ARTICLE 17: MATERNITY/ADOPTION/PARENTAL LEAVE
17.01
- Subject to Clause 17.03, Maternity/Adoption/Parental Leave shall be granted without pay for a period of up to fifty-eight and one half (58.5) continuous weeks when school is in session.
- Teachers, while on approved leave granted under this Article, shall continue to accumulate seniority.
- Teachers, while on approved leave granted under this Article, shall continue to accumulate service for a maximum of fifty-eight and one half (58.5) continuous weeks for the purposes of sick leave accrual, salary increments, pension – in accordance with the Teachers’ Pension Act – Section 13, and subject to Clause 33.01(a)(ii), severance.
17.02
- Subject to Articles 9 and 29, upon termination of leave under this Article, the teacher shall be returned to a teaching position in the same school comparable to the one held immediately prior to the commencement of the leave.
- Notwithstanding Clause 17.02(a), teachers whose leave under this Article commences and terminates during the same school year shall, subject to Article 9, be returned to the same teaching position held immediately prior to the commencement of the leave.
17.03 Notwithstanding the provisions of this Article, the time period specified herein may be changed by the mutual agreement of the School Board and the teacher concerned. A School Board shall respond to a request from a teacher under this Article within two (2) weeks of receipt of the request.
17.04
- In accordance with Clause 17.01, a teacher shall make written request to their School Board for maternity leave not later than four (4) months prior to their expected date of delivery, and such leave shall be granted to commence and terminate as requested. Where possible, the application shall be accompanied by a doctor’s certificate confirming the expected date of delivery.
- In accordance with Clause 17.01, a teacher shall make written request to the School Board for parental leave not later than one (1) month prior to the commencement of the leave, and such leave shall be granted to commence and terminate as requested.
17.05 The School Board reserves the right to require a teacher to commence leave prior to the time specified in Clause 17.04 if the state of their health becomes incompatible with the requirements of their teaching position. In that respect, should the School Board have reasonable and probable grounds for believing that the state of their health has become incompatible with the requirements of their teaching position, the School Board shall have the right to demand of the teacher to produce a certificate from a medical practitioner that their health is compatible with the requirements of their teaching position and should the teacher fail to produce such a certificate within a reasonable time, the School Board shall have the right to require the teacher to commence sick leave and such leave will continue to the commencement of maternity leave as specified in Clause 17.04.
17.06 A teacher shall make written request to the School Board for adoption leave at or prior to the time the teacher’s application is accepted by an adoption agency, and such leave shall be granted to commence and terminate as requested.
