2007-2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement

Annual Leave

10.1. Entitlement: Full-time employees in the bargaining unit will be entitled to annual leave with full pay based on the formula given below. Each employee's entitlement shall be computed at the end of each completed month of service. Employees rendering seasonal or temporary service in excess of six (6) months, shall be entitled to annual leave at the same rate for time actually worked. Annual leave shall be cumulative for not more than the prescribed days and shall not lapse.

For employees working a 37 1/2 hour week, 1 1/4 days = 9 hours, 23 minutes; 1 1/2 days = 11 hours, 15 minutes; and 1 3/4 days = 13 hours, 8 minutes.

For all other employees, 1 1/4 days = 10 hours; 1 1/2 days = 12 hours; and 1 3/4 days = 14 hours.

*No payment for accrued but unused annual leave will be made upon separation from employment within the first twelve (12) months of employment.

10.1.1. Academic Employees: Academic employees now excluded from annual leave entitlement shall be granted personal days per annum according to the schedule below to be deducted from sick leave, such days to be noncumulative and shall not count against bonus leave accumulation. Such personal leave shall be taken in accordance with section 10.3.

10.1.2. Accounting: For purposes of utilization, leave time shall be converted to hours.

10.1.3. Seasonal Employees: Permanent seasonal employees shall be permitted to carry over six (6) annual or bonus leave days to succeeding seasonal work periods with the same agency in lieu of payment at the end of the season for those days. The maximum balance of carried days for any seasonal employee shall be ten (10) days.

10.2 Application Conflicts: Should a conflict arise between two or more employees requesting the same period of time, the Employer shall, provided all other things are equal, use departmental longevity as the method of resolving the conflict.

10.3 Application for Use:

1. The Employer agrees to accept properly executed leave applications within six (6) months of the first day of the period of leave being requested.
2. The Employer agrees to indicate approval or rejection of the requested leave within two (2) weeks after receiving a properly executed application for leave.
3. The parties agree that leave shall be granted at mutually agreeable times and the Employer agrees not to unreasonably deny leave requests.
4. To the extent possible, every employee will be afforded the opportunity to take two (2) consecutive weeks of accumulated leave at least once per calendar year. The Employer may direct employees to take at least one full calendar week of annual leave in a calendar year.
5. The Employer agrees to provide copies of leave requests to the requesting employee.

10.3.1. Advance Notice: Nothing contained in this section or under the terms of the application for leave shall be construed as preventing the Employer from granting requested leave without a notice; and further provided that an employee shall be granted leave on an emergency basis due to unforeseen circumstances. Verification of the emergency may be required by the Employer.

10.3.2. Contiguous with Civil Leave: Employees working a shift immediately prior to or after a period of time for which civil leave would be granted shall not be denied accumulated annual, compensatory, or bonus leave for that shift.

10.4. Probationary Employees: Employees with probationary and provisional appointments, unless they have permanent status, while accruing annual leave during the provisional and probationary period, shall be entitled to accrue and utilize such leave as earned with appropriate approval pursuant to section 10.3. No payment for accrued but unused annual leave will be made upon separation from employment within the first twelve (12) months of employment.

Transition: Employees who are in probationary or provisional status on the effective date of this Agreement, unless they have permanent status, shall be credited with the appropriate number of leave hours commensurate with their service and may utilize such leave with appropriate approval pursuant to section 10.3.

10.5. Payment of Annual Leave: Upon resignation, retirement, or dismissal of any employee in the bargaining unit, he/she shall receive a sum equal to the number of days of annual leave remaining to his/her credit, provided that any or all amounts may be applied to offset any amounts owed the state by the employee. In the event of death of an employee while in the bargaining unit, a sum equal to the number of days annual leave remaining shall be paid to his/her estate.

10.6. Agency Transfers: Any employee who changes from the service of one state agency to another, without a break in service, shall at the time of said change have transferred all accumulated leave to his/her credit.

10.7. Reporting: All accumulated annual leave time earned by an employee shall be calculated and reported to each employee twice a year in January and July of each year, provided further that an employee may request at reasonable times an update of his/her annual leave accumulation status.

10.8. Blood Donations and Bone Marrow Registry Testing: Full-time or regularly scheduled part-time employees shall not be unreasonably denied time off without loss of pay or leave for the purpose of making blood donations or undergoing bone marrow registry testing.

10.9. Inclement Weather: The Employer shall not arbitrarily or capriciously withhold approval of annual leave requested due to and during periods of severe inclement weather. When the Governor or his/her designee determines that inclement weather is severe enough to close or delay opening State offices, employees who are not already on leave and who are relieved of work due to such a determination, will not be charged leave for the period of closure. Employees who do report to work during periods of closure shall only be entitled to their normal rate of compensation and shall not receive additional leave or compensatory time.

10.10. Civic Duties: An employee who is late for work as a result of duties as a volunteer fire fighter or licensed ambulance attendant or licensed rescue squad attendant, shall be granted use of annual leave and/or accrued compensatory leave to cover the period of lateness, provided that performance of said duties may be verified by the Employer.

10.11. Advance of Pay: In the event that an employee is to be on annual leave for not less than two (2) calendar weeks, the employee, upon a request made at least two (2) weeks prior to his/her last work day, shall be afforded the opportunity to have his/her next regularly scheduled pay check forwarded in accordance with his/her wishes.

10.12. Leave of Absence: Any employee who requests a leave of absence without pay shall not be required to utilize and exhaust his/her annual leave prior to being granted such leave of absence.

10.13. Recall from Leave: Once an employee's annual leave has been approved, his/her leave shall not be canceled or modified for any reason, except with mutual agreement, or in the case of an emergency as defined by section 2.2.

10.14. A unit employee who has had a break in service shall be credited with prior periods of full-time state employment for leave accrual purposes if that employee's current period of full-time state employment has been three (3) or more continuous years in duration. Only prior periods of full-time state employment of two (2) or more consecutive years in duration shall be eligible for crediting.

10.15. Any full-time employee of the State who is a member of the National Guard or of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States shall be entitled to military leave when such duty is in conflict with the employee’s regular work schedule. The employee, regardless of funding source, shall be entitled to fifteen (15) days of paid military leave per training year to engage in temporary active duty when such duty is in conflict with the employee’s work schedule.

1. In time of armed conflict, members of the National Guard or Armed Forces Reserves who are assigned duties related to notification of next of kin, ceremonial or funeral details shall be released from their regular duties without loss of leave or pay. Such employees shall provide their supervisor with notice as soon as possible as to the date and expected duration of such assignments.