Under Article 22.08 of the UNA Provincial Collective Agreement signed in 2014, full-time and part-time employees are entitled to three Personal Leave days annually from April 1 to March 31.
These days are for the purpose of attending to personal matters and family responsibilities, including attending appointments with family members.
Employees planning personal leave requests must to do so as far in advance as possible. Because of the nature of the request, the ability to give advance notice is sometimes limited. This could mean an employee could request personal leave 8 months in advance or even one hour in advance depending on the circumstances.
The employer must not unreasonably deny requests for personal leave and the requirement to pay replacement overtime is not a reason to deny leave.
Unlike previous collective agreements, an employee does not need to provide their employer with a reason for requesting personal leave. The employer is entitled to ask about the amount of time the employee expects to be away as employers must be able to plan for an employee’s absence.
Because personal leave days are paid at 7.75 hours, if employees work an extended workday, they are able use the additional hours from accumulated vacation or overtime banks.
Personal leave can be used for up to three consecutive days each fiscal year.
If employment commences on or after August 1st of the year, personal leave days will be prorated for the remainder of the year as follows:
For questions or concerns, contact your UNA local executive or UNA Labour Relations Officer at 1-800-252-9394.