Unpaid personal leave
- Up to one year, unpaid
- No guarantee of his position on return
- Keeps his seniority
- Access to internal job postings
Fournet: no different from resigning
©2026 All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by North Wall Meida.
HR Law Canada · Interactive · Termination
One-way ticket, no reply
An actuarial analyst flew to France and never said whether he would take unpaid leave or come back to work. Quebec's labour tribunal ruled he had abandoned his job, and dismissed both of his complaints.
01 · The departure
Two days' notice: The warning Yaël Fournet gave his manager before leaving for France with no return date planned.
On July 6, 2023, Fournet bought a one-way plane ticket to France. He hadn't asked for leave of any kind. That same day he called an urgent meeting with his manager, Antoine Vigneault, and said he would be gone in two days.
He said he hadn't been able to find a place to live since coming back to Canada. He also pointed to the health of a seriously ill relative in France.
02 · The backstory
He had just come back from more than a year away
Fournet had worked for Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services as an actuarial analyst since August 2018. Starting in April 2022, the employer granted him compassionate, caregiver and critical illness leave to support his relative.
He was back at work, at the Montreal office, on May 15, 2023. He told the tribunal he already planned to look for a new job within about two to six months, and had applied for jobs in France and Bermuda before he returned.
Seven weeks back at his desk after more than a year on leave
Fournet's leaves and absences, April 2022 to August 2023
| Period | Dates |
|---|---|
| Compassionate leave (28 weeks) plus caregiver leave (eight weeks) | April 18 to Dec. 25, 2022 |
| Critical illness leave (17 weeks) | Dec. 26, 2022 to April 23, 2023 |
| Absence extended | To May 15, 2023 |
| Back at work, Montreal office | May 15 to July 7, 2023 |
| Accrued vacation, in France | July 8 to 23, 2023 |
| Unauthorized absence, per the employer | July 24 to Aug. 30, 2023 |
During those seven weeks, he ran ads looking for a short-term sublet, saying he might leave Montreal soon. He also emailed colleagues asking about a summer room to rent in a rural area far from major cities.
03 · The fork
Two options on the table, and a third he insisted on
HR told Fournet he wasn't eligible for more compassionate care or critical illness leave because he had used it the year before. He could take unpaid personal leave or come back to work.
Fournet disagreed. He said unpaid leave without a guaranteed job was tantamount to resigning, and he did not want to resign.
Return to work
- Montreal office
- Hybrid model: on site two days a week
- Expected back July 31, 2023
- Full-time remote work had been refused
Fournet: two days' notice was not enough
More protected compassionate care leave
- Employer said he had used up his entitlement
- HR asked for an updated medical certificate by Aug. 18 to reconsider
- The certificate he had sent confirmed caregiver status but gave no medical details
- No updated certificate was sent
Never granted
Source: 2026 QCTAT 4317, paras. 35–36, 41, 48, 52, 58–59.
04 · The standoff
Asked again and again, he never picked one
After his vacation ended on July 23, managers and HR kept asking Fournet the same question: which option? His replies took issue with leave dates, a French greeting in an email and the company's remote-work rules.
Request after request, and no straight answer
What the employer asked, and how Fournet responded, as described in the decision
- July 21ManagerYour statutory leave is used up; personal leave is available. "Keep me informed of your decision."Reply, to the manager's bossDisputed his previous leave dates and pressed his remote-work request.✕ No
- A few days laterManager's supervisorYou're on unauthorized leave. Confirm whether you want personal leave. Email sent in English and French.ReplyObjected that "Salut Yaël" wasn't a proper translation of "Hi Yaël," and accused the company of bad faith.✕ No
- July 26ManagerTell us by July 28 if you want unpaid leave. Otherwise, you're expected back July 31.ReplyDisputed the order his leave was applied in, called two days' notice insufficient and gave a 24-hour ultimatum on his on-site exemption.✕ No
- Next dayManagerAnswered each point. Remote request denied. Personal leave, or back July 31.ReplyCalled the answers arbitrary, asked what happens if he refuses and sought pay for time spent discussing it.✕ No
- Shortly afterAssociate vice-presidentExpecting your answer on personal leave by tomorrow, or confirmation you're back July 31.Reply"What policies? What about the law?" Said unpaid leave equals resignation and he didn't want to resign.✕ No
- Aug. 1Fournet asksCould he return to work on Aug. 8? His manager agreed and asked him to confirm the Montreal hybrid arrangement.Two hours later, and the next daySaid he did not plan to come back Aug. 8 and had been constructively dismissed. Then said he wouldn't take personal leave and would stay on "legally protected leave."✕ Rejected both
- Aug. 2Formal letterRespond by Aug. 9. Failure to do so could affect your employment.ReplyAsked only why a medical certificate hadn't been required the year before.✕ No
- Aug. 14HRSend an updated medical certificate by Aug. 18 so your eligibility can be reviewed.ReplyNone.✕ No reply
- Aug. 23HR, final letterClarify your intentions by Aug. 29, or your employment will end without further notice.ReplyNone. He told the tribunal he found the demands absurd.✕ No reply
- Aug. 30EmployerEmployment ended. Reason on the record of employment: job abandonment.FournetFiled two complaints with the CNESST.Complaints filed
Every deadline passed without a choice
Summer 2023, from his return to the Montreal office to the end of his employment
05 · The turn
The email the tribunal said gave him away
On Aug. 1, Fournet asked whether he could come back on Aug. 8. When his manager said yes, he reversed course within about two hours.
From: Yaël Fournet
To: Antoine Vigneault
Date: Aug. 1, 2023
To: Antoine Vigneault
Date: Aug. 1, 2023
"At this time I do not plan to come back to work on Tuesday, August 8th. … I consider that I was constructively dismissed last week (if not earlier) … Even if you were to quickly change your mind … I don't think I'd be comfortable working in a toxic environment as TDI."
The tribunal said that line about a toxic workplace "confirms his true intentions." It called his softer follow-up the next day a strategic move.
06 · The ruling
No dismissal, so neither complaint could go ahead
Fournet filed two complaints under Quebec's Act respecting labour standards: a prohibited-practice complaint under section 122, tied to his absence as a caregiver, and a complaint of dismissal without just and sufficient cause under section 124.
Both require that the employee was dismissed. On Oct. 29, 2026, administrative judge Anick Chainey ruled that he had not been dismissed. He had resigned.
ADMINISTRATIVE LABOUR TRIBUNAL · MONTREAL · OCT. 29, 2026
Fournet v. Meloche Monnex Insurance and Financial Services Inc.
Section 122Prohibited practice: penalized for being absent as a caregiver
Section 124Dismissal without just and sufficient cause
Was he dismissed?
No. He abandoned his job.
Both complaints dismissed.
Both complaints dismissed.
A resignation can't be presumed, and the employer has to prove it. The tribunal looks for two things: an intention to resign, and conduct that matches it. When the employee never says it outright, as here, intention can be inferred from what they do before and after.
Intention to resign
His words said he didn't want to resign. The tribunal found the overall circumstances showed "no desire on his part to continue the employment relationship," pointing to his job hunt before returning and his Aug. 1 email.
Conduct to match
He bought the ticket without permission to be absent for an indefinite period and never directly answered requests to clarify his intentions. In doing so, the tribunal said, "he behaved as if he were resigning."
The tribunal added that even if Fournet had been entitled to the presumption in his favour under section 122, it would still have dismissed the complaints, because the employer had proven it didn't dismiss him.
I would like to be reinstated. I don't want to work for you, but not being employed is detrimental to my job search.
07 · Where do you fit?
Check your file against the facts that decided this one
Dealing with an employee who has stopped showing up and won't say why? Compare your situation with the factors the tribunal weighed against Fournet. All six were present in his case.
Answer the six questions to compare.
This is a reading aid, not a legal test or legal advice. Tribunals weigh all the circumstances, and any sign the employee wanted to keep the job counts against a finding of resignation.
08 · What this means for you
An employee who won't choose can still be making a choice
- The burden is yours, and resignation is never presumed.
The employer had to prove Fournet quit. The tribunal noted that when an employee's intentions are ambiguous, the employer must clarify the situation with them.
- Put the options in writing, with dates.
Meloche Monnex spelled out two concrete choices and set deadlines of July 28, Aug. 9 and Aug. 29. That paper trail carried the case.
- State the consequences plainly, more than once.
The final letter said employment would end without further notice. The tribunal found Fournet "could not have been unaware" of what was at stake.
- Keep the door open on leave.
Even after refusing the leave, HR asked for an updated medical certificate so it could look again. That showed a good-faith process when Fournet claimed otherwise.
- For employees and their counsel: a dispute isn't a reason to stay away.
Disagreeing with a leave decision didn't entitle Fournet to keep himself off work. The tribunal said he took "justice into his own hands" when he should have picked an available option.
HR Law Canada is dedicated to covering labour and employment news for lawyers, HR professionals and employers.