Maternity, Adoption, Parental Leave

Article 31. Other Leaves

31.05   Maternity/Adoption/Parental Leave

a. The commencement and termination dates of an employee’s maternity/adoption/ parental leave shall be a matter of negotiation between the employee and the Employer. The commencement date shall be determined as soon as possible after the employee is aware of the pregnancy with the employee’s request not to be unreasonably denied. Unless legislation is more favorable, an employee is entitled to a maximum of seventy-eight (78) weeks’ maternity/adoption/parental leave under this clause. This is inclusive of both unpaid leave and supplemental paid leave.

b. The Employer reserves the right to require the employee to commence maternity/adoption/parental leave prior to the time specified in Clause 31.05(a) if the state of the employee’s health becomes incompatible with the requirements of the employee’s job.

c.

  1. The employee shall resume the employee’s former position and salary upon return from maternity/adoption/parental leave, with no loss of accrued benefits.
  2. Employees while on maternity/adoption/parental leave shall continue to accumulate service for seniority purpose including promotion, layoff and recall.
  3. Annual leave shall accrue during periods of maternity/adoption/parental leave.
  4. Periods of maternity/adoption/parental leave up to a maximum of seventy-eight (78) weeks shall be counted as service for the purpose of step progression.

d. The employee will return to work on the expiry date of the maternity/adoption/parental leave unless the return to work date is modified by the approval of another form of leave. The employee may return to duty after two (2) weeks’ notice of intention to do so on production of a satisfactory certificate of wellness from the employee’s physician.

e. An employee may be awarded sick leave for illness regardless of its association with pregnancy any time prior to the scheduled beginning of the employee’s maternity/adoption/parental leave or the birth of the child, whichever occurs earlier.

f. The employee’s insured benefits will continue to be cost shared between the employee and the Employer while on maternity/adoption/parental leave.

g. An employee who has been granted maternity/ adoption/ parental leave shall be paid a Supplemental Allowance in accordance with Article 31.05(h), provided that the employee:

  1. provides the Employer with proof that the employee has applied for and is in receipt of maternity or parental benefits pursuant to the Employment Insurance Act in respect of insurable employment with the Employer.
  2. has completed six (6) months of continuous employment before the commencement of the maternity/adoption/parental leave and is eligible for the Employer’s Group Benefits Plan.
  3. has signed an agreement with the Employer stating that:
    1. within eighteen (18) months following the employee’s return to work, as described in Article 31.05(d), the employee will work a period equal to the number of full-time weeks for which the employee received the Supplemental Allowance.
    2. for the purpose of Clause (A), periods of leave with pay shall count as time worked. Periods of leave without pay during the employee’s return to work will not be counted as time worked.
    3. should the employee fail to return to work in accordance with Article 31.05(d), for reasons other than death, contract or term end date, early termination due to lack of work, having become disabled, or another reason which is approved by Human Resources, the employee will be required to repay the Employer for the full amount of the Supplemental Allowance
      the employee has received;
    4. should the employee return to work but fail to work the total number of weeks as specified in Clause (A) for reasons other than death, contract or term end date, early termination due to lack of work, having become disabled, or another reason which is approved by Human Resources, the employee will be required to repay the Employer for the remaining number of weeks owing.

h. Supplemental Allowance payments shall be calculated and paid as follows:

  1. where an employee is subject to a waiting period of one (1) week before receiving Employment Insurance maternity or parental benefits, ninety-three percent (93%) of the employee’s weekly rate of pay for the waiting period, less any other monies earned during this period, and
  2. for sixteen (16) weeks during which the employee receives a maternity or parental benefit pursuant to the Employment Insurance Act, the difference between the gross weekly amount of the Employment Insurance benefit the employee is eligible to receive (based on the Employment Insurance maternity benefit rate or standard parental benefit rate of 55% and associated maximum) and ninety-three percent (93%) of the employee’s weekly rate of pay less any other monies earned during this period which may result in a decrease in Employment Insurance benefits to which the employee would have been eligible if no extra monies had been earned during this period.
  3. the total Supplemental Allowance that may be paid to an employee under this Article is up to seventeen (17) weeks.
  4. where both parents are employees of the Employer, they have the option of sharing supplemental allowance benefit, however, the total benefit paid shall not exceed seventeen (17) weeks for both individuals combined.

i. The Supplemental Allowance to which an employee is entitled is limited to that provided in paragraph (h) and an employee will not be reimbursed for any amount that the employee may be required to repay pursuant to the Employment Insurance Act.

j. The weekly rate of pay referred to in paragraph (h) shall be:

  1. for a full-time employee, the employee’s weekly rate of pay on the day immediately preceding the commencement of Maternity/adoption/parental leave.
  2. for an employee who has been employed on a part-time, seasonal, sessional, or on a combined full-time and part-time basis the weekly rate of pay will be calculated based on the employee’s average weekly earnings for the past 26 weeks.
  3. Where an employee opts for the extended Employment Insurance parental leave, the supplemental allowance benefit will still be calculated according to paragraph (h) based on top up on the standard Employment Insurance parental benefits rate (55%) and applicable Employment Insurance weekly maximums. For clarity, the total amount of supplemental allowance during the extended parental leave shall not exceed the total supplemental allowance that would have been paid had the employee chosen the standard parental leave.

k. The weekly rate of pay referred to in paragraph (j) shall be the rate to which the employee is entitled for the employee’s permanent position to which the employee is appointed.

l. Notwithstanding paragraph (k), and subject to subparagraph (j)(ii), if on the day immediately preceding the commencement of maternity/adoption/parental leave an employee has been in a temporary assignment or secondment which would otherwise continue for at least the next 17 weeks, the weekly rate shall be the rate the employee was being paid on that day.

m. Where an employee becomes eligible for a pay increment or pay revision while in receipt of the maternity/adoption/parental allowance, the allowance shall be adjusted accordingly.

n. An Employee who is ineligible for Supplementary Allowance is entitled to a maternity and/or parental leave without pay and in accordance with the Employment Insurance Act and the Newfoundland and Labrador Labour Standards Act.