Article 31 – Other Leaves of Absence

Employees who experience the death of a family member, as defined below shall be entitled to five (5) working days of bereavement leave with pay.

It is recognized by the parties that the circumstances which call for leave in respect of bereavement are based on individual circumstances. On request, the Employer may, after considering the particular circumstances involved (for example, travel needs), grant leave with or without pay for a period greater than and/or in a manner different than that provided above, and such request shall not be unreasonably denied.

Family, for the purposes of bereavement leave, means parent (or alternatively stepparent or foster parent), sibling (including stepsibling), spouse (including common-law partner), child (including child of common-law partner), stepchild or ward of the Employee, grandchild, parents or siblings of the Employee’s spouse or common-law partner, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, the grandparents, cousin, any person over whom the Employee has legal responsibility, any other person who would ordinarily be considered a member of the Employee’s immediate family, a person permanently residing in the Employee’s household or with whom the Employee permanently resides.

An Employee may be eligible for compassionate care leave in accordance with the terms of The Saskatchewan Employment Act to provide care or support to a member of the Employee’s family who has a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death.

Employees summoned for jury service shall be entitled to a leave of absence without loss of pay or benefits, sufficient for the purpose of the discharge of the Employee’s jury duties.

Remuneration paid to the Employee by the court must be remitted to the University within thirty (30) days of receipt.

1. The Employer shall recognize a negotiating team consisting of up to three (3) Employees. Employees who are members of the negotiating team shall not lose pay during any negotiating meetings with the Employer, or during a reasonable number of preparatory meetings, held during the Employee’s regular working hours.
2. Subject to operational requirements, the Employer shall grant Union leave without pay in order to serve the Union.
3. Employees participating during normal work hours in a grievance meeting, Occupational Health and Safety meeting, a Joint Committee meeting with the Employer, or any other meeting called by the Employer, shall not be considered to be on leave.
4. The Employer will provide annually to the Union an amount equivalent to a quarter of the pay of one Postdoctoral Fellow at the base rate to compensate members of the union for conducting executive business.

Education leaves for Research Associates are unpaid and are to a maximum of one (1) year, are subject to approval by the Supervisor. This leave will be granted if the leave is not unduly disruptive to the operations of the unit, and it is possible to replace the Employee on a temporary basis.

In addition to the leaves outlined in this Article, the Employer may grant leaves of absence with or without pay to Employees for legitimate personal reasons. Requests for such leaves shall not be unreasonably denied.

An Employee may be eligible for Critically Ill Family Care Leave in accordance with the terms of The Saskatchewan Employment Act. Critically Ill Child Care Leave is an unpaid job-protected leave of up to thirty-seven (37) weeks that allows parents to care for a critically ill or injured child. Critically Ill Adult Leave is an unpaid, job protected leave of up to seventeen (17) weeks for the care of an adult family member who is critically ill or injured.

An Employee shall be eligible for ten (10) days of leave if the Employee, a child of the Employee, or a person for whom an Employee is a caregiver experiences interpersonal or sexual violence, as defined in The Saskatchewan Employment Act. Employees may take five (5) days as paid leave and the balance as unpaid leave.