Maternity/Paternity Leave Solely for purposes of determining whether the Employee incurs a Break in Service under any provision of this Plan, the Advisory Committee must credit Hours of Service during an Employee's unpaid absence period due to maternity or paternity leave. The Advisory Committee considers an Employee on maternity or paternity leave if the Employee's absence is due to the Employee's pregnancy, the birth of the Employee's child, the placement with the Employee of an adopted child, or the care of the Employee's child immediately following the child's birth or placement. The Advisory Committee credits Hours of Service under this paragraph on the basis of the number of Hours of Service the Employee would receive if he were paid during the absence period or, if the Advisory Committee cannot determine the number of Hours of Service the Employee would receive, on the basis of 8 hours per day during the absence period. The Advisory Committee will credit only the number (not exceeding 501) of Hours of Service necessary to prevent an Employee's Break in Service. The Advisory Committee credits all Hours of Service described in this paragraph to the computation period in which the absence period begins or, if the Employee does not need these Hours of Service to prevent a Break in Service in the computation period in which his absence period begins, the Advisory Committee credits these Hours of Service to the immediately following computation period.
Maternity Maternity leaves, not to exceed six (6) months, shall be granted at the request of the employee.
Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leave An Employee who is expecting the birth or adoption of a child shall be entitled to maternity/paternity/adoption leave without pay, provided she presents a medical certificate confirming the probable date of confinement, or in the case of adoption, gives the Employer notice of eligibility. Except in extenuating circumstances, the notice shall be submitted in writing at least twenty-eight (28) days in advance of the leave and shall specify the probable date of commencement and the anticipated length of leave. The following conditions shall apply:
(a) Leave of Absence for maternity/paternity/adoption shall be for up to eighteen (18) months as requested by the Employee, except in extenuating circumstances when, in the opinion of a medical practitioner, the leave should be further extended.
(b) Upon return from such leave, the Employee will resume employment at the same worksite, in the same or in a comparable position prior to the granting of such leave. In the event the Employee on Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leave is affected by lay off, she shall be afforded access to the provisions of Article 26, Layoff And Work Resumption.
(c) Notice of intention to return to work or request for a change of the length of the leave of absence, must be forwarded to the Employer twenty-eight (28) days prior to the expiration of the leave. The Employee shall be entitled to one (1) extension of said leave. However, the entire length of such leave of absence shall not exceed eighteen (18) months.
(d) An Employee shall have access to sick leave credits as per Article 12.07.
(e) Accrual of seniority when on such leave is calculated as follows:
(i) For full-time Employees, seniority shall accrue as if they were working.
(ii) For other than full-time Employees who have worked for one (1) year or more: 52 Week of Leave
(iii) For other than full-time Employees who have worked for less than one (1) year:
(f) Supplemental Employment Insurance Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Supplemental Employment Benefit (SEB) The Employer will implement a Supplemental Employment Benefits Plan. Employees will receive the Supplementary Employment Benefits if they meet eligibility requirements. Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Supplemental Employment Benefit (SEB) shall apply to all Employees.
Maternity Leave A maternity leave shall be available to female employees who are pregnant upon the following conditions:
1. At least sixty (60) calendar days prior to the beginning of the leave, the employee shall apply to the Board if she wishes an unpaid leave.
2. The application shall be in writing and request specific beginning and ending dates of the leave.
3. The Board reserves the right to specify the beginning and ending date of the leave except the same shall not be in conflict with the doctor's statement of health.
4. The Board may grant up to one (1) school year of maternity leave renewable at the discretion of the Board.
5. Any maternity leave granted will be without pay, however, the employee, upon return from the leave, shall have all previous benefits of this Agreement restored to her, but shall not accumulate any benefits while on such a leave.
6. The provisions of a maternity leave shall not exempt an employee from the provisions of the lay-off procedure contained in this Agreement except the Board shall not be required to give notice of lay-off for the duration of the maternity leave.
7. If the employee does not return upon the expiration of the maternity leave, she shall conclusively be deemed to have resigned unless mutually agreed upon by the Board and the employee prior to said date.
8. Employees returning from a maternity leave shall furnish medical evidence of their ability to perform their normal work assignments.
9. Employees may make written application for extension of the maternity leave subject to the provisions of the initial request.
10. An employee may make written application to the superintendent for reinstatement prior to expiration of the leave. However, the Board of Education reserves the reasonable right to approve accelerated termination of maternity leaves on the basis of each individual case. The reasonable right of the Board of Education will be grievable.
11. An employee on maternity leave must have her current address on file in the superintendent's office.
Maternity Leave Allowance
(a) An employee who qualifies for maternity leave pursuant to Clause 21.1, shall be paid a maternity leave allowance in accordance with the Supplemental Employment Benefit (SEB) Plan. In order to receive this allowance, the employee must provide to the Employer, proof that she has applied for and is eligible to receive employment insurance benefits pursuant to the Employment Insurance Act. An employee disentitled or disqualified from receiving employment insurance benefits is not eligible for maternity leave allowance.
(b) Pursuant to the Supplemental Employment Benefit (SEB) Plan, the maternity leave allowance will consist of 15 weekly payments equivalent to the difference between the employment insurance gross benefits and any other earnings received by the employee and 85% of the employee's basic pay.