Maternity Leave (a) An employee who qualifies for Maternity Leave may apply for such leave in accordance with either Plan “A” or Plan “B” but not both.
(b) A full-time employee returning to work from a maternity leave may request the option of returning to work on a part-time basis. Such a request must be in writing and submitted to the Department Manager ninety (90) days prior to her return. A response to the request will be issued in writing within thirty (30) days of receiving the request and shall not unreasonably be denied.
36:02 In order to qualify for Plan “A”, a pregnant employee must:
(a) have completed six (6) continuous months of employment with the Employer;
(b) submit to the Employer an application in writing for leave under Plan “A” at least four (4) weeks before the day specified by her in the application as the day on which she intends to commence such leave; and
(c) provide the Employer with a certificate of a duly qualified medical practitioner certifying that she is pregnant and specifying the estimated date of her delivery.
36:03 An employee who qualifies is entitled to and shall be granted Maternity Leave without pay consisting of:
(a) a period not exceeding seventeen (17) weeks if delivery occurs on or before the date of delivery specified in the certificate mentioned in 36:02 (c); or
(b) a period of seventeen (17) weeks plus an additional period equal to the period between the date of delivery specified in the certificate mentioned in 36:02 (c), and the actual date of delivery, if delivery occurs after the date mentioned in the certificate;
(c) the Employer may vary the length of maternity leave upon proper certification by the attending physician.
(a) An employee who has been granted Maternity Leave shall be permitted to apply up to a maximum of ten (10) days of her accumulated sick leave against the Employment Insurance waiting period.
(b) Should the employee not return to work following her Maternity Leave for a period of employment sufficient to allow for re-accumulation of the number of sick days granted under 36:04 (a), the employee shall compensate the Employer for the balance of the outstanding days at the time of termination. Approved sick leave with pay granted during the period of return shall be counted as days worked.
36:05 Effective the latter of:
(a) the bi-weekly pay period following the date of signing; or
(b) the date a Supplementary Unemployment Benefit Plan (SUB) is approved for implementation by Service Canada and limited to Maternity Leaves commencing on or after that date, the provisions of Plan “B” will come into effect.
36:06 In order to qualify for Plan “B”, a pregnant employee must:
(a) have completed six (6) continuous months of employment for or with the Employer;
(b) submit to the Employer an application in writing, for leave under Plan “B” at least four (4) weeks before the day specified by her in the application as the day on which she intends to commence such leave;
(c) provide the Employer with a certificate of a duly qualified medical practitioner certifying that she is pregnant and specifying the estimated date of her delivery.
(d) provide the Employer with proof that she has applied for Employment Insurance benefits and that Service Canada has agreed that the employee has qualified for and is entitled to such Employment Insurance benefits pursuant to Section 22, Employment Insurance Act.
36:07 An applicant for Maternity Leave under Plan “B” must sign an agreement with the Employer that:
(a) she will return to work and remain in the employ of the Employer on a full-time basis for at least six (6) months following her return to work, and
(b) if she does not take Parental Leave as provided in Article 37, she will return to work on the date of the expiry of her Maternity Leave; and
(c) if she does take Parental Leave as provided in Article 37, she will return to work on the date of the expiry of her Parental Leave; and
(d) should she fail to return to work as provided above, she is indebted to the Employer for the full amount of pay received from the Employer as a maternity allowance during her entire period of Maternity Leave.
36:08 During the period of Maternity Leave, an employee who qualifies is entitled to a Maternity Leave allowance in accordance with SUB plan as follows:
(a) for the first two (2) weeks, an employee shall receive ninety three percent (93%) of her weekly rate of pay;
(b) for up to a maximum of fifteen (15) additional weeks, payments equivalent to the difference between the Employment Insurance benefits, the employee is eligible to receive ninety-three percent (93%) of her weekly rate of pay;
(c) all other time as may be provided under 37:09, shall be on a leave without pay basis.
36:09 During the period of Maternity Leave, benefits will not accrue; however selected health and welfare benefits will continue, and the period of Maternity Leave will count as service towards eligibility for long service vacation.
36:10 Where an employee’s anniversary date falls during the period of Maternity Leave under Plan “A” or “B” the employee shall be eligible to receive a merit increase effective the date upon which she returns to her position of employment.
Maternity/Paternity Leave Solely for purposes of determining whether the Employee incurs a Break in Service under any provision of this Plan, the Advisory Committee must credit Hours of Service during an Employee's unpaid absence period due to maternity or paternity leave. The Advisory Committee considers an Employee on maternity or paternity leave if the Employee's absence is due to the Employee's pregnancy, the birth of the Employee's child, the placement with the Employee of an adopted child, or the care of the Employee's child immediately following the child's birth or placement. The Advisory Committee credits Hours of Service under this paragraph on the basis of the number of Hours of Service the Employee would receive if he were paid during the absence period or, if the Advisory Committee cannot determine the number of Hours of Service the Employee would receive, on the basis of 8 hours per day during the absence period. The Advisory Committee will credit only the number (not exceeding 501) of Hours of Service necessary to prevent an Employee's Break in Service. The Advisory Committee credits all Hours of Service described in this paragraph to the computation period in which the absence period begins or, if the Employee does not need these Hours of Service to prevent a Break in Service in the computation period in which his absence period begins, the Advisory Committee credits these Hours of Service to the immediately following computation period.
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.
Paternity Leave 7.4.6(a) An employee will provide to the employer at least ten weeks prior to each proposed period of paternity leave, with:
Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leave An Employee who is expecting the birth or adoption of a child shall be entitled to maternity/paternity/adoption leave without pay, provided she presents a medical certificate confirming the probable date of confinement, or in the case of adoption, gives the Employer notice of eligibility. Except in extenuating circumstances, the notice shall be submitted in writing at least twenty-eight (28) days in advance of the leave and shall specify the probable date of commencement and the anticipated length of leave. The following conditions shall apply:
(a) Leave of Absence for maternity/paternity/adoption shall be for up to eighteen (18) months as requested by the Employee, except in extenuating circumstances when, in the opinion of a medical practitioner, the leave should be further extended.
(b) Upon return from such leave, the Employee will resume employment at the same worksite, in the same or in a comparable position prior to the granting of such leave. In the event the Employee on Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leave is affected by lay off, she shall be afforded access to the provisions of Article 26, Layoff And Work Resumption.
(c) Notice of intention to return to work or request for a change of the length of the leave of absence, must be forwarded to the Employer twenty-eight (28) days prior to the expiration of the leave. The Employee shall be entitled to one (1) extension of said leave. However, the entire length of such leave of absence shall not exceed eighteen (18) months.
(d) An Employee shall have access to sick leave credits as per Article 12.07.
(e) Accrual of seniority when on such leave is calculated as follows:
(i) For full-time Employees, seniority shall accrue as if they were working.
(ii) For other than full-time Employees who have worked for one (1) year or more: 52 Week of Leave
(iii) For other than full-time Employees who have worked for less than one (1) year:
(f) Supplemental Employment Insurance Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Supplemental Employment Benefit (SEB) The Employer will implement a Supplemental Employment Benefits Plan. Employees will receive the Supplementary Employment Benefits if they meet eligibility requirements. Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Supplemental Employment Benefit (SEB) shall apply to all Employees.
