Job seeking leave

Overview

Job seeking leave came into effect on November 27, 2025. This leave entitles employees who received a notice of mass termination to an unpaid, job-protected leave of up to 3 days during the notice period to engage in activities related to finding employment.

Reasons job seeking leave may be taken

An employee who is entitled to job seeking leave can take up to 3 unpaid days of leave if they meet both these criteria:

• received a notice of mass termination (when an employer terminates 50 or more employees at its establishment within a 4-week period)
• engage in activities related to finding employment

Eligible activities could include things like:

• job searches
• resume building
• interviews
• training
• professional networking events
• job-related informational meetings

Notice requirements

Eligible employees must notify their employer at least 3 days before beginning the leave, if possible.

Notice does not have to be given in writing. Verbal notice is sufficient.

While an employee is required to tell the employer in advance before starting a leave, the employee will not lose the right to take the leave if they fail to do so.

Length and timing of job seeking leave

Employees who received a notice of mass termination are entitled to up to 3 days of job protected unpaid job seeking leave during the notice period.

Employees can take the leave in part days, full days or in periods of more than one day (for example, to attend an interview or take part in another job-seeking activity). If an employee takes only part of a day as job seeking leave, the employer can count it as a full day of leave. However, it does not mean the employee is treated as having missed the entire day. If the employee works part of the day, they must still be paid for the hours they worked. Those hours also count toward things like overtime calculations, hours of work limits, and required rest periods.

Employees do not have to take job seeking leave in full day periods. The provision simply allows, but does not require, the employer to deduct a full day from the 3-day entitlement even if only part of the day was used.

Example

An employee takes the afternoon off work to attend an interview. They worked a 4-hour day (rather than their usual 8 hours) and take the rest of the day as job seeking leave. In this case, the employer may consider the employee to have used up 1 of their 3 days of job seeking leave and the employee would be paid for the 4 hours that they worked.

Evidence

An employer may require an employee to provide evidence “reasonable in the circumstances” that they are eligible for job seeking leave.

What will be reasonable in the circumstances will depend on all the facts of the situation, such as:

• the duration of the leave
• whether there is a pattern of absences
• whether any evidence is available
• the cost of the evidence

For example, if an employee attends a training session or interview, it may be reasonable for an employer to request a receipt from a training session or a written invitation to an interview. A written invitation could be a physical letter, email or text message.

Contracts that provide paid or unpaid job seeking leave

If an employment contract, including a collective agreement, provides a greater right or benefit than the job seeking leave standard under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), then the terms of the contract apply instead of the standard.

If the contract does not provide a greater right or benefit, then the job seeking leave standard in the ESA applies to the employee.

However, if an employment contract provides for something similar to job seeking leave, and if the employee takes the leave under the employment contract, the employee is considered to have also taken job seeking leave under the ESA.

Exception — termination pay instead of notice

Employees are not entitled to job seeking leave if they are terminated with notice that is 25% or less of the required notice period and receive the rest of the required termination notice as termination pay instead of notice.

In other words, when the actual notice the employee receives is 25% or less of the notice the employer was required to give for a mass termination, the employee is not entitled to this leave.

Example: When the employee is not entitled to job seeking leave

The employee is not entitled to job seeking leave based on the following information:

• notice requirement: 55 employees are terminated in a 4-week period at the employer’s establishment, meaning that 8 weeks of notice is required
• termination pay and notice: the employer provides $6,000 pay instead of notice (because the employee earns an annual salary of $52,000 or $1,000 per week) and gives 2 weeks of notice

Because the period of notice is 25% of the required notice (2 weeks / 8 weeks = 25%), the employee is not entitled to job seeking leave.

Example: When the employee is not entitled to job seeking leave

The employee is entitled to job seeking leave based on the following information:

• notice requirement: 250 employees are terminated in a 4-week period at the employer’s establishment, meaning that 12 weeks of notice is required
• termination pay and notice: the employer provides $5,000 pay instead of notice (employee earns an annual salary of $52,000 or $1,000 per week) and gives 7 weeks of notice

Because the period of notice is 58% of the required notice (7 weeks / 12 weeks = 58%), the employee is entitled to job seeking leave.