{"id":46176,"date":"2012-05-25T17:51:47","date_gmt":"2012-05-25T21:51:47","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-05-04T11:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T15:29:13","slug":"what-if-i-need-few-days-illness-and-other-personal-emergencies","status":"publish","type":"publications-page","link":"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-i-need-few-days-illness-and-other-personal-emergencies","title":{"rendered":"Time off for sickness and personal emergencies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The ESA gives some workers time off:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>when they are sick or a family member is sick, and<\/li>\n<li>for certain kinds of personal emergencies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The time off is called a leave of absence or a leave.<\/p>\n<p>You may be able to take the following short leaves of absence each calendar year:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>3 days of sick leave<\/li>\n<li>3 days of family responsibility leave<\/li>\n<li>2 days of bereavement leave<\/li>\n<li>10 days plus 15 weeks of <a href=\"#domesticviolence\">domestic or sexual violence leave<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A calendar year means between January 1 and December 31. But you get the same number of days each year even if you started working for your employer part of the way through the year.<\/p>\n<p>If you take only <strong>part of a day<\/strong>, your employer can count it as one of your leave days. For example, you might go to work and leave early because you&#8217;re sick. If this happens, your employer can count this as one of your 3 days of sick leave for the year.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting paid while on leave<\/h2>\n<p>The ESA says that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>you have the right to be paid for the first 5 days of domestic or sexual violence leave each year<\/li>\n<li>your employer does not have to pay you for any other time that you take as a leave<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But you might have the right to be paid if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>you&#8217;re in a union<\/li>\n<li>you have a workplace policy or employment contract that gives you this right<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Sick leave<\/h2>\n<p>You may be able to take sick leave if you have worked for your employer for at least 2 weeks in a row.<\/p>\n<p>You can use up to <strong>3 days<\/strong> of sick leave if you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>are sick or injured<\/li>\n<li>have a medical emergency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A medical emergency includes surgery set up in advance. But you must need it for medical reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Your employer does not have the right to know about yo ur medical condition or treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Your employer can ask for &#8220;reasonable&#8221; proof that you need to take a sick leave. But they <strong>cannot<\/strong> force you to give them a medical note. Read more in <a href=\"#prove\">Proving you need a leave<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Long-term illness leave<\/h3>\n<p>You may be able to take long-term illness leave if you have worked for your employer for at least 13 weeks in a row.<\/p>\n<p>You can take up to 27 weeks of long-term illness leave if you have a serious medical condition.<\/p>\n<p>To take long-term illness leave, you need to get a medical certificate from a doctor, registered nurse, or psychologist.<\/p>\n<h3>Infectious disease emergency leave<\/h3>\n<p>You may be able to take infectious disease emergency leave if you&#8217;re:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>sick with COVID-19,<\/li>\n<li>getting a COVID-19 vaccine, or<\/li>\n<li>caring for a family member with COVID-19.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can take as much of this <strong>unpaid<\/strong> leave as you need.<\/p>\n<h2>Leaves for a family emergency or death<\/h2>\n<p>If you have worked for your employer for at least 2 weeks in a row, you may be able to take:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>family responsibility leave<\/li>\n<li>bereavement leave<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Family responsibility leave<\/h3>\n<p>You can use up to 3 days of family responsibility leave because a family member:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>is sick or injured<\/li>\n<li>has a medical emergency<\/li>\n<li>has an &#8220;urgent matter&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Something is an urgent matter if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>you did not plan it or it&#8217;s out of your control, and<\/li>\n<li>there could be serious problems if nothing is done to deal with it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For example, it might be an urgent matter if your babysitter cancels and there is no one to look after your child.<\/p>\n<h3>Bereavement leave<\/h3>\n<p>You can use up to 2 days of bereavement leave because a family member has died.<\/p>\n<h3>Who is a family member<\/h3>\n<p>The ESA includes the following people as family members for <strong>family responsibility leave<\/strong> and <strong>bereavement leave<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>your spouse or common-law partner<\/li>\n<li>your child or your spouse&#8217;s child, including a stepchild or foster child<\/li>\n<li>your child&#8217;s spouse<\/li>\n<li>your grandchild or your spouse&#8217;s grandchild, including a step-grandchild<\/li>\n<li>your brother or sister<\/li>\n<li>your parent or spouse&#8217;s parent, including a step-parent or foster parent<\/li>\n<li>your grandparent or spouse&#8217;s grandparent, including a step-grandparent<\/li>\n<li>a relative who depends on you to help or care for them<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a name=\"domesticviolence\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Domestic or sexual violence leave<\/h2>\n<p>To get domestic or sexual violence leave, you must have worked for your employer for at least 13 weeks in a row.<\/p>\n<p>You may be able to take the leave if you or your child who is younger than 18 has:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>experienced domestic or sexual violence<\/li>\n<li>been threatened with domestic or sexual violence<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Your child includes a stepchild, a foster child, and a child you&#8217;re the legal guardian of.<\/p>\n<p>There are 2 domestic or sexual violence leaves you may be able to take each calendar year. One lets you take one or more days off at a time. And the other lets you take time off in periods of weeks. This means that you may be able to take:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>up to 10 days, and<\/li>\n<li>up to 15 weeks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These are the <strong>only<\/strong> reasons for taking domestic or sexual violence leave:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>to get medical care because of an injury or disability caused by the violence<\/li>\n<li>to get help from a victim services organization<\/li>\n<li>to get professional counselling<\/li>\n<li>to move, even for a short time<\/li>\n<li>to deal with the police or the legal system because of the violence<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The ESA says that you have the right to be paid for the first <strong>5 days<\/strong> of domestic or sexual violence leave each year.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"prove\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Proving you need a leave<\/h2>\n<p>Tell your employer as soon as you know that you need a leave. If you have to start your leave <strong>before <\/strong>talking to your employer, contact them as soon as you can to say:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>why you need the leave, and<\/li>\n<li>for how long.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you speak to your employer in person or by phone, send an email or text message, or give them a note right after. This is to confirm when you spoke and what you said.<\/p>\n<p>Your employer can require you to prove that you need a leave of absence. But they can only ask you for proof that is &#8220;reasonable in the circumstances&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s reasonable depends on your situation, for example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>why you need the leave<\/li>\n<li>how long you need the leave to be<\/li>\n<li>any past leaves you had or periods when you were away from work<\/li>\n<li>whether you can get proof of why you need the leave<\/li>\n<li>how much it would cost to get proof<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Proof for a sick leave<\/h3>\n<p>The law says that your employer <strong>cannot<\/strong> require you to give them a medical note from:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>a doctor<\/li>\n<li>a nurse<\/li>\n<li>a psychologist<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They could do this before October 28, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Your employer can only require other proof for your sick leave. For example, they can ask for a hospital bracelet or a receipt from a drug store.<\/p>\n<p>They can also ask for notes from other types of health-care workers, such as a physiotherapist, social worker, or midwife.<\/p>\n<p>If you take long-term illness leave, your employer can ask you for a copy of your medical certificate.<\/p>\n<h3>Proof for a family responsibility leave<\/h3>\n<p>For a <strong>family responsibility leave<\/strong>, your employer might ask you to tell them:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the name of your family member<\/li>\n<li>how your family member is related to you<\/li>\n<li>the reason you need to be away from work<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If your family member is sick or injured, your employer does <strong>not<\/strong> have the right to know details about their medical condition or treatment.<\/p>\n<p>Examples of proof you might use for a family responsibility leave include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>a letter from your child&#8217;s school<\/li>\n<li>a receipt from a drug store<\/li>\n<li>a police report<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Proof for bereavement leave<\/h3>\n<p>To prove you need <strong>bereavement leave<\/strong>, you might have to show a death certificate, death notice, or obituary.<\/p>\n<h3>Proof for domestic or sexual violence leave<\/h3>\n<p>To prove you need <strong>domestic or sexual violence leave<\/strong>, you might have to show:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>police reports<\/li>\n<li>court documents<\/li>\n<li>a letter from a health professional or a counsellor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-46176","publications-page","type-publications-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Time off for sickness and personal emergencies - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleo.on.ca\/en\/publications-page\/what-if-i-need-few-days-illness-and-other-personal-emergencies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Time off for sickness and personal emergencies - CLEO (Community Legal Education Ontario \/ \u00c9ducation juridique communautaire Ontario)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The ESA gives some workers time off: when they are sick or a family member is sick, and for certain kinds of personal emergencies. 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