An employment contract is a written agreement. It sketches the conditions of your employment and helps protect your rights as an employee. If in case there is a misunderstanding between you and your employer over your job and duties, refer to the contract when you talk to your employer.

As a live-in caregiver, you have legal rights to fair working conditions and fair treatment under labour laws in most provinces and territories. Nothing in your contract or working conditions can violate these rights.
Your employment contract will help protect your rights as an employee. Find out more about the information that should be in your contract.
You also have the right to leave an unsatisfactory employer. Find out more about extending your stay if you change, lose or quit your job.
Regulation 185 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations lists the conditions that may be put on your work permit.
Working conditions, such as minimum hourly wages, vary widely across Canada. You should find out what the labour laws are where you work by checking with your provincial or territorial labour standards office.

Labour laws may cover rights in areas such as:

•  Days off each week;
•  Vacation time with pay;
•  Paid public holidays;
•  Overtime pay;
•  Minimum wage;
•  Maximum charges for room and board.

Public holidays are days when most workers, including live-in caregivers, can have the day off with pay or receive a premium for working, which could be overtime pay. In Canada, some common holidays are:

•  New Year’s Day (January 1)
•  Good Friday (the Friday before Easter)
•  Victoria Day (late May)
•  Canada Day (July 1)
•  Labour Day (early September)
•  Thanksgiving (mid-October)
•  Christmas Day (December 25)

Some provinces or territories have one or two other public holidays.

If you lose your job, you should find a new employer under the Live-in Caregiver Program as soon as possible. However, you may be eligible for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits while you look for another job. If so, EI will provide you with benefits if you lose your job through no fault of your own. The number of hours you must work before you qualify for EI will depend on the unemployment rate in your region when you file a claim for benefits.
You may also be eligible for EI benefits that are provided at certain times when you are unable to work. This includes sickness, maternity, parental and compassionate care benefits.
While you are working, your employer deducts EI premiums from your wages. The amount deducted depends on how much you earn. Your employer sends your EI premiums to the government.

Family members do not normally come to Canada with people working under the Live-in Caregiver Program. Even if an employer agrees that a family member can live with you in the home where you will provide care, future employers may not agree to the same terms. Also, you may not make enough money to support your family members in Canada. However, you may be allowed to bring your family with you if you satisfy a visa officer that: you have enough money to care for and support your family members in Canada, and our employer will let them live in the home where you will provide care.