YUFA Collective Agreement Article 19 Leaves

YUFA

Collective Agreement

2006-2009

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Article 19
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Short-Term Leave

19.01

Sick leave or emergency leave of a week or less may be arranged by an employee with his/her Chairperson (or Dean/University Librarian where applicable), who shall inform the Dean/University Librarian or designate. When advance notice is not possible, the employee should notify the Chairperson (or Dean/University Librarian where applicable) as soon as possible of the nature and expected duration of the absence from duties.

In granting sick leave of longer than one (1) week and up to one (1) month in duration, the Employer may require medical verification of the nature and expected duration of the illness. In exceptional cases, the Employer may, at its expense, require a second opinion from a mutually acceptable practitioner.

19.02

Sick leave, compassionate leave, bereavement leave, emergency leave, leave for extraordinary elder or child care, or other short-term leaves for up to one (1) month may be arranged by an employee with his/her Dean/Principal/University Librarian.

In granting sick leave of up to one (1) month in duration, the Employer may require medical verification of the nature and expected duration of the illness. In exceptional cases, the Employer may, at its expense, require a second opinion from a mutually acceptable practitioner.

Requests for leave of up to one (1) month in duration, for reasons other than illness, shall be made in writing by the employee to his/her Dean/Principal/University Librarian. The Dean/Principal/University Librarian shall deliver his/her reply to the request as promptly as possible, indicating in writing approval or disapproval, and setting out reasons for any denial, which shall normally be in terms of the effective scheduling of a unit’s teaching/library programme.

19.03

In the case of short-term leave for up to one (1) month in duration, for purposes of illness or medical leave or compassionate leave or bereavement leave or emergency leave or other leave, the employee on short-term leave shall continue to receive full pay and all benefits. In the case of short-term leave for up to one (1) month in duration, for purposes other than illness or compassion, the Employer may reduce the salary of the individual on leave, for the period of the leave, depending upon the purpose of the leave and any remuneration resulting from it.

19.04

The teaching/professional and service responsibilities of an employee on short-term leave of up to one (1) month will normally be assumed by his/her colleagues without additional expenses to the Employer.

19.05

Short-term leaves as provided for in clauses 19.01, 19.02, 19.03 and 19.04 shall not be unreasonably denied.

Long-Term Leave

Sick Leave

19.06

Where an employee requests sick leave for longer than one (1) month or is absent by reason of illness for longer than one (1) month, the Employer shall grant sick leave with full pay and benefits for a period of up to fifteen (15) weeks from the beginning of his/her absence or until the University’s Long-Term Salary Continuance Programme (LTSCP) comes into effect, whichever occurs sooner. In granting long-term sick leave, the Employer may require medical verification of the nature and expected duration of the illness. In exceptional cases, the Employer may, at its expense, require a second opinion from a mutually acceptable practitioner. If the employee is not deemed eligible for benefits under the LTSCP, the Employer may grant a leave of absence without pay, a leave at reduced salary, or continuance of full salary and benefits, for a specified period of time.

The Employer may require medical verification of the employee’s fitness to resume all of the responsibilities expected of the employee and may, at its expense, require a second opinion from a mutually acceptable practitioner.

19.07

If an employee is absent for more than one (1) month, the Employer shall normally arrange for a substitute or shall provide appropriate remuneration or other compensation to colleagues who assume his/her duties.

Pregnancy, Primary Care Giver, and Parental Leaves

19.08

(a) An employee shall be granted pregnancy leave with full salary and benefits for a period of up to seventeen (17) weeks, to be taken at the discretion of the employee during the period immediately preceding and/or following the birth of her child.

(b) An employee who has the principal responsibility for the care of the child shall be granted leave with full salary and benefits for a period of up to seventeen (17) weeks, to be taken at the discretion of the employee during the period(s) immediately preceding and/or following:

the birth of the child, or;
the coming of the child of less than twelve (12) years of age into the custody, care and control of a parent for the first time.

(c) An employee who takes a pregnancy leave or primary care giver leave under 19.08(a) or (b), above is entitled to a parental leave of absence for a period of up to thirty-five (35) weeks following:

the birth of the child, or;
the coming of the child into the custody, care and control of a parent for the first time.

The Employer will supplement the Employment Insurance (EI) parental leave benefits for the first three (3) weeks of such parental leave so that the total from both sources equals 100% of the employee’s normal weekly salary. The remaining thirty-two (32) weeks shall be taken as a leave of absence without pay.

Parental leave may begin no more than thirty-five (35) weeks after the day the child is born or comes into the custody, care and control of a parent for the first time.

The parental leave of an employee who takes a pregnancy/primary care giver leave must begin when the pregnancy/primary care giver leave ends unless the child has not yet come into the custody, care and control of a parent for the first time.

During parental leave, the employee shall be entitled but not required to maintain membership in any or all of the benefits from time to time in force through the Collective Agreement. During an employee’s parental leave, the Employer shall continue to make the Employer’s contributions to the University’s benefit plans unless the employee gives the Employer a written notice in advance of the leave that the employee does not intend to pay the employee’s contributions, if any.

An employee shall, if she so chooses, have the right to continue with her regular duties during pregnancy.

Should the health of the mother or child require additional time off from University duties, the employee may apply to her Dean/Principal/University Librarian for a leave of absence without pay for an additional period of up to twelve (12) weeks. (See Clause 19.13.)

Application for pregnancy leave shall be made as early as possible in advance of the expected delivery date. Application for primary care giver leave shall be made as early as possible. The employee shall give due regard to the need of the University for early notice of a prolonged period of leave.

19.09

The teaching/professional and service responsibilities of an employee on pregnancy leave or primary care giver leave and/or parental leave of less than one (1) month shall normally be assumed by her/his colleagues without additional expense to the Employer. If an employee takes pregnancy leave or primary care giver leave and/or parental leave of longer than one (1) month, the Employer will normally arrange for a substitute or shall provide appropriate remuneration or other compensation to colleagues who assume her/his duties.

Paid Parental and Parental Leaves

19.10

(a) A parent who does not qualify to receive pregnancy or primary care giver leave under 19.08(a) or (b) above will be granted paid parental leave with full salary and benefits for a period of up to four (4) weeks, to be taken at the discretion of the employee during the period immediately preceding and/or following:

the birth of the child, or;
the coming of the child into the custody, care and control of a parent for the first time.

(b) A parent who does not qualify to receive pregnancy or primary care giver leave under 19.08(a) or (b) above is entitled to a parental leave of absence without pay for a period of up to thirty-five (35) weeks following:

the birth of the child, or;
the coming of the child into the custody, care and control of a parent for the first time.

Parental leave may begin no more than thirty-five (35) weeks after the day the child is born or comes into the custody, care and control of a parent for the first time.

The parental leave of an employee who takes a paid parental leave must begin when the paid parental leave ends unless the child has not yet come into the custody, care and control of a parent for the first time.

The teaching/professional and service responsibilities of an employee on paid parental leave and/or parental leave of less than one (1) month shall normally be assumed by his/her colleagues without additional expense to the Employer. If any employee takes paid parental leave and/or parental leave of longer than one (1) month, the Employer will normally arrange for a substitute or shall provide appropriate remuneration or other compensation to colleagues who assume his/her duties.

Application for paid parental leave shall be made as early as possible. The employee shall give due regard to the need of the University for early notice of a prolonged period of leave.

19.11

If both parents are employees they may share between them their paid periods of leave. As much advance notice as possible of the expected duration of each employee’s leave shall be provided to the Dean(s)/Principal/University Librarian.

19.12

An employee on pregnancy, paid parental, parental, or primary care giver leave shall accumulate years of service credit for all relevant provisions of this Agreement as if he/she were a full-time, on-site employee.

Leave of Absence Without Pay

19.13

An employee may apply in writing to the Dean/Principal/University Librarian or designate for leave of absence without pay at any time, and the Dean/Principal/University Librarian or designate shall reply in writing within thirty (30) days. Where such a request is denied, the letter from the Dean/Principal/University Librarian or designate shall set out the reasons for the denial, which shall normally be in terms of the effective scheduling of a unit’s teaching/library programme or administrative duties (in the case of those employees listed in Appendix A, Section C) or pursuant to 19.15(a) or (b).

A copy of both the request and reply shall be filed with the Chairperson (where applicable). An employee on leave of absence without pay shall be entitled but not required to maintain membership in any or all of the University’s benefit plans from time to time in force. Employees applying for such leave may apply also for a continuation of the Employer’s contribution to benefit plans, and the Employer may approve same, depending upon the nature of the leave and the Employer’s judgement as to the degree to which the leave is in the interests of the University as well as the employee. Eligibility for participation in the University’s Guaranteed Housing Loan Plan and the spouse’s/dependents’ tuition waiver programme will not be affected by the leave.

19.14

Time spent on leave of absence without pay normally carries no credit as years of service either toward eligibility for consideration for tenure/continuing appointment or toward sabbatical leave. If the Employer approves an employee’s request that a leave of absence without pay carry such credit, the terms of such credit and the applicability or otherwise of any “career progress” increments shall be agreed upon in writing at the time of the approval of the leave.

19.15

Employees in the probationary classification shall not normally be granted more than two (2) years of leave of absence without pay as per 19.13, during the probationary period.
Leave of absence for a period of more than three (3) years, or consecutive leaves accumulating to more than three (3) years, will not normally be approved (with the exception of political leaves, as specified in clauses 19.21 to 19.23).

Extensions of leaves of absence beyond three (3) years may be granted by the Employer after consultation between the employee’s Dean and department.

Sickness, Pregnancy, etc.
During Sabbatical Leave

19.16

The parties recognize that there may be cases in which employees on sabbatical leave suffer a serious interruption of their stated programme of activities because of personal illness, disability, pregnancy, etc. In such cases, it may be appropriate for the employee to request that the sabbatical arrangements be modified or cancelled. The JCOAA shall be charged with making recommendations to the parties respecting the criteria and procedures to be employed in making and responding to such requests.

Court Leave

19.17

An employee who has been summoned to be a witness or juror by any body in Canada with the power of subpoena, shall, if his/her attendance requires him/her to be absent from his/her scheduled teaching/professional or service responsibilities, notify his/her Dean/Principal/University Librarian or designate of the summons as soon as possible after its receipt, and shall supply the Dean/Principal/University Librarian or designate with a copy of the summons, upon request. An employee who has complied with the foregoing shall be granted paid leave of absence during the period of service to the court or summoning body. Upon his/her return to work, the employee shall supply the Dean/Principal/University Librarian or designate upon request, with written confirmation of the dates of service, signed by an appropriate officer of the court or summoning body. The employee shall be entitled to retain any jury or witness fees. The teaching/professional and service responsibilities of the employee on such leave will normally be assumed by his/her colleagues without additional expense to the Employer, except where such leave exceeds a period of one (1) month, in which case the terms of clause 19.07 shall apply.

Terminal Leave

19.18

In conformity with existing practice, an employee denied tenure/continuing appointment shall be offered a final year of on-site employment at full salary. Such employees may, alternatively, apply for a terminal assisted leave, to take the form of either:

a twelve-month leave at 50% of base salary, or such higher rate as the Employer at its discretion may decide, or;
a six-month leave at 100% of base salary.

In the case of either form of leave, the employee shall make his/her application to the Dean/University Librarian within thirty (30) days of notification of the President’s decision not to recommend tenure/continuing appointment, and the Dean’s/University Librarian’s reply to the application shall be made within thirty (30) days of the Dean’s/University Librarian’s receipt of the application.

Educational Leave

19.19

(a) In order to satisfy York University’s future needs for particular skills and qualifications, and in order for employees to enhance their academic and professional qualifications, the Employer may grant study leaves with full or partial pay.

In particular, the Employer may provide financial support to employees who wish to undertake programmes of study in order to better qualify themselves for internal transfers and to provide for a higher level of professional flexibility. One may apply to have any period of educational leave regarded as normal University service with full entitlement to fringe benefits. The Employer’s reply to such application shall be in writing.

(b) Commencing with the 1984/85 academic year, the Employer agrees to provide funds for the purpose of providing opportunities for probationary or tenured/continuing appointment employees to take educational leave for approved plans of study for purposes to include, but not be limited to, attainment of a higher level of professional flexibility and better qualification for internal transfer.

Employees on educational leave under this clause shall continue to receive full salary and benefits and to accumulate years of service credit for all provisions of this Agreement as if they were full-time, on-site employees.

Funds provided under this clause shall be provided to the academic unit(s) (in this instance to include the librarian’s department or branch where practicable) of employees awarded educational leave under this clause, consonant with the number of courses from which the employee on leave has been released, at the normal rate currently being paid by the Employer to part-time Course Directors, to an overall maximum of nine (9) part-time Course Directorships or equivalent. Any funds not expended shall be carried forward for distribution within the following two (2) academic years.

(c) A University-wide committee on educational leaves shall be established within thirty (30) days of the signing of this Agreement, its composition to be determined by the parties in the JCOAA. The Committee on Educational Leaves shall be charged with soliciting and deciding upon employees’ applications for educational leaves under this clause. The employee’s application shall include a letter from the Dean/Principal/University Librarian assessing the application in terms of the academic needs of the department/division, Faculty, or the University. A copy of this letter shall be sent to the employee. The decisions of the Committee shall be based upon and constrained by the academic needs of departments/divisions, Faculties, the Library, or the University, and subject to criteria established by the JCOAA. The Committee shall endeavour to distribute educational leave awards under this clause across the University community. The Committee normally shall render its decisions by the end of the Fall term of the previous academic year. The decisions of the Committee shall not be grievable.

Employees accepting educational leaves supported by the fund established under this clause shall return to active on-site service at the University following their leaves, and shall be required to make an undertaking to repay 100% of the funds allocated in support of their leaves if they do not so return, or 50% of those funds if they do not return for at least two (2) years of active on-site service.

Political Leave

19.20

To the extent permitted by law, an employee holding a probationary or tenured/continuing appointment may stand for election to any Canadian political office without prejudice to his/her University position, and in the case of federal/provincial office, shall be granted leave of absence up to one (1) month in the event that his/her teaching/professional and service responsibilities can be assumed by his/her colleagues without additional expense to the Employer. An employee elected in a federal or provincial election, who does not resign from his/her appointment at York University, shall be granted political leave.

19.21

Political leave shall be of two kinds:

full leave from University duties, at no pay;
partial reduction in University duties, at a corresponding reduction in pay.

The determination as to which kind of leave shall apply in a particular case shall lie with the Employer, following its consideration of the degree to which the individual’s public responsibilities will interfere with his/her University duties. The Employer may substitute a leave under category (a) for a leave under category (b), upon sixty (60) days’ notice to the individual. The notice to the individual shall be in writing, and shall set out the reasons for the substitution.

19.22

An employee elected to municipal office may apply for political leave as set out in clause 19.20. The Employer also may require that an employee elected to municipal office take political leave as set out in clause 19.20, unless the employee can demonstrate that his/her public responsibilities will not interfere with his/her University duties. Such leave shall be for the term of the political office in question. The maximum length of such leave(s) shall be six (6) years, following which the individual must either resign his/her University position or return to full-time duties.

19.23

The date upon which political leave becomes effective shall be determined mutually by the individual and the Dean/Principal/University Librarian or designate, but shall in no case be later than the opening date of the session of the body to which the employee has just been elected.

19.24

Political leave may extend for six (6) years, or two (2) terms of office, whichever period is greater. “Term of office” shall be taken to include the period between dissolution of a parliament or legislature and the subsequent election. Beyond such period of time, or if the individual ceases to hold office (office being taken to cover the period of actual office holding plus the period ending with the individual’s failure to be re-elected), the individual must either resign his/her University position or return to full-time duties.

19.25

An employee on political leave shall be entitled but not required to maintain membership in any or all of the University’s benefit plans from time to time in force. Eligibility for participation in the University’s Guaranteed Housing Loan Plan and the spouse’s/dependents’ tuition waiver programme will not be affected by political leave. Time spent on political leave shall carry no credit as years of service either toward eligibility for consideration for tenure/continuing appointment or toward sabbatical leave.

19.26

An employee shall return from political leave at the same rank, appointment classification, and salary level (plus any intervening across-the-board adjustments, including cost-of-living allowance and, at the discretion of the Employer, “career progress” or equivalent increments) as held at the time of his/her election.

19.27

The salary and duties of an employee returning from political leave shall commence on the first of the month next following the election in which he/she is not re-elected, unless an alternate re-commencement date has been approved by the Employer.

External Release Time Fellowships

19.28

Employees holding release time fellowships from granting agencies such as, but not limited to, SSHRC/NSERC/MRC shall continue to receive Employer contributions to pension and salary based benefits at 100% of full academic base salary rate. Such employees shall accumulate years of service credit for all relevant provisions of this Agreement as if they were full-time, on-site, employees.

Internal Support For Teaching and Research

Faculty/Library Research Grant Funding

19.29

(a) The Employer agrees to maintain as a “Faculty/Library Research Grant Funding” the amount of $325,000. Any funds not expended shall be available in the following year.

Junior Faculty/Librarian Fund

(b) A fund of $110,000 per year will be provided to support research by junior (untenured) faculty members and to support research and professional development by junior (untenured) librarians.

Conference Travel

(c) The Employer agrees to provide a conference travel support fund of $180,000 per year. Any funds not expended shall be available the following year.

Leave Fellowship Fund

19.30

The Employer agrees to provide a Leave Fellowship Fund of $200,000 to provide peer adjudicated additional grants of up to 10% of academic base salary to sabbaticants. The grants shall be subject to the conditions set out in Article 20.18, and to an absolute maximum of $10,000 on any one (1) grant. The award of these grants shall be the responsibility of a University-wide committee on the Leave Fellowship Fund which shall be established within thirty (30) days of the ratification of this Agreement, its composition to be determined by the parties in the JCOAA.

Teaching-Learning Development Fund

19.31

The Employer agrees to establish a University Teaching-Learning Development Fund of $30,000 per year with additional contingency support of up to $15,000 should it prove required to meet bona fide demand, for the purpose of providing financial support to innovative teaching-learning projects, to be carried out either by individual members of the bargaining unit or by academic units. All members of the bargaining unit shall be entitled to apply for these funds. Any funds not awarded shall be retained for distribution in the following year. The award of these grants shall be the responsibility of a University-wide committee on the Teaching-Learning Development Fund which shall be established within thirty (30) days of the ratification of this Agreement, its composition to be determined by the parties in the JCOAA.

Release Time Teaching Fellowships

19.32

The Employer agrees to provide $60,000 per year for the purpose of awarding release time teaching fellowships to members of the bargaining unit for the purpose of enhancing their teaching skills and for developing teaching programmes. All members of the bargaining unit shall be entitled to apply for these fellowships.

According to the provisions of this clause, funds shall be provided to the academic unit(s) of the employees who are awarded teaching fellowships. The amount of funds awarded to each unit shall be consonant with the proportion of workload from which the employee has been released.

Any funds not awarded, shall be retained for distribution in the following year.

The award of these grants shall be the responsibility of a University-wide committee on the Release Time Teaching Fellowships which shall be established within thirty (30) days of the signing of this Agreement, its composition to be determined by the parties in the JCOAA.

Research Development Fellowship Program

19.33

The terms and conditions respecting the Research Development Fellowship Programme are set out in Appendix L of this Agreement.