Can an employer require employees to take vacation days for maternity leave?

Questioner

My temporary (second) 32-hour contract expires in September; My due date is October 20, 2022; The company I work for does not have a collective labor agreement or employee handbook. I would like to supplement the minimum maternity and maternity leave of 16 weeks with my remaining days off of 3 weeks, in consultation with the management. Given my expected due date, this will be in the new year (2023). I still have 70 extra-legal and 43 legal hours. My company has a rule that each employee can carry over a maximum of 3 working days to the new calendar year. This has previously resulted in days/hours not taken being not added to the new year by them and that you lost them. Can my employer require me to take my remaining vacation days before my leave? or can my employer reject my request? If so, if this results in the termination of my contract, in consultation with both parties, am I entitled to unemployment benefits? My goal is of course to continue working for the company, but it is nice to know what my rights are as there is no collective labor agreement or personnel handbook available.

Lawyer

Good morning, This also depends on what you agreed in your employment agreement. You say that no collective labor agreement or personnel handbook applies. In general, extra-statutory vacation days are valid for five years. This means that after this limitation period of 5 years, the vacation days expire. Statutory vacation days must generally be taken within six months after the calendar year in which you accrued them. After that, they expire, unless different agreements have been made about this. You must be properly informed about this by your employer. You also accrue vacation days during your maternity leave and maternity leave. Your employer may not ask you to take vacation days for your leave. If your fixed-term contract is not extended through no fault of your own (for example, by rejecting an option to extend), you may be eligible for a benefit. If you have any questions about this, you can always contact us.