Article 21 – Other Leaves

21.1.1

The Employer shall, upon written request, grant leave of absence without pay to an employee to be a candidate in federal, provincial, or municipal elections. An employee who is a candidate for office shall be entitled to take vacation at the time of an election in lieu of leave without pay.

21.1.2

An employee elected to public office shall be entitled to leave of absence without pay during the term of office. The Employer agrees to permit the employee to restrict the period of leave to coincide with legislative responsibilities if such partial absence will not seriously affect the employee's performance of academic duties during the balance of the academic year.

Leave with full pay shall be granted to any employee required to be a witness or juror by any body in Canada with powers of subpoena. As soon as an employee receives notification of the requirement to serve as a witness or juror, the employee shall notify the President.

Leave with pay for urgent personal reasons (bereavement, family illness, emergency family care, etc.) shall be granted for short periods of time. Before taking such leave, an employee should, if possible, obtain permission from the Department Head or Dean so that arrangements can be made to carry on the employee's duties during the period of absence.

21.4.1

A leave of absence without pay may be granted an employee to provide professional assistance to an outside agency or for other reasons provided that the employee's duties can be performed satisfactorily, and that all the Employer's contractual obligations relating to the employee can be met. Such leave of absence shall be reviewed annually and shall not normally be given for more than three consecutive years.

21.4.2

Applications for leave without pay shall be made no later than six calendar months before the date on which the intended leave is to begin. The Employer shall inform the employee of a decision within thirty days of receiving the application.

21.4.3 Appeal in the case of a Denial of Leave Without Pay

An employee whose request for a leave without pay is denied by the Dean may appeal to a member of the University community jointly appointed by the University and the Association. In departmentalized Colleges, the appellant shall submit a copy of their original request, the Department Head's recommendation, Dean's decision and any other relevant materials for consideration. In non-departmentalized Colleges, the appellant shall submit a copy of their original request, the Dean's decision, and any other relevant materials for consideration. The decision of this individual shall be final.

The Employer may grant an employee leave with pay to teach, carry on research, or perform other duties away from the University, including in another country.

21.6.1

Educational leave is intended to assist employees in completing post-graduate work, or to undertake courses of study for the purpose of enhancing their ability to perform their duties, increasing their professional flexibility, or allowing them to be considered for alternative positions in the University.

21.6.2

Educational leave may be granted for a period of from three months to one year. Upon reapplication the leave may be extended up to a further twelve months. If educational leave is granted for the purpose of pursuing an advanced degree, the leave may be extended for up to twelve additional months.

21.6.3

An employee who is granted an educational leave shall be entitled to an educational leave grant of $12,500 for a 12-month leave. Grants for shorter leaves may be pro-rated.

21.6.4

An employee who is granted educational leave for an approved course of study may be granted leave support in addition to the educational leave grant defined in Article 21.6.3, at the discretion of the Vice-President Academic and Provost; the total of the educational leave grant and additional support shall not exceed the full salary to which the employee would be entitled in the year in which the employee is on leave.

21.6.5

A recipient of an educational leave grant agrees to return to the University and resume duties for a period equal to the period of absence on educational leave; otherwise, the grant must be repaid to the University.

In addition, any employee who has received additional leave support as described in Article 21.6.4 shall be required to repay to the University one-third of the amount of that support for each year less than three years which the employee spends performing duties at the University following the period of leave.

21.6.6

For employees who hold probationary appointments continuity of service of the employee on educational leave is not interrupted, but the period of the leave does not contribute towards probationary service.

21.6.7

The absence of an employee on probation from the University for an educational leave of up to twelve months shall result in postponement of consideration of the employee's case for tenure for one full year, unless the leave was taken at such a time in the academic year that all the employee's normal teaching duties for that year could be completed, in which case consideration for tenure shall not be postponed.

21.6.8

Applications for educational leave must be submitted to the Vice-President Academic and Provost no later than six calendar months before the date on which the intended leave is to begin. The employee shall be notified of the result of the consideration of the application within three calendar months.

21.6.9

A grievance in the case of denial of educational leave shall be subject to the same limitations as in the case of tenure (Article 15.17).

21.7.1 Maternity/Parental/Adoption Leave or Primary Caregiver Leave

21.7.1.1 Eligibility for Leave

An employee who is pregnant and who declares in writing to be the primary caregiver, or an employee who declares in writing to be the primary caregiver of a new born or adopted child, and who holds an appointment that is probationary, with tenure, with continuing status, or without term is entitled to a leave of up to 78 weeks. An employee who holds an appointment for a limited term and has been employed by the University for 13 consecutive weeks preceding the anticipated birth or custody of a child is entitled to a leave of up to 78 weeks or until the end of the term appointment, whichever occurs earlier.

21.7.1.2 Timing of the Leave

The leave will commence at any time, at the employee’s discretion, within the period that starts 13 weeks before the estimated or actual date of birth or custody, and ends 78 weeks after the actual date of birth or custody and shall be of uninterrupted duration. The leave must be completed within 78 weeks of the birth or adoption of the child. Employees may schedule their annual vacation as extension of their leave entitlement.

21.7.1.3 Level of Remuneration

The supplement described in this Article will be paid for a maximum of 35 weeks per employee per pregnancy or adoption (including any statutory waiting period). Employees on leave shall receive the following remuneration:

1. Employees receiving Employment Insurance (EI) maternity or parental benefits shall receive a supplement which provides the equivalent of 95% of normal salary for up to 35 weeks, including any statutory waiting period. For limited term employees, the supplement will be received for up to 35 weeks or to the end of the term appointment, whichever occurs earlier. The balance of the leave shall be without pay. These benefits shall be extended to cover any period the employee is receiving extended EI benefits due to the illness of the child. The supplement payable to employees under this article shall be calculated on the basis of an as a top up to the standard EI maternity or parental benefits. The calculation is independent of the duration of the leave.
2. Employees who are not eligible to receive EI maternity or parental benefits but who hold an appointment that is probationary, with tenure, with continuing status, or without term shall receive the equivalent of 95% of normal salary for up to 35 weeks provided they have applied for EI maternity or parental benefits and it has been determined they are ineligible solely because they do not meet the insurable employment test. The balance of the leave shall be without pay.
3. Other employees who are not eligible for EI maternity or parental benefits shall receive the equivalent of 95% of salary for the first two weeks, and the balance of the leave shall be without pay.

21.7.1.4 Benefit Coverage

21.7.1.4.1
During the paid portion of the leave, the employee and the Employer shall pay their respective shares of the cost of continuing benefit coverage.

21.7.1.4.2
During any unpaid portion of the leave, the Employer shall maintain coverage for the employee under the Compulsory Group Life Insurance Plan, the Academic Long Term Disability Plan, Extended Health Care Plan and the Dental Plan. The employee shall have the option of continuing pension contributions.

21.7.1.4.3
If an employee is unable to work because of medical complications related to pregnancy and/or childbirth, the normal provisions of disability leave, including the Academic Long Term Disability Plan, shall be applied in accordance with Article 21.8.

21.7.1.5 Notice

Employees shall be expected to give as much written notice as possible (but not less than four weeks, except in emergency situations) to the Department Head and Dean. This statement of notice shall specify the estimated date of birth or custody and identify the dates of the leave and any vacation the employee intends to take as an extension of the leave entitlement.

21.7.1.6  

Upon request to the Department Head or Dean, the pregnant employee shall be entitled to an appropriate adjustment of  duties when complications related to the pregnancy justify it or when the working conditions expose the employee to physical dangers, to infectious diseases or danger of miscarriage.

21.7.1.7 Probationary Period

If the employee holds a probationary appointment or term appointment pursuant to Article 13.7.3, the period of the leave shall not count as part of the probationary period, although the employee may count contributions completed during the period of the leave towards their renewal of probation, tenure or promotion case.

21.7.1.8 Extension of Leave

An employee may extend the maternity, parental or adoption leave by a leave without pay of up to one year. The employee shall try to arrange the leave without pay to coincide with academic term(s). An employee who becomes pregnant or declares to be the primary caregiver of another child during the leave or a leave without pay extension to the leave shall be entitled to extend  the leave by a leave without pay of up to two additional years. The procedures as defined in Article 21.4 shall apply in such cases. During the extension(s) of the leave, the employee shall have the option of continuing benefit coverage at the employee’s expense.

21.7.1.9  

An employee returning to work following leave may apply for part-time status extending up to three years in accordance with the terms of Article 13.2.1.

21.7.1.10 Sabbatical Leave

An employee shall be entitled to count up to one year of each maternity, parental or adoption leave as qualifying service toward sabbatical leave.

21.7.2 Secondary Caregiver Leave

In the case where an employee is the secondary caregiver, the employee shall be entitled to up to 71 weeks of leave, which may be commenced within the period that starts 13 weeks before the estimated or actual date of birth or custody and must be completed within 86 weeks of the child’s date of birth or custody. Only the first week of the leave shall be with pay.

Employees on long-term disability, including the 90 day period prior to coverage by the Academic Long Term Disability Plan (Article 22.5), are deemed to be on leave without pay for purposes of the administration of this Agreement.

An employee who has served a minimum of five (5) consecutive years of service as a Department Head or Assistant Dean shall be entitled to a twelve-month administrative leave at 100% of salary or a six-month leave at 100% of salary. An employee who has served a maximum of three (3) consecutive years of service as a Department Head or Assistant Dean shall be entitled to a six-month administrative leave at 100% of salary. The leave should be taken in the academic year following completion of the term of service as Department Head or Assistant Dean. The Department Head or Assistant Dean shall submit a plan of activities to the Dean by November 30 of the academic year preceding the administrative leave. 

The years of service as a Department Head or Assistant Dean shall count toward either administrative leave or sabbatical leave, but not both. A sabbatical leave nullifies all previous accumulated service for an administrative leave. Upon completion of the appointment and subsequent administrative leave of a Department Head or Assistant Dean, the years of service credited towards sabbatical prior to the appointment as Department Head or Assistant Dean shall be credited towards the next sabbatical leave.

1. If a sabbatical leave is taken immediately following an administrative leave, the maximum duration of the combined leaves will be twelve months.
2. If a sabbatical leave is taken one year following an administrative leave, the year of deferral shall be credited as qualifying service toward a future sabbatical leave.

The provisions of Article 20.11 (Sabbatical Leave Research Grant) and Article 22.13 (Sabbatical Expense Account) shall also apply to employees on administrative leave.

An employee who takes administrative leave is expected to return to service at the University for a period equivalent to the duration of the leave and to submit to the Dean, not later than three months after the end of the leave, a report on the work done related to the leave.

Upon written notice to the Department Head or Dean, and employee may be granted up to seven working days with pay annually for the purpose of participating in traditional Indigenous ceremonies. Employees shall make every attempt to give the longest possible notice, and shall actively cooperate in arrangements for the uninterrupted continuation of the work of the academic unit.