The Department of Human Resources recently reviewed a number of processes.

The processes reviewed surround leave without pay for the purposes of personal, maternity, parental and adoption leave greater than 30 days. As a result, the department has made a number of changes.

“In conducting our review of the leave without pay processes, we looked at ways improvements could be made,” said Stephen Dodge, director, Human Resources. “A couple of the key areas we reviewed were the process for requesting and approving leave without pay and the requirement for individuals to continue contributing to the group insurance plans and the Memorial Pension Plan while on leave.

“Both of these processes are among the changes that have been made to better accommodate employees and give them flexibility in determining their particular needs,” added Mr. Dodge.

The changes are as follows:

• For periods of maternity, parental and adoption leave greater than 30 days, employees (with the exception of faculty and NAPE 7850 members at the Marine Institute) now have the option of choosing whether they wish to continue paying into the group insurance plans and the Memorial Pension Plan during their leave period. In addition, for these types of leave, employees may choose which particular group insurance plans they want to continue (health, dental, life, long-term disability and accidental death and dismemberment). Any or all of these plans can be continued for periods of leave greater that 30 days.
• The payment period for employees on leave who wish to continue paying into group insurance and/or the Memorial Pension Plan has changed from biweekly to monthly payments.
• Employees who decide to continue paying into either group insurance and/or the Memorial Pension Plan will be contacted by a MyHR consultant who will calculate the payments required.
• A leave without pay request form has been developed that replaces the requirement for an employee to write a letter to their dean or director requesting leave. Employees can print this form from the HR Employee Forms listing in the mun.ca portal under the Employees tab. Employees will need to complete the form, include their options for group insurance continuation and pension plan participation, sign and date the form, and give it to the individual in their unit who has authority for approving. This individual is then responsible for forwarding it to MyHR for processing.

“These changes improve the process for requesting and approving leave for all involved and empower staff to make their own decisions around group insurance continuation and pension plan participation during leave periods,” said Jennine Loder, manager, MyHR and HR technology. “This is something employees have been requesting and we are happy to be able to improve the process.”

The above changes are effective immediately and do not impact requests for sick leave without pay. For more information, please contact MyHR by calling 709-864-2434 or email myhr@mun.ca.