Deals on paid time off for domestic violence ‘beginning of a wave,’ says expert

By Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — An academic expert on violence against women and children says several new deals reached between the federal government and one of its biggest civil service unions that allows paid time off for victims of domestic violence are the “beginning of a wave.”

The tentative agreements, reached late last month with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), include up to 10 paid days of leave to help union members escape their violent partners, a provision the union calls “historic.”

Barb MacQuarrie at Western University’s Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women and Children says she expects the provisions to be included in many more agreements.

MacQuarrie says more employers are also likely to adopt policies on their own to offer paid leave.

Canada currently has a patchwork of laws that provide for domestic-violence leave.

Nationally, the government recently passed legislation allowing federally regulated workers who are survivors of such violence to take 10 days off — five of those days paid and five unpaid.

Terry Pedwell, The Canadian Press

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