FAQ

Members can use up to four days of their accumulated sick time to attend to family medical and/or emergency situations. The Division may ask for evidence that the leave is required. Remember that these days come out of the bank of sick time accumulated by the member. The family members for which this applies are teacher’s spouse, common-law partner, children, parents, brother or sister whether the family member is natural, in-law, step or foster.

(iii) Employees shall be entitled to use up to an overall maximum of four (4) days of accumulated sick leave per school year to attend to the illness or injury of that teacher’s spouse, common-law partner, children, parents, brother or sister whether the family member is natural, in-law, step or foster. Where such cases occur, entitlement under this article may not be accessed concurrently by both caregivers who are employees within the scope of this agreement. Employees may be required to provide medical evidence that such leave was required. Such days shall be pro-rated based upon full-time equivalency for part-time employees.

Members may access up to three (3) Religious Holy Leave Days at no deduction of salary each school year. All requests are made by submitting the required form to the school Principal and then must be approved by the Superintendent. Additional days can be accessed with a deduction at substitute rate.

These days are considered “major religious holy days” and “designated days of obligation” by a specific religion.

To access Religious Holy Leave Days that take place prior to October 15th in each school year, requests must be made in writing with ten (10) working days notice. For days after October 15th, the deadline to September 30th.

21.09 Religious Holy Leave
Teachers shall not absent themselves from duty for reasons of religious holy days without first securing permission from the Superintendent. All requests for such approval shall be made through the principal on the form prescribed.

(a) No deduction from salary shall be made when teachers are absent for observance of religious holy days, up to a maximum of three (3) days per school year.

(b) When teachers are absent for observance of religious holy days in excess of three (3) days per school year a teacher may receive regular salary less the rate for a substitute in the teacher’s salary classification.

(c) The following notification period will apply:

(i) for teachers requiring religious holy leaves prior to October 15th, ten (10) working days’ notice in writing shall be given to the Division, for teachers requiring religious holy days October 15th or later, notice in writing of leave required for that school year shall be given by September 30th.

(ii) for those teachers commencing employment with the Division at a time other than the start of the school year and who require religious holy leave, notice in writing, shall be given to the Division within ten (10) working days of active employment.

(d) Where the appropriate notice has not been given to the Division, the Division shall provide religious holy days and that leave, at the Division’s discretion, may be with pay or at regular salary less the rate for a substitute in the teacher’s salary classification, or with one two‑hundredths (1/200ths) salary deduction per day. The Division shall act reasonably and fairly having regard to all circumstances.

(e) Religious Holy Leave shall be extended to include individuals teaching in the Adult EAL Program.

It is agreed for the purposes of this Article, Religious Holy Days shall be defined as “major religious holy days observed by the teacher and designated as a day of obligation by the teacher’s religion.”

Each full time teacher is allowed two (2) Personal Leave Days per school year.  Part-time teachers days are prorated to their contract time.  

• You can carry over one  (1) unused day to be used in the next school year.  
• Days may be attached to Long Weekends, but may not be attached to Winter, Spring, or Summer Breaks.  
• Days can be attached to an Extra-Curricular Compensatory day provided that the maximum number of days absent is three (3)
• Days can not be split into half days.  
• You do not need to provide the reason for taking the days
• No more that two (2) members may access this leave on the same day in schools with 40 or less WTA members, and no more than three (3) members in schools with more than 40 WTA members except in extenuating circumstances

To access Personal Leave Days, you must fill out a short leave of absence form and submit to the Principal, it is then approved by the Division.

The Collective Agreement states that if teachers are summoned for jury duty or subpoenaed to be a witness in court proceedings, leave will be granted without deduction, however you must remit to the Division any earnings you may receive while serving as a witness or a juror. To be granted the leave, you must submit the details of the requirement to the Division as early as possible.

If you are required to attend court proceedings related to your own personal private affairs, you will be granted a leave of absence without pay.

21.07 Court Appearances

All employees covered by the Collective Agreement will be granted leave without deduction of salary for court appearances if the employee is subpoenaed to be a witness in a court action or is summoned for jury duty, provided however, the employee shall remit to the Division any remuneration which the employee may receive because of an appearance in court as a witness or as a juror. To be eligible for leave with pay an employee is required to submit details of the requirement for jury or witness duty at the earliest possible date. Any time during regular school hours that an employee is not required to be at court the employee shall be available for duties at the school. The Division shall act reasonably and fairly in regard to all circumstances. An employee required to attend a court proceeding as a party to that proceeding in relation to the employee’s personal private affairs shall receive a leave of absence without pay for the required absence.

In the event of the death of a grandparent or grandchild, three days are allowed at no loss of salary. Two additional days can be taken at sub rate.

In the event of the death of a spouse’s Parent, Sister, Brother, or Child, three days are allowed with no deduction, and an additional two days at sub rate if requested.

In all the leaves above, the leave extends from the actual date of death and includes consecutive working days. One day at the member’s request can be saved when interment or cremation will occur at a later date, or two days when travel is required.

Members will be deducted a sub rate to attend the funeral of a friend.

A half day is allowed for a member participating in a Funeral Ceremony as a soloist.

A full day is allowed for a member to serve as a Pallbearer.

If you wish to take a leave to work as a teacher, or in the field of education other than teaching, you MUST have approval from the Division. Leaves to work elsewhere as a teacher will only be granted where there are extenuating circumstances and will be limited to only one (1) year. Leaves to work in the field of education other than teaching may be granted and will be limited to only one (1) year.

WSD Policy states that a member may receive one (1) day of compensatory time for 50 hours of Extra Curricular Activity.  The hours must be time spent with students and must be tracked by the member and submitted to the Principal for approval.   

Note that the Collective Agreement states that extra curricular activities are voluntary.  

The Collective Agreement states that extra curricular activities are voluntary.

The maximum # of hours that you can accumulate overnight is 8 hours (for a school night) and 16 hours (for a non-school night). Teachers are not obligated to stay overnight.

Admin Handbook:

Activities commencing at the end of the school day and overnight field trips are to be logged on an hour for hour basis to a maximum of 8 hours per day.

Division approved weekend overnight or Division approved overseas field trips during break periods are to be logged on an hour for hour basis to a maximum of 16 hours per day. This includes the overnight allowance.

Elementary Teachers are to receive a minimum of 180 minutes of preparation time per cycle. Secondary Teachers are to receive a minimum of 240 minutes of preparation time per cycle. The minimum prep time must be scheduled in every six-day cycle and NOT as an average over weeks or semesters.

Prep periods are to be scheduled in blocks of not less than 30 minutes for teachers with a 75% or greater contract, and not less than 15 minutes for teachers with less than 75% contract. There is a Letter of Understanding that Preparation Time not be scheduled over student breaks (recess).

Within the instructional day the Division shall provide a minimum of one hundred and eighty (180) minutes of preparation time for each full time elementary teacher and a minimum of two hundred and forty (240) minutes of preparation time for each full time secondary teacher per six (6) day cycle. Preparation time shall be scheduled in blocks of not less than fifteen (15) minutes.

When a prep has been lost to internal coverage, school events, meeting or other assigned duties, the lost prep time must be returned. However there are some example of situations where there would not be a requirement to have prep time returned. Please refer to this chart for some examples.

The Collective agreement states that:

Except in cases of emergency, or unforeseen similar circumstances, every full-time teacher shall be entitled to an uninterrupted meal period, of fifty-five (55) minutes duration, between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. daily, unless the majority of the teachers in a particular school and the administration responsible for that school agree to a different arrangement respecting lunch periods.

This means that activities that occur during the lunch hour are voluntary unless the clause has been waived by a vote of WTA staff. Votes are not required to take place in each building, but if there is a vote, it must happen by secret ballot. For the clause to be waived, the result of the vote must be 50% plus 1 of all WTA members in the building agreeing to waive the duty-free meal period. If no vote occurs at or near the beginning of the school year, the meal period clause remains in place.

If there are 26 WTA members in the building and a vote is held, the clause is waived ONLY if 14 members vote that they agree to waive the clause. Members may abstain from voting, and that is considered not agreeing to waive the clause or a NO vote.

Please contact the WTA office if you require further information.

If you are required to attend PD outside your normal work time you will either be paid for the time or granted compensatory time.

Admin Handbook

Part-time teachers required by the principal to attend inservices, school opening administration day or parent-teacher interviews during the day on their own time shall either be paid for the time or granted compensatory time in lieu of.

If you worked less than a full school year, or had interruptions of unpaid leave, or a change in contract, you will receive a regular payment on June 30th and a final pay adjustment on or around the third week in July.

To resign or retire at the end of December in any school year, you must provide the Division with notice by October 31 of that year.

To resign or retire at the end of June in any school year, you must provide the Division with notice by April 30 of that year.

Regular Teacher, Schedule C Contract:

This agreement continues in force, and is deemed to be renewed from year to year, until it is terminated. This agreement is terminated (a) when the teacher and the Division agree to terminate it; (b) when the teacher ceases to hold a certificate; (c) on December 31 or June 30, if one party gives the other written notice, with reasons if requested, at least two months in advance; (d) if either party gives the other two month’s written notice, in the case of an emergency affecting the welfare of the Division or the teacher; but in this case the Division may pay the teacher two month’s salary instead of giving written notice.

If a teacher suffers an on-the-job injury, the Division will pay their salary while they are absent from work up to the end of their accumulated sick time. The time a teacher is away from work as a result of an on-the-job injury is not counted against their accumulated sick time.

Please note:

The injury must have been reported.
The teacher must request their sick time to be returned by sending a letter to the Secretary-Treasurer.

(viii) When a teacher suffers an on-the-job injury and is absent from work as a result of that injury, the Division shall continue to pay the salary of that teacher during such absence, limited to the extent of the accumulated sick leave balance at the time of suffering the on-the-job injury. The period of absence from work as a consequence of the on-the-job injury shall not be charged against the accumulated sick leave balance.

For the purposes of this section, “on-the-job injury” shall be defined as follows:

A disability resulting from an accident/incident occurring on Division premises or in the course of performing duties arising out of employment under contract with the Division.

If a member is required to use their own vehicle, they will be paid an allowance according the the Division’s scale of car allowance for employees. A teacher who works in two schools in one day will be paid an allowance equal to the current Winnipeg Transit Adult bus fare. If the workload of a teacher requires them to travel between schools, their timetable is adjusted to allow for adequate travel time. Meal periods and prep times must be scheduled outside of the travel time allowed.

Allowance for Travel (a) A person covered by this Collective Agreement and who is required by the Division to use a motor vehicle will be paid an allowance in accordance with the Division’s scale of car allowance for employees. A teacher or a laboratory assistant who serves in two (2) different schools in one (1) day will be paid a trip allowance equal to the current Winnipeg Transit Adult bus fare. (b) The workload of a teacher who, as part of their duties, is required to travel between schools, shall be adjusted to reflect adequate time for travelling, exclusive of lunch and preparation time.

If the teacher has taught for two full consecutive years for the Division under this form of agreement (Limited Term Teacher – Winnipeg School Division), and accepts employment as a teacher for the Division for a third full consecutive year, (a) in that third year, the teacher will be employed under a Regular Teacher – Winnipeg School Division agreement; and (b) those two full years of service under this form of agreement (Limited Term Teacher) will be deemed, for the purposes of accumulating unused sick leave and determining length of service as a teacher, to have been completed under that Regular Teacher

Please note that this is not the only way a teacher can secure a permanent contract. It is however the process that is laid out specifically to ensure that term teachers are able to be converted to permanent after a period of term contract work.

The intention sheet is simply a method to identify what options you might be considering for the next school year.  Intention sheets usually have options like:

• I want to continue in the same job assignment.
• I would like to be considered for different position at this school.
• I am interesting in transferring schools.
• I am planning to retire or resign.

It is important to note that this form is a tool used by school administrators to facilitate the staffing process.  It is not binding on anyone and it does not preclude anyone from participating in the staffing process after completion.

Here are some things you need to know:

• If you are still working and wish to be considered for the sub list upon retirement, you can indicate that in the letter you send to the Division when you give notice of your intent to retire.  The deadline to submit this letter is October 31 for retirement at the end of December and April 30 for retirement at the end of June
• If you have retired in the last year, you can send a letter to the Division indicating that you wish to be considered for the sub list.  No further documentation is required.
• If you have been retired longer than one year, you must complete a new application but are not required to submit copies of transcripts.  You will also need a new Criminal Record Check and Child Abuse Registry check.

PLEASE NOTE:  At no time is a retired teacher guaranteed placement on the substitute list.  The Division will consider retirees for the sub list but are in no way obligated to place a retired teacher on the list.