Learn about leaves for a family emergency or death

If you've worked for your employer for at least 2 weeks in a row, you may be able to take:

• family responsibility leave
• bereavement leave

Family responsibility leave

You can use up to 3 days of family responsibility leave because a family member:

• is sick or injured
• has a medical emergency
• has an “urgent matter”

What’s an “urgent matter”

Something is an urgent matter if:

• it was not planned and it's out of your control, and
• there could be serious problems if nothing is done to deal with it.

For example, it might be an urgent matter if your babysitter cancels and there's no one to look after your child.

Bereavement leave

You can use up to 2 days of bereavement leave because a family member has died.

Who’s a family member

The Employment Standards Act (ESA) includes the following people as family members for family responsibility leave or bereavement leave:

• your spouse or common-law partner
• your child or your spouse's child, including a stepchild or foster child
• your child's spouse
• your grandchild or your spouse's grandchild, including a step-grandchild
• your sister, brother, or any sibling
• your parent or your spouse's parent, including a step-parent or foster parent
• your grandparent or your spouse's grandparent, including a step-grandparent
• a relative who depends on you to help and care for them