Sick Leave Buy Back To encourage and reward employees who maintain good job attendance, the parties agree to the following incentive award: Employees who utilize two (2) sick leave days or less each assigned school calendar year and year-round employees who utilize three (3) sick leave days or less during each assigned school calendar year - upon request – shall receive payment for up to eight (8) days of sick leave, provided the employee worked the full assigned calendar year.* The following procedures apply to the payment of sick leave under this section.
1. An employee must have a minimum of twenty-five (25) days of accumulated sick leave remaining after the payment for unused sick leave under this section.
2. The payment of this incentive shall be paid to eligible employees no later than October 31st of the school year following the school year in which the employee qualified for the incentive pay.
3. For purposes of this section, sick leave shall be defined pursuant to all sections of F.S.1012.61.
4. Days for which such award payment is received shall be deducted from the accumulated leave balance.
5. Payment shall be equal to the number of eligible days times the affected employees daily rate of base pay times eighty percent (80%).
Sick Leave Transfer The Board will honor written requests from a bargaining unit member to donate one or more sick leave days from the donor’s accumulated sick leave to a member under the following conditions:
1. The written request for donation of sick leave shall be forwarded to the Superintendent and the Association President who shall meet and confer if the request falls into the category of “catastrophic”. For purposes of this Section normal pregnancy shall not be considered a “catastrophic” illness. Any disagreement between the Association President and the Superintendent shall be resolved using expedited arbitration in accordance with the voluntary rules of the Federal Mediation Conciliation Services (FMCS). Expenses for the arbitrator’s services shall be equally shared by the parties.
a. Should the Association President and the Superintendent agree that the request falls in the category of “catastrophic”, they will forward the request to the Sick Leave Transfer Committee.
b. Should the Association President and the Superintendent agree that the request does not represent a catastrophic illness or injury, the request shall then be denied. The member will have the right to request expedited arbitration indicated in paragraph a. above.
2. Donated sick leave days may only be credited to a member who has, or is about to exhaust all of the members’ accumulated sick leave and personal leave due to a catastrophic illness or injury of the member or illness of child and/or spouse of the member.
3. Donated sick leave days may only be used for personal catastrophic illness/injury of the member, or illness of child and/or spouse of the member, and may not be used for the illness of other family members.
4. A sick leave donation form, authorizing the Treasurer to deduct donated sick leave days from the donor member’s accumulated sick leave and to credit the donated sick leave day(s) to the member will be sent to unit members for completion. Completed forms will be returned to the committee. The committee will provide the Treasurer with a form indicating the number of days to be transferred, from whom, and the name of the recipient.
5. Any request to donate sick leave days to a member must be submitted to the Treasurer not less than fifteen (15) days prior to any payroll that will include payment for the donated sick leave days.
6. Any member who has reached the maximum sick leave accumulation will have his accumulation reduced by the number of sick leave days donated.
7. Requests for sick leave days will be honored only as long as days are available from donors.
8. The following limitations will apply to this section:
a. No bargaining unit member who begins the school year with less than 45 days as of July 1 can donate sick days.
b. Donations from a bargaining unit member must be in units of one (1) day or more provided that the donor does not go under 45 days of accumulated sick leave.
c. Either the bargaining unit member or the member’s spouse and/or child must have the catastrophic illness or injury.
d. The bargaining unit member can use donated sick days until disability retirement is effective.
9. No member may use donated sick leave days to defer eligibility for disability retirement under STRS regulations, to claim severance pay, or to transfer to any other public employer.
10. No member may use more than thirty (30) donated sick leave days in total in any year. 18
Sick Leave Separation Cash Out At the time of retirement from state service or at death, an eligible employee or the employee’s estate will receive cash for their compensable sick leave balance on a one (1) hour for four (4) hours basis. For the purposes of this Section, retirement will not include “vested out of service” employees who leave funds on deposit with the retirement system.
Vacation Buy Back Employees shall have the option of requesting pay in lieu of time off up to a maximum of 144 hours of vacation time each year, during each year of the contract in increments of eight (8) hrs. Such requests are subject to the approval of the department head and the availability of funds.
Callback from Vacation
(a) Employees who have commenced their annual vacation shall not be called back to work, except in cases of extreme emergency.
(b) When, during any vacation period, an employee is recalled to duty, he/she shall be reimbursed for all reasonable expenses incurred by himself/herself, in proceeding to his/her place of duty and in returning to the place from which he/she was recalled upon resumption of vacation, upon submission of receipts to the Employer.
(c) Time necessary for travel in returning to his/her place of duty and returning again to the place from which he/she was recalled shall not be counted against his/her remaining vacation time.
Prepaid Leave Plan The Employer agrees to introduce a prepaid leave program, funded solely by the nurse, subject to the following terms and conditions:
(a) The plan is available to nurses wishing to spread four (4) year’s salary over a five (5) year period, in accordance with Part LXVIII of the Income Tax Regulations, Section 6801, to enable them to take a one (1) year leave of absence to pursue formal education following the four (4) years of salary deferral.
(b) The nurse must make written application to the Administrator or designate at least six (6) months prior to the intended commencement date of the program (i.e. the salary deferral portion), stating the intended purpose of the leave.
(c) The year for purposes of the program shall be September 1 of one year to August 31 the following year or such other twelve (12) month period as may be agreed upon by the nurse, the local Association and the Employer. There shall be one (1) nurse allowed off at any one time.
(d) Written applications for the purpose of pursuing further formal education will be reviewed by the Administrator or designate for leaves requested.
(e) During the four (4) years of salary deferral, 20% of the nurses’ gross annual earnings will be deducted and held for the nurse and will not be accessible to her/him until the year of the leave or upon withdrawal from the plan.
(f) The manner in which the deferred salary is held shall be at the discretion of the Employer.
(g) All deferred salary, plus accrued interest, if any, shall be paid to the nurse at the commencement of the leave or in accordance with such other payment schedule as may be agreed upon between the Employer and the Nurse.
(h) All benefits shall be kept whole during the four (4) years of salary deferral. During the year of the leave, seniority will accumulate. Service for the purpose of vacation and salary progression and other benefits will be retained but will not accumulate during the period of leave. The nurse shall become responsible for the full payment of premiums for any health and welfare benefits in which she is participating. Contributions to the Ontario Municipal Nurses Retirement System will be in accordance with the Plan. The nurses will not be eligible to participate in the disability income plan during the year of the leave.
(i) A nurse may withdraw from the plan at any time during the deferral portion provided three (3) months’ notice is given to the Administrator or designate. Deferred salary, plus accrued interest, if any, will be returned to the nurse, within a reasonable period of time.
(j) If the nurse terminates employment, the deferred salary held by the Employer plus accrued interest, if any, will be returned to the nurse within a reasonable period of time. In case of the nurse’s death, the funds will be paid to the nurse’s estate.
(k) The Employer will endeavour to find a temporary replacement for the nurse as far in advance as practicable. If the Employer is unable to find a suitable replacement, it may postpone the leave. The Employer will give the nurse as much notice as is reasonably possible. The nurse will have the option of remaining in the plan and rearranging the leave at a mutually agreeable time or of withdrawing from the Plan and having the deferred salary, plus accrued interest, if any, paid out to the nurse within a reasonable period of time.
(l) The nurse will be reinstated to her/his former position unless the position has been discontinued, in which case the nurse shall be given a comparable job.
(m) Final approval for entry into the pre-paid leave program will be subject to the nurse entering into a formal agreement with the Employer in order to authorize the Employer to make the appropriate deductions from the nurse’s pay. Such agreement will include:
(i) A statement that the nurse is entering the prepaid leave program in accordance with Article 11.06 of the Collective Agreement
(ii) The period of salary deferral and the period for which the leave is requested.
(iii) The manner in which the deferred salary is to be held. The letter of application from the nurse to the Employer to enter the prepaid leave program will be appended to and form part of the written agreement.
Vacation Leave on Retirement An employee scheduled to retire and to receive pension benefits under the Public Service Pension Plan Rules or who has reached the mandatory retiring age, shall be granted full vacation entitlement for the final calendar year of service.
Leave for Association Business The Hospital agrees to grant leaves of absence, without pay, to nurses selected by the Association to attend Association business including conferences, conventions and Provincial Committee meetings and to any nurse elected to the position of Local Co-ordinator. The cumulative total leave of absence, the amount of notice, the number of nurses that may be absent at any time from one area and the number of days (including those of the Local Co-ordinator) is set out in the Appendix of Local Provisions. During such leave of absence, a nurse's salary and applicable benefits or percentage in lieu of fringe benefits shall be maintained by the Hospital and the local Association agrees to reimburse the Hospital in the amount of the daily rate of the full-time nurse or in the amount of the full cost of such salary and percentage in lieu of fringe benefits of a part-time nurse except for Provincial Committee meetings which will be reimbursed by the Association. The Hospital will bill the local Association within a reasonable period of time. Part-time nurses will receive service and seniority credit for all leaves granted under this Article.
Leave Sharing Consistent with RCW 28A.400.380 and WAC 392-126, a leave sharing program is established as follows:
A. A district employee is eligible to receive donated leave if:
1. The staff member suffers from, or has a relative or household member suffering from, an extraordinary or severe illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition which as caused, or is likely to cause, the staff member to:
a. Go on leave without pay status; or
b. Terminate his/her employment;
2. The staff member’s absence and the use of shared leave are justified;
3. The staff member has depleted, or will shortly deplete, his/her annual leave and sick leave reserves;
4. The staff member has abided by district rules regarding sick leave use; and
5. The staff member has diligently pursued and been found to be ineligible to receive industrial insurance benefits. Any employee who wishes to receive leave under this provision shall submit a request in writing to the personnel office. The employee shall submit, prior to leave sharing approval, documentation from a licensed physician or other authorized health care practitioner verifying the severe or extraordinary nature and expected duration of the condition. Employees meeting the criteria indicated above shall be eligible for leave sharing. A staff member shall not receive more leave than the number of normal work days remaining in the current school year. In the event that the condition requiring the employee’s absence continues beyond the current school year, the employee shall not receive a total of more than 261 days of leave.
B. District employees may donate leave as follows:
1. An employee who does not earn annual leave (vacation) and who has an accrued sick leave balance of more than sixty (60) days may request that the superintendent or designee transfer a specified amount of sick leave to another staff member authorized to receive such leave. A staff member may request to transfer no more than six (6) days of sick leave during any twelve (12) month period, and may not request a transfer that would result in an accrued sick leave balance of fewer than sixty (60) days. Employees who accrue vacation must transfer vacation days prior to sick leave days. Sick leave as defined in RCW 28A.58.099 (28A.400.300) means leaves for illness, injury, and emergencies. The number of leave days transferred shall not exceed the amount authorized by the donating staff member.
2. The value of any leave transferred under this policy which remains unused shall be returned to its original value to the staff member who donated the leave. To the extent administratively feasible, the value of unused leave which was transferred by more than one staff member shall be returned on a pro-rata value basis.
Special Parental Allowance for Totally Disabled Employees (a) An employee who:
(i) fails to satisfy the eligibility requirement specified in subparagraph 17.05(a)(ii) solely because a concurrent entitlement to benefits under the Disability Insurance (DI) Plan, the Long-term Disability (LTD) Insurance portion of the Public Service Management Insurance Plan (PSMIP) or via the Government Employees Compensation Act prevents the employee from receiving Employment Insurance or Québec Parental Insurance Plan benefits, and
(ii) has satisfied all of the other eligibility criteria specified in paragraph 17.05(a), other than those specified in sections (A) and (B) of subparagraph 17.05(a)(iii), shall be paid, in respect of each week of benefits under the parental allowance not received for the reason described in subparagraph (i), the difference between ninety-three per cent (93%) of the employee's rate of pay and the gross amount of his or her weekly disability benefit under the DI Plan, the LTD Plan or via the Government Employees Compensation Act.
(b) An employee shall be paid an allowance under this clause and under clause 17.05 for a combined period of no more than the number of weeks during which the employee would have been eligible for parental, paternity or adoption benefits under the Employment Insurance or Québec Parental Insurance Plan, had the employee not been disqualified from Employment Insurance or Québec Parental Insurance Plan benefits for the reasons described in subparagraph (a)(i).
