Can You Fire an Employee on Leave in Canada?

An employee’s leave does not make termination impossible in every Canadian workplace. It does make the reason, timing and process especially important. An employer cannot terminate because an employee took a job-protected leave or because of disability, and it must satisfy any duty to accommodate. A genuinely unrelated termination may still be lawful, but the governing employment standards, human rights, contract and collective agreement must all be checked. Employment rules vary by province and between provincially and federally regulated workplaces. The first questions are: Different rules apply to illness or injury leave, maternity or parental leave, compassionate-care leave, reservist leave, workers’ compensation absence and other protected leaves. Do not use a single “leave of absence” rule for all of them.