Words and Phrases - "absence"

After taking leave in Canada in accordance with the terms of their employment regarding an offshore project, the employees’ return to the project was refused by the local authorities due to the intervening outbreak of the SARS epidemic, so that they were laid off for some time. In finding that such layoff caused the employees to not satisfy the requirement for six months’ of continuous employment on the project, CCRA stated:

[T]he CCRA would not consider the period of absence of an employee in a situation such as yours, notwithstanding what is stated in paragraph 11 of Interpretation Bulletin IT-497R3, since this is a situation of a break in the employer/employee relationship rather than an absence.