a) Every teacher shall be entitled to maternity and/or parental and/or adoptive leave and any teacher, who has satisfied a seven (7) consecutive months of employment as a teacher with Pembina Trails School Division qualifying requirement, shall be entitled to the Supplementary Employment Benefits as described in items 4, 5 and 6 of this clause.
b) Except as otherwise provided herein, the provisions of the Employment Standards Code will apply.
c) The teacher and the Board may mutually agree to extend the length of the leave if the employee so desires. Any such arrangements shall be confirmed in writing by the Board. The Employment Standards Code shall apply, however, a period of maternity leave longer than contemplated in the Employment Standards Code may be agreed between the teacher and the Board to their mutual satisfaction and may include a determination that when the maternity leave expires during a school term, the teacher may return to work at the commencement of the term immediately following the expiration of the leave. For the purpose of this section “term” means either the months of September to December or January to June, or the commencement of a semester, as the case may be.
d) A teacher taking maternity leave pursuant to this article shall be entitled to receive pay for the period of the leave up to seventeen weeks in the amount of 90% of the salary being received at the time leave was taken, this pay to include any benefits received from Employment Insurance pursuant to a Supplementary Employment Benefits Plan. The implementation of this clause is subject to the successful arrangement of a Supplementary Employment Benefits Plan with Human Resources Development Canada.
e) In respect of the period of maternity leave, payments made according to the Supplementary Employment Benefits Plan will consist of the following:
i) For the first two weeks, payment equivalent to ninety percent (90%) of her gross salary, and
ii) Up to fifteen (15) additional weeks payment equivalent to the difference between the Employment Insurance benefits the employee is eligible to receive and ninety percent (90%) of her gross salary.
f) The Human Resources Development Canada start date for the maternity leave waiting period is the start date for which a teacher is eligible for payment under this article.
g) When any portion of the seventeen (17) weeks falls during the summer, Christmas break, spring break, or any other period for when the teacher is not earning her salary, for that portion of the maternity leave period the teacher is not entitled to receive maternity leave benefits pursuant to this article.
h) A teacher taking paid adoptive or parental leave pursuant to this Article shall be entitled to receive pay for the period of leave up to ten (10) weeks in the amount of ninety percent (90%) of the salary being received at the time leave was taken, this pay to include any benefits received from Human Resources Development Canada to a Supplemental Unemployment Benefits (SEB) Plan. The implementation of this clause is subject to the successful arrangement of a SEB Plan with Human Resources Development Canada.
In respect of the period of adoptive or parental leave, payments made according to the SEB Plan will consist of the following:
i) For the first two (2) weeks, payment equivalent to ninety percent (90%) of gross salary; and
ii) Up to eight (8) weeks payment equivalent to the difference between the Employment Insurance benefit the teacher is eligible to receive and ninety percent (90%) of gross salary.