You have the right to take one day off at your employer’s expense (paid leave) and four other days at your own expense (unpaid leave), if the person who died is a member of your immediate family (child, spouse, child of a spouse, father, mother, brother or sister).

You have the right to take one year of unpaid leave from your job if your child or your spouse committed suicide. You also have the right to take a two year leave from your job, without pay, if your child or your spouse died due to a criminal offence or while trying to help the police or a victim.

If the person who died is your son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent, grandchild or your spouse’s father, mother, brother or sister, the law also allows you to take one day off from work, without pay.

The amount of time that you are allowed take off from work due to a death is different if you work in the clothing industry. For more information, consult the website of the Commission des normes du travail.

Yes. On the day of your wedding or civil union, you can receive one day off, paid.

You can also be absent for the wedding or civil union of one of your children, your father, mother, sister or brother, or of the child of your spouse. In these cases, you will not be paid for this day off.

For all of these events, you still need to notify your employer at least one week in advance.

You can be absent from work, without pay, for 10 days a year to fulfill obligations related to the care, health, or education of your children or your spouse’s children, or due to the state of health of your spouse, father, mother, brother, sister, or grandparent.

For example, you can be absent from work if your child is ill and must see a doctor. If you only need half a day off, you can take just half a day off, as long as your employer agrees.

Moreover, if you’ve been working for the same employer for at least three months, you have the right to be absent from work for 12 weeks per year, without pay, when you need to be with your child, spouse, spouse’s child, father, mother, brother, sister or grandparent, due to a serious illness or a serious accident.

You can extend this leave for up to 104 weeks (unpaid) if your minor child (less than 18 years old) is suffering from a serious and potentially fatal illness. You are also entitled to take this leave of 104 weeks in order to care for your minor child who was seriously injured – physically or mentally – due to a crime.

Your employer cannot punish you for being absent for these reasons. For more information on this subject, read our Infosheet entitled The protection of employees who exercise their rights.

You may take as many days off as you need for pregnancy-related examinations. However, you will not be paid for these days.

Again, you must notify your employer as soon as possible. For more information, you can consult the Infosheet entitled Maternity leave.

At the birth or adoption of your child, you are entitled to be absent from work for five (5) days. If a woman’s pregnancy terminates (through miscarriage or abortion) during or after the 20th week, she and her spouse can also take this leave. The two first days are paid if the worker has been working for at least sixty (60) consecutive days for the same employer. The other days are unpaid.

If you have been working for the same employer for less than sixty days, you can also be absent from work for five days, but all five days will be unpaid.

To take leave, you need to notify your employer as soon as possible, and you have to take the leave in the 15 days following the event. You may separate the five days if you want to, as long as you respect the limit of 15 days.

There are also parental and maternity leaves that can be added to the above kinds of family leave. To find out more, read the Infosheets entitled Parental leave and Maternity leave.

Yes. You are allowed to take up to 2 years off from work if you are seriously injured in a crime against a person and, as a result, you are unable to work normally. You are also allowed to take up to 2 years off from work if your child, who is under the age of eighteen, is seriously injured as a result of a crime.

The concept of “injury” includes physical and psychological injuries, as well as a pregnancy resulting from a sexual assault. This concept applies to the immediate victim of the crime as well as to the person who got injured while trying to help the victim, arrest the suspect, or help the police arrest the suspect.

You must alert your employer as soon as possible about your absence and its reasons. If you extend your absence, your employer has the right to ask for a document justifying your absence, such as a doctor’s note or a police report.

Yes. You have the right to take an unpaid leave of 52 weeks (1 year) if your child is missing and is likely to be in danger.