A question that frequently arises from employers is, "Do I still need to pay for my employee's benefits while they are on maternity or parental leave?" Perhaps you have wondered this yourself.

The answer, at least in British Columbia, and along with most other provinces/territories in Canada, is YES, you do still need to pay. As an employer, you are required to continue to offer benefits for any employee that is away on a legislated leave such as maternity or parental leave.

While the employee's salary during the leave is typically unpaid by the employer - unless the company provides top-up to the government Employment Insurance (EI) payment - their other benefits MUST continue as if they are still working for you during the time they are away. This would include any premium payments an employer makes on the employee's behalf for group life insurance, short and/or long term disability insurance, extended health and dental coverage, as well as contributions to a company pension or savings plan.

If the employee pays for all or part of their premiums, the onus is on you, the employer, to make arrangement to collect their part of the premiums. Most commonly, post-dated cheques would be obtained from the employee.

Ensure that your employee is aware of his/her rights for benefits before they go on their leave. If they pay for part of their premiums, advise that those payments must continue while they are off. It is important that they themselves continue to pay premium for their benefits in order to maintain any non-taxable status of benefits if there is ever a claim.

It is inadvisable to remove an employee from a benefits plan, and certainly not without written and signed consent from the employee. Removal from the plan means would mean they would no longer have insurance or health benefits coverage - this could be disastrous if an unforeseen medical situation were to occur. If an employee refuses to pay for their portion of the premium and insists on removing themselves from the plan, get them to sign a benefits waiver for the record. This would acknowledge both your AND the employee's acceptance of any liability and risk.

When in doubt, contact your group benefits advisor, or we welcome you to call our office - we're happy to help!

For further information and interpretation on this area of Labour Relations, you should refer to the Employment Standards Act in British Columbia. CLICK HERE for details.