If you are ill or injured, your first priority is getting better. UBC has many benefits in place to offer peace of mind and to give you access to time off work, health care and other support as you return to work.

Here’s what you need to know:

• You are eligible for paid short-term sick leave to recover from an illness or injury. Your employee group determines the number of days off you are allowed each year for sick leave.
• If you are injured on the job and need to take time off work, you will need to report your injury and submit a WorkSafeBC claim. See the WorkSafeBC Claims page for more details.
• You may qualify for long-term disability leave if you are on a short-term sick leave or medical leave for an extended period of time (of around six months for most employee groups). This will provide you with a monthly income based on a percentage of your salary.
• UBC’s Return to Work program offers support to help you make a successful transition back to work after a medical leave.
• You can still access your regular UBC benefits while you are on short-term or long-term leave.
• Counselling and support are always available through our Employee and Family Assistance Program.

Paid sick leave

If you are sick, contact your supervisor right away to let them know that you can’t come into work that day. The employee group you belong to determines the number of sick days you can take each year, and whether you can take days off to look after ill family members or attend doctor’s appointments.

Unpaid sick leave

If you use up all of your paid sick leave days and are still unable to return to work, you should apply for an unpaid sick (medical) leave.

Long-term disability

If you are on short-term sick leave or medical leave and unable to work for six months or more due to illness or injury, you may qualify for long-term disability. This will provide you with a monthly income based on a percentage of your regular salary. (Some employee groups have different waiting periods than six months before they qualify for long-term disability; for example, the waiting period for faculty is 26 weeks and the waiting period for CUPE 2950 is four months).

If you are in the third month of your absence (second month for CUPE 2950) from work due to illness or injury and it does not seem that you will be able to make a full return to work, you should apply for long-term disability. Start the process by sending an email to disabilityclaims.info@ubc.ca to learn how to apply for benefits and to obtain the application forms you’ll need.

If you have further questions, please Contact the Benefits team

Return to work programs

After a disabling accident or illness, many people return to work gradually. The Return to Work Program (Vancouver campus) or the Work Reintegration and Accommodation Program (WRAP) (Okanagan campus) can help to coordinate your return.

While you are gradually increasing your work activity, and being paid for the time you work, your long-term disability benefit payment will be replaced with a rehabilitative subsidy. Your net income will increase as the amount you work also increases. The combination of your rehabilitative subsidy plus your net salary will not be greater than your pre-disability net earnings when your total or partial disability began.

Benefit coverage while on sick leave or long-term disability leave

You are still covered under your UBC Benefits Plan while you are on a paid short-term sick leave. If you are on a long-term disability leave, UBC will pay both the employer and employee portions of any premiums for any benefits you were enrolled in as of your date of disability (excluding staff pension).

Staff Pension Plan while on Long-Term Disability Leave

If you are receiving DBP benefit payments, you will no longer accrue pensionable service unless you contribute both the employer and employee portion to the Staff Pension Plan. Since this may or may not be to your advantage, contact the UBC Staff Pension Office to discuss your options. However, if you were approved for DBP benefits before July 1, 2009, you will continue to accrue pensionable service without being required to contribute to the Staff Pension Plan.

Faculty Pension Plan while on Long-Term Disability Leave

While you are receiving IRP benefit payments, the Income Replacement Plan will continue to make monthly contributions to your Faculty Pension Plan equal to 15% of your gross pre-disability monthly earnings. You are unable to make additional contributions.

If you are on unpaid medical leave, you are required to pay the full cost of benefit premiums and contributions if you wish to continue your benefits coverage.

Access to EFAP and counselling

You may want to seek emotional support to help you deal with your illness or injury. You can speak with a counsellor and receive support through the Employee and Family Assistance Plan (EFAP). UBC’s EFAP provider, GreenShield Health, offers confidential and voluntary counselling support that is available in-person and by phone, web or mobile app. In addition to counselling, there are a variety of  Work, life, and health services that can assist you in areas of family, financial and legal support.

Dependent children are covered by your UBC benefits plan if they are under 19. In some cases, your children between the ages of 19 and 25 can also continue to receive coverage through your UBC plan. 

Eligibility details

Your dependent child may continue to receive coverage through your UBC Benefits Plan between the ages of 19 and 25 (coverage expires on the last day of their birth month) in the following circumstances: 

• Your child can continue to receive coverage under your plan if they are enrolled in post-secondary studies and meet other eligibility criteria. 
• Your child may also continue to receive coverage under your plan if they are disabled under certain conditions.
• Depending on your employee group, your dependent child may be eligible to have some or all of the costs for their tuition at UBC waived.

Learn more about how we define a dependent child.

Login to Workday

For Workday resources and help visit the Integrated Service Centre.

Is your child enrolled in post-secondary education?

Your child between the ages of 19 and 25 is eligible for coverage through your UBC benefits plan if they are:

• not married or in any formal union recognized by law, and
• a full-time student attending an educational institution recognized under the Income Tax Act (Canada), and
• entirely dependent on you for financial support.

After your child turns 25 they will no longer be eligible, and their coverage under your UBC benefits plan will end on the last day of their birth month. (E.g., If they are born on March 1, they will have coverage until March 31). 

Confirm your child’s status as a student

You will need to confirm that your child is a student for them to continue receiving coverage under your benefits plan. Confirmation is required annually and is done in Workday. 

If your child takes a break from their studies that is not a summer break (non-summer break), they are not considered a full-time student and coverage will be cancelled. When they resume full-time studies, you can reinstate their coverage.

If your child is on approved medical leave from their school, coverage may continue during the approved leave if you provide supporting documentation from the school approving the leave.

If there are any changes (for example, your child takes a non-summer break from their studies, graduates earlier than originally indicated or changes plans and will not return to school), it is your responsibility to make the appropriate change in Workday. For more information please visit Making enrolment changes page.  

What if my child is studying abroad? Are they still covered?

Your child is still covered by your benefit plan if they meet the eligibility criteria described above. 

Is my child still covered by my benefit plan if they are 25 or older?

Once your child is over the age of 25, they are no longer eligible for dependent coverage under your UBC benefits plan. Their coverage will end at the end of the month they turn 25. The only exception to this is if Sun Life approved lifetime coverage for your child for their disabled status (see below).

Is your child disabled?

Your child is eligible for coverage through your UBC benefits plan if they:

• become disabled before age 19; or become disabled between the ages of 19 and 25 and they are a full-time student attending an educational institution recognized under the Income Tax Act (Canada), and
• are not married or in any formal union recognized by law, and
• are incapable of financial self-support because of a physical or mental disability, and
• are entirely dependent on you for financial support.

If your child becomes disabled after age 25, they are not eligible to apply for disability status.

Confirm your child’s disability status

For your disabled child to continue to receive coverage under UBC benefits plan after the age of 19, you must submit a form to Sun Life and Sun Life must approve your child’s disabled status.

You must confirm your child’s disability status in Workday. Once your enrollment is submitted you will receive Sun Life’s form and a Workday action item with next steps. 

You must submit Sun Life’s application form within 31 days of your child’s coverage ending (for example, if they are turning age 19 and not attending a post-secondary institution). If Sun Life approves your child’s disabled child status, your child can continue as a dependent under your Extended Health and Dental plans for as long as Sun Life has approved coverage (in some cases Sun Life will approve lifetime coverage). This also applies to your child’s coverage under the Employee and Family Assistance Program. MSP will set up your child with an individual account.

Optional life insurance and your dependent child

If you have Optional Life Insurance coverage, your dependent child will also receive coverage at no charge to you. For each $25,000 unit of coverage you purchase for yourself, you will receive $5,000 of coverage for each dependent child. Once your child no longer meets the definition of dependent child, they will no longer have optional life insurance coverage.

Tuition Waivers for dependent children

If you are an eligible staff member, you may transfer up to 12 undergraduate credits from your Tuition Fee Waiver to your dependent child. If you are an eligible faculty member, your child is eligible for tuition waivers equal to 120 undergraduate credits, which is equivalent to the credit requirements of an undergraduate degree.

Once your child no longer meets the definition of dependent child, they are no longer eligible for tuition waivers.

Birth or adoption

Becoming a parent is an exciting life transition. You may be eligible for a maternity, parental or adoptive parent leave to look after your new child. You’ll also want to consider making changes to your benefits now that you have a child.

Here’s a summary of what you need to know:

• You are eligible for an unpaid leave as the birth or adoptive parent.
• If you meet eligibility rules, you can apply for Employment Insurance maternity or parental benefits, which will provide you with a certain percentage of your pre-leave earnings to a maximum amount. Some UBC employee groups are eligible for a top-up benefit to bring their earnings while on leave closer to their pre-leave salary for a specified period of time.
• You will need to decide whether to maintain your benefit coverage and pension contributions while you are on leave.
• You may want to add your child to your UBC benefit coverage.
• You may want to change the beneficiary information on your UBC life insurance.
• If you have Optional Life Insurance coverage through UBC, for each $25,000 unit of optional life insurance coverage you purchase for yourself, you will receive $5,000 of coverage for each dependent child at no extra charge.
• UBC has some childcare options you may want to consider for when you return to work.

What leaves and benefits am I eligible for?

You are entitled to take time off work to look after your new child. These leaves include:

• an unpaid maternity leave of up to 17 weeks, if you are the pregnant employee, which can be combined with an unpaid parental leave of up to 61 weeks to extend your total time off work to up to 78 weeks,
• an unpaid parental leave of up to 62 weeks if you are a birth parent,
• an unpaid adoption leave of up to 62 weeks for an adopting parent, and
• a pre-placement adoption paid leave of up to 20 days if you are an Administrative Executive, CUPE 2278, CUPE 2950 or Management & Professional employee.

Maternity, parental and adoption leaves are unpaid. However, when you apply for a maternity, parental or adoption leave, you can also apply for Employment Insurance (EI) maternity or parental benefits from Employment and Social Development Canada that are administered by Service Canada.

If you meet EI’s eligibility rules for benefits, you will receive EI benefits if you are a pregnant employee, birth parent or adopting parent. The payment is generally around 55% of your pre-leave earnings up to a specific maximum amount.

Some employee groups are also eligible for Supplementary Employment Benefits that can be used to top up your EI benefit payments to 75% or 95% of your pre-leave salary for a specified period of time.

If you are planning to take a maternity, parental or adoption leave, you will need to:

• notify your supervisor of the start and end dates of your leave (ideally at least four weeks ahead of the start date of your leave),
• apply for the EI maternity or parental benefit through Service Canada,
• apply for Supplementary Employment Benefits if this benefit is available to your employee group, and
• decide whether to maintain your benefit coverage and pension contributions. See Benefits Coverage while on a Leave for more information.

Learn more about all these steps in the Maternity, Parental and Adoption Leave page.

How can I add my child to my benefits?

Extended Health, Dental and Employee and Family Assistance Program

If you are enrolled in the Extended Health, Dental and Employee and Family Assistance Program through UBC, you can add your new dependent in Workday. For more information visit Making Enrolment Changes page. 

How do I change my life insurance beneficiary?

If you would like to change the beneficiary on your life insurance (Basic and/or Optional Life), you can do this in Workday. For more information visit Making Enrolment Changes page. 

Pension

If you are enrolled in the UBC Staff Pension Plan

Visit Naming a Beneficiary page to review relevant information. 

If you are enrolled in the UBC Faculty Pension Plan

Visit Designating your Beneficiary page to review relevant information.

Is my child covered by my optional life insurance?

If you have enrolled in UBC’s optional Life Insurance plan, for each $25,000 unit of optional life insurance coverage you purchase for yourself, you will receive $5,000 of coverage for each dependent child at no extra charge. See the Optional Life Insurance page for more information.

What childcare services are available to staff and faculty?

Contact UBC Childcare Services for information.

UBC is organized into a number of staff and faculty employee groups with terms and conditions of employment specific to each group.

See below for the Collective Agreements and terms and conditions of employment, and related information for each of these groups.

If you are married or are in a common-law relationship, you may want to add your spouse or partner to your benefit coverage. This means that your spouse or partner will be able to receive coverage for many benefits offered through UBC, including health benefits.

Summary of what you need to know

• If you are changing your name after getting married, you’ll need to let us know.
• You may want to enrol your spouse or partner in UBC benefits.
• You may want to add your spouse or partner as your life insurance beneficiary.
• Your spouse or partner is automatically the designated beneficiary of your pension benefit.

How do I let UBC know about my name change?

If you change your legal name after your marriage, you need to let us know by by changing your name in Workday. You will need to upload supporting documentation including a copy of your marriage certificate and Social Insurance Card showing your new name.

Once your name is changed in Workday, it will automatically be updated with Sun Life after 3-5 business days (for your extended health and dental benefits), as well as the UBC Staff or Faculty Pension Plan.

Please also notify your Department Administrator of your name change.

Login to Workday

For Workday resources and help visit the Integrated Service Centre.

What UBC benefits are available to my spouse or partner?

Your spouse or partner, if eligible, can enrol as your dependent in the following benefits:

• Extended Health benefits,
• Dental benefits, and
• the Employee and Family Assistance Program.

If you are eligible for Basic Life insurance, your spouse can also apply for UBC’s Optional Life Insurance and Optional Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance. All applications are subject to approval by the insurer, Sun Life.

If you are eligible as part of your employee group, you may transfer up to 12 UBC undergraduate credits to your spouse under your Tuition Fee Waiver.

How can I add my spouse or partner to my benefit plan?

MSP

You may want to add your spouse or partner to your MSP coverage. Information on how to add a dependent to your MSP coverage is available through the Medical Services Plan website.

Extended Health/Dental

You may want to add your spouse or partner to your extended health and dental coverage. Depending on your employee group, there may be a monthly cost to you for this benefit. Learn about premium rates for your employee group.

You can add your spouse or partner to your extended health and dental coverage in Workday. For more information about adding your spouse or partner refer to Making enrolment changes page. 

If you enrol your spouse or partner as your dependent and they do the same for you under their employer plan, you may be able to receive up to 100% reimbursement for your medical and dental claims by coordinating your benefits claims between benefits plans.

Employee and Family Assistance Program

All eligible UBC employees are automatically enrolled in EFAP.  You can add your spouse or partner to the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) in Workday. There is no additional cost to you to add a dependent.

For more information about adding your spouse or partner refer to Making enrolment changes page. 

How do I name my spouse or partner the beneficiary of my life insurance?

You may want to name your spouse or partner as the beneficiary on your life insurance through UBC (Basic and/or Optional Life). You can do this in Workday. For more information visit Making enrolment changes page.

What about my pension?

Under the provincial Pension Benefits Standards Act, there are specific regulations defining your spouse’s rights to your pension. Please contact the UBC Pension Administration Office for more information.

Some of the first things you’ll need to do when you arrive are to make sure that you and your family have health care coverage to cover the cost of medical services, and to enrol in UBC benefits, payroll and pension.

• As soon as you arrive in BC, apply for Medical Services Plan (MSP), the province’s medical plan.
• Since you will be required to serve a waiting period before your MSP coverage starts, arrange for private medical insurance if you are arriving in BC from outside Canada. If you are coming to BC from another Canadian province or territory, you will be covered by your former provincial medical plan during the waiting period.
• Apply for your UBC benefits, payroll and pension.

What is the BC Medical Services Plan?

In Canada, the cost of medically necessary physician and hospital services is covered by the public medical plan in the province where you live. In British Columbia, this plan is called the British Columbia Medical Services Plan (MSP).

All BC residents must enrol in the MSP. This includes:

• non-permanent residents, such as those holding study and work permits valid for six months or more, and
• applicants for permanent resident status who are the spouse or child of an eligible BC resident.

Learn more about the MSP and private medical coverage while serving the MSP waiting period. 

Note: You can read more about these topics below, but here’s a summary of what you need to do:

How do I enrol in UBC payroll, pension and benefits?

Your appointment type, length and percentage of time worked will determine your eligibility for pension and benefits at UBC. If you are eligible, the full benefits package includes:

• Extended Health
• Dental Care
• Employee and Family Assistance Program
• Basic Life Insurance
• Optional Life Insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
• Income Replacement Plan/Disability Benefit Plan
• Staff or Faculty Pension Plan

Learn more about how to enrol for benefits.

Questions?

Contact benefitsinfo@hr.ubc.ca 

Are you covered by more than one benefit plan?

UBC’s Extended Health and Dental plans allow for double coverage. This means that if you are covered under your spouse’s plan, you can also enrol in the UBC Extended Health and Dental plans if your spouse’s plan also allows for double coverage.

If you are covered under another Extended Health and Dental benefits plan in addition to the UBC plan (for example, through your spouse’s plan), you can submit expenses under both plans to maximize your reimbursement.

This means that if your plan does not cover the full costs of service, you can submit a claim for the unpaid amount to the second benefit plan to claim any amount not covered by the first plan.

This is called coordinating your claims and there are rules for the order in which claims are paid.

How to coordinate a claim submission when you are enrolled in two plans

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association has established guidelines for how to coordinate claims to ensure claims are charged to the correct benefit plan. The order of claims submission is outlined below.

Submit claims for you and your spouse in the following order

• The plan where the person is covered as an employee. If the person is an employee under more than one plan, the following order applies:
• the plan where the person is covered as an active full-time employee
• the plan where the person is covered as an active part-time employee
• the plan where the person is covered as a retiree.
• The plan where the person is covered as a dependent (for example, if you are covered as a dependent under your spouse’s plan).

Submit claims for a dependent child in the following order:

• The plan where the dependent child is covered as an employee.
• The plan where the dependent child is covered under a student health or dental plan provided through an educational institution.
• The plan of the parent with the earlier birth date (month and day) in the calendar year. For example, if your birthday is May 1 and your spouse’s birthday is June 5, you must claim under your plan first.
• The plan of the parent whose first name begins with the earlier letter in the alphabet, if the parents have the same birth date.

In situations of separation/divorce and there is no joint custody of the child, please refer to your Sun Life Benefits Booklet for the order of claims submission standards. You can download a copy of the Sun Life Benefits Booklet that applies to your employee group.

How do I submit my claim?

Remember to make copies of your receipts before you submit a claim.

Submitting a paper claim

• Print the applicable claim form.
• Check the ‘yes’ box on Section 2 of your paper claim form to indicate that you are also a member of another benefit plan.
• If the second benefit plan is with Sun Life, Sun Life will process the claim under both benefit plans using a single claim form.
• If the second benefit plan is not with Sun Life, refer to the guidelines above to determine which plan the claim should be submitted to first.
• If the UBC plan is the first plan, complete the claim form as you normally would. Attach a copy of the Sun Life Claim Statement to the claim form of the second benefit plan, so that the other plan knows the value of the unpaid balance.
• If the UBC plan is the second plan, attach a copy of the Claim Statement from the other plan so that Sun Life knows the value of the unpaid balance.

Submitting a claim online

You can complete a claim online through mysunlife.ca or using the Sun Life mobile app (only certain claims may be submitted over the website or mobile app). See Submitting an Extended Health or Dental claim online to see what types of claims may be submitted online.

• If both plans are with Sun Life and the claim is eligible for online submission, you can submit your claim online with one single transaction.
  • Indicate that you want to submit a Coordination of Benefits claim and that you want to submit the unpaid balance to your spouse’s plan. You will need to include the name of your spouse’s policy and certificate numbers, as well as their date of birth.
• If the second benefit plan is not with Sun Life, refer to the guidelines above to determine which plan the claim should be submitted to first.
  • If the UBC plan is the first plan, submit your claim online as you normally would. Print a copy of the Sun Life Claim Statement and attach it to the claim form of the other benefit plan, so that the other plan knows the value of the unpaid balance.
  • If the UBC plan is the second plan, submit your claim online for the unpaid balance. Indicate that you want to submit a Coordination of Benefits claim and that you do not want to submit the unpaid balance to your spouse’s plan. Mark that you want to submit the unpaid balance to Sun Life and fill in the amount that the other plan reimbursed you for on the claims information page. You can find this amount on the Claim Statement received from the other plan (be sure to keep a copy of this Statement in case Sun Life audits your claim).

Claims submitted directly by your dentist or healthcare provider

In some cases, your healthcare provider may submit the claim on your behalf when they provide treatment or service. This can include prescription drug claims (when you use your Sun Life pay-direct drug card), claims for dental services as well as vision care and paramedical services if your provider is registered with Express Scripts Canada, in which case your healthcare provider will submit the claim on your behalf.

For prescription drug claims, provide the pharmacist with the details of both benefit plans so the pharmacist can send the claim to both plans in the right order. If both you and your spouse have drug cards under your individual benefit plans, the pharmacist can coordinate your benefits right at the pharmacy counter.

You will need to provide your dental office with the details of both your benefit plans so the office can send claims to both plans in the right order.

If you no longer wish to coordinate your claims

Inform Sun Life (1-800-361-6212) if you are no longer coordinating your extended health and dental benefits. If you do not inform Sun Life of the change, Sun Life may delay processing your claims. Note that UBC does not collect or report coordination of benefits information to Sun Life.

The Retirement and Survivor Benefits (RSB) Program is for former UBC faculty and staff who have retired or who left UBC at age 55 or older. 

The RSB Program also provides benefits to eligible surviving family of UBC faculty and staff.

Quicklinks:

• RSB Policy/Contract Number: 020605
• RSB Claims
• RSB Forms
• Sun Life RSB Policy Booklet

About RSB

If you are 55 or older when you retire or leave your employment at UBC, you can choose to participate in the Retirement and Survivor Benefits (RSB) Program. The RSB Program also provides benefits to eligible surviving family of UBC faculty and staff.

The RSB Program includes three benefit plans:

• Extended Health
• Dental
• Employee & Family Assistance Program

You can enrol in one or more of these plans. The coverage offered by these plans is not the same as the benefits offered to current UBC employees. For example, the cost of vision care is not covered under the RSB Program, and the reimbursement level for some services and supplies is different.

Enrolment deadline

If you want to enrol in the RSB Program, you must do so within 31 days of:

• retiring or leaving your employment at UBC and/or
• the end of your coverage under the UBC Benefit plans if you are a surviving dependent of a UBC employee.

If you do not enrol in the RSB Program within this time frame, you will not be able to join at a later date.

Deciding if the RSB Program is right for you

Enroling in the RSB Program when you leave your employment at UBC after the age of 55 is an optional, one-time opportunity.

You might find it useful in your decision-making process to:

• consider the cost of the plan,
• assess the benefit coverage offered by the plan,
• examine your past experience with medical and dental expenses,
• forecast your future medical and dental expenses,
• speak with your financial advisor, and
• check for competitive rates and coverage with other providers of private medical and dental coverage.

Learn more

Learn more about:

• How the RSB Plan compares to your benefit coverage as a current UBC employee
• Eligibility
• How much it costs
• What benefits are covered
• How to enrol
• How to make a claim
• How to make changes to your plan
• How to leave the plan
• Frequently asked questions

If you are retiring from UBC, please visit our Retirement section for more information.

If you are travelling for work or a holiday, it’s important to know about your medical benefits coverage while you are out of the province.

This section provides important information and links to resources to help you understand your benefit coverage (including what’s not covered) while travelling outside of BC. You will also find details on who to contact for assistance in the event of a medical emergency.

Click on one of the following links for information about your benefits coverage when travelling:

• Being Prepared Before, During, and After Your Trip
• Emergency Medical Coverage
• Benefits Coverage While Travelling for Leisure or Work
• Travel Advisory Information
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Benefits Coverage for Dependent Children Studying Outside BC or Canada

Travel benefits disclaimer

Disclaimer: This outline is for information purposes only and is a descriptive outline of the plans described; it is not a contract. UBC does not warrant the completeness, timeliness or accuracy of any of the information contained in this web site. Plan terms and conditions are governed by policy contract numbers 025205, 023218, 050555-G, 100328, 100768 and 51075 with Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada and Policy #920137 with AXA Insurance Inc. In the event of a discrepancy between the information provided on this web site and these policy contracts, benefits will be paid in accordance with the policy contracts.

Any information on the Medical Service Plan of BC (MSP) is a descriptive outline only; UBC is not responsible for the terms and provisions of this plan as it is administered by Health Insurance BC (BC Provincial Government). UBC does not warrant the completeness, timeliness or accuracy of any of the information contained in this web site. For further information, please refer to MSP website.

You must be registered and enrolled the benefit plans to receive the coverage under the plans. Coverage under some of the UBC benefit plans is not automatic. It is the sole responsibility of the traveller to ensure that they are enrolled in the UBC plans and have appropriate coverage in place based on their personal circumstances and their travel destination.

UBC offers many different types of paid and unpaid leaves – from time off for professional development to a leave to look after a critically or terminally ill family member. The links below provide information about the leaves available to you and how you can request the time off.

Depending on your UBC employee group and the type of leave, your UBC benefits might be affected. On some leaves, you continue to receive your UBC benefits, while for other leaves, you will need to pay both your cost and UBC’s cost to maintain your benefits. See Benefits Coverage while on a Leave for more information.

Types of leaves

• Administrative leave
• Compassionate care and family caregiving leave, to look after a terminally or critically ill family member, and bereavement leave in the case of a death of a family member
• Domestic violence leave
• Faculty: Tenure clock extension
• Faculty: Study leave
• General leave
• Indigenous leave for ceremonial, cultural and spiritual events
• Learning and professional leaves such as study leave and sabbaticals
• Leave between appointments for Sessional Lecturers 
• Leave for university and union business, including:
  • Administrative leave
  • University committee leave
  • Leave at the request of the University
  • Exchange leave
  • Union business
  • Negotiations and grievance pay provisions
  • Full-time union or public duties
• Legislative sick leave, applies to certain employees at UBC 
• Maternity, parental and adoption leave, including pre-placement adoption leave
• Paid sick leave, including time off for medical/dental appointments and looking after a sick family member
• Personal leaves, including:
  • Jury duty or court witness duty
  • Special leave
  • Personal emergency leave
  • Citizenship leave
  • Military leave
  • Leave to take political office
  • Public Duties
  • Religious and Cultural Observance
• Unpaid sick leave, if you use up all of your paid sick leave days and are unable to return to work
• Vacation, including long service recognition
• Winter leave, Some employees are eligible for paid leave over the Winter holidays, between Christmas/Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.