Should employees be allowed to use their Personal Emergency Leave (Employment Standards Act, 2000, section 50) to be absent from work in order to mourn the loss of a family pet? That is to say, should workers in Ontario be entitled to take so called “purreavement leave”?
For some the question will be ridiculous. To others, the answer “no” would be equally outrageous.
The question is not completely hypothetical either. According to a CBC news’ report, Quebec labour tribunal sides with employer in cat-bereavement spat, “A Quebec labour tribunal has sided with an employer who refused a woman's request to work from home on the day her cat died.”
That story got me thinking: Can workers in Ontario use their Personal Emergency Leave to mourn the loss of a family pet? If not, should they?
The Statutory Law
This blog has looked at the issue of Personal Emergency Leave and bereavement leave in the post Entitlement to Bereavement Leave in Ontario. As noted in that post, as of January 1, 2018, (and subject to whatever the Ford government may do) in Ontario, employees employed for more than one week are entitled to two days of paid personal emergency leave. One of the ways in which such paid leave can be used is in the event of a death of an individual described below:
- The employee’s spouse.
- A parent, step-parent or foster parent of the employee or the employee’s spouse.
- A child, step-child or foster child of the employee or the employee’s spouse.
- A grandparent, step-grandparent, grandchild or step-grandchild of the employee or of the employee’s spouse.
- The spouse of a child of the employee.
- The employee’s brother or sister.
- A relative of the employee who is dependent on the employee for care or assistance.
“Pets” are not expressly enumerated, meaning that, like in the Quebec case, employees have no statutory right to take Personal Emergency Leave if their pets die.
Should Employees Have the Right?
Just because the law does not (yet) afford such a right does not mean that it shouldn’t however. I put the question up on my Twitter, and the results were as follows:
Should employees be permitted to take Personal Emergency Leave in the event of the death of a pet?
— Sean Bawden (@SeanBawden) August 1, 2018
As of my authoring of this post, the “ayes” are clearly in the lead.
Employers Can Provide Benefit
As mentioned on this blog on more than one occasion, nothing prevents employers from providing their workers with benefits greater than the minimum standards provided by the ESA. If an employer decided that it was going to provide bereavement leave for the loss of a pet, or “purreavement leave”, then it could certainly contract for that in its written offer of employment. I am sure that some employers are already doing this.
Takeaways for Employees with Labour Pains
The takeaway for employees with labour pains is that, strictly speaking, the law does not afford bereavement leave for pets. Unless your employers has a policy on the subject, you have no express legal right to take such leave. Of course, if the loss of a pet causes you to suffer a “personal illness” or “medical emergency”, then you would have the right to take PEL.
Takeaways for Employers with Labour Pains
The takeaway for employers is that some employees are, in my opinion understandably, going to become upset over the loss of a pet. In those cases, employers may want to consider offering some form of bereavement leave, whether paid or not, to employees dealing with such a situation. Are you required to offer such leave? Strictly speaking no. And I certainly appreciate the opportunity for any such benefit to be exploited. However, if you believe pets can be family, it might be something to consider offering.
--As always, everyone’s situation is different. The above is not intended to be legal advice for any particular situation. It is always prudent to seek professional legal advice before making any decisions with respect to your own case.
(c) istock/fcscafeine
I have a few comments on the concept of bereavement leave for pets. First, the issue of "bereavement leave" for the death of the employee's cat was only a small part of the case before the Quebec tribunal. Second, as you rightly point-out, I think that Personal Emergency Leave or sick leave can be used for the loss of of a pet in many situations. In unionized workplaces arbitrators have emphasized that when an employee takes a sick day, the emphasis is on whether or not the employee was impaired from performing work, not the source of the impairment. Thus, employees have been found to be entitled to sick leave for things like hang-overs. If you are distraught and unable to concentrate because of the death of your beloved pet, you are probably not capable of working. Thirdly, as co-author of a comprehensive text on collective agreements in Canada, I have come across a couple of collective agreements in Ontario that provide bereavement leave or compassionate leave for the death of a pet, and one that provides leave for an employee to take a pet to emergency vet appointments. No pawternity leave enshrined in collective agreements yet.
ReplyDeleteGermain Saying,
ReplyDeleteMost workers have the privilege to take up to 10 days of employment ensured leave each timetable year because of sickness, damage, passing and certain crises and pressing issues. This is known as close to home crisis take off. Unique tenets apply to a few occupations. Representatives are qualified for up to 10 individual crisis leave days of the year when they begin working for a business. The initial two days of the leave in each timetable year are paid if the worker has been utilized for multi-week or more. A representative who missed piece of multi-day to disappear would be qualified for any wages they really earned while working, notwithstanding close to home crisis leave pay for any leave taken.