1. Who’s eligible to request a vacation?

A classified employee in Unit 1 must have at least 130 days of paid service in a regular assignment before he or she is eligible to take vacation. The employee must have accumulated sufficient vacation balance to cover the duration of the vacation. No vacation can be taken until it is earned.

See Section E

 2. When should an employee request and receive vacation

    approval?

The general rule is that vacation is taken at a time that is convenient to the employee. An employee who has made a vacation request 15 days in advance is entitled to a prompt response from his or her supervisor. The response, either approving or denying the request, needs to be delivered to the employee in writing within three working days of the supervisor having received the request. If the supervisor doesn’t respond within three days, the request is deemed to be approved. 

If the vacation request is submitted fewer than 15 working days in advance the supervisor must explicitly approve or disapprove the vacation under those circumstances.  See Section H

3. Are “black-out periods,” when no one is permitted to request

  vacation, permissible?

No, an employee may always request to take vacation. Supervisors must always consider any vacation request.  See Section H

4. Is a supervisor justified in denying all vacation requests    

    because staffing is reduced?

No, employees earn vacation and need to take time off.  See Section I

 5.  Is a supervisor obligated to explain his or her reason for

       denying a request for vacation, and must he or she ‘prove’

       that the denial was justified?

The Collective Bargaining Agreement does not require supervisors to state a reason for denying an employee’s request for vacation, but it does prohibit them from denying a request unreasonably. While there is no contractual obligation to state a reason, supervisors should offer an explanation of their reason for denying a request. 

6. What are some of the common reasons a vacation request 

     might be denied?

Supervisors are not permitted to “unreasonably deny” an employee’s request to take vacation, but legitimate reasons for turning down an employee’s request may include:

§         -lack of sufficient notice of the request (i.e. 15 

       working days) making it difficult or impossible to

            reconfigure the work of the department to

            accommodate the employee’s absence;

§         -the need for staffing during departments peak

       demand periods;

§         -any other compelling reasons that impact the

            operations.

7. If circumstances change (for example, another employee goes

    out on sick leave just before the start of a co-worker’s

    approved vacation), can a supervisor cancel the approval of

    the vacation?

No, the supervisor can ask the employee to reschedule his or her vacation, but without the employee’s consent, the vacation cannot be revoked. If the employee agrees to reschedule, he or she will be entitled to reimbursement for certain costs caused by the change in plans

(i.e. cancellation fees or increased fares due to loss of advanced booking discounts).

    See Sections H and H.1

8. If an employee’s accumulated vacation balance reaches 400

    hours and that employee requests vacation time to assure no

    loss of earned vacation, can a supervisor deny this request?

Yes, however, the employee is responsible to take or schedule vacation within the next 30 days, which cannot be denied. The employee and the supervisor should work together to assure that the employee takes ample vacation in a timely manner so that vacation accumulation does not exceed 400 hours.  

   See Sections H and I, p.17

9. How should supervisors/managers inform employees about

    how and when to schedule vacation?

Employees should expect the department supervisor to inform the employee about the process for taking vacation as it relates to the departments annual calendar. This could be done at a staff meeting, by memo or individual consultation.