Domestic or sexual violence leave in Ontario gives eligible employees up to 10 days and 15 weeks of job-protected leave each calendar year when they or their child experience or are threatened with domestic or sexual violence.
You qualify after working for your employer for at least 13 consecutive weeks. The first five days of domestic or sexual violence leave you take in the calendar year are paid, while the remaining leave is unpaid.
The leave can be used to get medical care, counselling or victim services, move somewhere safer, or seek legal or law-enforcement help. If you qualify, your employer can’t simply refuse the leave because your absence is inconvenient.
On This Page:
- 1. How Much Leave Do You Get?
- 2. Who Qualifies?
- 3. What Can the Leave Be Used For?
- 4. How Much of the Leave Is Paid?
- 5. Notice, Proof & Confidentiality
- 6. Job Protection & Employee Rights
- 7. FAQs
How Much Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave Do You Get in Ontario?
Eligible Ontario employees can take both up to 10 days and up to 15 weeks of domestic or sexual violence leave each calendar year.
| Leave Entitlement | How It Can Be Used |
|---|---|
| Up to 10 days | Individual days, part days or several days together |
| Up to 15 weeks | Consecutive or separate weeks or part weeks |
These are separate entitlements. You do not have to choose between the 10 days and the 15 weeks, and you do not have to use the 10-day entitlement first.
Do the 10 days have to be taken together?
No. You can take the 10-day portion in individual days, part days or blocks of several days.
If you take only part of a day, your employer can count it as one full day against your 10-day entitlement. You must still be paid for any hours you actually worked.
Do you have to take the 15 weeks consecutively?
No. The 15 weeks can be taken together or at separate times throughout the calendar year.
A week runs from Sunday to Saturday. If you take even part of a week under the 15-week entitlement, that can count as one full week against the 15 weeks.
Your employer can’t force you to stay off for the entire week merely because one week is deducted from your entitlement.
Does unused leave carry over?
No. Unused domestic or sexual violence leave does not carry into the next calendar year.
The 10-day entitlement is also not prorated. If you become eligible partway through the year, you can still have the full 10 days available for the remainder of that calendar year.
Who Qualifies for Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave in Ontario?
You qualify after at least 13 consecutive weeks of employment if you or your child have experienced or been threatened with domestic or sexual violence and you need the leave for a permitted purpose.
For this leave, a child includes a:
- Child under 18
- Step-child under 18
- Foster child under 18
- Child under your legal guardianship who is under 18
Does the violence have to happen at work?
No. Domestic or sexual violence leave is not limited to violence that occurs in the workplace.
Sexual violence can be committed by someone regardless of their relationship to you. Domestic violence can involve a current or former intimate partner or certain family relationships.
Does an actual assault have to occur?
No. Ontario’s leave also protects employees where domestic or sexual violence has been threatened.
Can you take the leave if your child is affected?
Yes. You can qualify where your child under 18 has experienced or been threatened with domestic or sexual violence and you need time away for one of the permitted purposes.
Is there an exception if the employee committed the violence?
Yes. An employee is not entitled to this ESA leave where the employee committed the domestic or sexual violence.
What Can Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave Be Used For?
The leave can be used for specific safety, health, counselling, relocation and legal needs arising from domestic or sexual violence.
You can take leave to:
- Seek medical attention for yourself or your child for a physical or psychological injury or disability caused by the violence
- Access services from a victim-services organization
- Receive psychological or other professional counselling
- Move temporarily or permanently
- Seek legal or law-enforcement assistance
- Make a police report
- Prepare for or participate in a related family, civil or criminal proceeding
Can you use the leave to move to a safer home?
Yes. Temporary or permanent relocation is expressly protected where it is connected to the domestic or sexual violence.
Can you use it for counselling?
Yes. Psychological and other professional counselling for you or your qualifying child is a permitted purpose.
Can you take leave to go to court or speak with police?
Yes. The leave can be used for legal or law-enforcement assistance, including reporting the violence or preparing for and participating in related legal proceedings.
Is Domestic Violence Leave Paid in Ontario?
Yes, in part. The first five domestic or sexual violence leave days you take in a calendar year are paid, and the remaining leave is unpaid.
The five paid days apply across the entire domestic or sexual violence leave entitlement.
For example, if you first take:
- Three individual leave days, those three days are paid
- A week of leave later in the year, the first two leave days of that week are paid
- Further leave after that, it is unpaid under the ESA
Are the first five days from each entitlement paid?
No. You do not receive five paid days under the 10-day entitlement plus another five paid days under the 15-week entitlement.
The first five domestic or sexual violence leave days taken in the calendar year are paid in total.
How is domestic violence leave pay calculated?
For most employees, paid domestic or sexual violence leave is based on the wages you would have earned if you had worked instead of taking leave.
If your compensation is based fully or partly on performance, such as commission or piece work, special ESA calculation rules apply.
You are not entitled to extra overtime pay or a shift premium merely because the paid leave falls during hours when those premiums would otherwise have applied.
How Do You Request Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave?
Tell your employer in advance where possible, but Ontario allows notice after the leave starts when advance notice is not possible.
Notice for the 10-day entitlement
If you are taking one or more of the 10 leave days, tell your employer before the leave where possible.
The notice does not have to be in writing. If you can’t provide advance notice, tell your employer as soon as possible after the leave begins.
Notice for the 15-week entitlement
If you are using the 15-week entitlement, you must notify your employer in writing before taking the leave where possible.
If circumstances prevent advance notice, give written notice as soon as possible after the leave starts.
Do you have to tell your employer every time you take leave?
Yes. Notice is required each time you take a separate period of domestic or sexual violence leave, unless your earlier notice already identifies the planned periods.
Can your employer ask for proof?
Yes, but only evidence that is reasonable in the circumstances.
Depending on the situation, that could include:
- Confirmation of a counselling or professional appointment
- A receipt or invoice for relevant services
- A rental agreement connected to relocation
- Reasonable medical documentation in an appropriate case
The evidence must be assessed in context. An employer should not demand information that is unavailable, unreasonably costly to obtain or creates a safety risk by revealing a confidential location.
Do you need a police report?
No. Ontario does not require every employee to provide a police report in order to qualify for domestic or sexual violence leave.
The employer can request reasonable evidence, but what is reasonable depends on the circumstances and the purpose for which the leave was taken.
Can your employer demand your diagnosis or treatment details?
Generally, no. If medical evidence is reasonably requested, Ontario’s interpretation guidance says employers should not demand detailed diagnoses or treatment information.
Does your employer have to keep the leave confidential?
Yes. Ontario imposes specific confidentiality requirements for records connected to domestic or sexual violence leave.
Employers must have mechanisms in place to protect these records and can disclose them only in limited circumstances, such as:
- With your consent
- To someone within the organization who genuinely needs the record to perform their duties
- Where disclosure is authorized or required by law
This confidentiality protection is especially important because the records can contain sensitive information about safety, housing, medical care and legal proceedings.
Is Your Job Protected During Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave?
Yes. Your employer can’t threaten, fire or penalize you because you take, plan to take or qualify for domestic or sexual violence leave.
Your ESA protections generally include:
- Protection against discipline or reprisal because of the leave
- Continued credit for length of employment, service and seniority
- Continued participation in qualifying benefit plans if you continue paying your required share
- Reinstatement to your former position or a comparable position in most cases
Can your employer fire you while you are on leave?
Your employer can’t terminate you because you took domestic or sexual violence leave.
A termination can still occur for a genuine reason completely unrelated to the leave, such as the legitimate elimination of your position. But the protected absence can’t be used as a reason or factor in the decision.
What if your employer cuts your hours or disciplines you?
A reduction in hours, discipline, demotion or other penalty connected to your protected leave can amount to an unlawful ESA reprisal.
Can another Ontario leave apply at the same time?
Yes. The same circumstances can potentially create entitlement to another ESA leave if its separate requirements are met.
For example, a physical or psychological injury can also create sick, long-term illness or disability-accommodation rights.
Each leave remains a separate entitlement. See our Leave of Absence Ontario guide for the broader framework.
Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave Ontario FAQs
How many domestic violence leave days do you get in Ontario?
Eligible employees can take up to 10 days plus up to 15 weeks of domestic or sexual violence leave each calendar year.
How long do you have to work before qualifying?
You must have worked for your employer for at least 13 consecutive weeks.
Is domestic violence leave paid?
The first five domestic or sexual violence leave days taken in each calendar year are paid. The remaining leave is unpaid.
Does the leave cover sexual violence?
Yes. The ESA entitlement covers both domestic violence and sexual violence, including threats of either.
Can I take leave if my child experiences violence?
Yes, if your child is under 18 and the other ESA requirements are met.
Do I need a police report?
No. Your employer can request reasonable evidence, but a police report is not automatically required.
Does my employer have to keep the information private?
Yes. Employers have specific ESA obligations to protect the confidentiality of records related to domestic or sexual violence leave.
Can my employer refuse the leave?
Not if you meet the ESA requirements and are taking the leave for a permitted purpose.
Can I be fired for taking domestic violence leave?
No. Your employer can’t punish or terminate you because you properly exercise this ESA-protected right.
Domestic or sexual violence leave is designed to let employees deal with immediate safety, medical, counselling, relocation and legal needs without having to give up their employment.
Samfiru Tumarkin LLP advises non-unionized Ontario employees dealing with denied protected leave, confidentiality concerns, workplace reprisals and termination connected to domestic or sexual violence leave.