The Background
For the past five years, Lucie’s been living her dream of owning a bakery that produces high-end cakes and other confections for events large and small. Lucie’s been able to successfully grow her business over the years and now employs six part-time and full-time staff to help her. Thankfully, Lucie has always been able to count on her team lead, Camille, when she needs to focus her attention on the more administrative work of running the business. Camille has been a vital part of the bakery since the early days, and it’s hard for Lucie to imagine what her day-to-day would look like without Camille’s crucial support.
The Problem
When Camille recently announced that she was pregnant with her first child, Lucie was thrilled for her and her growing family. However, Camille’s announcement also meant Lucie needed to wade into the uncharted waters of managing a parental leave. With no formal process for managing leaves of any kind, and being unsure of the requirements for contracting out Camille’s position while she’s away—Lucie knew she needed help.
The Solution
To get her bearings, Lucie decides to do what she always does when she needs business support—visit Arete’s Healthy Business Bookmark (HBB) website. She reviews the site to find tools and links to help her navigate Camille’s leave. Lucie learns about the provincial regulations that apply to her business and collects all the forms she and Camille need to complete into a convenient package, leaving her confident that Camille will be able to enjoy a worry-free leave as she embarks on this new chapter.
As for the hiring of the contract position, Lucie feels she could use the additional support of a professional and calls Arete to connect with a human resources expert.
The Outcome
The professional Arete connects Lucie with talks through all the ways she can support Camille while also ensuring her business continues to thrive. They work through a checklist Lucie created to make certain she both understood the process in detail and that she had her bases covered. With a few recommended adjustments, Lucie feels ready not only to help Camille through this inaugural leave, but also to support any of her other employees if they require a leave from work.
As Lucie prepares a special cake for Camille’s baby shower, she feels confident both that the cake will be delicious and that her business will continue to thrive with the resources she has access to when and where she needs them.
Resource Connection
If you have access to HBB through your provider, check these resources out today!
- Maternity and Parental Leave – The Pregnant Pause
- Key Canadian Legislation Quick Links
- Pregnancy/Maternity/Childbirth/Adoption Leave Request Sample