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.
Return from Leave of Absence (a) Before a Nurse may return to work from a leave granted under Article 9.00, she or he must provide a minimum of four (4) weeks written notice of the specific date of his or her return to work, or such shorter time as mutually agreed.
(b) Upon return from an approved Unpaid Leave of Absence, a Nurse shall be reinstated to her or his former position unless the position has been discontinued, in which case the Nurse shall be appointed to an equivalent position.
(c) This clause requiring four (4) weeks written notice, does not apply to other leaves granted by an express provision of this Collective Agreement with different requirements for written notice.
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.
Return from Leave (a) On return from leave, an employee will be placed in their former position.
(b) Vacation entitlement, not vacation pay, will continue to accrue while an employee is on leave pursuant to Clause 21.1 (Maternity Leave) or Clause 21.2 (Parental Leave).
Notification of Absence A unit member shall contact the office of the division xxxx whenever there is a need to be absent and at least thirty (30) minutes prior to missing any work assignment. Should circumstances prohibit this notification, the unit member shall notify the division office in writing, within one week of returning to work, providing the reasons why advance notification was not given.
Election Leave Employees shall be granted unpaid leave of absence to enable them to run for elected public office and if elected, to serve their term(s) of office subject to the following provisions:
(a) Employees seeking election in a Municipal, Provincial or Federal election shall be granted unpaid leave of absence for a period of up to (90) calendar days.
(b) Employees elected to public office shall be granted unpaid leave of absence for a period up to five (5) years.
Maternity Disability Leave Parental Leave
Special Maternity Allowance for Totally Disabled Employees (a) An employee who:
(i) fails to satisfy the eligibility requirement specified in subparagraph 17.02(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 the Government Employees Compensation Act prevents her from receiving Employment Insurance or Québec Parental Insurance Plan maternity benefits, and
(ii) has satisfied all of the other eligibility criteria specified in paragraph 17.02(a), other than those specified in sections (A) and (B) of subparagraph 17.02(a)(iii), shall be paid, in respect of each week of maternity allowance not received for the reason described in subparagraph (i), the difference between ninety-three per cent (93%) of her weekly rate of pay and the gross amount of 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 17.02 for a combined period of no more than the number of weeks during which she would have been eligible for maternity benefits under the Employment Insurance or Québec Parental Insurance Plan had she not been disqualified from Employment Insurance or Québec Parental Insurance maternity benefits for the reasons described in subparagraph (a)(i).
Maternity Leave Without Pay (1) An employee who becomes pregnant shall, upon request, be granted maternity leave without pay for a period beginning before, on or after the termination date of pregnancy and ending not later than eighteen (18) weeks after the termination date of pregnancy.
(a) Notwithstanding 35.7(A)(1):
(i) where the employee’s new-born child is hospitalized within the period defined in 35.7(A)(1); and
(ii) where the employee has proceeded on maternity leave without pay and then, upon request and with the concurrence of the Council, returns to work for all or part of the period during which her new- born child is hospitalized; the period of maternity leave without pay defined in 35.7(A)(1) may be extended beyond the date falling eighteen (18) weeks after the date of termination of pregnancy by a period equal to that portion of the period of the child’s hospitalization during which the employee returned to work, to a maximum of eighteen (18) weeks.
(b) The extension described in 35.7(A)(1)(a) shall end not later than fifty-two (52) weeks after the termination date of pregnancy.
(2) At its discretion, the Council may require an employee to submit a medical certificate certifying pregnancy.
(3) An employee who has not commenced maternity leave without pay may elect to:
(a) use earned vacation and compensatory leave credits up to and beyond the date that her pregnancy terminates;
(b) use her sick leave credits up to and beyond the date that her pregnancy terminates, subject to the provisions set out in the Sick Leave Article. For purposes of this clause, illness or injury as defined in the Sick Leave Article shall include medical disability related to pregnancy.
(B) An employee shall inform the Council in writing of her plans for taking leave with and without pay to cover her absence from work due to the pregnancy at least four (4) weeks in advance of the initial date of continuous leave of absence during which termination of pregnancy is expected to occur.
(C) Leave granted under this clause shall be counted for the calculation of “continuous employment” or “service” as applicable for the purpose of calculating severance pay and vacation leave. Time spent on such leave shall be counted for pay increment purposes.
Adoption Leave Upon request, a regular employee shall be granted thirty-seven (37) weeks adoption leave of absence without pay. The employee shall furnish proof of adoption. Where both parents are employees of the same Employer, the employees shall decide which of them will apply for adoption leave.
