Covenant Health Collective Agreement 2020-2024

Article 35: Court Appearance

1. When an Employee, as a result of their duties, is summoned or subpoenaed as a witness or defendant to appear in court or other legal proceeding, they shall be:

   1. During Vacation
      
      Paid overtime for time attending court in accordance with the provisions of Article 12. Minimum pay will be two (2) hours at the applicable overtime rate. All necessary and reasonable travel expenses incurred by an Employee who is required to return from vacation to serve as a witness shall be reimbursed by the Employer. These expenses shall include necessary food and lodging and travel expenses incurred for the Employee’s return from and back to the vacation destination. However, in order to qualify an Employee must advise the Employer in writing immediately when they are made aware of any witness duty or other work-related duty which requires their attendance during their annual vacation. Where an Employee qualifies as outlined above, extra time shall be permitted in their vacation equal to the number of vacation days lost due to court obligations.

   2. During Regularly Scheduled Days Off
      
      Paid overtime for time attending court in accordance with the provisions of Article 12. Minimum pay will be two (2) hours at the applicable overtime rate. 

   3. During Day Shifts
      
      Paid at their basic hourly rate. Employees are required to report for work at their regularly scheduled start time, attend court as required, and return to work following their court appearance.

   4. Court on the Day of an Evening Shift
      
      The Employee shall be granted a leave of absence for those scheduled shift(s) so missed and suffer no loss of earnings.

   5. Morning Court, Afternoon Court or Full Day Court Between Night Shifts
      
      The Employee shall be granted a leave of absence with pay commencing eight (8) hours prior to court time. The Employee will not receive any other pay consideration for attending the morning, afternoon or full day court. The Employee will be given eight (8) hours of rest prior to attending their regularly scheduled night shift provided the Employer is notified prior to fourteen hundred (1400) hours. The Employee shall suffer no loss of regular pay when this occurs. For the purpose of this article the rest period shall commence when the Employee is dismissed from court.

   6. Court After Last Night Shift
      
      The Employee shall be granted a leave of absence with pay commencing eight (8) hours prior to the court start time. The Employee will not receive any other pay consideration for attending the morning, afternoon or full day court. 

2. When an Employee, as a result of their duties, is summoned or subpoenaed as a witness or defendant to appear in court or other legal proceeding, they will notify the Employer as soon as possible.

3. When a Casual Employee, as a result of their duties, is summoned or subpoenaed as a witness or defendant to appear in court or other legal proceeding, they shall be paid at their Basic Rate of Pay for such appearance.

4. Any monies received by the Employee from the court shall be remitted to the Employer.

5. In the event an Employee is required to appear before a court of law as a member of a jury, or for the purpose of jury selection, the Employee shall:

   1. notify the Employer as soon as notice is received;

   2. suffer no loss of regular earnings for the scheduled time so missed;

   3. be paid at their Basic Rate of Pay for the hours of attendance at court on their scheduled day(s) of rest, and be granted an alternate day(s) of rest as scheduled by the Employer. Such rescheduling of the day of rest shall not be construed as a violation of the scheduling provisions of Article 10.

   For the purpose of this Article, a day is defined as the length of an Employee’s average work day based on their annual hours of work to a maximum of twelve (12) hours duration. 

6. Where the Employee is required by law to appear before a court of law or other legal proceeding for reasons other than those stated in Article 35.01 and 35.05 above, they shall be granted a leave of absence without pay.