The Q of how long is too long for an employee on sick or disability leave to be absent is a very common and difficult one. The reason is that whatever is keeping the employee home is likely to be deemed a “disability” under human rights laws requiring accommodation to the point of undue hardship. Holding the job open is such an accommodation. But the Q then becomes: At what point does the wait cross over from reasonable accommodation into undue hardship’
Answer: You don’t have to wait until all hope is gone. The point of undue hardship is reached if after you re-work the job to an employee’s limitations, there’s still no prospect for a return in the “reasonably foreseeable future.”
Of course, stating the rule is much easier than applying it to actual cases. Suggest you check out an HRI story that provides 2 actual case examples–one in which the accommodation was found reasonable and the other in which it was found undue hardship–to see how courts and arbitrators resolve this issue.
https://ohsinsider.com/how-long-is-long-enough-for-a-disabled-employee-to-be-absent/
HRI also has a Model Leave of Absence Policy you should check out.
Hope this helps and sorry for the delay in responding. Glenn