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?
