Date Issued: 12/09/1986
Revision Date: 08/11/1999
Purpose
To guide employees and managers in the appropriate use and granting of Pressing Necessity and Personal/Family Leave.
Definitions
Pressing Necessity
- Used to deal with unforeseen or emergent situations.
Personal/Family Leave
- For non-emergent personal/family responsibilities
In the latter case, such leave will, at times, have to be balanced with operational requirements.
These leave provisions do not apply to purely discretionary personal or family matters.
Policy
The Government of Saskatchewan recognizes that employees may encounter emergency, unforeseen circumstances or non-emergent personal/family leave responsibilities that require their absence from work. The amount of such leave will vary depending upon individual circumstances, the nature of the situation, and eligibility limits as set out below.
When making a request to use Pressing Necessity and Personal/Family Leave, employees are expected to:
- Exercise sound judgement balanced with good faith reasoning;
- Recognize and understand the operational requirements of the work unit;
- Respect the needs of co-workers and;
- Provide reasonable notice for non-emergent requests (i.e. one weeks notice).
It is the employee's responsibility to manage their usage of these provisions to ensure sick leave credits are available in the future.
When leave with pay is granted, the time approved is charged against the employee's sick leave credits subject to the following restrictions.
These restrictions are intended to ensure compliance with Federal Government Employment Insurance Regulations.
A.
Employees with less than 75 days sick leave credit at the end of the fiscal year (March 31).
1. Employees may access up to 3 days sick leave for pressing necessity and/or personal/family responsibility each fiscal year. These days are pro-rated for employees working less than full-time hours based on the previous year's employment.
2. Any unused portion of these 3 days shall accumulate from year to year.
3. Employees may access, subject to the availability of accumulated credits, up to 5 days sick leave for personal/family leave responsibilities each fiscal year. These 5 days do not accumulate from year to year.
Example:
After two years an employee could accumulate 6 sick leave credits for pressing necessity and/or personal/family responsibilities. These 6 days could be used in the following ways:
- 4 pressing necessity days and 2 personal/family responsibility days
- 1 pressing necessity day and 5 personal/family responsibility days (maximum allowable in a fiscal year)
4. Employees who require pressing necessity and personal/family responsibility leave in excess of 3 days or their accumulated allowable days for pressing necessity, may be granted an advance to a maximum of 3 pressing necessity/personal/family responsibility credits. This advance will be charged against the employee's sick leave credits in the following fiscal year.
B.
Employees who have 75 days or more sick leave credits at the end of the fiscal year (March 31).
1. Employees may access up to 5 days sick leave for personal/family responsibilities each fiscal year, on a non-cumulative basis.
2. Employees have access to all their sick leave credits for the purpose of pressing necessity, as governed by the guidelines.
C.
Other
Employees who are not eligible to access sick leave credits for pressing necessity or personal/family leave responsibilities may use any of the following:
- Time-in-lieu
- Vacation leave,
- SDO's,
- Banked EDO's or
- Other leave provisions as appropriate
Process
Requests to use sick leave credits for pressing necessity and personal/family responsibilities will normally be made in writing to the employee's immediate supervisor. Leave with pay for pressing necessity may be granted in response to verbal requests provided that a written request is submitted after the leave has been granted. To reduce paperwork, some departments include this as a category within attendance statements.
Because the need for leave for personal/family responsibilities is generally known in advance, one week's notice is expected, but the employer recognizes that exceptional circumstances may shorten the notice period.
The supervisor reserves the right to request evidence from the employee that the leave is for pressing necessity or personal/family responsibilities. A written explanation shall be provided to the employee if the request is refused.
All requests will be treated as confidential.
Guidelines
The appendix sets forth guidelines for granting leave of absence for Pressing Necessity and Personal/Family Responsibilities.
Application
All employees appointed under the Public Service Act.
Authority
Public Service Regulations Part 5, section 64;
SGEU Article 17.5;
CUPE Local 600-3 Article 17.10
Inquiries
For inquiries, please contact the Human Resource Service Centre.
See Guidelines - For Leaves of Absence Due to Pressing Necessity Personal/Family Responsibilities