A BC arbitrator has made two important rulings in a case between the BC Public School Employers’ Association and the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF). Arbitrator James Dorsey rejected BCTF’s argument that a teacher is insulated from layoff at the moment he or she becomes entitled to a leave of absence. He ruled that school boards can give valid notice of layoff to an employee who has applied for and is entitled to a leave of absence. If the leave has not commenced at the effective date of layoff, the entitlement to future leave does not insulate the teacher from participation in the reorganization process of which notices of layoff are a part. If a teacher applies for leave of absence after receiving layoff notice, he or she is not insulated from layoff except in the case of pregnancy leave, parental leave, long-term medical leave, workers compensation leave and other leave due to incapacitation. In those exceptional circumstances, the employee is insulated from layoff for the period of the leave, but layoff becomes effective upon return from leave.
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