Paid Health and Family Leave: The Canadian Experience in the Global Context

Objectives: Two thirds of Canadian adults participate in the workforce. Their health and that of their families can be markedly affected by the availability of paid sick leave, paid leave to care for family members' health and paid parental leave. Methods: We gathered data from all Canadian pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of public health 2010-03, Vol.101 (Suppl 1), p.S9-S15
Main Authors: Heymann, S. Jody, Gerecke, Megan, Chaussard, Martine
Format: Article
Language:eng ; fre
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Breastfeeding
Canada
Child care
Databases, Factual
Diseases
Employee benefits
Employment
Families & family life
Family leave
Family Leave - economics
Family Leave - legislation & jurisprudence
Family members
Government
Humans
Insurance Coverage - legislation & jurisprudence
Insurance Coverage - organization & administration
Internationality
Medical sciences
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Miscellaneous
Occupational medicine
Parental leave
Parents
Public Health
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Public Policy
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
Sick leave
Sick Leave - economics
Sick Leave - legislation & jurisprudence
Territories
Womens health
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Summary:Objectives: Two thirds of Canadian adults participate in the workforce. Their health and that of their families can be markedly affected by the availability of paid sick leave, paid leave to care for family members' health and paid parental leave. Methods: We gathered data from all Canadian provinces and territories on these essential leave policies and compared Canadian policies with data collected on 186 United Nations (UN) countries. Results: While Canada pays sickness benefits for 15 weeks for serious illnesses, globally at least 90 countries provide benefits for at least 26 weeks or until recovery. Moreover, within Canada only Saskatchewan and Quebec guarantee job protection if sick leave lasts over 12 days. The federal government guarantees Canadian workers six weeks of paid leave to provide care or support to gravely ill family members. Only 39 countries guarantee such leave with pay. Most, but not all, provinces guarantee workers' job protection during compassionate care leave. Eligibility for job protection during parental leave varies across the country from having no restrictions to requiring at least one year of service. Conclusion: Compared with Canada, many countries offer a longer duration of paid sick leave for employees and replace a higher percentage of wages lost. Internationally, Canada performs well in having policies that guarantee paid leave to care for dependants with serious illnesses, but it lags behind in the provision of paid leave to address the health needs of children or family members' with non-life-threatening conditions. Finally, while paid parental leave is of adequate duration, the wage replacement rate lowers its accessibility to families with limited means. Objectifs : Deux tiers des adultes canadiens se trouvent sur le marché du travail. Leur santé et celle de leur famille pourraient sensiblement être affectées par la disponibilité de congés de maladie payés, de congés payés permettant de prendre soin de la santé d'un parent et de congés parentaux rémunérés. Méthodes : Nous avons recueilli des données pertinentes sur ces politiques de congé dans chacune des provinces et dans les territoires canadiens, et les avons comparées aux données provenant de 186 pays des Nations Unies. Résultats : Alors que le Canada verse des prestations de maladie pendant 15 semaines pour les maladies graves, on trouve à l'échelle mondiale au moins 90 pays versant de telles prestations pendant au moins 26 semaines ou encore jusqu'à la guériso
ISSN:0008-4263
1920-7476
DOI:10.1007/BF03403840