Time Off

Your employer must give you at least 3 weeks of paid vacation every year after you have worked for them for 1 year. If you work for the same employer for 10 years, they must give you at least 4 weeks of paid vacation a year.

Your employer must allow you to take all your vacation at one time if that is what you want to do. You can ask to break it up into shorter periods.

Your vacation time should be decided between you and your employer. Your employer must let you take your vacation within a year of earning it. If you and your employer cannot agree or you do not schedule any vacation time, your employer can schedule your vacation. You must be told at least 4 weeks in advance when your vacation will start.

If you do not take the vacation that you are entitled to, you will get vacation pay instead. For example, if you are entitled to 3 weeks of vacation and you do not take it, you will get 3 extra weeks of pay that year.

In Saskatchewan, there are 10 public holidays a year:

• New Year’s Day
• Family Day
• Good Friday
• Victoria Day
• Canada Day
• Saskatchewan Day
• Labour Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Remembrance Day
• Christmas Day

If a holiday falls on a Sunday and the workplace is not normally open on Sunday, the next Monday is considered the public holiday.

If you work on a public holiday, you get premium pay. You get your regular amount of pay plus 1.5 times your hourly wage for every hour worked. Otherwise, you generally get the day off with pay.

Employees are allowed by law to be away from work for certain things. Most of the time, employers do not have to pay employees when they take these leaves. However, the law also says that employers cannot take any discriminatory action against you for taking a valid leave.

A discriminatory action is anything that would negatively affect the employee. This includes firing the employee, demoting them, changing their work location or reprimanding them. Employers also cannot take discriminatory action because the employee is pregnant or disabled because of pregnancy. Workers who are disabled cannot be fired for asking for changes to their duties because of their disability. This includes workers who are temporarily disabled because of pregnancy.

You must have worked for your employer for at least 13 weeks in a row before you can take these types of leave without the risk of losing your job. When you return to work, you are entitled to the same wage and benefits as you had before you went on leave. If your leave lasts longer than 60 weeks, you may get a comparable job instead of your previous job.

Notice must be given before some types of leave can be taken. You must usually give 4 weeks’ written notice for leaves of more than 60 days. You can give less notice if the leave cannot be anticipated. For example, you may not be able to give 60 days notice that you will be caring for a relative who became sick. In that case, you would just need give as much notice as possible.

You can be away from work for up to 12 days a year because you are sick or injured. If you are seriously ill or injured, or are receiving workers’ compensation, you can be away for up to 27 weeks in a period of 52 weeks.

You can also take sick leave if a member of your immediate family is sick and they are dependent you.

A pregnant employee can take up to 19 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. This leave can start at any time after 13 weeks until the due date. This leave cannot start after the date of birth. If the actual birth date is after the due date, the employee must be given at least 6 weeks off from the actual date. The maternity leave can be extended for an additional 6 weeks if the employee cannot return for medical reasons. A pregnant employee can also take this leave if they experience a loss of pregnancy within 20 weeks before the due date.

An employer can require a pregnant employee to take maternity leave before 13 weeks until the due date if:

• the pregnancy would unreasonably interfere with the employee’s work, and
• it is not possible to modify the employee’s duties or reassign them to other duties

An adoptive parent who will be the primary caregiver can take up to 19 weeks of unpaid adoption leave. This leave starts when the child comes into the employee’s care or becomes available for adoption.

An employee who is a parent of a newborn or newly adopted child can an unpaid parental leave of:

• 59 weeks if they have already taken maternity or adoption leave which must be taken immediately after the maternity of adoption leave, or
• 71 weeks if they have not

If the parent has taken maternity or adoption leave, the parental leave must start at any time between:

• 13 weeks before the due date or when the child is expected to come into the parent’s care, and
• 78 weeks after the actual date if one parent is taking the leave or 86 weeks if both parents are taking the leave

If an immediate family member or anyone who you consider to be like a close relative dies, you can take up to 5 days of bereavement leave. You can also take this leave if you or an immediate family member suffer a loss of a pregnancy. This leave must be taken within 6 months after the death or loss of pregnancy.

If your child is critically ill or injured, you can take up to 37 weeks of unpaid leave to look after them. If an adult family member is critically ill, you can take up to 17 weeks of unpaid leave to look after them. The leave ends after the time period is up, when the employee is no longer caring for the person or when the person dies. A critical illness is one that threatens the person’s life.

You can take up to 28 weeks of unpaid leave to care for or support a very sick family member who may die. This leave cannot be taken more than once every 52 weeks. The leave ends after the 28-week period, when the employee is no longer caring for the person or when the person dies.

You are entitled to unpaid leave if a public health emergency has been declared and you have been directed to isolate by:

• your employer
• the government
• your doctor
• the chief medical health officer

You are entitled to this leave for the duration of your isolation. You may also be eligible for this unpaid leave if you are required to stay home to care for children or other family members.

You do not need to provide notice to your employer, but open communication can benefit both you and your employer. Unlike other leaves, you do not need to have worked for your employer for a designated number of weeks.

See additional information on public health emergency leave from the Government of Saskatchewan.

You can take up to 104 weeks off if your child dies and it is likely due to a crime. You can take up to 52 weeks off if your child is missing and it is likely due to a crime. These leaves do not apply if it is the employee who committed or likely committed the crime.

You can take a leave to donate an organ of as long as required by a doctor for recovery up to a maximum of 26 weeks.

You can take the day of your citizenship ceremony off.

If you are on leave because you are called to active duty in the army, you can take as many days as you are required to be on active duty.

If you take leave to run for public office or because you are elected, you can take as many days as needed.

For some unpaid leaves, you may be eligible for Employment Insurance.

Workers who are away from work because of illness or injury may be entitled to sickness benefits.

Parents who take maternity, adoption or parental leave are eligible for maternity and parental benefits. Maternity leave benefits covering 55% of the mother’s salary are paid for a maximum of 15 weeks. Parental leave benefits are paid for a maximum of 40 weeks at 55% of the parent’s salary, but one parent can only take 35 of these weeks. Parents can choose to take up to 69 weeks and be paid at 33% of their salary. One parent can only take 61 of these weeks.

A family member who is caring for a critically ill or injured child is eligible for the family caregiver benefit. They can receive 55% of their salary for a limited number of weeks depending on the situation.

If you take a leave to care for a family member who has a significant risk of dying, you are eligible for compassionate care benefits for up to 26 weeks.

If you, your child or someone that you are a caregiver for (even if you do not live together) have experienced interpersonal violence, you are entitled to:

• 10 days of leave in a year which you can take whenever you want, and
• 16 weeks of leave in a year which must be taken in one block

5 of the days you take off are paid, the rest of the leave is unpaid. You must have worked for your employer for at least 13 weeks to take this type of leave.

You are entitled to this leave if you have experienced sexual violence or the person who was violent towards you is:

• part of your family
• your spouse
• in an intimate relationship with you
• someone you are dating
• a parent of your child
• in an ongoing care-giving relationship with you

You can use this leave to:

• seek medical attention needed because of the interpersonal violence
• obtain services from a victim services agency
• go for professional counselling
• seek legal or law enforcement assistance
• participate in a criminal or civil legal proceeding concerning the interpersonal violence
• relocate temporarily or permanently

Employers must give employees who are eligible to vote paid time off to do so. This only applies if your hours of work do not allow you 3 consecutive hours to vote while the polls are open. For example, if you work until 7 p.m. and the polls are open until 9 p.m., your employer may decide to let you leave one hour early with pay. Your employer gets to decide when you should have this time off while the polls are open. This applies to both federal and provincial elections, but not to municipal or other elections.