Conditions applying in common to all trades and services staff

This Part shall apply in common to all trades and services staff except where otherwise expressly provided.

Section 5 - Leave of Absence and Holidays

53. Parental Leave - Maternity Leave

53.1 A staff member who has served for a continuous period of not less than twelve months and who submits to the Head of Department/Administrative Unit as the case may be, a certificate from a registered medical practitioner stating that she is pregnant and specifying the day on which it is expected she will be delivered shall be entitled to:

Leave on full pay for a continuous period of twelve weeks, to be taken within the period commencing six weeks prior to the expected date of delivery and concluding twelve weeks after the actual date of delivery.

Additional leave without pay as will bring the aggregate leave to a continuous period of twelve months. Such leave without pay shall be taken within the period from twenty weeks before the expected date of delivery to twelve months after the commencement of the period of paid leave.

53.2 A staff member who has served for a continuous period of less than twelve months and who submits to the Head of Department/Administrative Unit as the case may be, a certificate from a registered medical practitioner stating that she is pregnant and specifying the day on which it is expected she will be delivered shall be entitled to:

Leave on full pay for a continuous period at the rate of one week for each month of service, to be taken within the period commencing six weeks prior to the expected date of delivery and concluding twelve weeks after the actual date of delivery.

Additional leave without pay as will bring the aggregate leave to a continuous period of twelve months. Such leave without pay shall be taken within the period from twenty weeks before the expected date of delivery to twelve months after the commencement of the period of paid leave.

53.3 The Head of Department/Administrative Unit may direct a staff member to commence maternity leave at any time within six weeks before the expected date of birth, provided that written notice of such a direction of at least fourteen working days shall be given to the staff member.

53.4 The staff member shall be entitled to remain on duty upon the submission of a certificate from a registered medical practitioner stating that she is fit to work.

53.5 A staff member on maternity leave:

• may use accrued annual leave and long service leave credits to cover any of the period of leave without pay; and
• who contracts an illness resulting from pregnancy or childbirth and such illness extends beyond the period of paid maternity leave shall, upon the submission of a medical certificate or statutory declaration, be entitled to be placed on sick leave for the period of illness subsequent to the date on which paid maternity leave expires.

53.6 The staff member shall provide written notice to the Head of Department/Administrative Unit not less than four weeks preceding the date upon which she proposes to commence maternity leave, stating the period of leave to be taken, save that the Head of Department/Administrative Unit may waive the requirement for notice.

53.7 A staff member shall be entitled to extend the period of maternity leave provided that the staff member provides written notice of fourteen days to the Head of Department/Administrative Unit and the total period of leave is not in excess of the maximum aggregate period of entitlement to leave as per clauses 53.1 and 53.2. A request to reduce the period of leave originally specified as provided in clause 53.6 shall be subject to approval by the Head of Department/Administrative Unit.

53.8 A staff member shall confirm her intention to return to work by providing written notice to the Head of Department/Administrative Unit not less than four weeks prior to the expiration of the period of maternity leave or of the period of leave granted in accordance with clause 53.11. Upon the expiration of the period of leave and subject to clause 53.13 below, the staff member shall be entitled to resume work on her substantive classification and salary, with duties commensurate with her qualifications and experience and as far as practicable similar to those performed by her prior to the taking of maternity leave.

53.9 Normal incremental advancement shall continue during maternity leave.

53.10 A staff member employed on a short-term contract whose contract expires during a period of paid maternity leave shall not be eligible for further maternity leave after the date of expiry of the contract unless she is re-employed on a permanent basis or on a further contract. The provision of maternity leave shall not be grounds for the Termination of a contract or for a refusal by the University to offer re-Employment.

53.11 A staff member whose pregnancy, having proceeded for a period of not less than twenty weeks, terminates or results in a still-born child, shall be entitled to:

• paid leave as per clauses 53.1 or 53.2 hereof as the case may be, or where the staff member has commenced such leave, that period of paid leave outstanding; and
• such leave without pay as will bring the aggregate leave to a continuous period not exceeding six calendar months or to such longer period as may be certified by a medical practitioner up to a maximum of twelve calendar months.

53.12 Subject to clause 53.11, maternity leave applied for but not commenced shall be cancelled where the pregnancy of a staff member terminates other than by the birth of a living child.

53.13 A staff member who is the primary care giver of a child shall be entitled to return to work from maternity leave on the Full-time or fractional-time basis that applied to the staff member immediately prior to the commencement of maternity leave, provided that:

• the staff member may, no less than 6 weeks prior to returning from maternity leave, apply in writing to her supervisor to participate in the voluntary reduced working year arrangement as provided by clause 58 of this Agreement; or
• the staff member may, no less than 6 weeks prior to returning from maternity leave, apply to her supervisor to return on a reduced fraction of Employment basis, including a reduced fraction in connection with a job share arrangement, for an agreed period of time, following which the staff member shall be entitled to return to the substantive fraction of Employment.

In the event a supervisor declines to approve the staff member's application, the supervisor must refer the matter to the Dean if the applicant is a staff member of a faculty or centre reporting through a faculty, and in all other cases, the appropriate Divisional Director of the Division, for review of the decision. The supervisor shall provide reason(s) to support the decision to decline the staff member's application. The staff member shall be informed of the supervisor's decision and the reason(s) for it and invited to make a response to the Dean or appropriate Divisional Director of the Division as the case may be, prior to a final decision being made.