a) Every female teacher employed by the Board shall be entitled to unpaid maternity leave.
(b) Every teacher employed by the Board shall be entitled to unpaid parental leave.
(c) Every teacher employed by the Board shall be entitled to unpaid adoptive leave provided that the adoptive leave commences within one (1) year of the child coming into the care or custody of the adoptive parent with adoption proceedings completed or underway.
(d) Except as otherwise provided in Article 5.05 the Manitoba Employment Standards Code will apply.
(e) At the termination of the maternity, parental, or adoptive leave a teacher, under contract, shall be reinstated in the position occupied by the teacher at the time such leave commenced or in a comparable position with not less than the same salary and benefits.
(f) Supplementary Employment Benefits (SEB) (maternity, parental and adoptive leave):
(i) The qualifying period, as per the Employment Standards Code, must be served in order to qualify for any maternity (SEB) payment. For greater certainty, should a teacher fail to serve the full qualifying period prior to the start of the maternity leave, then that teacher shall be eligible to receive maternity leave benefits only for that portion of the seventeen (17) weeks referenced in (ii) below which occurs after the completion of the qualifying period.
(ii) A teacher taking maternity leave pursuant to Article 5.05 (i) shall be entitled to receive pay for the period of leave up to the first seventeen (17) weeks in the amount of ninety percent (90%) of the salary being received at the time the leave was taken, this pay to include any benefits received from Human Resources Development Canada to Supplemental Employment Benefits (SEB) Plan. The implementation of this clause is subject to the successful arrangement of a SEB Plan with Human Resources Development Canada. The only requirement from Human Resources Development Canada is that the comments section of the Record of Employment confirming that section 38 of the Employment Insurance Regulations is met.
The Division requires, from each of the teachers on maternity leave, a copy of the letter from Human Resources Development Canada that confirms their approval with effective dates for maternity benefits in order to accurately calculate her entitlement. Should payments to teachers be required prior to receipt of the statement, an estimate of the correct entitlement will be made with an adjustment made following the receipt of the statement.
(iii) In respect of the period of maternity leave, payments made according to the SEB plan will consist of the following:
1. For the first two (2) weeks, payment equivalent to ninety percent (90%) of her prorated annual salary, and
2. Up to fifteen (15) additional weeks payment equivalent to the difference between the Employment Insurance Benefit the teacher is eligible to receive and ninety percent (90%) of her prorated annual salary.
(iv) Where any portion of the seventeen (17) weeks referenced in (iii) above falls during the summer, Christmas break, Spring break, or any other period for when the teacher is not earning her salary, that portion of the maternity leave does not qualify the teacher to receive maternity leave benefit pursuant to (iii) above.
(v) Teachers must be under contract to the Division during the period when maternity leave benefits may be paid by the Division in order to be eligible to receive those payments.
(vi) A teacher taking parental or adoptive leave pursuant to this article shall receive pay for the period of leave up to ten (10) weeks of payment which is equivalent to the difference between the payment from Human Resources Development Canada and 90% of the salary to which the teacher is entitled from the Division.
Where a teacher is entitled to receive up to ten (10) weeks (50 teaching days) of parental top-up benefits and where non-teaching days fall within the entitlement periods, such non-teaching days shall not reduce the teacher’s entitlement to top-up.
The ten (10) weeks include any eligibility waiting period for employment insurance benefits under HRDC.
(vii) Paternity Leave – a male teacher who wishes to attend the birth of his child shall be entitled to a maximum of one (1) day leave at no deduction of salary should the child be born on a teaching day.
(viii) Adoptive Leave – any teacher who is adopting a child shall be entitled to a maximum of one (1) day leave at no deduction of salary should the child be adopted on a teaching day.