Under Canada Labour Code Part III, employees are entitled to FR (Family Responsibility) Days. Unused FR days do not carry over from year to year.
ESS CODE: FR (Family responsibility leave Paid)
ESS CODE: FRU (Family responsibility leave Unpaid)
HOW TO APPLY FOR FR DAY:
Please request a family responsibility day by entering all the information on the online form. You must answer all questions to submit the form. Please note that it may take up to 8 hours to process your request. You will receive an approval or denial message directly to your Air Canada email address.
If your request is an emergency and you’re scheduled to start work within 2 hours and you require immediate assistance, please contact the Workforce Attendance Manager on shift by calling 1-844-224-0113. You will have 24 hours to submit the form in case of an emergency. Supporting documentation may be requested. You will have 15 days after returning to work to submit your supporting documents to yuler@aircanada.ca.
FR Day to attend your own Citizenship Ceremony:
Employee attending their citizenship ceremony. Please fill in the above form and send proof of the Citizenship Ceremony date to yuler@aircanada.ca.
*DEC 13 2022 – FR Day no longer allow for COVID-19 vaccination/booster*
COVID-19 Vaccination/Booster and Monkey Pox Vaccination will no longer be eligible for FR day. The company has discontinued offering FR day for all vaccination appointments.
EXAMPLES OF FR DAYS
A) Education-related responsibilities:
Attending parent-teacher meetings, meeting with education specialists to optimize the child’s development, meeting with a school counselor/principal to discuss behavioral challenges at school, accompanying a student with special needs to ensure they can participate in an educational activity and attending a school orientation or registration meeting.
Taking care of a young child for a day following an unexpected school or day care closure. (Winter: Snow day school closure)
The following activities would not qualify: attending a school-related performance, accompanying a child on a school recreational activity or excursion, accompanying an older child for their first day at school, bringing a child to a community art class or sporting activity or helping a family member study for an exam.
B) Responsibilities related to the health or care of an employee’s family member:
Accompanying the family member to an appointment with a health care practitioner, accompanying the family member to a pre-planned surgery, accompanying the family member to the hospital or other medical institutions to undergo scheduled medical tests, picking up the family member from school due to an illness, injury or medical emergency, taking care of the sick or injured family member at home, making arrangements for the family member’s long-term care or purchasing medications or medical equipment for the family member.
The following activities would not qualify: attending a family social gathering, walking the dog, buying groceries or watering the plants of a family member, helping with a family member’s wedding arrangements, dealing with non urgent legal issues (e.g. wills, powers of attorney, do not resuscitate orders) for the family member and picking up mail, going to the bank or paying bills for the family member.
C) Responsibilities to deal with “an urgent matter”:
The situation must require the employee’s immediate action or attention in order to avoid significant negative consequences, such as dealing with flooding or a fire at home, dealing with the aftermath of a serious car accident, providing assistance to the police as a witness to a crime, waiting at home for a technician to perform urgent furnace work (during winter) or helping locate a family member who had just been reported as having disappeared.
The following activities would not be deemed urgent matters: attending a graduation ceremony, waiting at home for a non-essential service call (e.g. cable installation), meeting with a real estate or mortgage agent as part of a house sale/purchase, taking advantage of a sales event or arriving in time for a family member’s surprise birthday party.
Can my Manager refuse to grant me a Family Responsibility leave?
No, if you meet the eligibility criteria and give your manager notice in writing of the reasons for your leave and its length, as soon as possible before the start of your leave, your manager cannot refuse to grant the leave unless you have previously exhausted any collective agreement leave entitlement which provides for the same type of leave . Your manager may, in writing and no later than 15 days after your return to work, request documentation to support the reasons for your leave. Examples of documentation could be a certificate.
RESOURCES: