The Liberal Party announced a number of campaign promises this week, including making maternity and parental benefits tax-free, introducing a 15-week leave for adoptive parents, strengthening the old-age security benefit and increasing the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan survivor’s benefit. If re-elected, the Liberal government said it will work to establish guaranteed paid family […]
Shopify Inc. is putting out the welcome mat for software developers who’ve taken leave from work with its new training program. The three-month paid program will help senior developers re-join the workforce after leaves of absence by bringing them up to speed on any technical developments in their field and training them on the Shopify […]
The federal Conservative Party is promising to make employment insurance maternity and parental benefits tax-free. The party is proposing a 15 per cent tax credit for any income earned under the two EI programs. “Parents should be able to put their energy toward those critical first few months, and not have to worry so much […]
When fathers take paternity leave, it can actually benefit the health of new mothers, according to a study by economists at Stanford University. The study looked at the effects of a 2012 Swedish law that allows fathers to take up to 30 days off work, as needed, the year after the birth of a child, but […]
About two-thirds (65 per cent) of U.S. employers are now offering parental leave for employees who’ve worked at their organizations for less than a year, according to a new survey by WorldatWork and PTO Exchange. The survey, which collected responses from more than 500 WorldatWork members, found more than half of organizations said they’re now […]
Sweden, Norway and Iceland offer the most family-friendly policies of all 41 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and European Union countries, according to a report from Unicef’s Innocenti Research Centre. The report ranked the countries on the duration of their paid maternity, paternity and parental leave. It also measured the share of children under […]
Last year, the University of Toronto added breastfeeding-friendly spaces for female faculty, staff and students. While women are welcome to breastfeed anywhere on campus, the new spaces are in quieter areas close to amenities. The new spaces are the work of the university’s Family Care Office, a division of the human resources department, in collaboration […]
Beginning June 30, Target Corp. will extend its backup care offerings to hourly and salaried employees at all U.S. stores and distribution centres. The program will include 20 days of in-centre childcare or in-home child- and elder care. The enhancements are intended to pick up where traditional parental leave policies end so employees can support their families, according to a press release. “Our […]
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada and the Treasury Board have reached an agreement that includes expanded parental leave top-up, paid leave for survivors of domestic violence and a wage increase. “Our members give their best to Canada and to their families. We went into these negotiations to get a deal that […]
DowDuPont Inc.’s specialty products division is adopting a comprehensive parental leave policy, which offers four weeks of paid leave for new parents, including adoptive and same-sex parents. “For birth mothers, the four paid weeks are in addition to an enhanced paid maternity leave which has been extended to 12 weeks,” said the company in a press […]