BCNU and HEABC Reach Agreement on Personal Leave Days
BCNU and the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) have come to an agreement on the granting of personal leave. Part-time and full-time regular nurses covered by the 2019-2022 Nurses' Bargaining Association (NBA) collective agreement were eligible for their first personal leave day on April 1, 2020, as outlined in Article 43.02 (Personal Leave). Eligible members are to receive two personal leave days in 2021 and 2022, effective April 1, 2021.
Personal leave days are based on 7.5 hours. The number of hours attributed to a personal leave day will not be prorated based on the eligible regular nurses' FTE, meaning that all eligible nurses will be entitled to 15.0 hours of personal leave each calendar year.
Requests for personal leave should be provided 24 hours or more in advance of the start of the shift and will be subject to operational requirements. Short notice personal leave (less than 24 hours' notice) may be used for urgent and unanticipated matters and is not subject to operational requirements. Once approved, personal leave cannot be changed to another type of leave.
Personal leave should not be taken on more than two shifts per calendar year, and cannot be attached to other leaves of absences, including vacation and paid statutory holidays. Personal leave may not be banked or carried over to the next calendar year. Any personal leave not scheduled and taken by December 31 of each year will be paid out as straight time hourly rates.
Employees may take vacation, banked overtime, or an unpaid leave of absence to cover any remaining shift hours, where the shift length exceeds the total (combined, if applicable) length of the personal leave day or days taken.
Probationary nurses are not entitled to personal leave days, except for those eligible nurses who have ported their personal leave days from another employer. Post-probationary eligible regular nurses who start in a permanent or temporary regular position on or before June 30 will receive two personal leave days for that calendar year. Those who start on or after July 1 will receive one personal leave day for that calendar year.
The agreement will be applied retroactively to April 1, 2020. Nurses who had their personal leave prorated in 2020 will be paid out for those lost hours on the first pay period after October 1, 2021. Casual nurses who worked in a temporary position of six months or more between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, and eligible nurses who resigned or terminated their employment between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, must contact their employer's payroll department before November 15, 2021, to receive retroactive payout of personal leave.
Please contact your steward for more information. Visit the BCNU Member Portal to find the contact information of the steward at your worksite.