ARTICLE 28 – MATERNITY/ADOPTION/PARENTAL LEAVE
28.01
(a) Subject to Clause 28.03, 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.
(b) Teachers, while on approved leave granted under this Article, shall continue to accumulate seniority.
(c) 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) weeks, for the purposes of sick leave accrual, salary increments, pension – in accordance with the Teachers Pensions Act – Section 13, and subject to Clause 33.01 (a)(ii) severance.
28.02 Subject to Articles 47 and 17, upon termination of leave under this Article, the teacher shall be returned to the same teaching position held immediately prior to the commencement of the leave.
28.03 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.
28.04
(a) In accordance with Clause 28.01, a teacher shall make written request to her School Board for maternity leave not later than four (4) months prior to her 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.
(b) In accordance with Clause 28.01, 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.
28.05 The School Board reserves the right to require a teacher to commence leave prior to the time specified in Clause 28.04 if the state of her health becomes incompatible with the requirements of her teaching position. In that respect, should the School Board have reasonable and probable grounds for believing that the state of her health has become incompatible with the requirements of her teaching position, the School Board shall have the right to demand of the teacher to produce a certificate from a medical practitioner that her health is compatible with the requirements of her 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 28.04.
28.06 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.
28.07 A teacher who wishes to extend a maternity leave beyond that time specified in Clause 28.01(a), shall apply in writing to the School Board and such extension may be granted to a maximum of two (2) years without pay.
