(a) Each teacher shall accumulate entitlement for sick leave at the rate of twenty (20) days per year; the maximum sick leave entitlement which shall be allowed to accumulate shall not exceed 125 days, increasing to 130 days in September 2015.
(b)
| Beginning | Number of Days |
| Sept.1,2015 | 130 days |
(c) In any school year, where a teacher has insufficient or no sick leave credits to cover the granting of sick leave with pay, sick leave with pay shall be granted, on the request of the teacher, in excess of the accumulated sick leave up to a maximum of 10 days, provided that such advanced sick leave is deducted from any future sick leave entitlement and, in the event of termination of employment, that The District recover the advance from any monies owed to the teacher.
(d) Sick Leave for Pregnant Teachers: The District shall provide full sick leave entitlement to a pregnant teacher who, as a result of her condition either before or after delivery, is unable to be at work and perform her regular duties for a valid health related reason(s). The pregnant teacher shall follow current proof of claim procedures for sick leave entitlement as may be required by The District.
(e) If a teacher utilizes sick leave as a result of an accident or as a result of an injury suffered while gainfully employed at another job, then the teacher shall pay to The District any compensation for lost wages received from another source e.g. Autopac, and the time originally taken as sick leave shall be reinstated on a pro rata basis proportionate to:
Total dollar amount of compensation returned to The District
(No. of missed working days) x (1/200 of teacher's applicable annual salary)
(f) Each part-time or temporary teacher who has signed a Teacher General Limited Term contract with The District or any full-time teacher, who does not complete a particular school year, will be entitled to accumulate sick leave on a prorata basis.
(g) No teacher shall accumulate further sick leave while on a leave of absence.
(h) After expiration of paid sick leave, up to eighty (80) school days' leave of absence without pay will be granted, (additional leave without pay beyond this may be granted), to any teacher who has:
(i) Completed at least five (5) years of continuous service in The District immediately prior to commencement to the leave,
(ii) Presented a medical certificate specifying the need for such leave. The Board may require that the leave without pay terminate only on the first day of the school term beginning immediately after receipt of a medical certificate attesting to the teacher's recovery. This action may be taken only if, in the opinion of The Board, the interests of the school children are best served by such a requirement. This may result in leave without pay for a period of over one (1) year.
(i) Teachers will make every attempt to schedule elective surgery and the required recovery period at a time least upsetting to their teaching duties. A teacher using sick leave for the purpose of elective surgery during teaching time may be required to provide, at the teacher's own expense, a medical certificate from a duly qualified medical practitioner indicating the necessity/advisability of undergoing the surgery at that time.
(a) Manitoba Teachers' Society Leave:
A teacher who is a member of any special committee of the Manitoba Teacher's Society, or who is appointed an official representative or delegate of the Society, or any branch thereof, and who is authorized by the Local Executive Committee of the Society to attend a meeting of the Committee of which the teacher is a member or to act as a representative or delegate, shall be excused from school duties for either purpose or both purposes for not more than the following number of teaching days in any one school year:
• The president of The Local Association - not more than seven (7) teaching days.
• Any other member of the Society - not more than five (5) teaching days.
• Where a teacher holds multiple Society positions within The Local Association, but is not a member of the Provincial Executive – not more than
ten (10) teaching days.
• The total number of days taken by teachers in The District shall not exceed fifteen (15) teaching days in any one school year.
Unless The Board agrees to waive the payment, the Manitoba Teachers' Society shall pay to The District 1/300 of the teacher's annual salary for each day of leave taken. In all cases the teacher shall give the Superintendent reasonable notice prior to taking such leave. At its discretion, The Board may grant leave beyond the above limitations. Teachers, who are members of the Provincial Executive of the Manitoba Teachers' Society, shall be excused from school duties to attend their responsibilities as Provincial Executives up to a maximum of ten (10) days each per year; such leave not to be taken by more than two (2) teachers, and not to be counted in The District maximum noted above. The Manitoba Teachers' Society shall pay to The District 1/300 of the teacher's annual salary for each day of leave taken for such purposes.
(b) Jury Leave:
All teachers shall be allowed a leave of absence, without loss of salary, for the purpose of jury duty or when subpoenaed as a crown witness. Any payment received from the court, exclusive of meal, transportation and lodging expenses, will be paid by the teacher to The District.
(c) Other:
i. A teacher, having taught in The District for a period of at least seven (7) years, may be granted a leave of absence of up to one (1) year without pay for the purpose of improving qualifications, travel, accompanying spouse who is temporarily transferred or other purposes acceptable to The District.
ii. All applications for such leave shall be submitted, in writing, to the Superintendent not later than February 1 of the year in which the leave would commence and must include an outline of the way in which the leave will be used.
iii. The granting of such leave shall be limited to not more than one (1) teacher per school year.
iv. The Board, the Superintendent and the Principal shall decide which of the applicants may be granted leave before April 30.
v. The leave shall not constitute a break in tenure. The leave shall not count as a year of experience for the purpose of increments unless the leave is taken to teach in another jurisdiction and is recognized as valid teaching experience by Manitoba Education and Training.
vi. A teacher returning from such leave shall receive an offer of a teaching position with The District provided that the teacher confirms in writing, to the Superintendent, prior to April 1 of the ensuing year, that he/she intends to return to The District. The returning teacher shall be offered a position suitable to his/her qualifications and experience or an arrangement mutually acceptable to the teacher and The District. Failure to notify The District, prior to the above date, will result in the loss of all the teacher's job security rights with The District.
(d) General:
Teachers must receive permission from The Board for all forms of leave which are not defined in statute or in this agreement.
(a) Compassionate Leave up to a total of three (3) days in any school year, at a cost not to exceed that of a substitute, may be granted by the Superintendent for arrangement for care of spouse, dependent child, parent or sibling during emergency or serious illness.
(b)
i. Compassionate leave up to a total of five (5) days without loss of pay shall be granted by the Superintendent in each case of death (including imminent death) of the teacher's spouse, common-in-law partner, fiancée or fiancé, child, mother or father.
ii. Compassionate leave up to a total of three (3) days without loss of pay shall be granted by the Superintendent in each case of death (including imminent death) of the teacher's brother, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild or grandparent.
iii. Compassionate leave of one (1) day without loss of pay shall be granted in each case of the actual death of a son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law. Relatives such as in-laws living with the teacher involved, or other close relatives may also be included. Leave beyond this amount on compassionate grounds, may be granted at the discretion of The District and at a cost not to exceed that of a substitute teacher.
(c) Where the distance is greater than three hundred (300) kilometres one way, travel time, in addition to the above amounts of compassionate leave, shall be granted by the Superintendent, at a cost not to exceed that of a substitute teacher. The maximum amount of travel time granted shall be two days.
(d) Leave of up to a total of five days per school year without loss of pay may be provided for teachers for the purposes of attending to urgent family matters such as illness of a family member, care of elderly parents or family emergencies. Such leave is to be granted at the discretion of the Superintendent upon written application from the teacher stating the reasons for and the expected duration of such leave. Leave for this purpose will be considered only after the teacher has used all accumulated Special Leave as granted under Clause 6.04.
A total of one (1) day of leave, without loss of pay during the school year (increasing to two (2) days leave in September 2015), shall be granted by the Superintendent for such purposes as medical visits for the teacher and family to the city and other points, unexpected home crises, and other personal matters.
This leave is not to extend spring, summer or Christmas break or to be used on teachers in-service, parent-teacher day(s), administration day(s) or pupil evaluation day(s) unless unusual circumstances arise and then it may be granted at the discretion of the Superintendent.
A teacher will be allowed to carry over one (1) unused leave day to the next school year. In no case will a teacher be allowed a maximum accumulation greater than three (3) days of leave.
Not more than three (3) teachers may take Special Leave on any one day. When more than three teachers apply for Special leave for the same day, leave will be granted in order of application. Not more than two (2) consecutive days of Special Leave may be taken in any one instance. In all cases, the teacher will give the Superintendent reasonable notice prior to taking such leave. Additional days may be granted or more than three teachers may be given approval for Special Leave, only under special conditions and at the discretion of the Superintendent.
(a) The Board may approve applications for Sabbatical Leave from teachers with five (5) or more years of continuous service with the District. The duration of the leave will be for one (1) year and the study or planned research must be in the area of the teacher's expertise or in an area approved by the Board.
(b) An application for sabbatical leave shall be filed with the Superintendent not later than February 1 of the year in which the leave would commence, and must include an outline of the courses to be studied and a description of the value of the leave to the teacher, the District and the students.
(c) Sabbatical Leave will not constitute a break in tenure nor will it count as a year of experience for the purpose of increments.
(d) Not more than (1) teacher will be granted sabbatical leave during a school year.
(e) If more than one (1) eligible teacher applies for sabbatical leave, the Board, the Superintendent and the Principal shall decide which of the applicants may be granted leave.
(f) The District shall pay a teacher taking sabbatical leave on the following basis:
i. If the teacher's qualifications place him/her in Class 1, 2, 3 or 4 then the grant shall be paid as follows:
• five (5) years of employment with the District = fifty (50) per cent of current annual basic salary
• six (6) years of employment with the District = sixty (60) per cent of current annual basic salary
• seven (7) or more years employment with the District = seventy (70) per cent of current annual basic salary
• The maximum grant paid by the District under (i) will be seventy percent (70%) of Class IV maximum salary
ii. If the teacher's qualifications place him/her in Class 5, 6 and up then the grant shall be paid as follows:
• five (5) years of employment with the District = Thirty (30) per cent of current annual basic salary
• six (6) years of employment with the District = forty (40) per cent of current annual basic salary
• seven (7) or more years of employment with the District = fifty (50) per cent of current annual basic salary
• The maximum grant paid by the District under (ii) will be seventy percent (70%) of Class IV maximum salary.
(g) A grant received under F. shall be deemed a debt due to the District by the teacher.
(h) If a teacher returns from Sabbatical Leave to employment with the District immediately following expiration of the leave, the debt to the District shall be reduced by fifty (50%) per cent when the teacher completes one (1) full teaching year with the District. The debt owing the District will be reduced by one hundred (100%) per cent when the teacher completes two (2) consecutive teaching years with the District following completion of Sabbatical Leave.
(i) The returning teacher shall be offered a position suitable to his/her qualifications and experience or an arrangement mutually acceptable to the teacher and district.
(j) The Board may propose that a teacher considers applying for Sabbatical Leave.
a) Every female teacher shall be entitled to maternity leave and every teacher shall be entitled to adoptive leave in accordance with this article.
b) Every teacher shall be entitled to unpaid parental leave.
c) Except as otherwise provided herein, the Manitoba Employment Standards Code will apply and nothing in this article shall reduce a teacher’s rights to maternity, parental or adoptive leave as provided for in the Code.
d) The teacher and The District may mutually agree to extend the length of leave beyond that provided for in the Employment Standards Code; any such arrangements will be confirmed in writing by The District. The teacher shall comply with notice provisions as set out in the Employment Standards Code when requesting leave.
e) Maternity, adoptive, parental leave shall not constitute a break in employment for teachers under a Teacher General contract or teachers under a Limited Teacher-General contract who have been offered continued employment by The District.
f) Upon expiry of leave, the teacher shall be reinstated in the position occupied by the teacher at the time such leave commenced or in a comparable and/or mutually agreed upon position, with not less than the same salary and benefits prior to commencement of the leave.
g) SEB Benefits
(i) Maternity Leave
A teacher taking maternity leave pursuant to this article shall be entitled, in respect of the period of maternity leave; payments made according to the SEB Plan will consist of the following:
• For the first two weeks, payment equivalent to 90% percent of gross salary; and up to fifteen (15) additional weeks of payment equivalent to the difference between the Employment Insurance benefit the employee is eligible to receive and 90% of her gross salary.
(ii) Parental/Adoptive Leave
A teacher taking parental or adoptive leave shall receive pay for the period of leave up to ten (10) weeks of payment equivalent to the difference between the payment from HRDC and 90% of his/her salary. The ten weeks include any waiting period required for employment insurance benefits.
(iii) Top-Up Benefits
Effective July 1, 2015, a teacher taking maternity leave and/or parental/adoptive leave pursuant to this article shall be entitled to receive pay equivalent to ninety percent (90%) of the teacher’s gross salary at the time the leave commenced plus any subsequently negotiated salary adjustments for up to one hundred and thirty-five (135) teaching days, which pay will include any employment insurance benefits received in accordance with this article.
Effective July 1, 2015, The District shall pay a teacher on maternity leave and/or parental/adoptive leave:
• If the teacher’s two (2) week or ten (10) day waiting period falls entirely on teaching days, ninety percent (90%) of the teacher’s gross salary plus up to seventy-five (75) teaching days of maternity leave top-up calculated at the difference between the teacher’s employment insurance benefit and ninety percent (90%) of the teacher’s gross salary provided the teacher remains on either maternity or parental leave and continues to receive employment insurance benefits;
• If the teacher’s two (2) week or ten (10) day waiting period falls partially or entirely within a non-teaching period, ninety percent (90%) of the teacher’s gross salary for any teaching days and up to eighty-five (85) teaching days of maternity leave top-up calculated at the difference between the teacher’s employment insurance benefit and ninety percent (90%) of the teacher’s gross salary provided the teacher remains on either maternity or parental leave and continues to receive employment insurance benefits;
• Up to fifty (50) teaching days of parental/adoptive leave top-up calculated at the difference between the teacher’s employment insurance benefit and ninety percent (90%) of the teacher’s gross salary provided the teacher remains on parental/adoptive leave and continues to receive employment insurance benefits.
For greater certainty, a teacher who is receiving employment insurance benefits shall be entitled to:
(i) One hundred and thirty-five (135) teaching days of pay and/or top-up benefits if the teacher takes both maternity leave and parental/adoptive leave;
(ii) Eighty-five (85) teaching days of pay and/or top-up benefits if the teacher only takes maternity leave;
(iii) Fifty (50) teaching days of pay and/or top-up benefits if the teacher only takes parental/adoptive leave;
Unless the teacher takes a shorter period of maternity leave or parental/adoptive leave in which case, the pay and/or top-up will be pro-rated to reflect the actual number of teaching days taken. The parties acknowledge that the top-up payment made by The District for maternity leave may extend into the period of time that the teacher is on parental leave but the payment is intended to be a top-up of maternity leave benefits.
h) Non-Application
This article shall not apply to any teacher who is employed on a term contract during the teacher’s first year of employment. All other teachers shall be eligible to receive the top-up benefits once they have been employed for a period of seven (7) months by The District.
The parties recognize the importance of extra-curricular activities in a student’s overall education experience; however, agree that the participation in extra-curricular activities by a teacher is voluntary.
“Extra-curricular activities” means student-related athletic, social, recreational and cultural activities occurring outside the normal school day, but does not include activities related to academic or instructional matters or curriculum subjects outside the normal school day, whether such occur alone or with students, parents or administrative staff, such as (without limitation) staff meetings, parent/teacher meetings, committee work, in-service sessions, marking and setting examinations, or marking school assignments.
An eligible extra-curricular activity is an activity which has received prior approval from the school principal.
In any school year, as defined by the Minister, a teacher will be entitled to a paid leave of absence of one (1) day for each fifty (50) hours of eligible extra-curricular duties performed during a school year. A teacher may perform the fifty (50) hours of eligible extra-curricular activities over the course of two (2) consecutive school years for one (1) day of leave.
The date of leave shall be agreed upon between the principal and the teacher.
Unused leave days in any school year may be carried over to the immediately following school year. A maximum of two (2) days can be carried forward.
Extra-curricular leave days can neither be used on professional development days, nor to extend Christmas, spring or summer breaks.
In any case where leave is granted under Article 6 of this Agreement, or in accordance with the
Public Schools Statutes, the following conditions shall apply:
(a) When a teacher is a participant in any benefit plans (such as group insurance) and wishes to retain such benefits on a continuous basis, then the teacher shall prepay his/her share of the premiums and The Board's share (if any) for the period of duration of the leave, provided that this is permissible under the terms of the Master Policies or Plans; it applies to leaves as outlined in 6.02(c) and 6.02(d) only.
(b) Accumulated sick leave days or special leave days shall not be increased nor reduced while a teacher is on leave from The District.