It is that time of year again and employees have requested advanced annual leave. Below is an explanation of how the leave roster works and some examples.

There has been some confusion about how the leave roster works, should work &/or does work; below I will try to explain, clarify, and/or refresh the topic.

The leave roster was initially set up based on seniority (service comp date) and once established the roster rotates continuously. New employees are added to the bottom of the list, transferred employees are placed in the same relative position they were in on their old office roster.

Twice a year, in February & August, employees are required to request leave for a specific 6 month period, April thru September & October thru March. Employees must request leave for the days immediately before and after a holiday and/or for a week or more.

The leave roster is only used if there are conflicts, which means that more than the allowable number of employees want the same days off.

If there is a conflict then employees are asked if they wish to use their option, if you want the time off then you must exercise your option in order to get the day(s) off. Once you exercise your option your name goes to the bottom of the leave roster & you have to work your way up again.

If less than the allowable number of employees request leave for a specific day or days there is no conflict and the leave roster is not used and it stays the way it was.

EXAMPLES:

The info below is not real, I made it up for ease of example, it is not based on any info or decision from management.

Labor Day weekend:  Holiday is Monday, 9/6/04; advance leave requests must be submitted for Friday, 9/3/04 and Tuesday, 9/7/04 thru Friday, 9/10/04.

Management has decided that 5 people can be off on 9/3/04 & 9/7/04 to 9/10, 10 employees put in leave slips. There is a conflict and the leave roster must be used.

 CURRENT LEAVE ROSTER

            MARY       9/3 & 9/7              YES TO USE OPTION

            SUSAN    9/3 thru 9/10         YES TO USE OPTION

            JIM         9/7                         NO

            JOE         9/7 thru 9/10         YES TO USE OPTION

            DAVID     9/3                         NO

            RON        9/3                          NO

            SARA      9/7                          YES TO USE OPTION

            BETH      9/7                           NO

            BOB        9/3                           NO

            JANICE   9/7                         YES TO USE OPTION

All of the names shown have put in a leave slip for the period above next to their name, so the supervisor comes to each employee & asks if they want to use their option, some say yes & some say no, ONCE YOU SAY YES YOUR NAME GOES TO THE BOTTOM OF THE LEAVE ROSTER and you get the days off you requested. Below is the way the roster will look after the options are used.

LEAVE ROSTER AFTER OPTION

            JIM

            DAVID

            RON

            BETH

            BOB

            MARY 

            SUSAN

            JOE

            SARA

            JANICE (she never moves because she is the last to exercise the option & she was

                           already at the bottom, she has nothing to lose by using her option, she

                           ends up in the same place & gets the time off).              

IT IS NOT IN AN EMPLOYEES INTEREST TO WITHDRAW A LEAVE SLIP FOR A PERIOD WHEN THE LEAVE ROSTER WILL BE USED, IF YOU WITHDRAW YOUR REQUEST YOU MAY NEVER MOVE UP ON THE LIST. BY LEAVING YOUR REQUEST IN PLACE THAT ENSURES THAT THE ROSTER WILL BE USED, IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO USE YOUR OPTION FOR THE PARTICULAR DAY(S) IN CONFLICT YOU JUST SAY NO WHEN ASKED IF YOU WANT TO USE YOUR OPTION & YOU STAY ON THE LEAVE ROSTER AT LEAST WHERE YOU ARE, YOU WILL MOST LIKELY MOVE UP WHEN OTHER PEOPLE EXERCISE THEIR OPTIONS. THIS IS HOW YOU EVENTUALLY GET TO A HIGHER POSITION.

If you request the day before a holiday and the week after the holiday it is only one request; you only have to exercise your option one time, since you only submitted one leave slip it is not a split option, if you say yes to the option then you are approved for the entire period. You do not have to use your option for Friday and then have to come in on Tuesday & then get Wednesday to Friday off, it does not work that way, it is only 1 conflict, one option. You should try to put in continuous leave slips for the holiday periods to maximize your time off with the leave roster.

If you break your leave up and give them a separate leave slip for two parts; i.e., Friday before holiday then the Wednesday to Friday after the holiday you might only get the Friday off or the Wednesday to Friday if it's a conflict because you have submitted broken leave requests.

This is by no means all of the possible scenarios; if you have specific questions feel free to contact your Union Rep.

I hope this clarifies the issue and does not confuse you even more.

The leave roster is to be made available to the employees so that you can see where you are on the roster list. After each conflict the roster is redone before the next conflict is resolved.

When leave slots remain after management has invoked the leave roster and made the final decision on extended annual/holiday leave requests, employees will have the opportunity to submit/resubmit leave slips for that same period.  Once management notifies employees that extended annual/holiday leave decisions have been made and additional slots are available, employees will be notified that they have five (5) workdays to submit leave requests for any remaining slots for days before or after holidays or for a full week during the six month leave request period.  Any conflicts for leave submitted during that five (5) day period will be approved based upon the employee with the oldest SCD having first choice.  Management will resolve any further conflicts in SCD (i.e., hired on the same day) by a random draw with one local participant designated by the union.

When extended annual/holiday leave requests are submitted after the February or August leave-scheduling periods, the leave requests will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.  Conflicts arising from leave slips received by management on the same day will be resolved using SCD.  Management will resolve further conflicts in SCD (i.e., hired on the same day) by a random draw.