Career Opportunity up for Grabs!
Today is a day of mixed emotions for me. Today my job is officially up for grabs!
My boss wants me to have at least a month of cross training with the person who will be taking over for me when I go on Maternity Leave, and that means, the interview process needs to start.
Here in Canada, we have the option to take a one year leave from our jobs after a baby is born. The government pays you Employment Insurance (something we pay into on every paycheck). Employment Insurance is available to all Canadians who have met certain requirements, such as hours worked in the past year, at a rate of 55% of your salary, to a maximum of $413/week.
The way it works is that you are granted a 15 week “maternity leave”, and then you have the option of taking a 35 week “parental leave”. The parental leave is available for either the father or the mother, or to a parent who has adopted a child. After your 50 weeks of Employment Insurance has finished, it is the law that your employer maintains a position for you (not necessarily the same one), and that the position is of equal or greater pay and seniority.
It will take a while to get used to our new financial situation. Even at $413/week that amount is still taxed at 20%. (I guess that’s better than the 33% I pay on my regular salary). TAX TAX TAX…by the time we pay our GST (Goods and Service Tax) and PST (Provincial Sales Tax), which add up to 15% on everything else we buy, we’re shelling out almost 50% of our hard earned dollars to the Government!
Thanks goodness for RRSP’s (Registered Retirement Savings Plan). At least they let us shelter our money from tax until we retire, and hopefully, withdraw the money from a lower tax bracket).
A nice thing that my employer offers for Maternity Leave, in addition the Employment Insurance from the Government is six weeks of your salary at 95%. From what I understand, that is quite generous. Your benefits also remain in tact while on your leave as well. They also continue to contribute a percentage of my salary to my pension plan, and I have the option of continuing my contributions to the pension plan at work as well.
So, all that being said, time is moving quickly, and I really need to start getting all my files and documentation in order at work. My last day is March 31! If you know any who wants to be a Database Analysts/Web Developer, let me know!
posted by karla @ 11:54 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
It certainly is an exciting time isn't it!
No matter how hard they try they'll never be able to truly replace you (even temporarily).
That's because you are a superstar sweet baby!
I was discussing Canadian taxes the other day, kinda in the wake of last week's fiasco on these here blogs, and I remembered someone saying taxes were 15%. I thought, "Gee, that's nothing. I wonder why everyone thinks it's so high?" Okay, but now you have cleared it up for me, as whomever I was talking to said she had heard it was like 50%. I figured I must be talking about sales tax then, and she all the others. I guess that's not too bad if it's together, and there are so many perks that come with it. I think ours is near 30% or so of our paycheck, then there's a sales tax of 7-10% (depending on where you are). Then there are property taxes and car taxes. If it's less than yours, it can't be much. Plus, if we want insurance, that's at least $200 a month, and that's the bare minimum, plus you have to pay what insurance doesn't, which could be TONS. The thought of having a year off of pay just makes me want to dance. I could so do that! Canada is looking better and better everyday. I'll take your job!
What?! I hope you're not complaining, Ava. In the US, you don't get squat. If you have leave accrued (which I won't, b/c I can't stand not to use it!), you can use it. You can take up to six weeks w/o worrying about losing your job, and I think up to three months using the family leave act or something. That has nothing to do with pay, though. And, when I quit my job, that's it. They help NONE. Maybe I'll move to Australia.
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