Buying service for a leave

Learn more about leave types, purchase options, the value of purchasing service, costs, and deadlines.

1. Eligibility for buying service for a leave

3. Purchase options

5. What the cost will be

7. Process: lump-sum payment

2. Which leaves you can buy

4. What deadlines are involved

6. Process: continuous contributions

8. What to discuss with your employer

Purchase options

For leaves under the Employment Standards Act (ESA), you may be able to choose between two purchase options:

Lump-sum payment after your leave ends
Continuous contributions (about once a month) throughout your leave
- Leaves under 30 days may not require you to make continuous contributions

For general leaves or other service types, you can only make a lump sum payment.

To understand what deadlines are involved when submitting your application, check out the next section, What deadlines are involved.

Which option is best for you?

For an ESA leave, you may decide smaller monthly payments throughout your leave are more manageable. The cost is calculated based on your full-time salary for the given payment cycle. The cost will increase slightly if you receive regular salary increases.

Alternatively, you may wish to pay a larger lump sum, after a leave. Since the cost is based on your salary and the contribution rates at the time you submit the application, you may want to buy service as soon as possible rather than waiting until the deadline. If you wait and are earning a higher salary when you choose to apply, the cost may noticeably increase.

Whether to make monthly payments or one lump-sum payment is your choice. We recommend that you seek advice from an independent financial planner to help you decide.