British Columbia proposes new job-protected leave for workers facing serious illness or injury
November 10, 2025
On October 20, the Government of British Columbia introduced Bill 30, the Employment Standards (Serious Illness or Injury Leave) Amendment Act, 2025 for first reading which, if passed, would add a new unpaid leave for serious personal illness or injury to the types of job-protected leaves already provided for in the province’s Employment Standards Act.
Under the proposed legislation, the new leave would provide for up to 27 weeks of unpaid leave within any period of 52 weeks for serious personal illness or injury. The employee taking the leave would be required to obtain a medical certificate and provide a copy of the certificate to the employer as soon as practicable. The leave also must be taken in units of one or more weeks.
The bill does not currently specify an employee eligibility period, but this may be included in a future regulation.
During a serious personal illness or injury leave, an employee’s service is treated as continuous for the purposes of pension accrual and other benefits. In addition, if the employer pays the full cost of a pension or benefits plan, this must continue during the leave. If the plan cost is shared between the employer and employee, and the employee continues to pay their share, the employer must also pay their share.
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