Educational Professional Meeting Leave. Upon completion of the probationary period, employees shall be allowed education funds of up to a maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) a year for a full-time employee and a prorated amount for a part-time employee based upon their budgeted FTE status. (For purposes of this section a .9 FTE will be considered a full time employee). Palliative Care Specialist employees shall be allowed education funds up to a maximum of one thousand, five hundred dollars ($1,500) a year, similarly prorated by budgeted FTE. Education funds may be used for paid educational leave time, class registration or tuition, books, expenses, or professional subscriptions, not otherwise covered by the TUF fund. Voluntary education leave (i.e. continuing education not required by VMC) will not be counted toward overtime requirements. Educational leave is subject to the scheduling requirements of the Employer and shall not be used for collective bargaining or labor relations matters. Educational leave may, at the option of the employee, be used for Employer-sponsored in-service programs which are not mandatory. Educational leave may be used in hourly increments. Upon submission of appropriate required forms, the Employer will advance an employee the tuition for any particular educational seminar up to the maximum allowed per year. The Employer may require proof of attendance at the educational meeting and if such proof is not given, the Employer may require the employee to return the monies advanced by the Employer. This requirement will not be made if there are exceptional circumstances justifying the employee not attending the education function. The decision of the Employer with respect to reimbursement for non-attendance will not be subject to the grievance procedure.
Educational Professional Meeting Leave
