Leave for Personal Reasons An employee may be granted leave of absence without pay and without loss of seniority when she requests such leave for good and sufficient cause. Such requests shall be in writing and approved by the Employer. In an emergency, application may be made by telephone or in person. Permission for such leave shall not be unreasonably withheld.
Overtime for Part-Time Employees
(a) A part-time employee working less than the normal hours per day of a full-time employee, and who is required to work longer than their regular workday, shall be paid at the rate of straight-time for the hours so worked, up to and including the normal hours in the workday of a full-time employee.
(b) A part-time employee working less than the normal days per week of a full-time employee, and who is required to work other than their regularly scheduled workdays, shall be paid at the rate of straight-time for the days so worked up to and including the normal workdays in the workweek of a full-time employee.
(c) Overtime rates shall apply to hours worked in excess of (a) and (b) above.
Employee Orientation Each and every person working for a contractor, including sub- contractors, will be given an orientation to familiarize them with the site safety program. Unless otherwise specified, each sub-contractor is responsible for the orientation of their workers.
Overtime Meals When employees are required to work more than two (2) hours beyond their regular work days, the Employer will provide hot meals at no cost to the employees, up to a maximum of sixteen dollars ($16.00) (receipts to be submitted) plus paid meal periods of one-half (1/2) hour at the prevailing rate and thereafter at four (4) hour intervals. Any early morning start before regular starting time is entitled to a paid meal. The breakfast limit is thirteen dollars ($13.00) (receipts to be submitted). Employees called out on overtime shall be paid for meals as above, after four (4) hours work.
State Disability Insurance a. The County shall maintain State Disability Insurance (SDI), at the employee cost, for employees in classes covered by the Agreement. This section shall not be valid if the membership elects to withdraw from SDI during the term of this Agreement and the State has approved withdrawal from SDI.
b. Employees who are absent from duty because of illness or injury and have been authorized to use County-paid leave benefits, sick leave, vacation, compensating time off, holidays and holiday-in-lieu time, shall be eligible to integrate the payment of State Disability Insurance benefits with such County-paid leave benefits. No integration of County-paid leave benefits and State Disability Insurance shall occur unless the appointing authority has approved the use of the County-paid leave benefits by the employee requesting integration.
c. Integration of County-paid leave benefits with State Disability Insurance will require detailed procedures which the County shall, in its sole discretion, implement to ensure the equitable application of the program consistent with this Agreement provision. In accordance with current County policy, integration of County-paid leave balances and State Disability Insurance shall not be paid in a retroactive manner.
d. Integration of County-paid leave balances and State Disability Insurance shall take place subject to the following conditions:
(1) The intent of this program and contract provision is to insure that those employees who participate in the program comply with all applicable laws, policies, and procedures established to provide integration of County-paid leave balances and State Disability Insurance so as to provide a combined biweekly adjusted net income equivalent to 100% of regular net income - gross income less required deductions, such as taxes, retirement, State Disability Insurance premiums, and other mandatory deductions - as long as such eligible disability qualifies and available leave balances are authorized by the appointing authority. Other employee authorized deductions shall be deducted from the resultant net pay.
(2) Upon approval of the use of County-paid leave benefits by the appointing authority and the employee's established eligibility for State Disability Insurance, the County shall make leave accrual payments to the employee in the usual manner except that the net pay, including State Disability Insurance benefits and net County pay, shall not exceed 100% of the regular net pay. If State Disability Insurance benefits equal or exceed 100% of the regular net pay, no County payment shall be made. County-paid leave benefits shall be used in the following order: sick leave, vacation, compensating time off, and holiday-in-lieu time.
(3) Special pay allowances not of a permanent nature, such as overtime compensation, standby, night shift differential, call back or out-of- class pay, shall not be counted in determining the employee's gross or net pay.
(4) Sick leave, vacation, and holiday-in-lieu shall not accrue during any pay period in which the employee receives County-paid leave benefits integrated with State Disability Insurance payments, except that the employee shall accrue sick leave, vacation, and holiday-in- lieu for any actual hours worked during a pay period in which integration occurs. Service credits toward seniority and step increase eligibility shall not be affected by any pay period during which an employee is on the integrated leave and State Disability Insurance program.
(5) When an employee exhausts all available County-paid leave balances, the employee shall either return to work or request an unpaid leave of absence from his/her appointing authority. Regardless of whether the employee continues to receive State Disability Insurance payments, once all County-paid leave balances are exhausted, County compensation shall cease unless the employee returns to work.
(6) The County shall continue its contributions towards the employee's health, dental, life and retirement contributions in accordance with established laws and practices during the pay periods which include County payment for integrated leave balances. The employee shall be responsible for payment of premiums required to maintain insurance coverage when County contributions cease.
(7) Eligible part-time employees shall be included in this program on a prorated basis.
e. In the event the County determines that legislative or judicial determinations cause changes which in any way restrict, reduce or prohibit this program operation, it shall immediately and automatically terminate without any further action by either party to this Agreement.
Leave When Employment Terminates When the employment of an employee is terminated for any reason, the employee or his/her estate shall, in lieu of earned but unused vacation leave, be paid an amount equal to the product obtained by multiplying the number of days of earned but unused vacation leave by the daily rate of pay applicable to the employee immediately prior to the termination of his/her employment.
Religious Holidays When a religious holiday, not observed as a holiday, as provided in Section 2 above, falls on a supervisor's regularly scheduled work day, the supervisor shall be entitled to that day off to observe the religious holiday. Time to observe religious holidays shall be taken without pay except where the supervisor has sufficient accumulated vacation leave or accumulated compensatory time, or, by mutual consent, is able to make the time up. Supervisors shall notify the Appointing Authority at least twenty-eight (28) calendar days prior to the leave.
STATE DISABILITY INSURANCE (SDI) The Agency agrees to integrate SDI benefits with sick leave. The employee shall pay required premium costs which will be deducted from their paycheck and transmitted to the state by the Agency.
New Employee Orientation The Union will provide each agency personnel director with the names and addresses of up to two (2) authorized Union representatives per agency to receive notice of each formal orientation meeting held by the Department. The notice will be sent as soon as such meetings are scheduled (but not less than ten (10) days in advance) and will include date, time and location. Due to operational exigencies, agencies may schedule an orientation which will provide the Union with less than the requisite ten (10) days' notice; however the Union shall be notified as soon as possible after the scheduling of the orientation and the Union representative shall be released from duty. Agencies shall routinely schedule orientations in a manner that will allow for the ten (10) day advance notice to the Union. During the formal orientation, the Union will be permitted to give a twenty (20) minute presentation which may include an enrollment in supplemental Union benefits. The parties shall encourage employee attendance, although attendance shall not be mandatory if an employee objects to attending the presentation. In the event a formal orientation meeting is not held, or the Union is unable to attend the formal orientation because the designated Union representatives cannot be released under Article 4, the Employer shall allow the Union representative and the employee(s) to meet during duty hours at a mutually agreed upon time and location for twenty (20) minutes Employee participation in these meetings shall be encouraged although an employee shall not be required to attend such a meeting.
SICK LEAVE AND LONG-TERM DISABILITY (Articles 12.01 to 12.11 apply to full-time nurses only)
12.01 The Hospital will assume total responsibility for providing and funding a short-term sick leave plan at least equivalent to that described in the 1980 Hospitals of Ontario Disability Income Plan brochure. Effective January 1, 2006, new hires will be covered under the 1992 Hospitals of Ontario Disability Income Plan. The Hospital will pay 75% of the billed premium towards coverage of eligible employees under the long-term disability portion of the Plan (HOODIP or an equivalent plan). The employee will pay the balance of the billed premium through payroll deduction. For the purpose of transfer to the short-term portion of the disability program, employees on the payroll as of the effective date of the transfer with three (3) months or more of service shall be deemed to have three (3) months of service. For the purpose of transfer to the long-term portion of the disability program, employees on the active payroll as of the effective date of the transfer with one (1) year or more of service shall be deemed to have one (1) year of service.
12.02 Effective the first of the month following the transfer, all existing sick leave plans in the Participating Hospitals shall be terminated and any provisions relating to such plans shall be null and void under the respective Collective Agreements except as to those provisions relating to payout of unused sick leave benefits which are specifically dealt with hereinafter.
12.03 Existing sick leave credits for each employee shall be converted to a sick leave bank to the credit of the employee. The sick leave bank shall contain the unused sick leave days to the credit of the nurse on the effective date of the transfer to the Plan set out in Article 12.01. The "sick leave bank" shall be utilized to:
(a) Supplement payment for sick leave days under the new plan which would otherwise be at less than full wages, and;
(b) Where a payout provision existed under the former sick leave plan in the Collective Agreement, payout shall be made on the termination of employment, or in the case of death, to the nurse's estate. The parties may agree to voluntarily cash out existing sick leave banks. The amount of the payout shall be a cash settlement at the nurse's then current salary rate for any unused sick credits to the maximum provided under the sick leave plan in which the nurse participated as of October 23, 1981;
(c) Where, as of the effective date of transfer, an employee does not have the required service to qualify for payout on termination, her or his existing sick leave credits as of that date shall nevertheless be converted to a sick leave bank in accordance with the foregoing and the nurse shall be entitled to the same cash out provisions as set out in paragraph (b) above providing the nurse subsequently achieves the necessary service to qualify for payout under the conditions of the sick leave plan in which she or he participated as of October 23, 1981;
(d) Where a payout provision existed under the former sick leave plan in the Collective Agreement, a nurse who, as of the date of this award, has accumulated sick leave credits and is prevented from working for the Hospital on account of an occupational illness or accident that is recognized by The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board as compensable within the meaning of the Workplace and Safety Insurance Act, the Hospital, on application from the nurse, will supplement the award made by The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board for loss of wages to the nurse by such amount that the award of The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board for loss of wages, together with the supplementation of the Hospital, will equal one hundred per cent (100%) of the nurse's net earnings to the limit of the nurse's accumulated sick leave credits. Nurses may utilize such sick leave credits while awaiting approval of a claim for WSIB benefits.
12.04 When a nurse has completed any portion of her or his regularly scheduled tour prior to going on sick leave benefits or WSIB benefits, the nurse shall be paid for the balance of the tour at her or his regular straight time hourly rate. This provision will not disentitle the nurse to a lieu day under Article 15.05 if she or he otherwise qualifies.
12.05 Any dispute which may arise concerning a nurse's entitlement to short-term or long- term benefits under HOODIP or an equivalent plan may be subject to grievance and arbitration under the provisions of this Agreement. The Union agrees that it will encourage a nurse to utilize the carrier’s medical appeals process, if any, to resolve disputes.
12.06 Nurses presently employed who are covered by a long-term disability plan in effect as of the date of this award, may elect to be covered by HOODIP or to continue their present coverage.
12.07 The Hospital further agrees to pay employees an amount equal to any loss of benefits under HOODIP for the first two days of the fourth and subsequent period of absence in any calendar year.
12.08 The Hospital will notify each nurse of the amount of unused sick leave in her or his bank annually.
12.09 For nurses whose regular hours of work are other than the standard work day, the short-term sick leave plan will provide payment for the number of hours of absence according to the scheduled tour to a total of 562.5 hours. All other provisions of the existing plan shall apply mutatis mutandis.
12.10 Absences due to pregnancy related illness shall be considered as sick leave under the sick leave plan.
12.11 A nurse who is absent from work as a result of an illness or injury sustained at work and who has been awaiting approval of a claim for WSIB benefits for a period longer than one complete tour or more may apply to the Hospital for payment equivalent to the lesser of the benefit the nurse would receive from WSIB if the nurse's claim was approved, or the benefit to which the nurse would be entitled under the short-term sick portion of the disability income plan (HOODIP or equivalent plan). Payment will be provided only if the nurse provides evidence of disability satisfactory to the Hospital and a written undertaking satisfactory to the Hospital that any payments will be refunded to the Hospital following final determination of the claim by The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. If the claim for WSIB benefits is not approved, the monies paid as an advance will be applied towards the benefits to which the nurse would be entitled under the short-term portion of the disability income plan. Any payment under this provision will continue for a maximum of fifteen (15) weeks. (Articles 12.12, 12.13 and 12.14 apply to both full-time and part-time nurses)
12.12 Nurses returning to work from an illness or injury compensable from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board will be assigned light work as necessary, if available.
12.13 A nurse who transfers from full-time to part-time may elect to retain her or his accumulated sick leave credits to be utilized during part-time or subsequent full-time employment as provided under the sick leave plan in which the nurse participates as of October 23, 1981.
12.14 If the Employer requires the employee to obtain a medical certificate, the employer shall pay the full cost of obtaining the certificate.
