Each month, our Advocacy Committee answers your questions about the AD 10 policies (aka, your terms and conditions of employment.)

Angela VassHello, I’m Angela Vass, Member Services Coordinator for APSA. On behalf of the committee, I’m answering a question posed by an APEX member about temporary leaves and vacations.

Questions? Submit them anonymously here. This question will be answered in a monthly advocacy corner issue. For an immediate answer, please contact us.

As a temporary staff member who does not get vacation time, what rules are there about how I can take time off using banked overtime or unpaid leave? How far in advance do I need to plan it? For unpaid leave, am I entitled to take this, and for how long? On a long temporary contract, it is simply not feasible to never take a vacation, and this also prevents me from observing my religious holidays.

Under most circumstances, temporary employees are paid 8% in lieu of vacation time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take time off. You can request time off the same way you would for vacation, but it would just be classified as leave without pay. You would speak to your supervisor to arrange the time off and the length of your leave. Your 8% in lieu should cover your time off. This time off is a break in service, but with the outcome of APSA negotiations in 2021, this should not affect your sick leave.

As far as religious observances, please get in touch with APSA so that we look at if there are ways to seek a religious accommodation. We don't encourage our members to use accrued overtime or vacation time for religious holidays.

If you would like to speak to anyone for further advice, please get in touch with the APSA office.