Child Care Leave The Employer shall, upon her request, grant an employee:
(i) Who is the natural parent of a newborn or unborn child, or
(ii) Who is adopting or has adopted a child, a leave of absence without pay of thirty-seven (37) consecutive weeks or such a shorter period as the employee requests so as to enable the employee to care for the child An employee who is or will be a natural parent intending to take this childcare leave shall
(iii) Provide the Employer with a medical doctor’s certificate specifying the probable date of delivery or the date upon which the birth has occurred and,
(iv) In absence of an emergency, give four (4) weeks written notice to the Employer of the commencement date and duration of the leave. An employee who is a parent of the newborn, other than the birth mother, shall be granted three (3) days leave without loss of pay within a reasonable period of time surrounding the occasion of the birth of the child. While on child care leave, an employee shall retain her full employment status and continue to accumulate seniority. An employee who is an adoptive parent intending to take this leave shall:
(v) Provide the Employer with the proof that a child has been or will be placed with the employee for the purpose of adoption,
(vi) Notify the Employer of the commencement date and duration of the leave on being made aware of the date of placement with the employee for adoption, and
(vii) In the absence of an emergency, give four (4) months notice to the Employer before the anticipated day on which a child will come into the employees care and custody in the case of private adoption or upon approval in accordance with the Family Services Act as a prospective adopting parent. Where a natural mother intends to take a child care leave in addition to a maternity leave, except if the newborn is hospitalized when an employee’s maternity leave expires, the employee is required to commence the child care leave immediately on expiration of the maternity leave unless the Employer and the employee otherwise agree. The child care leave may be taken by either natural or adoptive parents. Where both parents are employees it may be shared by the child’s parent’s but the leave is only thirty-seven (37) weeks in TOTAL, regardless of how it is divided, and it must be taken in a consecutive manner. The combined maternity leave of seventeen (17) weeks and child care leave thirty-seven (37) weeks taken by one or both parents cannot total more than fifty-two (52) weeks after that date. Child care leave shall begin not earlier than the date on which the newborn or adopted child came into the care and custody of the employee and end not later than fifty-two (52) weeks after that date.
