Northwest Territories Employment Law

Duration of Annual Leave – An employee is entitled to –

• • • 2 weeks after each of the first 5 years of employment with the same employer; and
    • 3 weeks after 6th and subsequent years of employment with the same employer.

Timing of Annual Leave – An employee’s annual leave must start no later than 6 months after the end of the year of employment for which the employee became eligible for an annual leave. An employer shall approve or disapprove the request for annual leave submitted by the employee as soon as possible, but no later than 2 weeks after the request has been received.

Basis of Employment

For the purpose of calculating the years of employment of an employee, each year of employment for the same employer whether continuous or not during a 10-year period shall be included.

Annual Leave Pay – Annual Leave pay must be equal to at least:

• • • • 4% of the annual wages of the employee for each of the first 5 years of employment with the employer; and
      • 6% of the annual wages of the employee for sixth and subsequent years of employment with the employer.

An employee is entitled to vacation with vacation pay after each year of employment. An employee shall be paid annual leave pay at least 1 day before the beginning of the annual leave or if applicable at an earlier prescribed time.                                  

Overtime and Holiday Pay are included for the purposes of calculating Vacation Pay.

Annual Leave Pay upon Termination of Employment – An employee whose employment terminates before the completion of their year of employment, the employer shall pay any annual leave pay due to the employee in respect of –

• • • • • Any prior year completed years of employment; and
        • The completed portion of the current year of his/her employment. 

Carryover of Annual Leave – Employees are not permitted to carry over more annual leave credits than can be earned in 1 fiscal year. Annual leave credits exceeding a 1-year entitlement will be liquidated in cash in the month of June. However, in situations where an employee’s vacation leave has been denied due to operational requirements, the employee shall be permitted to carry over that period of vacation leave in addition to the 1 year of accrued annual leave credits. Employment Standards Act, § 24 – 25.

Effective September 1, 2023, the minimum wage is increased to $16.05 per hour.

The minimum wage stated above is subject to change and may not be up to date. Kindly access the link to get the latest wage rate.

Duration of Sick Leave – An employee is entitled to up to 5 days of unpaid sick leave in each 12-month period.

Eligibility of Sick Leave – Employees are eligible for sick leave if they have been employed for at least 30 days and are incapable of performing work due to illness or injury.

Medical Certificate – If the sick leave exceeds 3 consecutive days, the employee is required to provide a medical certificate to the employer that states the estimated duration of the leave. A medical certificate may be issued by a nurse practitioner or physician. Employment Standards Act, § 29.

An eligible employee is entitled to pregnancy leave of 17 consecutive weeks without pay commencing at any time during the 17-week period immediately preceding the estimated date of delivery. An employee is entitled to maternity leave without pay if the employee has completed 12 months of continuous employment by the employer.

Notice Requirement – An employee is required to provide a written notice of at least 4 weeks prior to the intended start date of their leave. This notice should include the specific day the leave is meant to begin and the anticipated return-to-work date.

An otherwise eligible pregnant employee who is unable to submit a request within the time required because of a medical condition arising from the pregnancy is entitled to pregnancy leave, if the employee provides her employer with a medical certificate, within two weeks after the employee ceases to work, that – 

• • • states the employee was not able to perform the duties of their employment because of that medical condition; and 
    • estimates the date of delivery or states the actual date of delivery.

Medical Certificate – The employer needs to provide the employer with a certificate from a qualified medical practitioner, qualified nurse practitioner, or qualified registered midwife confirming the pregnancy and estimating the expected childbirth date.

An otherwise eligible employee who has given birth without submitting a request is entitled to pregnancy leave, without pay, of 6 consecutive weeks, if the employee provides the employer with a medical certificate stating that the employee gave birth on a specified day.

Extension of Maternity Leave: If the actual date of delivery occurs after the estimated date of delivery, the employee is entitled on request to extend the pregnancy leave further by not more than 6 consecutive weeks. 

An employee who wishes to return to work before the designated leave period ends must secure the employer’s consent. The Employment Standard Act §§ 26,2l7;  The Employment Standard Regulation §§ 11.

An employee who has completed 12 months of continuous employment with an employer is entitled to parental leave without pay for a period of up to 61 consecutive  weeks when the employee remains at home to care for – 

• • • a newborn child of the employee; 
    • a child recently adopted by the employee; or  
    • a child with respect to whom the employee has commenced adoption proceedings.

The aggregate amount of leave that may be taken by more than one employee for the same birth or adoption shall not exceed 69 weeks, and the amount of leave that may be taken by one employee for the same birth or adoption shall not exceed 61 weeks.

Timing of Leave

Parental leave must be taken during the period beginning on the day of the birth of the newborn child of the employee or the day on which the child arrives at the employee’s home for the purpose of adoption, as the case may be, and ending –

• • • • • • • 78 weeks after that time, if parental leave is taken by one employee and
            • 86 weeks after that time, if parental leave is taken by more than one employee. 

An otherwise eligible employee is entitled to parental leave of 6 consecutive weeks, without pay, if he or she is unable to submit the request within 4 weeks as required by the employer.

If an employee plans to adopt multiple children who come to their home simultaneously, they can take parental leave from the arrival of the first child until one year after the last child arrives. It’s important to note that regardless of how many newborn or adopted children arrive together, the employee is entitled to only one period of parental leave.

If an employee intends to take parental leave in addition to maternity leave, the employee must begin the parental leave immediately on the expiry of the maternity leave without a return to work after the expiry of the maternity leave, unless the employer and employee otherwise agree, or an applicable agreement otherwise provides.

An employee who has requested a leave of absence for a period may return to work before the period is over with the consent of their employer. Employment Standards Act, § 28 and 34.

An employee is entitled to  27 weeks of unpaid compassionate leave to provide care or support to a family member of the employee. An employee must submit to the employer a request for compassionate leave advising the employer of the expected duration of the leave as the employee’s family member is suffering from a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death. An employer can request the employee to provide a medical certificate confirming the medical condition of their family member.

An employee is entitled to take 27 weeks of compassionate leave within the period –

• • • • • • • beginning on the earlier of the day a medical certificate is issued or the day the employee took the leave; and 
            • ending on the Saturday in the earlier of the 52nd week after the leave began or the week the family member dies.

Compassionate leave may be taken in separate periods but each period must be of not less than one week’s duration. The aggregate amount of leave that may be taken by two or more employees in respect of the care or support of the same family member shall not exceed 27 weeks in the period referred. Employment Standards Act, § 30.

An employee who has been employed for at least 6 months by an employer and is a family member of a critically ill child or adult is entitled to 37 weeks and 17 weeks of unpaid leave respectively for the purpose of providing support or care to the ill child or adult.

An employee must submit to the employer a request for family care leave advising the employer of the expected duration of the leave as the employee’s family member is critically ill in order to be eligible for the leave. An employer can request the employee to provide a medical certificate confirming the critical illness of their family child or adult.

The period of family caregiver leave to which an employee is entitled – 

• • • • • • • begins on the earlier of the day a medical certificate is issued or the day the employee took the leave; and 
            • ends on the Saturday in the earlier of the 52nd week after the leave began or the week the adult or child, as the case may be, dies.

Family caregiver leave may be taken in separate periods but each period must be of not less than one week’s duration. The Employment Standard Act §§ 30.1, The Employment Standard Regulation §§ 12.01.

An employee is entitled to family violence leave as given below – 

• • • • • • • up to 10 days of family violence leave, of which the first 5 days shall be paid leave, and the remaining days shall be unpaid leave; and 
            • Up to 15 weeks of unpaid family violence leave.

An employee is eligible to take leave when they must be employed by the employer for a period of – 

• • • • • • • • at least 1 consecutive month, in the case of unpaid leave.
              • at least 3 consecutive months, in the case of paid leave.

Pay: An employee is entitled to receive pay for the first 5 days of paid family leave at their regular rate of wages. The remaining leave duration shall be unpaid.

An employee must give a written notice to their employer before taking the leave, if possible. An employee who takes paid leave shall provide the employer with reasonable verification necessary to take leave. Employment Standards Act, § 30.2.

• • • 3 working days, if the funeral or memorial service will take place in the community in which the employee resides; 
    • 7 working days, if the funeral or memorial service will take place outside the community in which the employee resides.

An employee is entitled to unpaid court leave to – 

• • • • • • • • • Answer a summons for selection to serve on a jury;
                • Serve on a jury; or
                • Answer a summons to attend as a witness in a legal proceeding.

The period of court leave to which an employee is entitled is whatever period is required to perform the duties. 

If an employee is granted court leave with pay, the employee shall, on request from the employer, reimburse the employer the amount of any jury fee or witness fee the employee receives, excluding any amount for travel, meals, or accommodation expenses. Employment Standards Act, § 32.

An employee who is a member of the reserve force and has completed 6 consecutive months of continuous employment with an employer is entitled to reservist leave, without pay for the period necessary to accommodate that service.        

An employee who takes reservist leave shall give their employer at least 4 weeks’ notice specifying the start and the end date of leave in writing prior to taking the leave, or if it is not possible at the earliest.

An employer may require an employee requesting reservist leave to provide a certificate from an official with the reserve force stating that the employee is a member of the reserve force and is required for service. Employment Standards Act, § 32.1 – 32.2.

An employee is eligible for 3 consecutive hours of paid time off from work for the purpose of voting. An employer does not have an obligation to provide time off of work where the required number of consecutive hours falls outside an employee’s hours of work and within the voting hours. Elections and Plebiscites Act, §§ 168.

An emergency includes a circumstance that affects a family member of an employee if – 

• • • the declaration, direction, order or other circumstance results in a situation where the family member of the employee requires care, child care, or assistance; 
    • the employee is the person most reasonably able under the circumstances to provide the family member with the required care, child care, or assistance; and 
    • providing the required care, child care, or assistance to the family member has the effect of preventing the employee from performing the duties of their employment.

An employee is also entitled to unpaid emergency leave when the employee is unable to perform the duties of their employment because of the emergency as declared by the authority.

The leave entitlement shall exist in case an emergency exists due to an epidemic or pandemic of a reportable disease, in respect of an employee who will not be performing the duties of their employment because the employee.

Entitlement to leave – In an emergency, an employee is entitled to emergency leave, without pay, during any period when the employee is unable to perform the duties of their employment because of the emergency. 

If an employee is on emergency leave to provide care, child care or assistance to a family member, no other employee may take emergency leave in respect of the same family member before the end of the leave taken by the first-mentioned employee. 

An employee must inform their employer before commencing the leave of absence due to an emergency situation. An employee is not required to have been employed by the employer for any minimum length of time to be eligible for emergency leave. The Employment Standard Act §§ 30.3.