- Policy Statement
- Application
- Definitions
- Responsibilities
- Leave Entitlement
- Recognized Service
- Requests for Paid Leave
- General Provisions
Policy Statement
Employees are entitled to paid leave for purposes of vacation, sickness, family responsibility or other personal reasons.
Application
This policy applies to management and non-management/non-bargaining employees. Bargaining unit employees who are temporarily assigned to either a management or a non-management/non-bargaining position for more than 6 consecutive months will also be covered by this policy.
Definitions
| Absence Keeper | the divisional employee who records and tracks leave in the leave management system |
| Fiscal Year | April 1 through March 31 |
| Paid Leave | leave awarded to employees for purposes of vacation, sickness, family responsibility or other personal reasons |
| Standard Work Day | normally either 7, 7 ½, or 8 hours, or as defined by the employer |
Responsibilities
Departments
- manage leave so that it does not interfere with business operations;
- make every reasonable effort to grant employees’ requests for paid leave;
- maintain records of employees leave entitlements and leave usage; and
- provide employees with annual notification of leave entitlements and usage.
Employees
- make every reasonable effort to ensure that leave does not unduly interfere with business operations;
- when possible, request leave in advance so that alternate work arrangements may be made where necessary;
- manage leave appropriately;
- report absences and reasons for absences in a timely manner; and
- ensure their leave balances are accurate and verify their leave balance with their Absence Keeper.
Leave Entitlement
Full Time Employees
Paid leave entitlement is calculated on a fiscal year cycle and is based on employees’ length of service.
Paid Leave Entitlement for those who work 7-hour standard workday (1820 hours/year):
| Number of Years of Service | Monthly Paid Leave Entitlement (hours) | Annual Paid Leave Entitlement (hours) | Annual Paid Leave Entitlement (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 9 | 14 7/12 | 175 | 25 |
| 10 – 24 | 17 1/2 | 210 | 30 |
| 25 or more | 20 5/12 | 245 | 35 |
Paid Leave Entitlement for those who work 7 ½-hour standard workday (1950 hours/year):
| Number of Years of Service | Monthly Paid Leave Entitlement (hours) | Annual Paid Leave Entitlement (hours) | Annual Paid Leave Entitlement (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 9 | 18 3/4 | 225 | 30 |
| 10 – 24 | 21 7/8 | 262.5 | 35 |
| 25 or more | 25 | 300 | 40 |
Note – Hospital and institutional support staff may be given five extra days paid leave where they are awarded nine designated holidays.
Paid Leave Entitlement for those who work 8-hour workday (2080 hours/year):
| Number of Years of Service | Monthly Paid Leave Entitlement (hours) | Annual Paid Leave Entitlement (hours) | Annual Paid Leave Entitlement (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 – 9 | 16 2/3 | 200 | 25 |
| 10 – 24 | 20 | 240 | 30 |
| 25 or more | 23 1/3 | 280 | 35 |
Employees who work one half or more of the number of working days in a month will be credited with a full month of service for the purposes of calculating paid leave. Where employees work less than one half of the month, their paid leave entitlement will be calculated on a proportional basis. Where calculations of paid leave entitlements result in fractions, the amount of leave should be rounded to the nearest hour.
Part-time Employees
Employees who regularly work at least 50% of the hours per month regularly scheduled for full time employees are eligible for paid leave, on a proportional basis.
Employees who regularly work less than 50% of the hours per month regularly scheduled for full-time employees are not eligible for paid leave. These employees will receive 4% of their salary (excluding non-pensionable allowances) on completion of each 12 months of service or termination of employment, whichever is the shorter period.
Students
Students are not eligible for paid leave but will receive payment of 4% of their salary on completion of each 12 months of service or termination of employment, whichever is the shorter period.
Bargaining Unit Assignment
Bargaining unit employees who are temporarily assigned to a management or non-management/non-bargaining positions with an anticipated duration of greater than six months, or those already placed in such positions for greater than six months, will accumulate paid leave.
Although not continuing to accrue sick and annual leave while outside the bargaining unit, employees may access their annual and sick leave benefits during a temporary assignment to a management or non-management/non-bargaining position as well as family responsibility leave, and overtime earned while in their bargaining unit positions.
When bargaining unit employees who have been accumulating paid leave return to their bargaining unit positions, they immediately revert to the leave and overtime provisions of their collective agreements. Accumulated paid leave credits may be banked.
Bargaining unit employees who are placed in management or non-management/non-bargaining positions with an anticipated duration of less than 6 months retain their collective agreement coverage for annual leave, sick leave, family responsibility leave and overtime while placed in these short-term management/excluded positions.
Recognized Service
The following service will be recognized for calculating paid leave entitlements:
- service with a Government department;
- teaching service recognized as pensionable service in accordance with the Teachers’ Pensions Act;
- service with a board, commission or agency, or with a hospital not operated by Government, accepted as pensionable service in accordance with the Public Service Pensions Act; and
- prior service as a contractual employee, provided that the break in service is not more than 30 calendar days.
The following will not be recognized in the calculation of paid leave entitlement:
- service with Royal Commissions or other extra-ordinary bodies established for periods of relatively short duration, except where special secondment arrangements are made; and
- periods of leave without pay, in excess of a total of 20 working days in any year.
Requests for Paid Leave
Employees must accumulate 60 days of worked service prior to requesting paid leave. On completion of 60 days of worked service, employees may anticipate paid leave to the end of their period of employment or to the end of the fiscal year, whichever is the shorter period.
Except in incidents of illness or family emergencies, employees must normally obtain written approval from their supervisor prior to taking paid leave.
Employees cannot use paid leave or access their sick leave bank when they are on any type of leave without pay or when suspended without pay.
General Provisions
Employees must use a minimum of 10 days of paid leave each year and may carry forward all remaining leave.
Employees who are unable to use a minimum of 10 days paid leave each year as a result of being on extended sick leave, injury-on-duty or because of bona fide operational requirements, may be exempted by the Employer.
New employees (those hired from areas where benefits are not transferable to Government) are exempt from having to use the minimum 10 days during the first full year of employment.
Employees on approved unpaid leave and those employees who are scheduled to retire within the current year, may have the 10 day minimum rule prorated based on the number of months worked in the fiscal year.
Subject to the approval of the Deputy Minister, employees may use their current and accumulated paid leave at any time.
Bridging to Retirement
Deputy Ministers have the authority to approve requests to use accumulated paid or overtime leave for bridging to retirement. The maximum paid leave or overtime leave an employee may use to bridge to retirement is 100 days.
If a Department wishes to grant an employee more than 100 days of paid leave entitlements for bridging to retirement, the Department of Justice and Public Safety must be consulted, and Treasury Board approval is required.
Employees will not accrue paid leave benefits during periods of bridging to retirement.
Cheque Advance
Employees may request the advancement of their regular pay cheque(s) when they plan to take at least 10 consecutive workdays of paid leave.
Written requests for salary advancement must be submitted to the employee’s payroll division at least 4 weeks prior to the last pay day before the employee’s paid leave period starts.
Deferral or Cancellation of Paid Leave
Paid leave may be deferred or canceled by the Deputy Minister, if necessary, to meet operational requirements. However, the Deputy Minister will make every reasonable effort not to recall employees to duty after they have begun their paid leave.
Where employees are recalled to work during an approved period of paid leave, the unused portion of the paid leave will be credited to the employees’ leave banks.
Payment for Unused Paid Leave
Employees are eligible to receive payment for accumulated paid leave when they resign, retire or are terminated.
Employees who are laid off from their positions may elect to leave their accumulated leave with the Employer to be taken at a later date or they may elect to be paid for all or part of their paid leave.
Where exiting employees have overdrawn on their leave or owe money to the Government, the Employer may recover these amounts from the employees’ leave payouts.
Employees who have accumulated more than 180 days of paid leave may, on written request and with the approval of the Deputy Minister, receive up to 10 days of pay in lieu of paid leave per year so long as they maintain a balance of at least 180 days. Paid leave days taken as pay in lieu of paid leave will be deducted from employees’ accumulated banks.
Sick Leave Bank
Employees with existing sick leave days to their credit as of April 1, 1992, will retain those days in individual sick leave banks.
After April 1, 1992, employees who resign and have a break in service in excess of 45 consecutive calendar days will lose all banked sick leave.
Employees are required to use two consecutive days of their paid leave prior to accessing their sick leave banks. The period of two consecutive days will begin with the first day the employee notifies their supervisor of the illness. For employees with chronic or recurrent illness, they should consult with the Human Resource Service Centre.
Employees who are ill for periods of greater than two days and who wish to access their sick leave banks, must advise their supervisors immediately after the second day of illness in order to access their banked sick leave.
Employees who have exhausted all paid leave options (including time off in lieu of overtime and travel time) must take two days leave without pay before they can access their banked sick leave.
Employees who require leave but have no paid leave days and no banked sick leave to their credit will be placed on leave without pay.
Medical Certificates
Employees will provide the employer with a detailed medical certificate:
- when they have used more than three consecutive days of leave from their sick leave bank; and/or
- when they have used more than a total of six days leave from their sick leave bank in any year.
Employees accessing their sick leave bank or using any other form of leave for reasons of illness, may be required by the Deputy Minister to submit a detailed medical certificate.
Employees with ongoing medical conditions may provide the employer with a medical certificate at the beginning of each calendar year outlining that they have an ongoing medical condition. If the medical certificate is satisfactory to the employer, the employee is not required to submit further medical certificates for subsequent days of illness related to the documented ongoing medical condition for the remainder of that calendar year.
Employees unable to return to work due to illness or disability (as documented by a qualified medical practitioner) may be retired and:
- will continue to draw on accumulated sick leave until the sick leave bank is exhausted, or until the age of retirement, whichever comes first; and
- will not accumulate additional paid leave credits during this period of sick leave.
Last Policy Update: February 7, 2023