Personal Leave of Absence Policy

written by Michelle Vera | April 1, 2021

Here’s language for a Model Policy prepared with the help of a Toronto employment lawyer that requires employees on leave to cooperate with the company and provide appropriate information regarding their status. More precisely, this is a provision that you should incorporate into your general policy on leaves of absence as well as policies providing for specific types of leave. Make sure you modify the policy to fit your own circumstances, including the terms of your collective agreement, if you have one.

  1. General Policy

Employees granted a leave of absence for disability, illness, injury, family emergency or other reason, whether paid or unpaid, shall cooperate with ABC Company during the term of their absence as set forth in this Policy.

 

  1. Duty to Communicate

Employee taking leave of absence must stay in contact with their supervisor or another designated person from ABC Company. This duty involves, at a minimum, responding to the supervisor or other designated contact’s calls, messages, notes and other attempts to communicate (which we’ll refer to as “calls”) as soon as reasonably possible and in no event later than three (3) business days after such calls are made.

 

  1. What “Responding” Means

“Responding,” for purposes of this Policy, means speaking directly with the supervisor; simply leaving a voice mail message after business hours does not count as a response.

 

  1. Duty to Furnish Information

If requested, employees must furnish information that ABC Company thinks is appropriate and necessary to verify the employee’s right to be away from work, any continuing eligibility to receive salary, benefits or disability payments and/or to plan for the employee’s return to work.

 

  1. Consequences of Non-Compliance

ABC Company shall consider an employee’s failure to follow the terms of this Policy a serious offence warranting the imposition of penalties up to and including possible termination in accordance with ABC Company’s Progressive Discipline Policy and the terms of applicable collective agreements and employment contracts.