Lesson 15: Maternity and Paternal Leave

Eligibility Requirements:

Workers must have 52 weeks of continuous employment with their employer to be eligible for maternity or parental leave. This applies both to full and part-time employment.

If a pregnant worker has less than 52 consecutive weeks of employment, and is therefore not entitled to maternity leave, an employer cannot arbitrarily lay her off, terminate her employment, or require her to resign because of pregnancy or child birth.

Under human rights law, employers are required to accommodate the health-related consequences of a worker's pregnancy and childbirth up to the point of undue hardship, regardless of how long she has worked for the employer. Contact the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission for further information on these rights and responsibilities.

Length of Leave:

• Birth mothers can take up to 52 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave from employment, made up of 15 weeks of maternity leave and 37 weeks of parental leave.

• Fathers and adoptive parents are eligible for 37 weeks of unpaid, job-protected parental leave. Adoptive parents can take parental leave when they adopt a child under the age of 18.
  
  

Notice Requirements:

• Workers must give their employers at least six weeks' written notice to start maternity or parental leave.

• Workers must provide at least four weeks' written notice to return to work or to change the date they will be returning to work. This notice must be provided at least four weeks before the end of the leave to which workers are entitled.

• If a worker fails to provide the required notice or fails to report to work the day after the leave ends, the employer does not have to reinstate the worker unless the failure to notify the employer is due to unforeseen or unpreventable circumstances.