SICKNESS ABSENCE Absence Due to Sickness or Quarantine Prior to the Eighth Full Calendar Day of Absence
Sick Leave Abuse When the Employer suspects sick leave abuse, the employee will be provided the opportunity to explain the circumstances surrounding their sick leave use prior to disciplining the employee, or making reference to sick leave use in the employee’s performance evaluation. The Employer may not adopt or enforce any policy that counts the use of paid sick leave time as an absence that may lead to or result in disciplinary action for an authorized purpose. The Employer may not discriminate or retaliate against an employee for the use of paid sick leave for an authorized purpose.
ABSENCE FROM WORK AND REPORTING 17.01 If an employee is unable to report for work, he/she shall give the Employer a minimum of four (4) hours notice. In case of day shift work, this time element shall be one (1) hour. If notice is not given within the required time, the employee shall not be entitled to his/her sick pay on the first day of illness.
Sickness Any employee off duty on account of illness or injury may be re- quired to produce a doctor’s certificate indicating date(s) of all clini- cal assessments, current medical restrictions and fitness to resume (or not resume) to regular or alternate duties. For non-occupational in- jury or illness of 15 consecutive work days or more or when return- ing to work with medical restrictions after a non-occupational injury or illness of any length of time, the employee must submit written authorization from their physician to the Health Services Section prior to the return to work date providing the above information. The employee may be required to visit the Health Services Section for a Return To Work health assessment. To be eligible for SBA benefits, an employee will not be required to provide a medical note for the first five days of absence in each cal- endar year for sickness or injury. From April 14, 2005 until December 31, 2005, all bargaining unit members will not be required to provide a medical note for the first three days of absence for sickness or injury within that period. The Commission will delete SBA By-law no. 4 which states “For the third and subsequent incidents of illness in a calendar year, the first day will be deducted”. Employees required to report to the Health Services Section for a periodic health assessment will have any loss of pay made up. Should a dispute arise between the employees’ physician and the Health Services Section as to fitness to resume (or not) their regular or other work, the employees shall be referred to an independent medical consultant mutually agreed upon by the Union and the Commission for an independent medical examination (IME), and the consultant’s opinion of the employee’s physical or mental condition shall be considered in the decision finally made as to fitness to re- sume the employee’s regular or other work. In lodging an appeal from Health Services’ original decision, the employee shall guaran- tee the payment of the consultant’s fee. Should the original decision of Health Services be revised, the Commission shall pay the consult- ant’s fee. Should Health Services’ original decision be sustained, the consultant’s fee shall be paid by the employee. In all disputes respecting fitness for work (or not) on medical grounds, the independent medical assessment must be utilized before proceeding to arbitration. The letter of referral to the independent medical consultant shall be signed by a representative of Manage- ment and a representative of the Union and shall contain information provided by the employee’s own Physician as well as any other per- tinent information. It shall also direct the independent medical con- sultant to send to both the Health Services Section and the Union any report or correspondence concerning the employee or any matter arising out of the referral. The employee shall be required to sign a letter authorizing the foregoing. Should the independent medical consultant’s decision remain in dis- pute concerning the employee’s fitness for duties, no medical evi- dence concerning the employee’s diagnosis or prognosis other than that provided to the independent medical consultant shall be intro- duced at any arbitration hearing. Maintenance employees will be required to notify their Supervisor or Foreperson of their intention of returning to work the day before actually returning to work. Failure to comply with the above could result in the employee being assigned other duties. It is understood that no employee will be sent home on account of inability or failure to notify the Foreperson or Supervisor. The Commission and Union agree to their joint responsibility to ensure that employees who are disabled due to injury or illness are afforded all available opportunities to participate in rehabilitation programs, including rehabilitative employment through the Transi- tional Work Program. To support this commitment, the Commission and the Union agree to work together to establish processes which allow for the identifica- tion of rehabilitation opportunities and the successful re-integration of employees into the workplace. Local 113 will be consulted of the movement of employees within the term of this Program. Any dis- putes arising from the administration of the Program will be ad- dressed through the Management/Union Objectives process. It is agreed that when opportunities for rehabilitation have been iden- tified, Health Services will discuss these opportunities with the em- ployee and the treating physician and, with their approval, work to- gether with the appropriate health professionals and other resources as may be necessary, to design an individual rehabilitation program.
Critical Illness Leave (i) An Employee who has completed at least ninety (90) days of employment, and is a family member of a critically ill child or a critically ill qualified adult relative, is entitled to leave of absence without pay or benefits: • for a period of up to thirty-six (36) weeks to care for their critically ill child; or, • for a period of up to sixteen (16) weeks to care for a critically ill qualified adult relative.
Work from Home The following applies when a Producer requires an employee to work remotely from home:
Family Medical Leave or Critical Illness Leave a) Family Medical Leave or Critical Illness leaves granted to a permanent Teacher or long-term Occasional Teacher under this Article shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, as amended.
