Stress leave in BC is medically supported time away from work when stress, anxiety, depression or another mental-health condition prevents you from working.
For a serious condition that keeps you off work for at least one week, BC employees can qualify for up to 27 weeks of unpaid, job-protected medical leave in a 52-week period. Shorter absences can be covered by BC’s illness and injury leave rules.
Your employer may also have a duty to accommodate a mental-health disability with additional leave, reduced hours, modified duties or a gradual return to work. Don’t resign simply because you need time away to recover.
On This Page:
- 1. How Long Stress Leave Lasts
- 2. Is Stress Leave Paid?
- 3. How to Take Stress Leave
- 4. Accommodation & Returning to Work
- 5. Can You Be Fired?
- 6. Stress Leave FAQs
How Long Can You Take Stress Leave in BC?
A serious mental-health condition can qualify for up to 27 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in any 52-week period.
This longer leave applies when a serious personal illness or injury makes you unable to work for at least one week. It can include a serious mental-health condition.
There is no minimum length of employment before you can qualify for this 27-week leave.
What if you only need a few days?
After 90 consecutive days of employment, BC employees are entitled to up to five paid and three unpaid illness or injury days each calendar year.
These days can be used when a short-term mental-health condition prevents you from working.
Can stress leave last longer than 27 weeks?
Potentially, yes. The 27 weeks are a minimum statutory leave entitlement, not necessarily the maximum amount of disability-related time away from work.
If your mental-health condition amounts to a disability and you remain medically unable to return, your employer may have to provide additional reasonable accommodation unless doing so would cause undue hardship.
For other protected leaves in the province, see our Leave of Absence BC guide.
Is Stress Leave Paid in BC?
Extended stress leave is generally unpaid by your employer, but EI sickness benefits or a workplace disability plan can replace part of your income.
In 2026, eligible employees can receive EI sickness benefits for up to 26 weeks at:
- 55% of average insurable weekly earnings
- Up to a maximum of $729 per week
You may also have short-term disability or long-term disability coverage through work. Those benefits are separate from your legal right to remain away from work.
An insurer denying disability benefits does not automatically mean your employer can force you back to work if your medical restrictions still say you are unable to return.
How Do You Go on Stress Leave in BC?
If stress or another mental-health condition prevents you from working, get medical advice and notify your employer that you need medical leave.
For an extended serious illness or injury leave, you need a medical certificate confirming:
- That you are unable to work for medical reasons
- When the inability to work began or is expected to begin
- When you are expected to be able to return
Provide the certificate to your employer as soon as practicable.
Do you need to tell your employer your diagnosis?
You generally need to provide enough medical information to support your leave and restrictions, but that does not automatically mean disclosing your full diagnosis or treatment history.
Your employer can reasonably seek information about whether you can work, your restrictions and the expected duration of the absence. Medical information should be handled confidentially.
Do you need a doctor’s note for a short stress absence?
Not always. BC employers generally can’t require a sick note from a health practitioner for your first two health-related absences of five consecutive days or fewer in a calendar year.
An employer can still ask for reasonably sufficient proof where allowed. Different documentation rules apply to the longer 27-week serious illness or injury leave, which requires a medical certificate.
Does Your Employer Have to Accommodate Stress or Mental Health?
Yes. When a mental-health condition amounts to a disability, a BC employer must explore reasonable accommodation up to the point of undue hardship.
Depending on your medical restrictions and job, accommodation can include:
- Time away from work
- A gradual return to work
- Reduced or adjusted hours
- Modified duties
- Temporary changes to workload
- Time for treatment or medical appointments
You must also cooperate in the accommodation process and consider reasonable options that respect your medical restrictions.
Learn more about the duty to accommodate in BC.
Can your employer force you back before you are ready?
Your employer can’t simply ignore valid medical restrictions and order you back because it wants you at work.
If your medical information says you remain unable to work, keep that information current. If you can return with restrictions, participate in a reasonable return-to-work plan.
Can You Be Fired While on Stress Leave in BC?
Your employer can’t fire you because you took protected medical leave or because you have a mental-health disability.
A termination can still occur for a genuinely unrelated reason, such as a legitimate business closure. But if your leave, disability or accommodation needs played a role in the decision, the termination should be reviewed carefully.
Your employer also can’t simply decide that your job ends because the fixed 27-week leave period has expired. Disability-accommodation obligations can continue beyond the statutory leave.
Are you owed severance if you are terminated?
If your employment ends without cause, you can be entitled to termination compensation even if you were on stress leave.
Employment standards minimums are not necessarily your full entitlement. Many non-unionized employees have greater common-law rights to severance pay in BC.
Depending on factors such as age, position, length of service and the availability of similar work, full severance can reach as much as 24 months’ pay.
Stress Leave BC FAQs
Is stress leave a legal leave in BC?
“Stress leave” is not the name of a separate statutory leave in BC A medically supported mental-health condition can qualify under illness and injury leave, serious personal illness or injury leave, and human-rights accommodation rules.
How long can you take stress leave in BC?
A serious condition that prevents you from working for at least one week can qualify for up to 27 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 52-week period.
Can you take stress leave for anxiety or depression?
Yes. Anxiety, depression and other mental-health conditions can support medical leave when they make you unable to work or create medically supported restrictions.
Does stress have to be caused by your job?
No. Medical-leave rights do not normally depend on your employer being the cause of your condition. What matters is whether your health condition legitimately prevents you from working.
Can you take stress leave for burnout?
Yes, if burnout symptoms are part of a medically supported condition that prevents you from working. Feeling busy, unhappy or temporarily stressed by itself does not automatically create a medical-leave entitlement.
Can your employer contact you while you are on stress leave?
Yes. Reasonable communication about medical documentation, expected return dates and accommodation is allowed. Your employer should not pressure you to perform work while you remain medically unable to work.
Get Help With Stress Leave Rights in BC
Mental-health conditions can require the same workplace protection and accommodation as physical medical conditions.
If your employer refuses a medically supported leave, pressures you to return early, rejects reasonable accommodation or threatens your job, don’t resign before understanding your options.
The BC employment lawyers at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP advise non-unionized employees on stress leave, mental-health accommodation, return-to-work disputes and termination.