Military Family Leave Employees may use vacation leave for leave as required by the Military Family Leave Act, RCW 49.77 and in accordance with Article 19.13.
Family Leave 1. An Appointing Authority shall grant to a full time or part time employee who has completed her/his probationary period, or if there is no such probationary period, has been employed for at least three consecutive months, an unpaid leave of absence for up to twenty-six (26) weeks in conjunction with the birth, adoption or placement of a child as long as the leave concludes within twelve (12) months following the birth or placement. The ability to take leave ceases when a xxxxxx placement ceases unless the need for additional leave is directly connected to previous placement.
2. New employees who have completed six full months of employment but remain within their probationary period may request the appointing authority to waive their remaining wait time for FMLA. Such request shall include submission of satisfactory medical evidence that demonstrates either a.) an existing catastrophic illness; or b.) a problematic pregnancy that prevents the employee from being able to perform the functions of her position. Any leave granted under this waiver will be charged against the employee’s FMLA leave as described in this section. The remaining rights and obligations under Section 8 shall apply.
3. At least thirty (30) days in advance, the employee shall submit to the Appointing Authority a written notice of his/her intent to take such leave and the dates and expected duration of such leave. If thirty (30) days notice is not possible, the employee shall give notice as soon as practicable. The employee shall provide upon request by the Appointing Authority proof of the birth or placement or adoption of a child.
4. If an employee has accrued sick leave, personal leave, compensatory leave, or vacation credits at the commencement of her/his family leave, the employee may use such leave credits for which he/she may be eligible under the sick leave, personal leave or vacation provisions of this Agreement. The Appointing Authority may, in his/her discretion, assign an employee to backfill for an employee who is on family leave. Such assignment may not be subject to the grievance procedure.
5. At the expiration of the family leave, the employee shall be returned to the same or equivalent position with the same status, pay and length of service credit as of the date of her/his leave. If during the period of the leave, employees in an equivalent position have been laid-off through no fault of their own, the employee will be extended the same rights or benefits, if any, extended to employees of equal length of service in the equivalent position in the department.
6. Employees taking an unpaid leave of absence under this provision will accrue sick and vacation leave benefits only for the first eight (8) weeks of such unpaid leave. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Agreement to the contrary, the family leave granted under this Article shall not affect the employee's right to receive any contractual benefits for which he/she was eligible at the time of his/her leave.
7. During the time an employee is on family leave, the employee shall be entitled to group health insurance coverage benefits on the same terms and conditions in effect at the time the leave began, provided the employee continues to pay the required employee share of premium while on leave. If the employee fails to return from leave, the Commonwealth may recover, as provided under FMLA, the cost it incurred in maintaining insurance coverage under its group health plan for the duration of the employee's leave.
8. During family leave taken in conjunction with the birth, adoption, or placement of a child, an employee shall receive his/her salary for ten (10) days of said leave at a time requested by the employee. The ten (10) days of paid family leave granted under this Section may be used on an intermittent basis over the twelve
Family Sick Leave An employee may use sick leave credits for family illness or injury only if the employee must provide direct care to an immediate family member. For purposes of family sick leave, “immediate family member” will mean the employee’s parent, spouse, or child, including step-child and xxxxxx child.
Family Illness Leave An employee will be granted leave of absence for up to five (5) days per year without loss of pay or benefits for family illness. Additional family illness leave may be granted by the employer.
Unpaid Personal Leave Where an employee has exhausted all paid personal leave entitlements, they are entitled to take unpaid personal leave to care for members of their immediate family or household who are sick and require care and support or who require care due to an unexpected emergency. The employer and the employee shall agree on the period. In the absence of agreement, the employee is entitled to take up to two days (up to a maximum of 16 hours) of unpaid leave per occasion, provided the requirements of 7.2.5(a) and 7.2.5(b) are met.
Child Rearing Leave Subd. 1 Child rearing leave of absences shall be available to teachers for a period of time, not to exceed twelve (12) calendar months, for the purpose of caring for a newborn infant or pre-school adopted child for which the applicant has the legal responsibility for the care and/or support of said child. Such leave may be taken subsequent to birth of the teacher's child, or in the case of adoption, when the child is physically turned over to the teacher-parent.
a. At least two (2) calendar months prior to the estimated delivery date of the child, the employee shall be required to notify the Employer in writing whether or not the employee intends to take child rearing leave. This election may be changed at any time before the teacher is no longer disabled from working due to childbirth or pregnancy related disability or before the fifteenth (15th) day after the birth of the child, whichever is sooner.
b. Upon filing an application for adoption of a pre-school child, the employee shall be required to notify the Employer, in writing, of the teacher's intention to take a child rearing leave. Such notice to include the estimated date when such leave shall become effective.
Subd. 3 In connection with the election to take child rearing leave, the teacher shall submit a request for such leave in writing. Such request shall include an estimated commencement date and return date. The estimated commencement date shall be the physician's projected date the teacher will no longer be disabled from teaching due to childbirth or pregnancy related disability, or in the case of an adoption, the agency's estimated date when the child will be turned over to the parent.
Subd. 4 In making the final determination under Subd. 3 concerning the duration of a child rearing leave of absence, the Employer shall not be required to grant a leave of absence in excess of two (2) semesters. The actual commencement date of child rearing leave shall be the date on which the teacher is no longer disabled due to childbirth and pregnancy related disability as determined by the physician; or, in the case of an adoption, the date when the child is physically turned over to the teacher-parent. The return date shall be twelve (12) calendar months following the actual commencement of the leave except as may be provided in Subd. 7.
Employment During Unpaid Maternity Leave Where less than the 52 weeks Other Parent Leave is taken paid or unpaid, the unused portion of the leave cannot be banked or preserved in any way.
BEREAVEMENT/TANGIHANGA LEAVE 18.1 The employer shall approve special bereavement leave on pay for an employee to discharge any obligation and/or to pay respects to a deceased person with whom the employee has had a close association. Such obligations may exist because of blood or family ties or because of particular cultural requirements such as attendance at all or part of a tangihanga (or its equivalent). The length of time off shall be at the discretion of the employer.
18.2 If a bereavement occurs while an employee is absent on annual leave, sick leave on pay, or other special leave on pay, such leave may be interrupted and bereavement leave granted in terms of 18.1 above. This provision will not apply if the employee is on leave without pay.
18.3 In granting time off and for how long, the employer must administer these provisions in a culturally sensitive manner.
Family Medical Leave or Critical Illness Leave a) Family Medical Leave or Critical Illness leaves granted to a permanent teacher, long-term occasional teacher or teacher hired into a term position under this Article shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Employment Standards Act, as amended.
b) The teacher will provide to the employer such evidence as necessary to prove entitlement under the Employment Standards Act.
c) A teacher contemplating taking such leave(s) shall notify the employer of the intended date the leave is to begin and the anticipated date of return to active employment.
d) Seniority and experience continue to accrue during such leave(s).
e) Where a teacher is on such leave(s), the Employer shall continue to pay its share of the benefit premiums, where applicable. To maintain participation and coverage under the Collective Agreement, the teacher must agree to provide for payment for the teacher’s share of the benefit premiums, where applicable.
f) In order to receive pay for such leaves, a teacher must access Employment Insurance and the Supplemental Employment Benefit (SEB) in accordance with g) to j), if allowable by legislation. An employee who is eligible for E.I. is not entitled to benefits under a school board’s sick leave and short term disability plan.
g) The Employer shall provide for permanent teachers, long-term occasional teachers and teachers hired into a term position who access such Leaves, a SEB plan to top up their E.I.
Child Bonding Leave A prospective father, spouse, domestic partner or adoptive parent is entitled to child bonding leave of up to six (6) months, within one year of the qualifying event. Child bonding leave runs concurrently with FMLA and CFRA. The scheduling of child bonding leave (either on FMLA or CFRA) on an intermittent basis and/or requests for a reduced work schedule are subject to mutual agreement by the employee and the Agency/Department Head as allowed by law. An employee may elect to take accrued vacation or compensating time off during the period of child bonding leave, except that in the case of an employee who is regularly scheduled to work less than the normal full-time work week for the classification, paid leave shall be granted only for those days, or fractions thereof, on which such an employee would have worked but for child bonding leave. The use of sick leave during child bonding leave shall not be permitted unless the employee is otherwise eligible to use it as provided in Section 11. Reinstatement subsequent to child bonding leave of absence shall be to the same classification from which leave was taken and the Agency/Department Head shall make its best effort to return such employee to the same geographical location, shift, and where there is specialization within a classification, to the same specialization. Questions as to whether or not the Agency/Department Head has made its best effort herein, shall not be subject to the grievance procedure.
