ARTICLE 10 ‑ LEAVES OF ABSENCE
10.01 PERSONAL ‑ Where the requirements of the service permit, an employee who submits a written request may be granted a
personal leave of absence without pay for up to three (3) months.
10.01.01 Leave of absences of a compassionate nature will be dealt with between the Company and the Union at the headquarters level and may be granted out of seniority order. Such leave requests shall be in writing and shall set out the reason for the request.
10.02 EDUCATIONAL ‑ Where the requirements of the service permit, an employee who submits a written request may be granted an educational leave of absence, in accordance with the Company regulations, for up to one (1) year.
10.03 UNION BUSINESS ‑ Where the requirements of the service permit, an employee shall be granted a leave of absence without pay account Union business for up to one (1) year on written request from the Union.
10.04 MATERNITY ‑ An employee, upon written request, shall be granted a maternity leave of absence without pay as follows:
10.04.01 Notification ‑ The employee must advise the Company in writing that she is pregnant, provide a medical certificate to that effect and indicate the date she desires to commence her maternity leave of absence without pay.
10.04.02 Should the employee elect to continue flight duty while pregnant, commencing in the twentieth (20th) week and every two (2) weeks thereafter, she will be required to provide the Company Medical Officer with a certificate from her personal physician stating that she is fit to perform flight duty.
10.04.02.01 The Company will provide accommodation, short of undue hardship, to employees with medically validated pregnancy complications through ground work. Should the Company succeed in finding ground work, the work will be not more than five days a week and the employee will be obligated to accept that work if it meets the medical limitations of that employee as determined by an Air Canada medical officer in consultation with the employee’s physician.
10.04.02.02 The employee may choose, before starting her ground duty, the number of days she wishes to work up to a maximum of five days a week, provided such accommodation is available.
10.04.02.03 In the event that the medical limitations as determined according to Article 10.04.02.01 indicate that the employee requires work hours different from those that are offered at the location at which the employee is assigned to ground work, the company will provide accommodation short of undue hardship.
10.04.02.04 A pregnant employee assigned to ground work will be paid as follows:
10.04.02.04.01 An employee working full time (40 hours per week) will at her option be paid the average of her past twelve (12) months or the employee may elect to shadow bid.
10.04.02.04.02 An employee working less than full time will be paid on a prorated basis.
10.04.02.05 If a pregnant employee on alternate groundwork chooses to wear her uniform while performing alternate groundwork, the company will pay the appropriate allowances for uniforms, footwear and cleaning in accordance with Article 7.03.
10.04.02.06 Pregnant employees on alternate groundwork will not be required to perform disciplinary duties involving a bargaining unit member.
10.04.03 Commencement ‑ The maternity leave of absence without pay shall commence on the date specified by the employee or such earlier date as the employee may subsequently specify in writing.
10.04.04 Termination ‑ The maternity leave of absence shall terminate ninety (90) calendar days after the termination of the pregnancy. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the employee so desires, the aggregate total maternity leave of absence shall be no less than seventeen (17) weeks.
10.04.04.01 Notwithstanding Article 10.04.04, upon receipt of a written request from the employee, the maternity leave of absence may be terminated at an earlier date.
10.04.04.02 Where the requested termination date is less than six (6) weeks after the termination of the pregnancy, the employee must submit a medical certificate to certify that her resumption of flight duty would not endanger her health.
10.05 CHILD CARE LEAVE: A leave of absence without pay for the
purpose of child care shall be granted to employees in accordance
with the following:
10.05.01 DURATION: Any leave of absence granted under this Article shall be up to thirty seven (37) weeks as specified by the employee. If two (2) employees are involved, the aggregate amount of such leave that may be taken by two (2) employees in respect to the care of any one (1) child shall be up to thirty seven (37) weeks. Such leave may be shared by the employees upon request subject to the sharing being taken in periods of no less than fourteen (14) calendar days.
10.05.01.01 Notwithstanding the provision of Article 10.05.01, in the case of adoption the period of leave shall be up to thirty seven (37) weeks or such greater amount as required in order to comply with the legal requirements of the province in which the employee(s) reside or the province in which the child is adopted.
10.05.02 Commencement: Child care leave shall commence in
accordance with the following and as the employee elects:
10.05.02.01 Female Employee
The leave shall commence,
(a) on the expiration of a leave of absence taken by her under the provisions of Article 10.04;
(b) on the day
the child is born; OR
(c) on the day the child comes into her actual care and custody.
10.05.02.02 Male Employee
The leave shall commence,
(a) on the expiration of a leave of absence taken by a female employee under the provisions of Article 10.04;
(b) on the day the child is born; OR
(c) on the day the child comes into his/her actual care and custody.
10.05.03 In the application of Article 10.05.02, in the case of adoption the leave shall commence on the day the child comes into his/her or her actual care and custody.
10.05.04 It shall be the responsibility of each employee to provide as much notice as possible to the Company, in writing, indicating the approximate commencement and termination date of the leave.
10.05.05 An employee may request that all vacation and eligible statutory holidays scheduled within the period of their Maternity or Child Care Leave be taken either at the commencement or immediately following the end of the Maternity or Child Care Leave. Where the vacation year is still in progress, the employee may request to take his/her vacation in an open vacation period. Such a request must be made prior to the commencement of the leave.
10.06 DURATION OF MATERNITY & CHILD CARE LEAVE:
The aggregate amount of Maternity and Child Care Leave that may be taken by one or two employees in respect of the same birth or adoption shall not exceed fifty two (52) weeks.
10.07 EXTENSION: A leave of absence may be extended by the Company on receipt of a written request from the employee or, in the case of a leave of absence account Union business, from the Union.
10.08 SENIORITY: An employee shall retain and accrue seniority while on leave of absence.
10.09 REINSTATEMENT: An employee shall be reinstated to his/her classification at his/her Base at the termination of a leave of absence.
10.10 RETURN TO LINE DUTY: An employee shall be returned to line duty after his/her reinstatement provided s/he has been declared fit for flight duty by the Company Medical Branch and is qualified in every respect.
10.11 BEREAVEMENT LEAVE: When a death occurs in the immediate family of an employee and the employee attends the funeral, handles estate matters, or is involved in some other way, time off may be authorized by local Base Management to a maximum of four (4) days.
In unusual circumstances where the deceased is not a member of the immediate family (e.g., guardian), time off may be approved by local Base Management.
NOTE: “Immediate Family” includes the spouse of the employee and the following relatives of either the employee or spouse: Son, daughter, parent, grandparent, sister, brother, and including other relatives residing with the employee.
10.12 JURY DUTY
10.12.01 Employees will be granted time off due to jury duty, coroner’s inquest, court witnesses ‑ civil or criminal ‑ and will be carried on the payroll with pay.
10.12.02 The Company will compensate an employee for the actual loss of salary when s/he appears as a witness before any court, board, commission or administrative tribunal to testify on any matter related to his/her work or employment with the Company.
NOTE: WITNESS means a person called by subpoena as a witness to testify under oath or affirmation before one of the above‑mentioned courts. However, this term shall not include a person directly or indirectly involved as a party to a proceeding.
10.12.03 On receipt of payment from a court for such duties, the employee must provide the Company with a statement from the court, indicating payment received for each day or part day served (excluding monies allowed by the court specifically for meals, travel or other such expenses).
10.12.04 The employee’s subsequent pay cheque will be reduced by an amount equal to that received from the court (excluding monies allowed by the court specifically for meals, travel and other such expenses).
10.13 FAMILY CARE LEAVE
10.13.01 Cabin crew members will be allowed a maximum of three (3) days in each calendar year for the care of their sick or injured spouse, parents or dependant child, as well as for unforeseen child care responsibilities. For pay purposes, accrued sick leave credits shall be reduced when an employee is absent up to a maximum of three (3) days per year.
10.13.02 Employees who misuse Family Care Leave shall be subject to disciplinary action.
10.13.03 There shall be no accumulation of unused Family Care Leave at the end of each calendar year.
10.13.04 FAMILY CARE LEAVE USAGE
10.13.04.01 Regular Blockholders
10.13.04.01.01 Family Care Leave Charged: Where a regular Blockholder reports unavailable for duty as a result of Primary Care, the number of Primary Care days shall be reduce by one (1) and the employee shall be charged one (1) day from the employee sick bank for each period of twenty-four (24) hours or less for the affected pairings as follows:
Commencement: The commencement of the scheduled duty period.
Termination: The termination of the scheduled duty period.
10.13.04.01.02 Family Care Leave Credits: Where Family Care Leave is charged, the regular Blockholder shall be credited with his/her scheduled block credits missed from the commencement of the first duty period missed to the end of the final primary care day charged, calculated as a complete 24 hour period.
10.13.04.01.02.01 Where the final 24-hour period terminates during a scheduled duty period, flight credits will terminate at that time.
NOTE: Duty period and trip hour guarantee credit will be credited only for complete duty periods or trips missed.
10.13.04.02 Reserve Blockholders
10.13.04.02.01 Family Care Leave Charged: Where a reserve Blockholder reports unavailable for duty as a result of primary care, the number of primary care days shall be reduce by one (1) and the employee shall be charged one (1) day from the employee sick bank for each period of twenty-four (24) hours or less, excluding days off, as follows:
Commencement: the actual time the employee is unavailable on a scheduled reserve duty day.
Termination: the actual time reported available for duty.
10.13.04.02.02 Family Care Leave Credits: Where Family Care Leave is charged, the Reserve Blockholder shall be credited with the greater of the minimum guarantee or the average daily flight pay during the preceding three month period for each primary care day charged. A two hour and thirty-five minutes (2:35 per duty day will be applied towards flight time limitations
10.13.05 Minimum Monthly Guarantee: where an employee has utilised Family Care Leave during a block month and as a consequence falls below his/her minimum monthly guarantee, the minimum monthly guarantee will not apply.
10.13.06 The provisions of B7.01.01 will not apply.
10.13 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
The Company agrees to recognize that employees sometimes face situations of violence or abuse in their personal life that may affect their attendance or performance at work. For that reason, the Company and the Union agree once there is adequate verification for a recognized professional (i.e. doctor, lawyer, registered counsellor), an employee who is in an abusive or violent situation will not be subject to discipline if the absence can be linked to the abusive or violent situation. Absences, which are not covered by sick leave or disability insurance, will be granted as absent with permission without pay not to exceed thirty (30) calendar days.