Complete Disability “Complete Disability” shall mean the inability of the Executive to perform the Executive’s duties under this Agreement because the Executive has become permanently disabled within the meaning of any policy of disability income insurance covering employees of the Company then in force. In the event the Company has no policy of disability income insurance covering employees of the Company in force when the Executive becomes disabled, the term “Complete Disability” shall mean the inability of the Executive to perform the Executive’s duties under this Agreement by reason of any incapacity, physical or mental, which the Board, based upon medical advice or an opinion provided by a licensed physician acceptable to the Board, determines to have incapacitated the Executive from satisfactorily performing all of the Executive’s usual services for the Company for a period of at least one hundred twenty (120) days during any twelve (12) month period (whether or not consecutive). Based upon such medical advice or opinion, the determination of the Board shall be final and binding and the date such determination is made shall be the date of such Complete Disability for purposes of this Agreement.
Industrial Relations Training Leave Union Delegate/Employee Representative shall have access to industrial relations training in accordance with Appendix E hereof.
Successive Disabilities If, following a period of total disability with respect to which benefits are paid from this Plan, an employee returns to work for a continuous period of six (6) months or more, any subsequent total disability suffered by that employee, whether related to the preceding disability or not, shall be considered a new disability and the disabled employee shall be entitled to benefit payments after the completion of another waiting period. In the event the period during which such an employee has returned to work is less than six (6) months and the employee again suffers a total disability that is related to the preceding disability, the subsequent disability shall be deemed a continuation of the preceding disability, and the disabled employee shall be entitled to benefit payments without the necessity of completing another waiting period. Should such an employee suffer a subsequent disability that is unrelated to the previous disability and provided the period during which the employee returned to work is longer than one (1) month, the subsequent disability shall be considered a new disability and the employee shall be entitled to benefit payments after the completion of another waiting period. If the period during which the employee returned to work is one (1) month or less, the subsequent disability shall be deemed a continuation of the preceding disability and the disabled employee shall be entitled to benefit payments without the necessity of completing another waiting period.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT A. The Board of Education agrees to pay the actual tuition costs of courses taken by a teacher at accredited colleges or universities up to three courses per two (2) year fiscal periods from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008 and July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2010 respectively, except as follows:
1. No teacher may be reimbursed for courses taken during the first year of teaching in Vineland.
2. Teachers taking courses in the second and third years of employment in Vineland will not receive remuneration until tenure has been secured. The remuneration will then be retroactive and will be paid to the teacher in a lump sum within sixty (60) days after the teacher has secured tenure.
3. All courses must be pre-approved by the Superintendent or his designee subject to the following requirements:
(a) A teacher must provide official documentation that he/she has obtained a grade of B or better;
(b) Reimbursement shall be paid only for courses directly related to teacher’s teaching field which increase the teacher’s content knowledge and are related to the teacher’s current certification, as determined by the Superintendent or his/her designee in his/her sole discretion; no reimbursement shall be paid for courses leading to a post graduate or professional degree in a field other than education or teaching. Further, effective September 1, 2010, all newly hired teachers shall not be eligible for reimbursement until they are tenured, and they shall not be eligible for retroactive reimbursement upon gaining tenure for courses taken prior to being tenured.
(c) The maximum total payments to be made by the Board shall not exceed $130,000.00. Courses shall be applied for no earlier than the following dates: Summer Session - April 1 Fall/Winter Session - June 1 Spring Session - October 1 Courses must, as set forth hereinabove in this sub-article 18.A.3, be pre-approved by the Superintendent or his designee, prior to the teacher commencing the course(s); and
(d) Teacher taking courses shall sign a contract requiring them to reimburse the Board for all tuition paid for a course if the teacher shall voluntarily leave the employ of the Board within one (1) full school/academic year of completion of said course, except that reimbursement shall not be required when the teacher shall voluntarily leave the employ of the Board due to a significant, documented life change.
4. Tuition reimbursement costs shall be a sum not to exceed the actual cost of college credits charged in an accredited public State college/University of the State of New Jersey.
B. When the Superintendent initiates in-service training courses, workshops, conferences and programs designed to improve the quality of instruction, the cooperation of the Vineland Education Association will be solicited. Notwithstanding the above, the initiation of in-service training courses, workshops, conferences and programs shall be determined solely at the discretion of the Board.
C. One professional leave day may be granted to a teacher upon request, according to the following guidelines:
1. The professional day may be for attendance at a workshop, seminar or visit to another school for the expressed purpose of self professional improvement for the job.
2. The request shall arrive in the office of the Superintendent of Schools at least ten (10) working days prior to the date requested and shall be reviewed by the immediate supervisor prior to submission. The Board reserves the right to deny a professional leave day before or immediately following a holiday or on a day which by its nature suggests a hardship for providing a substitute.
3. No more than two teachers from any one elementary school or from any one department in the secondary schools may be granted a professional leave for a given day.
4. The teacher may be required to submit a report to the Superintendent of Schools, Assistant Superintendent, supervisor (s), principal and staff regarding the activity of the professional day.
5. Costs incurred by the teacher for the professional day authorized under this Section shall be the teacher’s responsibility.
6. A maximum of 90 professional leave days may be authorized for the school year which shall be apportioned as follows: elementary, 35; grades seven and eight, 20; and high school, 35.
D. If the Board initiates a teacher’s attendance at a professional workshop, seminar or visit, the expenses shall be the responsibility of the Board. Further, this day shall not be subtracted from the 90 professional leave days granted to teachers of the Association.
E. The Board agrees to pay the full cost of courses taken by secretaries related to skills and knowledge improvement when such courses are required and approved by the Board.
F. The Board and the Association agree that it is important to communicate when developing and implementing current and future learning technologies, including but not limited to distance and on-line learning.
Total Disability During a period of total disability an employee must be under the regular and personal care of a legally qualified doctor of medicine.
(a) Total disability, as used in this Plan, means the complete inability because of an accident or sickness of a covered employee to perform all the duties of his/her own occupation for the first two (2) years of disability. Thereafter, employees able by reason of education, training or experience to perform the duties of a gainful occupation for which the rate of pay is not less than seventy-five percent (75%) of the current rate of pay of their regular occupation at date of disability will not be considered totally disabled and will therefore not be eligible for benefits under this Long Term Disability Plan.
(b) Total disabilities resulting from mental or nervous disorders are covered by the Plan in the same manner as total disabilities resulting from accidents or other sicknesses, except that an employee who is totally disabled as a result of a mental or nervous disorder and who has received twenty-four (24) months of Long Term Disability Plan benefit payments must be confined to a hospital or mental institution or where they are at home, under the direct care and supervision of a medical doctor, in order to continue to be eligible for benefit payments.
(1) If an employee becomes totally disabled and during this period of total disability engages in rehabilitative employment, the regular monthly benefit from this plan will be reduced by twenty-five percent (25%) of the employee's earnings from such rehabilitative employment. In the event that income from rehabilitative employment and the benefit paid under this Plan exceed eighty-five percent (85%) of the employee's earnings at date of disability, the benefit from this Plan will be further reduced by the excess amount.
Definition of Total Disability Total disability means that the employee is unable, because of sickness or accident, to perform the duties of their regular occupation. This definition applies for the first twenty-four (24) months of payments. After this time, the inability to perform an occupation for which the employee is reasonably fitted by training, education or experience will constitute total disability. It is not required that an employee be confined to home, but they must be under the regular care of a physician.
Recurring Disabilities (a) Employees who return to work after being absent because of illness or injury, and within five (5) consecutive scheduled days of work again become unable to work because of the same illness or injury are considered to still be within the original Short Term Plan period as defined in Section 1.2(a).
(b) Employees who return to work after being absent because of illness or injury and within five (5) consecutive scheduled work days again become unable to work because of a new illness or injury unrelated to the illness or injury that caused the previous absence shall be entitled to a further seven (7) months of benefits under this plan.
(c) Employees who return to work after being absent because of illness or injury, and after working five (5) or more consecutive scheduled days of work, again become unable to work because of the same illness or injury will be entitled to a further seven (7) month period of benefits under this plan, except as provided in (d) below, where the Short Term Plan period shall continue to be as defined in Section 1.2(a).
(d) Where an employee is returning to work after a period of illness or injury and where a medical practitioner has approved such return on a trial basis for assessment and/or rehabilitation purposes, the Short Term Plan period shall continue to be as defined in Section 1.2(a). Such trial period must be approved during the period the employee is receiving short term benefits; however, the end of the trial period can go beyond the Short Term Plan benefit period.
(e) Employees who return to work after a period of illness or injury and who do not work the same number of hours that were scheduled prior to the illness or injury shall receive prorated benefits under this plan, however, not beyond seven (7) calendar months from the initial date of absence as defined in Section 1.2(a), if absence is due to the same illness or injury.
Maternity Adoption and Parental Leave For the purposes of granting Maternity, Adoption and Parental Leave, the provisions of the Canada Labour Code and of its Regulations shall apply.
NATURAL DISASTER LEAVE Where a permanent employee is unable to attend work because of a natural disaster, i.e. bushfire or flood, they will be entitled to be paid ordinary pay for the shift they would otherwise have worked on that day. This entitlement will apply once per calendar year and is not cumulative from year to year.
Death or Complete Disability If the Executive’s employment with the Company is terminated as a result of Executive’s death or Complete Disability, the Company shall pay to Executive, and/or Executive’s heirs, the Executive’s Base Salary and accrued and unused vacation benefits earned through the date of termination at the rate in effect at the time of termination, less standard deductions and withholdings, and the Company shall thereafter have no further obligations to the Executive and/or Executive’s heirs under this Agreement.
