave. 

• Be flexible; offer alternate working arrangements. 

• Offer a gradual return to work to accommodate child care.

• Hire a replacement; longer contracts may be more appealing to potential employees.

• Share the work of the absent employees among their colleagues. 

• Hire students, or strategically assign responsibilities to other employees; this expands their work skills for future assignments. 

• Use the time employees are on leave for succession planning.

• Other employees can take the opportunity to develop new skills for future promotions.

• Leave the position vacant.  Wait for the employee to return to work.

These are just a few ideas to make extended parental leave work for your business.  There may be other innovative ways to meet your organizational needs while supporting your employees' needs to spend time with their infants. 

Public policies, workplace practices, and community supports all foster a productive economy, while enhancing the well-being of families and communities.

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