Maternity Leave and Sickness Unrelated to the Job

Female participation in the labor force is significant and has been increasing not only in North America but also in other countries and regions of the world. In 1998, the female labor force in North America totaled 83.8 million people, which means that of every 10 workers 4.4 were women.

This section describes income support for those workers who are temporarily absent from work in order to have a baby, to take care of a baby, or because they are ill for reasons not related to the job. Among these benefits are those related to the right of workers to receive their salaries when they are absent from work and their right to be compensated for medical expenses.

Canada

No; family-related leave allows workers to temporarily leave their employment for maternity, paternity, or adoption reasons while protecting their jobs for a specified period, but this leave is without pay. You are entitled, however, to receive cash benefits for family-related leave through the Employment Insurance program. These payments will partially compensate for your loss of income during your absence from work.

The province of Quebec and the federal government have chosen to extend maternity related rights. Quebec's occupational health and safety legislation contains a preventive withdrawal regime, which provides that pregnant or nursing employees who face a workplace hazard may request leave. This is analogous to the right to refuse dangerous work and the compensation of occupational illness or injury, two basic notions of occupational health and safety legislation.

Benefits

In many respects, eligibility and benefit levels are similar to those for regular EI benefits. Thus maternity or parental benefits depend on how many hours you have worked prior to your leave. The basic benefit rate is 55 percent of your average insured earnings, up to a maximum benefit of $413 a week. The amount of the weekly benefit will depend on your earnings in the last 26 weeks. EI recipients from low-income families with children also receive the Family Supplement (see 1.1).

If you are applying for maternity leave, you may collect EI benefits for up to eight weeks before giving birth. You cannot receive benefits later than 17 weeks after the baby is born, unless the infant is confined to a hospital. Your total coverage, however, cannot exceed 15 weeks.

In addition, parental leave benefits can be collected for up to 10 weeks by either natural or adoptive parents while they care for a newborn or adopted child. The benefit period may be increased to 15 weeks if the adopted child suffers from a physical or psychological condition that requires extended care. Benefits are available only within the first 52 weeks after the child's birth or, for adoptive parents, from the date the child arrives home. A total of 30 weeks of special benefits can be paid to a claimant in a single benefit period.

In Quebec, once a claim for preventive withdrawal is accepted, the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) requires the employer to attempt to assign the pregnant or nursing employee to other duties. If the employer cannot provide alternate work, the employee is entitled to leave with compensation. The employer is required to pay the first five days of leave at the employee's regular rate of pay, following which the CSST provides salary replacement at the rate of 90 percent of her net salary (i.e., after deductions are made for federal and provincial income taxes, the Régie des rentes du Québec, and Employment Insurance premiums) for the duration of the leave, up to an established maximum weekly payout.

Eligibility

To receive these benefits you must have worked a minimum of 700 hours in the past 52 weeks or since the start of your last period of maternity or parental leave.

Workers on parental leave may apply for benefits at a Human Resource Centre. Applicants will be asked to provide their Social Insurance Number, their Record of Employment (from their employer), and a birth or adoption certificate.

Mexico

Yes; the Mexican Labor Law entitles you to receive your full wage during maternity leave, extending six weeks before and six weeks after giving birth.

Eligibility

All workers are entitled to receive full salary for maternity leave. The Mexican Institute of Social Security (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) will pay this benefit to private sector employees if premiums have been paid for at least 30 weeks within the last 12 months of work. Otherwise, your employer must pay for your full salary.

If your maternity leave expires and for medical reasons you cannot return to work, you are entitled to receive disability compensation. For insured workers the compensation will be equal to 60 percent of their last insurable wage for up to 52 weeks. If you are still unable to work after this period, your compensation will be extended for 26 weeks more. Workers who are not insured will receive compensation equal to 50 percent of their salary for up to 60 days.

Workers are entitled to return to their position as long as no more than a year has elapsed from the date of childbirth, and are also entitled to have pre- and post-natal leave periods included in their seniority.

United States

No; you are not entitled to receive your salary during maternity or parental leave, unless your labor contract provides for it.

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act, if you work for an employer with more than 50 employees you are eligible for up 12 weeks of unpaid leave within a one-year period for the birth or adoption of a child, for family health needs, or for personal needs.⁶  You may also take time off for prenatal care, severe morning sickness, and recovery from childbirth.

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 you cannot be fired or forced to take leave because you are pregnant. Your employer is not allowed to take away credit for previous years, accrued retirement benefits, or seniority because you take maternity leave. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which is an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, states that women affected by pregnancy or related conditions must be treated in the same manner as other applicants or employees with similar abilities or limitations.

Canada

In Canada, health care is not an employment benefit; it is publicly financed and universally accessible to workers and non-workers. Your health and medical expenses are financed by federal taxes.

Mexico

Your illness and maternity insurance will cover your health and medical expenses during maternity leave and illness. Illness and maternity insurance is mandatory for all private and public employees.

If you work for a private employer you, your employer and the government will share health and medical costs. Employer's premium to the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social is 13.9 percent of the minimum wage in the Distrito Federal. When the insurable earnings are higher than three times the minimum wage in the Distrito Federal, the employers must pay an additional premium of six percent of the difference between the insurable earnings and three times the minimum wage mentioned. Workers must pay a premium of two percent. Federal contribution is 13.9 percent of the minimum wage in the Distrito Federal for each insured worker.

United States

Health insurance for employees is purely voluntary. No federal law requires employers to provide or pay for health insurance. However, you are entitled to benefits if your employer offers to provide health and medical insurance.

Canada

Through Employment Insurance, all workers are entitled to receive temporary income support when they are sick. This is to compensate for the income you lose while you are unable to work because of sickness. Payments and eligibility conditions are the same as those for people who lose their jobs (see Question 1.1).

Mexico

No, the Ley Federal del Trabajo (Federal Labor Law) does not require employers to pay full salary to their employees when they are sick for reasons not related to their work. However, if you work for a private employer and are insured by the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), your illness and maternity insurance entitles you to receive compensation equal to 60 percent of your last insurable wage, beginning from your fourth day of incapacity. Once you start receiving this compensation, employers do not have the obligation to pay your full salary.

Eligibility

The IMSS entitles private sector employees to receive income benefits if premiums have been paid for at least four continuous weeks before they got sick. Otherwise, the employer must pay the full wage. If you are a temporary worker, you are entitled to receive benefits if premiums have been paid for at least six weeks during the four months before you became ill.

Income benefits will be paid for up to 52 weeks. If for medical reasons you are still unable to work, your compensation will be extended for 26 weeks more. The compensation will discontinue if you suspend or fail to receive medical treatment without a doctor's authorization.

United States

No federal law requires employers to provide pay to workers when they are sick. However, most employers provide their employees with sick leave benefits that allow them to continue to receive their wages for certain periods when they are absent due to illness. Employees generally must accrue sick or personal leave days before being eligible for paid leave.

Benefits

Employees generally are paid 100 percent of their regular wages or salary during sick leave. Employers sometimes provide disability insurance benefits to cover absences that extend beyond one week or beyond the amount of sick leave an employee has accrued. These programs usually pay less than 100 percent of the employee's regular wage, and may require co-payment by employers for such insurance.

If you work for an employer with at least 50 employees and have completed 12 months of service, you are entitled to up to 12 workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period for certain reasons (Family and Medical Leave Act). Among the reasons covered is a serious health condition involving the employee (when unable to perform one or more essential job functions) or an immediate family member (spouse, child or parent).

Canada

In Canada, health care is not an employment benefit; it is publicly financed and universally accessible to workers and non-workers. Your health and medical expenses are financed by federal taxes.

Mexico

If you work for a private employer your illness and maternity insurance entitles you to receive medical and surgical attention, medication and hospitalization if necessary for up to 52 weeks. If after this period you are still sick, you are entitled to continue receiving medical treatment for 26 additional weeks.

You, your employer and the government share the health and medical costs. Employer's premium to the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social is 13.9 percent of the minimum wage in the Distrito Federal. When the insurable earnings are higher than three times the minimum wage in the Distrito Federal, the employer must pay an additional premium of six percent of the difference between the insurable earnings and three times the minimum wage mentioned, and workers must pay two percent. Federal contribution is 13.9 percent of the minimum wage in the Distrito Federal for each insured worker.

United States

No federal law requires employers to provide or pay for health insurance. Health insurance for employees is purely voluntary. However, you are entitled to benefits if your employer offers to provide health and medical insurance. Employers cannot offer insurance coverage to some employees and deny it to others.

⁶ Coverage of the Maine Family Medical Leave Law was expanded to include employees who work for smaller firms.