Subject to the provisions of the Employment Standards Code (ESC):
a) Every teacher covered by the Collective Agreement shall be entitled to maternity leave and/or parental leave. Under the ESC, an adoptive parent is entitled to parental leave.
b) To request leave, the teacher shall make written application to the Division not later than four (4) weeks before the leave is to commence. For maternity leave, a doctor's certificate giving expected delivery date must accompany the written application.
c) The conditions of leave shall be determined to the mutual satisfaction of the employee and the Division.
d) Following the mutual agreement by the teacher and the Division on the conditions of the leave to be taken, the Division will provide the teacher with a written memorandum of the agreement, including the statement that, upon return from leave, the teacher will be reinstated in the position occupied at the time such leave commenced or in a comparable position with not less than the same wages and benefits.
e) Where no agreement is reached between the teacher and the Division pursuant to (c), then the teacher concerned shall be granted leave according to provisions in current legislation.
f) Nothing in the foregoing shall reduce the right of the employee with respect to leave which is provided in current legislation.
g) Supplementary Employment Benefit (SEB) Plan
After having served a qualifying period of seven (7) consecutive teaching months in the employ of the Division, an eligible teacher taking maternity leave, parental leave or adoptive leave pursuant to this article shall be entitled to receive pay, for a specified period, in the amount of ninety percent (90%) of the gross salary being received at the time leave commenced, this pay to include any benefits received from Human Resources Development Canada to a Supplemental Employment Benefits (SEB) Plan, subject to the following:
i) The relevant provisions of the Employment Insurance Act and Regulations.
ii) The eligible leave period commences on the start date of the two week waiting period for benefits from Human Resources Development Canada.
iii) Payment made in accordance with the SEB Plan will consist of:
A. payment equivalent to 90% per cent of the teacher’s gross salary, for the first two (2) consecutive weeks, provided that the teacher would otherwise be earning pay during that period, and
B. for a teacher taking maternity leave, payment equivalent to the difference between the Employment Insurance benefit the employee is eligible to receive and 90% of the teacher’s gross salary, for up to fifteen (15) additional consecutive weeks, provided that the teacher would otherwise be earning pay during that period, or
C. For a teacher taking adoptive leave or parental leave pursuant to this article shall be entitled to payment equivalent to the difference between the Employment Insurance benefit the employee is eligible to receive and 90% of the teacher’s gross salary, for up to eight (8) additional consecutive weeks, provided that the teacher would otherwise be earning pay during that period.
iv) Where any portion of the leave period referenced in (A), (B), or (C) of iii) above, falls during the summer, Christmas Break, Spring Break, or any other period for when the teacher would not be earning salary, that portion of the leave period does not qualify for SEB Plan benefits pursuant to Article 5.07 g).
h) If a teacher, while away on leave and receiving employer top-up as per 5:07 g) is engaged in employment with another employer, the teacher shall immediately notify the division and the employer paid top-up shall cease. This clause does not apply to situations where the teacher engages in a family business or has a pre-existing employment outside school hours.