BASF Canada Inc. is enhancing its compassionate and bereavement policies for about 550 non-unionized employees across Canada.
Effective Jan. 1, 2017, the chemicals company will change its bereavement policy to provide up to 10 paid days in the event of the death of an immediate family member and up to five paid days for close relatives. The current policy is three paid days for immediate family members and one day for close relatives.
In addition, its compassionate leave policy will provide five paid days in the event of a serious health condition of an immediate family member. “If an employee receives [employment insurance] payments for compassionate leave, we’re also going to start topping up for five days for those employees,” says Terri Howard, director of human resources at Mississauga, Ont.-based BASF.
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The changes are an effort to create a new offering that fits with the company’s family-friendly work environment, as well as attract and retain diverse talent, according to Howard. “We also have a big commitment to safety so by ensuring employees can take the time off for their family, then we’ve given them the time to meet those commitments and then come back to work.”
BASF began communicating the changes this week through newsletters and emails sent out to applicable employees, who work at 11 production facilities and offices in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.
“We do have differences among the provinces, so our communications do need to say what applies within their own province,” says Howard. “We communicate the same thing to everyone, but we put a note that says, ‘rules vary from province to province.’”