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The University of Winnipeg

Policy: Maternity, Adoption, and Parental Leave for Support Staff Excluded from Bargaining Units

EFFECTIVE DATE

April 1, 1995 (replaces the policy dated August 1, 1994)

AUTHORITY

VICE-PRESIDENT (FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION)

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to define the maternity, adoption and parental leave benefits provided by the University and to establish the regulations pertaining to such leave.

SCOPE

This policy and the procedures outlined herein apply to all support staff who are excluded from bargaining units. For employees who are members of a bargaining unit, consult the corresponding article in the appropriate collective agreement.

RESPONSIBILITY

The Director of Human Resources is responsible for the communication, administration, and interpretation of this policy.

POLICY

A. MATERNITY/ADOPTION LEAVE

1) Eligibility

In order to qualify for maternity/adoption leave an employee must:

(a) have successfully completed his/her probationary period in a continuing or sessional position requiring a fixed work week of 50% or more of the regular work week in accordance with the Support Staff Employment Policy;
(b) submit in writing to the appropriate manager an application for leave at least four (4) weeks prior to the commencement of the proposed leave;
(c) in the case of maternity leave, provide the appropriate manager with a certificate from a duly qualified medical practitioner certifying that she is pregnant and specifying the estimated date of delivery;
(d) in the case of adoption leave, provide the appropriate manager with a statutory declaration that he/she is or is to be the primary caregiver of an adopted child during the period of the leave. The primary caregiver is the person assuming the major portion of the responsibility for care of the child.

2) Duration

An employee who qualifies is entitled to and shall be granted maternity/adoption leave as follows:

(a) a period not exceeding seventeen (17) weeks except as described below;
(b) in the case of maternity leave, a period of seventeen (17) weeks plus an additional period equal to the period between the estimated day of delivery specified on the medical certificate and the actual date of delivery, if delivery occurs after the date mentioned in the certificate;
(c) the maternity leave must commence no later than the date of delivery. The adoption leave will commence during the week in which the adoption takes place. The leave must be taken in one consecutive period.

3) Return to Work

An employee who wishes to resume his/her employment on the expiration of a maternity/adoption leave granted in accordance with the above shall be reinstated by the University in the position occupied by him/her at the time such leave commenced or in a comparable position with not less than the same wages and benefits.

4) Maternity/Adoption Leave Benefits

During the period of maternity/adoption leave an employee who has applied for and received maternity/adoption leave Unemployment Insurance Benefits pursuant to the Unemployment Insurance Act and who has met the eligibility requirements in 1 (a), is entitled to a maternity/adoption leave allowance calculated as follows:

(a) for the first two (2) weeks the employee shall receive ninety-five percent (95%) of the employee's weekly salary;
(b) for up to a maximum of fifteen (15) additional weeks, the employee shall receive payments equivalent to the difference between Unemployment Insurance weekly benefits he/she is eligible to receive and ninety-five percent (95%) of his/her weekly salary under a Supplementary Unemployment Benefit Plan;
(c) for an adoption leave the employee shall receive payments equivalent to the difference between Unemployment Insurance benefits he/she is eligible to receive and ninety-five percent (95%) of the employee's weekly salary for a maximum of up to ten (10) additional weeks, and if;
i) the adopted child is six (6) months of age or older at the time of the child's arrival at the employee's home or actual placement with the employee for the purpose of adoption; and
ii) the medical practitioner or the agency that placed the child certifies that the child suffers from a physical, psychological or emotional condition that requires an additional period of parental care;
then the employee shall receive payments equivalent to the difference between the Unemployment Insurance benefits he/she is in receipt of and ninety-five (95%) of his/her weekly salary for each additional week he/she is in receipt of Unemployment Insurance benefits up to a maximum of five (5) additional weeks.
(d) the combination of SUB payments, U.I.C. benefits plus any earnings received from all sources can not in respect of any week exceed ninety-five percent (95%) of the employee's weekly salary.

An employee is required to return to work upon the expiration of the maternity/adoption leave or any additional parental leave for an equivalent period of service to the maternity/adoption leave taken. An employee receiving the maternity/adoption leave benefits will be required to sign an agreement acknowledging that failure to return to work for the time period specified above will result in a requirement for repayment of the salary received during the leave.

5) Vacation Entitlement

During the period of maternity/adoption leave, service shall accrue. For the purposes of trial period completion, anniversary increments, and vacation entitlement, the maternity leave shall be considered as a leave of absence without pay. Vacation entitlement will accrue during the period of maternity leave, but not during the period of adoption leave.

6) Staff Benefits

Contributions to the pension plan and staff benefit plans shall be continued by the University and the employee throughout the period of the leave, up to a maximum of seventeen (17) weeks, on the basis of one hundred percent (100%) of annual salary. The employee's contributions will be deducted from the maternity/adoption leave allowance payable. The period of leave, up to a maximum of seventeen (17) weeks, shall be credited towards years of service in the calculation of pension benefits.

B. PARENTAL LEAVE

1) Eligibility

Every employee a) who,
i) in the case of a female employee, becomes the natural mother of a child; or
ii) in the case of a male employee, becomes the natural father of a child or assumes actual care and custody of his new-born child; or
iii) adopts a child under the law of a province; and
b) who completes 12 consecutive months of employment with the University immediately prior to the date on which the leave commences; and
c) who submits to the appropriate manager an application in writing for parental leave at least 4 weeks before the day specified in the application as the day on which the employee intends to commence the leave is entitled to, and shall be granted, parental leave of absence without pay consisting of a continuous period of up to 17 weeks.

2) Duration

Except as provided below, parental leave must commence no later than the first anniversary date of the birth or adoption of the child or of the date on which the child comes into the actual care and custody of the employee.

Where an employee intends to take parental leave in addition to maternity or adoption leave, the employee must commence the parental leave immediately following the expiry of the maternity or adoption leave without a return to work.

3) Return to Work

An employee who wishes to resume his/her employment on the expiration of parental leave granted in accordance with the above shall be reinstated by the University in the position occupied by the employee at the time such leave commenced or in a comparable position with not less than the same wages and benefits.

4) Other Benefits

With respect to other benefits provided by other policies or benefit plans, a parental leave will be treated as a leave of absence without pay. An employee must prepay both the employee and University shares of benefit premiums if coverage is to be extended during the leave.