EdCom Session on

Medical Appointments, Short-term Sick Leave and other Compassionate Benefits

Not the Queen’s you used to know!

December 4, 2014

USW Locals 2010

& 2010-01

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Two Basic Principles –• A leave of absence will not extend or alter the

end date of a term appointment.

• The employer can deny a return from a leave of absence if it would result in the termination of a term appointment held by the person covering the leave.

Article 23: Leaves of Absence

Basic bereavement leave may be granted as 5 consecutive working days with pay, within the 7 consecutive calendar days immediately following the death.

• Leave requests are granted by management if the request is for the death of any of the following family members:

• Employee’s - parent, step parent, spouse, partner, child, including child of the current partner, sibling including step siblings, in-laws, brothers and sisters-in-law, grandparents or grandchild.

BEREAVEMENT Article 23.02

• If vacation time is interrupted by an entitlement to bereavement leave and verification of the death can be provided, you are entitled to substitute bereavement leave days for vacation days.

• Any resulting unused vacation would then be rescheduled at a mutually convenient later date.

BEREAVEMENT Article 23.03

• Compassionate Leave is at the discretion of the department head who is obligated to act in good faith and not make arbitrary or discriminatory judgments.

• Employees may need to request short term leaves without loss of pay for important or unusual circumstances such as a sudden serious illness in the employee's household, a medical or dental appointment.

COMPASSIONATE Article 23.04

Article 23.05

• A request for leave for a scheduled medical appointment (e.g. doctor’s or dentist’s appointments) must be made at least 2 business days prior to the appointment.

MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS

Problem with this language – the Employer is now ‘recommending’ that Departments/Units have their employees ‘make up’ the time away for medical

appointments, or attend without pay or use vacation time.

Current language does not say that the Employer CAN’T do this to employees!

• An employee who is a candidate in a Provincial or Federal election will, on request to her/his Department Head/designate, be granted leave of absence without pay during the campaign period and, if elected, during 1 term in office.

• For campagin purposes, the recommended leave times are 30 days for Federal or Provincial, and 10 days for municipal, regional or county office.

• Employees elected to a second term to a cabinet post are required to resign from the University.

• For details regarding vacation accrual and retention of your position, see 23.10 & 23.11.

ELECTION LEAVES Article 23.06 – 23.11

• Details regarding general, supported, and unsupported Maternity and Parental leaves can be found in the articles noted above.

• If you require assistance with these articles, please contact the Steward for your zone, and they will be happy to discuss them with you.

MATERNITY & PARENTAL LEAVES Articles 23.12 – 23.17

• An employee may take a leave of absence, without pay, for up to 8 weeks to provide care or support to a seriously ill family member pursuant to the entitlement provided by and requirements of the Employment Standards Act. Such leave shall be arranged with the employee’s Department Head/designate.

Family Medical Leave Article 23.18

Brought to you by the government of Ontario – you’re welcome!

• Leave requests can be approved without pay, without loss of senority for up to 1 year.

• Submit the request in a reasonable amount of time in advance of the leave to the Manager.

• Written requests must outline the start and end dates and reason for the leave. • The Manager will provide a written response within 10 business days. • Leaves are considered with operational needs in mind. • You may be required to utilize accrued vacation or lieu time prior to approving

the leave. • While on leave you will not accrue service (i.e. vacation), your vacation time

will be subject to proration, but your senority will be maintained.• At your discretion, you can elected to continue your benefit plan at full cost to

you.

General Leave without Pay Articles 23.19 – 23.24

Jury Duty or Witness for the University: Notify your Manager immediately if you have been served with jury notice or subpoenaed to be a witness for the Employer. You will receive leave with pay for these services, for the duration of the court proceedings, provided you can submit the proper documentation. While on jury or witness duty for the Employer, your normal working hours will be deemed to be 8:30am – 4:30pm (e.g. if you normally work 1-9pm, and jury duty is from 9-5pm, you do not have to show up for work at 6pm). If you are excused from jury or witness duty, and there are 3 or more hours remaining in that work day, you must return to work. The employee must sign over all payment received for jury or witness duty for the Employer, excluding non-working days, travel, meals, and out of pocket expenses.

NOTE: if you are subpoenaed as a witness for court proceedings in which the Employer is not a party, you are required to take the time off without pay, or use your vacation time.

Other Leaves Articles 23.25 – 23.36

Moving: Your Manager may grant up to 1 day of leave with pay per calendar year to an employee who is moving.

Reservist: If you have been employed for 6 months or more, and you have been posted by the Canadian Forces, you are entitled to leave without pay. Upon return, employees are entitled to be reinstated to the same or comparable position with the Employer.

Voting: As USW Members the majority of us work a 7 hour day, while most polls for Federal, Provincial and Municipal elections are open for 12 hours on vote day. Therefore, as employee’s we should make arrangements to vote ‘outside’ or our working day. For those of us on shift, the entitlement is 3 consecutive hours are allotted to vote – arrangements for these employees should be made with your Manager.

Other Leaves Articles 23.25 – 23.36

• 24.01 – Employees are covered by the University’s Sick Leave Plan, which provides leave with pay for absence due to illness or injury.

• 24.02 – Employees are entitled to 6 months sick leave or until their appointment ends if that comes first. The Employer will not change this entitlement for the duration of our CBA without the Union’s agreement.

• 24.03 - The Employer has the right to address excessive incidental absences through attendance management. Probationary employees’ paid sick leave shall not exceed 3 working days.

• 24.04 - If you fall sick prior to a layoff you will only be paid until the layoff date.

• 24.05 - Sick Leave with regular pay is defined as absence from work and performance of regular duties because of illness, injury, or quarantine through exposure to contagious disease.

SICK LEAVE Articles 24.01 – 24.10

• 24.06 - If required to provide a physician’s note confirming the medical incapacity, including dentists, the employer will reimburse the employee for the cost of the medical note up to a maximum of $25.00 per note.

• 24.07 & .08 – Notify your Manager ASAP on the first day or your illness. For longer absences, you are required to report recovery time and expected return date to your Manager, and to the Return to Work Specialist in HR (Sydney Downey), at reasonable intervals.

• 24.09 – The Employer will reimburse employees for formal physician’s certificates up to a maximum of $50 per certificate.

• 24.10 - If you fall sick during your vacation for 5 days or more and it is verified by a doctor, you can substitute sick days for vacations days.

SICK LEAVE Articles 24.01 – 24.10

Q & A

Questions?

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