Leave of absence without pay
43(1)Subject to subsection (2), an employer shall at any time from a day thirteen weeks before the specified date of delivery to the day of actual delivery, upon the request of a pregnant employee and upon receipt of a certificate by a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner or midwife stating that the employee is pregnant and specifying the date upon which delivery will, in the opinion of the medical practitioner, nurse practitioner or midwife, as the case may be, occur, grant the employee leave of absence without pay of seventeen weeks or such shorter period as the employee requests.
43(2)An employee intending to take leave of absence under this section shall
(a)
advise her employer four months before the projected date of delivery or as soon as her pregnancy is confirmed, whichever is the later, of her intent to take leave and the anticipated commencement date in the absence of an emergency; and
(b)
in the absence of an emergency, give two weeks’ notice to the employer of the commencement date of the leave.
43(3)Subject to subsection (4), leave of absence under subsection (1) may be taken during the period of time the employee stipulates in her request as long as the anticipated date of delivery falls within the stipulated period.
43(4)An employer may, where no alternative employment is available, before or after commencement of the period referred to in subsection (1), require the employee to commence a leave of absence at the time when the duties of her position cannot reasonably be performed by a pregnant woman or the performance of the work of the employee is materially affected by the pregnancy.
43(5)Repealed: 1991, c.52, s.1
43(6)Repealed: 1991, c.52, s.1
43(7)Repealed: 1991, c.52, s.1 1984, c.42, s.24; 1988, c.59, s.16; 1991, c.52, s.1; 2002, c.23, s.1; 2011, c.26, s.1; 2018, c.14, s.1; 2022, c.33, s.18