Principle

Overview 

The Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) program at Memorial University of Newfoundland (Memorial) and the Regional Health Authorities are committed to the health and wellness of residents during their medical training. Accordingly, it is recognized that residents require time away from service for personal and/or professional reasons to establish and preserve a work-life balance. This document aligns with the leave stipulations outlined in the Professional Association of Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador (PARNL) Collective Agreement.

Purpose

To direct residents and their residency programs with the appropriate and equitable management of leave requests that do not negatively impact patient care and service demands.

Scope

All residents completing a residency program at Memorial and the administrative offices managing resident leave.

Definitions

Leave — A leave of absence from regular day time duty hours where residents are exempted from all clinical and academic activities related to their  residency program. Types of leave include: 

• Vacation 
• Sick Leave 
• Compassionate leave 
• Family leave 
• Maternity/Parental leave 
• Professional leave (includes study leave, review  course/conference leave, and fellowship interview  leave)

Rotation (Leave Management Policy) — The training period in one (1) discipline with a specified timeline that has a set of learning objectives to be successfully completed.

Statutory Holidays — Holidays as indicated in the Professional Association of Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador (PARNL) Collective Agreement.

• New Year’s Day 
• Good Friday 
• Commonwealth Day  
• Memorial Day 
• Thanksgiving Day 
• Labour Day 
• Armistice Day 
• Christmas Day 
• Boxing Day

Time away from service — Time where a resident is not available for service, including weekends.

Working days — Regular day time duty hours from Monday to Friday, 0800 hours to 1700 hours.

Policy

In this document, the term “rotation” is used to denote a rotation, clinical block, or clinical experience.  

1.0 General Provisions 

1.1 All leave requests must be approved by the resident’s Program Director, Chief of Service, and appropriate administrative resident (or delegate). 

1.2 Residents are responsible for abiding by any service-specific guidelines regarding leave. 

1.3 It is the resident’s responsibility to complete the Leave Request Form in full, obtain all necessary signatures, and submit the completed form to the Discipline office. 

1.3.1 Residents requesting conference leave must complete the Conference Leave Request Form. 

1.3.2 Discipline offices are responsible for forwarding completed leave forms to the PGME office. 

1.4 It can be expected that vacation or professional leave requests will be denied: 

1.4.1 during the first week of any new rotation given restrictions of site and rotation orientations (please check with your service); and, 

1.4.2 for PGY1 residents during the last two (2) weeks of June or first two (2) weeks of July. 

1.5 If a leave request cannot be accommodated, the resident must be notified by the administrative resident/service in a timely fashion as to why the request cannot be granted. Alternative dates will be discussed with the resident. 

1.6 A request to modify approved leave must be submitted to the discipline office in writing for approval. 

1.6.1 Discipline offices must notify the PGME office regarding any changes made to approved leave.

1.7 If a resident is unexpectedly delayed returning to work after time away from service (e.g. cancelled/missed flight), upon their return, they are required to submit a leave request form to the residency program office for vacation time. 

1.8 Extended Leave 

1.8.1 A resident on extended leave less than six (6) months in duration or maternity/paternity leave is required to provide their discipline and the PGME office with a minimum two (2) week notice if their leave is to be extended or if they are returning to work. 

1.8.2 A resident on extended leave for greater than or equal to six (6) months in duration (except maternity/paternity leave) is required to provide their discipline and the PGME office with a minimum (4) week notice if their leave is to be extended or if they are returning to work. 

1.8.3 A resident’s return date is dependent on scheduling processes and service requirements; it may not directly align with the return to work date provided by the resident in their notice.  

2.0 Time away from service 

2.1 A rotation is considered incomplete if a resident is away from service for more than one-third of the expected time commitment for that rotation. 

2.1.1 For example, in a four (4) week rotation (twenty-eight (28) days), a resident can only be away from service for nine (9) days, which includes working days and weekends. In an eight (8) week rotation (fifty-six (56) days), a resident can only be away from service for nineteen (19) days which includes working days and weekends. 

2.2 If a resident is away from service for more than one-third of the rotation due to any combination of leaves, a status of “Incomplete” will be given for the rotation and the resident will be required to either make up the lost time or repeat the rotation in full. Please see the Resident Assessment, Promotion, Dismissal and Appeal Policy  for more information.

3.0 Vacation 

3.1 Residents are entitled to twenty (20) working days of vacation per year. 

3.1.1 Salary will not be paid in lieu of unused vacation time, nor can unused vacation time be carried over to the next academic year. 

3.1.2 Any resident who is employed for less than the full academic year will be granted vacation on a pro-rate basis. 

3.2 Residents should not assume to have the weekend off at both the beginning and end of their vacation request. Only one (1) weekend should be guaranteed to avoid putting undue call responsibilities on other residents. 

3.2.1 Requested weekends off, although not considered vacation time, is considered time away from service. 

3.3 For scheduling purposes, vacation requests should be submitted, in writing, well in advance of the requested vacation period. 

3.3.1 Residents are to contact their service to see how far in advance vacation requests must be submitted. 

3.4 No service is exempt from granting vacation; however, vacation requests may be denied if the service would be short staffed during the requested vacation time. 

3.4.1 Each service should define the minimum number of residents required for adequate patient care.  

3.5 It is strongly recommended that residents take ten (10) working days of vacation during the six (6) months before the Christmas break and during the six (6) months after the Christmas break. 

3.5.1 There is no guarantee that vacation requests can be accommodated if the majority of a resident’s vacation time is left to the last six (6) months of the academic year. 

3.6 Vacation may be deferred to accommodate periods of remediation/probation at the discretion of the PGME office in consultation with the Program Director. 

3.7 Residents requiring time off for employment interviews must use vacation time.

4.0 Fellowship Interview Leave 

4.1 Residents may take time off for fellowship/subspecialty interviews. The time of year the interviews are scheduled depends on the residency program. 

4.2 Residents are entitled to a maximum of five (5) working days off to attend interviews. 

4.2.1 If a resident requires more than five (5) days off for interviews, they can draw on unused conference leave. 

4.2.2 If the five (5) days plus conference leave is exhausted, vacation time must be utilized for any additional time off required for interviews. 

4.2.3 The amount of requested time off must be justified to the Program Director. 

4.3 A request for interview leave must be substantiated by appropriate documentation verifying the interview is taking place.

4.4 Interview leave can only be used during one (1) academic year of the resident’s program.  

4.5 Time off for interviews does not super-cede the postgraduate requirement of being present for a minimum of two-thirds of a rotation. 

5.0 Sick Leave 

5.1 Residents accrue one (1) sick leave day per month.  

5.2 Accrued sick leave can be carried over to the next academic year. Salary cannot be paid in lieu of unused sick leave.  

5.3 Sick leave must be accrued before it can be taken. 

5.4 Sick leave for residents is also governed by Regional Health Authority policies and procedures (e.g. Functional Assessment Form). 

6.0 Conference Leave 

6.1 Residents are entitled to seven (7) days additional paid leave to attend conferences, including online conferences. 

6.2 Required travel days are part of the conference leave allotment. One (1) travel day before and one (1) travel day after the conference is permitted. 

6.2.1 Travel must occur on the day directly preceding the first day of the conference and the day directly following the last day of the conference. 

6.2.2 Any additional travel days are to be taken as vacation. 

6.3 A request for conference leave must be substantiated by appropriate documentation, verifying the dates of the conference and related travel. 

6.4 Generally, conference leave cannot be used to complete online courses. 

7.0 Compassionate/Family/Maternity/Paternity Leave 

7.1 Please see the PARNL collective agreement for information regarding these types of leave. 

8.0 Statutory Holidays 

8.1 A resident who is on-call or post-call during a listed statutory holiday has the option to receive pay at the rate of time-and-a-half, or bank the day for time off in-lieu. Due to processing times, if a resident opts for pay, they cannot later convert it to time off in-lieu. 

8.1.1 When claiming a statutory holiday, residents must submit a copy of the call schedule to verify the holiday worked.

8.2 Statutory holidays that fall during an approved period of leave cannot be considered a vacation day and then claimed for pay or time off in-lieu at a later date. 

8.3 Statutory holidays banked for time off in-lieu cannot be carried over into the next academic year; however, it can be converted to pay at the request of the resident.

8.4 Christmas Break

8.4.1 Traditionally, residents receive five (5) consecutive days off during the Christmas season - either over Christmas week or New Year’s week. For all residents, the understanding of five (5) days off during this time replaces any request for payment, or time off in lieu, for working the Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day statutory holiday. 

8.4.2 Only if a minimum of three (3) consecutive days off in a row cannot be granted to a resident during the Christmas break, can a resident claim working one (1) of the statutory holidays for pay, or time off in-lieu (a call schedule must be provided as verification).

Related Documents

Resident Leave Request 

Resident Conference Leave Request

Family Medicine Residents - General Leave 

Family Medicine Residents - Conference Leave

Procedures:

There are no procedures associated with this policy.