Parental leave and allowance for BC Public Service employees

Parental leave provides BC Public Service employees with time away from work to care for a newborn or newly adopted child. This leave can be taken by either parent and can be shared between them.

Overview

There are two types of parental leave available:

• Standard parental leave: Up to 37 consecutive weeks
• Extended parental leave: Up to 63 consecutive weeks

You may be eligible for:

• Employment Insurance (EI) parental benefits through the Government of Canada
• Parental leave allowance (commonly referred to as a “top-up”) through the BC Public Service. You must be eligible for EI to be eligible for the leave allowance

Eligibility

Check your BC Public Service employment terms and conditions and agreements to confirm what parental benefits are offered:

• BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU)
• BC's Professional Employees Association (PEA)
• BC Nurses' Union (BCNU)
• King's Printer/Unifor
• Crown Counsel Association
• Excluded Employees and Appointees

If you're an auxiliary employee without leave benefits, your maternity leave follows the Employment Standards Act.

Birthing parent

If you are the birthing parent and have taken maternity leave, you may take up to 61 consecutive weeks of parental leave immediately following your maternity leave.

First you (may) serve a waiting period, then take 15 weeks maternity leave, followed by 35 (standard) to 61 (extended) weeks parental leave.

Non-birthing parent

If you are a non-birthing parent, you may take up to 63 consecutive weeks of parental leave, which must begin within 78 weeks of your child’s birth or adoption. This includes adoptive parents and same-sex partners. Please note that to be eligible for EI (and leave allowance), the time taken must be within specific periods starting the week of your child’s date of birth or the week your child is placed with you for the purpose of adoption. For standard parental, within 52 weeks (12 months) and for extended parental, within 78 weeks (18 months).

First you (may) serve a waiting period, then take 35 (standard) to 61 (extended) weeks parental leave.

Sharing parental benefits through Employment Insurance (EI)

If both parents are sharing parental benefits through EI, the two of you can share the benefit by splitting it up with one another. There’s an additional 5 weeks provided for standard parental and an additional 8 weeks provided for extended parental. One parent cannot take more than 35 weeks of standard parental benefits or 61 weeks of extended parental benefits. If both parents are BC Public Service employees and sharing the parental leave allowance, the parental leave allowance will be payable up to 35 weeks for standard leave and up to 61 weeks for extended leave between the two parents.

Steps to apply

The simplest way to apply for parental leave and allowance is to use the digital journey guided application. 

• Your information is pre-populated, resulting in quicker application time, fewer errors, and less manual effort 
• The application guides you through the process by providing relevant information for each of the sections
• Features include a date picker and calculator to make it simpler to select the start date and length of leave 
• You can save it as a draft and return to it to make edits before you submit it for approval 

If you cannot access the digital journey guided application, you will need to fill out and submit a form.

Things to consider

• There will most likely be a gap in your pay between your last day worked and the first day you receive EI payments if you did not take maternity leave prior to parental leave
• Benefits coverage continues during your leave, but you can make changes to your coverage within 60 days from the birth of your child as it’s considered an eligible life event.
• There may be a waiting period before EI benefits begin if you have not already served a waiting period. If you chose to take the allowance, you will be paid 85% of your basic pay for the waiting period
• Applying for EI is a separate process. To be eligible for parental leave allowance, you must be eligible for EI and submit proof of acceptance
• Your supervisor may need to submit the EI documents on your behalf as your IDIR account and email access may be suspended during your leave
• Leave allowance will be calculated and paid once your EI documents have been received
• You may want to have additional taxes deducted during your leave
• If you receive a leave allowance, you must return for 6 months, or the length of your leave, whichever is longer. If you do not, you will need to repay your allowance
• Upon returning to work, some things will need to be re-configured and submitted (schedules, etc.)