Administrative Officers

This information is intended to assist administrative officers to understand their role when a Western employee or faculty member informs you they are planning to welcome a new child.

  1. Direct employees to the Pregnancy/Parental/Adoption Leave website, and ask them to use the Pregnancy/Parental Leave Information Request Form (Western user id and password required) to inform Human Resources of the intended leave. Human Resources will provide the employee/faculty member details on eligibility for leave, determine eligibility for the Supplemental Employment Insurance Benefit, and help plan for continuation of benefits, etc.
  2. You may encourage the employee/faculty member to consider if there are others in the department who should be notified of the intended leave. This could include:
    • Direct supervisor
    • Chair, department head, Dean
  3. Discuss whether the employee would like to use vacation to extend their leave (vacation continues to accrue during leave). Where an employee has or will accumulate excessive vacation, ensure a plan is in place and approvals have been sought where necessary.

    It is preferable to have vacation taken at the end of the leave, rather than at the beginning of a leave.
  4. *NEW* - For Regular Full-Time Faculty & Staff (including full time sessional employees with benefits) Human Resources will complete a Leave/Irregular Workweek Form to update the Human Resources system in advance of the deadline for monthly pay. A copy of the leave/irregular workweek form will be provided to the department.

    Note: A number of employees have more than one position at Western. An individual must be on leave from all employment positions, otherwise a Record of Employment cannot be filed and the individual will not be able to receive EI. Human Resources will complete a Leave/Irregular Workweek Form for all active job records.

    For all other Faculty and Staff the department must file a Leave/Irregular Workweek Form with Human Resources in advance of the start of the leave. Please ensure that this form reaches HR well in advance of the deadline for monthly pay.

    Note: Please be sure to complete a Leave/Irregular Workweek Form for all active job records otherwise a Record of Employment can not be filed and the individual will not be able to receive EI.

Special information re: GTA's

For a Graduate Teaching Assistant who is taking a pregnancy or parental leave:

  1. Direct the GTA to complete the GTA Pregnancy/Parental/Adoption Leave Benefit Application Form. The completed form should be submitted to Human Resources using ASK HR. Human Resources will email the GTA to advise on the status of their application and any next steps. If the GTA meets all of the eligibility requirements, the paid benefits will be direct deposited on the regular monthly pay date.
  2. *NEW* - Human Resources will update the Human Resources system to ensure an active GTA appointment is set up on their employee record and a Leave/Irregular Work Week form is completed to put the GTA on leave. A copy of the GTA appointment and the leave/irregular workweek form will be provided to the department.

    NOTE: The GTA Appointment and Leave are solely to provide an audit trail for the payment of the benefit. The Leave/Irregular Work Week Form puts the GTA on leave and ensures no salary is paid. There will be no pay requisition information to complete as the benefits will be paid automatically on the monthly pay.

If you have any questions about departmental procedures regarding Pregnancy/Parental/Adoption Leave, please use ASK HR to contact Human Resources.

This website is provided for information and planning purposes for Western employees only. While every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, if any conflict exists between the information on this website and the provisions of the various collective agreements or applicable legislation, the collective agreements or legislation prevail.

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