^{Frequently Asked Questions} You’ve Got Questions and We’ve Got Answers

Vacation (Article 20)

You are entitled to twenty (20) days of paid vacation time per Appointment Year. Such vacation shall be pro-rated for part-time Resident Physicians.
The Appointment Year differs from the Academic Year if it has been extended for any leaves of absence such as maternity leave.

Applications for vacation shall be made in writing to the Program Director or designate a minimum of eight (8) weeks in advance of the Block in which the vacation is requested.

Resident Physicians shall not be scheduled for On-call duties or shifts on one (1) of the weekends immediately prior to or following five (5) consecutive weekdays of vacation. The weekend off should be in the same block as the vacation request unless otherwise requested by the resident physician.

You will be using less vacation day/days that can be used at another time.

Vacation does not carry over to the next academic year. Any unused vacation that was requested in writing and denied or cancelled to meet critical service needs, will be paid out.
Unless there are extenuating circumstances for individual situations, vacation payouts will not be approved if there is no record of the vacation being requested and denied or cancelled by AHS to meet critical service needs.

Yes. If a mutually agreed upon time between the resident physician and the Program Director cannot be identified, the Program Director is responsible for scheduling the vacation. Reasonable effort needs to be made to accommodate the resident physician’s request; however, there is no guarantee the desired time off will be granted. It is recommended that the resident physician request the time as soon as possible explaining the reasons for the request (if it is essential to get the time off).

• has been scheduled PARA Business
• Maternity/Parental Leave
• Educational Leave
• Exam Leave
• Study Leave
• Special Leave
• Compassionate Leave
• Bereavement Leave
• Sick Leave
• Named Holidays
• Winter Break
• Personal days
• Weekdays where no shift is scheduled

What are the Named holidays? (see Article 21.01(a))

You are entitled to time off with pay for the following Named Holidays:
• Family Day
• Good Friday
• Victoria Day
• Canada Day
• Heritage Day
• Labour Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Remembrance Day
• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

And any day proclaimed to be a holiday by the Government of Canada, the Province of Alberta or the government of the municipality as a civic holiday for the applicable municipal community. (E.g. National Day for Truth and Reconciliation)

These days are no longer considered Named Holidays as they are accounted for as part of the Winter Break.
• New Year’s Day
• Christmas Day
• Boxing Day

If you are scheduled to and commence work on a Named Holiday, you are entitled to a paid day in lieu. This work includes on-call duty hours and shift-based duty hours. The day in lieu is to be scheduled during the same rotation at the time the call schedule is made. In the event that the day in lieu cannot be scheduled during the same rotation, it will be added to your vacation allotment.
It should be noted that working into a Named Holiday does not qualify for a day in lieu. The personal days provided to resident physicians take into account the times when an individual works on the day preceding a Named Holiday finishing the shift on the Named Holiday.

For any named holidays that fall on the weekend, you can refer to the AHS payroll calendar (located in ePeople), which stipulates the designated day in lieu.
This means that if you are scheduled to commence work on a designated day in lieu, you are eligible to receive a different day in lieu. The day in lieu should be scheduled within the same rotation; in the event that it cannot be scheduled during the same rotation, it will be added to your vacation allotment.

Resident physicians do not get a day in lieu if their call shift extends into a Named holiday – only if it starts on a Named Holiday.
In recognition of working into Named Holidays, all Resident Physicians are entitled to four (4) personal days off each Appointment Year without loss of pay. These personal days are not part of the vacation entitlement. Personal days do not carry forward.