Article 12 – Vacation Leave

Each Resident shall receive, during each year of Residency training, four (4) calendar weeks of paid annual vacation. This is equivalent to twenty (20) regular working days. Vacation leave is not required for activities which are considered normal aspects of a residency program such as teaching and college mandated education.

Vacation leave will be arranged such that any instance in which five (5) or more regular working days are taken consecutively, Residents will not be placed on duty the weekend directly before or after, and also, any weekend(s) which falls within the vacation period. Clinical duties will end at the end of the regular working day on Friday, no later than Friday midnight.

No individual rotation-specific vacation policy shall apply. In the case where rotations refuse a requested vacation period, the reason for refusal shall be shared with the resident and parent Program Director. If the reason is not deemed satisfactory by the parent Program Director, the Resident’s request shall be upheld. Any routine policy for refusal of vacation requests is deemed a violation of the collective bargaining agreement.

A Resident with an appointment period of less than one (1) year shall earn and receive vacation time at the rate of one and two-third (1 2/3) days per calendar month or major portion thereof.

A Resident shall receive regular pay in lieu of any vacation leave remaining at the end of an academic year if, for any reason, it was not possible to take the vacation leave within the academic year. Alternatively, if a consecutive appointment is being made, unused vacation leave to a maximum of two (2) weeks may be carried over to the following year with the approval of the Program Director.

Where practicable, vacation leave must be approved at least two (2) weeks ahead of the commencement date. Program Directors will not unreasonably deny vacation requests.

If a Resident becomes seriously ill, seriously injured, or hospitalized during a period of vacation leave, the Resident may apply to the Employer through the Office of Postgraduate Education to have the period of vacation leave replaced by sick leave. The Resident shall provide documentation to support the claim. If the request is approved, the period of vacation so displaced shall be reinstated for use as vacation and scheduled in the normal manner.