Yesterday I wrote a post about my daughter listening to news reports about the plane shot down over Ukraine. This morning I woke up thinking about how lucky I am that my biggest concern about the conflicts happening in the world is how my children will react to the news about those conflicts. [Read more…]
Yesterday I Went Back to Work…
In Canada we parents have the benefit of maternity and parental leaves. Our jobs are protected by law while we are on leave and we can collect income through Employment Insurance during our leaves. A mother who has given birth can use maternity leave and parental leave for a total of 52 weeks. Fathers and other parents, including adoptive can take up to 35 weeks of parental leave. These leaves are shared and any parental leave taken by one parent is deducted from the total of the other parent so that the time take by both parents combined cannot exceed one year.
I have some issues with how this is structured, but I greatly appreciate that it exists. Some organizations will top-up the payments provided by Employment Insurance so that one’s income remains relatively close to full pay during the leave period. Many, such as my current employer, do not provide a top-up. [Read more…]