FAMILY
LEAVE RIGHTS UNDER THE 11TH COLLECTIVE
AGREEMENT
Under the 11th Collective Agreement, all full-time AUFA members have the right to take a Family Leave, a combination of Maternity and Parental leaves. This may seem an obvious point, but at least one full-time AUFA member was recently told that she had to be working at Acadia for at least one year before she was eligible for Family Leave. And I understand that other AUFA members have been given the same misinformation in recent years.
Let’s interpret the spread of this misinformation in a generous way and attribute it to an oversight or a basic misunderstanding of the relationship between the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Code and the 11th Collective Agreement rather than administrative skulduggery or a failure to commit to principles of equity. Section 59 of the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Code does stipulate that “A pregnant employee, who has been employed by her employer for at least one year, is entitled to an unpaid leave of absence of up to seventeen weeks,” seemingly indicating that one must be employed for at least one year before one is entitled to a maternity leave—and an unpaid one at that. It is important to understand, however, that the Labour Standards Code merely provides minimum protection to employees and does not place limits on the negotiated benefits provided by a collective agreement. These minimum protections cannot be negotiated away, but they can be enhanced. In the case of Acadia faculty, then, the provisions of the 11th Collective Agreement overwrite the minimum rights guaranteed by the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Code to determine that all full-time AUFA members are eligible for paid Family Leave regardless of time in service.
A quick glance at the contract should clarify this right. If you look carefully at article 24.41, you’ll notice that, given time-restrictive notifications to the appropriate Head, the employee “shall be granted maternity leave for a period of seventeen (17) continuous weeks to begin no earlier than 16 weeks before the expected date of delivery and not later than the date of delivery” (24.41 A; italics mine). The word “shall” is used throughout the Collective Agreement to indicate obligation. Notably, eligibility in this article is not restricted by time in service. Parental Leave, which extends the leave up to 52 weeks, is available to “Employees completing maternity leave,” “Employees who have principal responsibility for the care of an infant who is less than 12 months of age and who is either the natural or adoptive child, or in the full legal custody of the Employee,” and “Employees who adopt a child less than school age” (24.42). Again, eligibility is not restricted by time in service. Lastly, Article 24.45 guarantees that “The benefit payable by the University for an approved Family Leave is an amount which combined with the employment insurance benefit will be equal to 100% of the employee’s salary at the commencement of the Leave”… “payable for a maximum period of twenty-five (25) weeks.” Given the non-restrictive language pertaining to eligibility in the articles preceding 24.45, approval of the paid Family Leave described in Article 24.45 should be a mere formality. My understanding, based on conversations with a few AUFA members, is that Human Resources has been quite cooperative in making it so. However, if “approved Family leave” isn’t a formality for you, you should contact the Association Grievance Committee and lodge a complaint.
And finally, if you plan to take a Family Leave, or if you are already on one, you should be aware of a recent grievance settlement between the Board of Governors and AUFA regarding the pension benefits for members on Family Leave. As of May 2006, full-time AUFA employees on Family Leave receive their full pension top-up from the University for a period of 27 weeks. After that time, employees retain the right to continue contributing to their pensions while on leave. You must make arrangements with Human Resources to continue with your contributions.
John Eustace
Senior Grievance Officer