Volume #1

KNOW YOUR COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT!

This is a new monthly desk drop initiative brought to you by CEIU Ontario Region.

CEIU members enjoy the benefits and protections of a solid collective agreement each day they work. Those advantages are not always visible on a day to day basis, but they should never be taken for granted. With this initiative we hope to educate our members by highlighting a different article each month and explain how it affects their work life.

So, lets start with Article 44: leave with pay for family-related responsibilities

Basically, this is the leave you would take when your kid is sick, your spouse needs help recovering from the flu, your Mom has surgery and needs you there… or anytime you require a day off (or couple hours) to deal with your family stuff. Please note your Mother or child does not need to reside with you to be covered but if your brother or nephew live with you- or you live with them- they are covered too. The exact wording of the article is found on the back side of this flyer.

A very important thing to remember is that this leave does not carry over to the next fiscal year. As of April 1st it resets to 5 days (37.5 hour) to be used within the next year. So, if you had a very healthy family and only used 1 day prior to March 31st the other 4 days are gone. It’s a “use it or lose it” kind of thing.

A common misconception about this leave is that it’s only for your children or spouse who are sick or injured- not true!! It could also cover parent-teacher meetings, a daycare closure or even driving your mother in-law out of town for a specialist appointment! Take a look at the article in more detail below and keep it in mind when you have family related issues to deal with during business hours.

We hope you enjoyed this month’s edition of

KNOW YOUR COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT! desk drop and keep an eye out for future editions coming your way every month!

Article 44: leave with pay for family-related responsibilities

44.01 For the purpose of this article, family is defined as:

1. spouse (or common-law partner resident with the employee);
2. children (including foster children, step-children or children of the spouse or common-law partner, ward of the employee), grandchild;
3. parents (including step-parents or foster parents);
4. father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother, sister, step-brother, step-sister, grandparents of the employee;
5. any relative permanently residing in the employee’s household or with whom the employee permanently resides;
   or
6. any relative for whom the employee has a duty of care, irrespective of whether they reside with the employee.

44.02 The total leave with pay which may be granted under this article shall not exceed thirty-seven decimal five (37.5) hours in a fiscal year.

44.03 Subject to clause 44.02, the Employer shall grant the employee leave with pay under the following circumstances:

1. to take a family member for medical or dental appointments, or for appointments with school authorities or adoption agencies, if the supervisor was notified of the appointment as far in advance as possible;
2. to provide for the immediate and temporary care of a sick member of the employee’s family and to provide the employee with time to make alternative care arrangements where the illness is of a longer duration;
3. to provide for the immediate and temporary care of an elderly member of the employee’s family;
4. for needs directly related to the birth or the adoption of the employee’s child;

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1. to attend school functions, if the supervisor was notified of the functions as far in advance as possible;

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1. to provide for the employee’s child in the case of an unforeseeable closure of the school or daycare facility;

**

1. seven decimal five (7.5) hours out of the thirty-seven decimal five (37.5) hours stipulated in clause 44.02 above may be used to attend an appointment with a legal or paralegal representative for non-employment related matters, or with a financial or other professional representative, if the supervisor was notified of the appointment as far in advance as possible.

44.04 Where, in respect of any period of compensatory leave, an employee is granted leave with pay for illness in the family under paragraph 44.03(b) above, on production of a medical certificate, the period of compensatory leave so displaced shall either be added to the compensatory leave period, if requested by the employee and approved by the Employer, or reinstated for use at a later date.