Leave of Absence and New Job

How many years of service do you have with company 1 ? Your direct supervisor may not approve such request as it would be easier for the company to just hire a new replacement.

booblehead wrote: ↑ How many years of service do you have with company 1 ? Your direct supervisor may not approve such request as it would be easier for the company to just hire a new replacement.

8 years. Yea they might not, but it could start off as indefinite leave without a set return date. Then if I like Job 2, just quit Job 1.

yellowlight18 wrote: ↑ Not sure if this has been answered before, but in Ontario is it possible to take a personal leave of absence from Job 1 to take on a 1 year contract with Job 2? However after a month, if decide to quit Job 2 anymore, can return to Job 1 just in case?

Im guessing it all depends on the HR policy regarding leave of absence for Job 1?

I don't work in Ontario but it would depend on whether company #1 grants leaves of absences and if so, whether they place restrictions on these. For example, at my last place of employment, the HR policy was that leaves of absences are granted for up to 1 year EXCEPT for exceptional reasons. I was offered the option of taking a 1 year leave of absence instead of early retiring and I chose to early retire from where I was working. Technically if I would have decided to take a leave of absence for a year and it was granted, I could have done almost anything during that year like travelling, taking care of a family member such as a parent or parents, trying to take care of major renovations, etc. However, taking another job would be a definite no-no.

That being said, there is nothing "wrong" with what you're trying to do (I.e. it isn't against the law) but it is very ethically questionable and if employer #1 knows or finds out that your leave of absence is because you are working elsewhere, that will be likely a firing/termination offense. It all depends on your employer. I know someone who took a leave of absence from a hi-tech job and worked and helped out at his family's grocery store and nothing happened regarding this even though "everyone" knew that he was working and helping out his family in their business.

Also, you'll need to worry about working for a company #2 which "competes" against company #1.

In my example for myself, it would have been a terminating/firing offense if I decided to do this during my leave of absence and they find out that I was working full time elsewhere.

However, generally there are no rules about being employed and working for 2 places at the same time unless there is a business conflict or a conflict in terms of time. For example, earlier in my work career, I was working full time (M-F: 8:30am to 5:00pm) in a high tech company and working from 6pm to 9pm on selected evenings during the week at another place. Both places knew this and didn't have an issue with it until the demanded work conflicted (for example, in my full time job, I was required to use a pager and cellphone for emergencies and once when I was working in the evening at the other place, the pager went off and I was obligated to call the number "immediately" but I was in a short meeting and my evening employer didn't like this. I subsequently quit the evening job as it was becoming too stressful and I wasn't getting much benefit from working that part time evening job.

yellowlight18 wrote: ↑ Not sure if this has been answered before, but in Ontario is it possible to take a personal leave of absence from Job 1 to take on a 1 year contract with Job 2? However after a month, if decide to quit Job 2 anymore, can return to Job 1 just in case?

Im guessing it all depends on the HR policy regarding leave of absence for Job 1?

A company isn't going to grant you a leave of absence to take a job somewhere else for a year. If you lie to get a leave and they find out you're screwed. They most likely need to hire someone to replace you for the year so it's highly unlikely you can come back after a month. I doubt they will give you such a long leave without a valid reason like maternity etc.

tew wrote: ↑ A company isn't going to grant you a leave of absence to take a job somewhere else for a year. If you lie to get a leave and they find out you're screwed. They most likely need to hire someone to replace you for the year so it's highly unlikely you can come back after a month. I doubt they will give you such a long leave without a valid reason like maternity etc.

Is there a legit way they can find out? How would they find out if they are completely different industries and parts of town?

HR can hire outside sources to check your social media presence (if you have them). So, posting any pictures, social events (with company 2), etc can be tracked.

Of course, this would be costly and time consuming for company 1 to do but if your job is in the IT Industry and any industry involving intellectual property , then company 1 may do it.

It would be at the discretion of your employer. Extremely low chance of them approving it if you are so unsure that you have to ask here.

With that said its perfectly legal to work multiple jobs in Canada as long as you pay your taxes. I know quite a few folks that have been doing multiple jobs at the same time for years and all of them are discreet about it. Don't openly talk about it in your professional circle no matter how close you are to your co-workers.

yellowlight18 wrote: ↑ Is there a legit way they can find out? How would they find out if they are completely different industries and parts of town?

I don't know what lie you are planning to them but I can't see a company granting such a long leave without a very good reason and likely they will require some documentation especially for any type of medical reason. You obviously wouldn't qualify for a job-protected leave and only maternity and death of a child are a year or more in length anyway, the rest are much shorter. If you ask for an extended personal leave for a non job-protected reason and they grant it they are not required to hold a position for you.

submarine wrote: ↑ It would be at the discretion of your employer. Extremely low chance of them approving it if you are so unsure that you have to ask here.

With that said its perfectly legal to work multiple jobs in Canada as long as you pay your taxes. I know quite a few folks that have been doing multiple jobs at the same time for years and all of them are discreet about it. Don't openly talk about it in your professional circle no matter how close you are to your co-workers.

It's legal unless specified that you aren't allowed to in your employment contract. There may be clauses dealing with dual employment, exclusivity agreements, or non-compete/non-solicitation provisions.

yellowlight18 wrote: ↑ Not sure if this has been answered before, but in Ontario is it possible to take a personal leave of absence from Job 1 to take on a 1 year contract with Job 2? However after a month, if decide to quit Job 2 anymore, can return to Job 1 just in case?

Im guessing it all depends on the HR policy regarding leave of absence for Job 1?

Most likely you can file a one to 2 weeks leave to try job 2. But unlikely job 1 employer will grant you a 1 year leave of absence

If you're not taking trade secrets with you to the other job, there's nothing in a work contract that would stand up in court.
Request your leave of absence citing personal reasons and see if it gets approved.

Go make a baby with someone and take a year Parental leave.

yellowlight18 wrote: ↑ Is there a legit way they can find out? How would they find out if they are completely different industries and parts of town?

They can find out depending on the reason for your leave of absence.

For example, where I used to work, the policy stated that sick days could only be used for incidental sickness of the employee him/herself and it wasn't to be used for any type of doctor's appointments (need to use personal day or vacation day for this) or kids or family member being sick. There was someone who called in and mentioned that he was sick and didn't feel well enough to go into work and then when I went out for lunch, I saw him in a shopping mall. I wasn't the person's supervisor/manager so it didn't really make any difference to me but if I was, it could have been an uncomfortable situation for this person.

Rumours and "water cooler talk" happens and they can "easily" find out.