Why Employers Should Use Discretion on Advance Notice Requirements for Domestic Violence Leave

16 Tips in 16 Days to Launch Your Workplace Domestic Violence Program

Day 11 of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence

Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) recognizes that advance notice of domestic violence leave isn't always possible:

Advising employer

49.7 (10) An employee who wishes to take leave under clause (4) (a) shall advise the employer that the employee will be doing so.

(11) If an employee must begin a leave under clause (4) (a) before advising the employer, the employee shall advise the employer of the leave as soon as possible after beginning it.

This wording leaves it open to employers to discipline employees who fail to provide advance notice when it was possible for them to do so.

But when it comes to domestic violence, rigid enforcement of attendance rules can cause far more harm than good. A trauma- and violence-informed approach requires employers to step back, look at the realities of abuse, and consider the broader safety implications for both the employee and the workplace.

Below are two key reasons why lenience—and discretion—are not only compassionate but strategically necessary.

1. Trauma makes “capacity to give notice” almost impossible to judge

Part of being trauma- and violence-informed is understanding the impacts of domestic violence on an employee. Domestic violence is not a typical personal emergency. Trauma fundamentally changes how the brain processes information, evaluates risk, and makes decisions. When an employee is in crisis, they are navigating:

• fear and unpredictability

• coercive control

• sleep disruption

• hypervigilance

• shame and isolation

• pressure to hide what’s happening at home

In that state, the requirement buried in an Employee Manual to “provide advance notice where possible” is rarely top of mind. The idea that a survivor should pause during an escalation or immediately after fleeing an incident to consider workplace policy is simply unrealistic—and unsupported by what we know about trauma physiology.

And because employers cannot see what is happening behind closed doors, they cannot reliably determine whether advance notice was “possible” in the way the ESA contemplates.

2. Strict enforcement erodes the cultural safety required for effective risk management

Over the past several days of this series, we’ve been returning to a central theme: your workplace response must be built on cultural safety and trust.

Without trust:

• employees will not disclose risk

• you will not obtain the information needed for meaningful risk assessment

• safety plans will be incomplete or inaccurate

• bystanders and colleagues will hesitate to share observations

• the employer’s overall risk exposure increases

Moving to discipline—or even beginning a progressive discipline process—for failing to provide advance notice of a domestic violence leave, which is taken in moments of real danger, sends a message that policy compliance outweighs employee safety. That message discourages disclosure and pushes workers into silence—exactly when your workplace needs information most.

Lenience, on the other hand, signals care, support, and a willingness to work with the employee to understand what’s happening and co-create an effective safety plan. In practice, this gets you much closer to the truth than disciplinary measures ever will.

A trauma- and violence-informed takeaway for domestic violence leave

Just because the ESA permits discipline for failure to provide advance notice does not mean it is prudent, safe, or aligned with best practice.

A trauma- and violence-informed workplace:

• prioritizes safety over technical compliance

• recognizes the real impacts of trauma on behaviour

• understands the importance of trust to risk assessment and safety planning

• treats domestic violence leave differently than other forms of leave

• uses discretion in ways that ultimately reduce organizational risk

Your role is not just to manage attendance—it’s to ensure your policies do not unintentionally endanger employees or heighten risk to the workplace.

Ready to take action?

I support employers in building their workplace domestic violence program, from setting up your interdisciplinary team, to policy drafting, to leave administration, and related human rights accommodations. Please reach out. I'd love to speak with you.