Union News - April 2025
In light of the uncertainty of term extensions, there are important factors that term employees should consider before proceeding on Maternity and/or Parental leave and requesting the top up (allowance) provided by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Eligibility is determined by two factors:
- You must have six months of continuous employment, and
- You must be eligible for EI or QPIP benefits.
When you request the top up, you agree to work for:
- Standard Benefits: the same period that you are in receipt of the Maternity/Parental allowance upon your return to work.
- Extended Benefits: the same period that you are in receipt of Maternity allowance and 60% of the time you are in receipt of Parental allowance upon your return to work.
You should be aware that you do not have to take the allowance and you have the option to defer it until you return.
If you have taken the allowance and your term ends but you are not given a new term within 90 days, your period of continuous employment is broken. In that case, ALL of the allowance you have taken will be owed back at the ‘gross’ amount as it is considered a Debt to the Crown.
If your term ends after you have returned to CRA but you have not fulfilled your agreement, the weeks you have fulfilled will be taken into account when the debt is calculated. For example: If you receive 52 weeks of the allowance and you have only worked 30 weeks before your term ends, you will owe 22 weeks of allowance.
Upon your return to work, you can request any portion of the deferred allowance that you choose. The preferred option would be to request the allowance based on the number of weeks that you fulfill. For example, if you return and are given a 12-week term, you may request 12-weeks of allowance. This way, if your term is ended and the 90 days passes to break your continuous employment, you would not owe the allowance back as you have fulfilled the same number of weeks that you have received.
Alicia Ferguson
Compensation Advisor, Local 40022