AS Collective Agreement and Carry-Over of Annual Leave
The AS collective agreement was signed on January 10, 2008. As a result of the May 2007 arbitral award that saw the inclusion of 5 extra days of annual leave and the deletion of the Marriage Leave provisions, NRC sought and obtained the following language dealing with the carry-over of annual leave for members of the AS Group. There is now a 35 day cap on the carry-over of annual leave. While we sought to include grandfathering language that would have allowed members to maintain all current levels of annual leave, NRC would not agree with this. Below is the language that now applies to members of this group.
It states that anyone with more than 35 days in their annual leave bank will have that bank reduced by 10 days each March 31. This reduction can be either taken in leave or in cash. The bank will be reduced in this manner on an annual basis until the amount of leave in the bank reaches 35 days. There is no such reduction if the employee has 35 days or less in the bank.
Don’t forget that in any calculation of the amount in the bank, the current year’s entitlement must be taken into consideration. So if an employee has 25 days in the bank and gets 4 weeks leave for the current year and only uses one week of leave, of the remaining 15 days, 5 will be paid out and only 10 will be carried over. If an employee currently has 50 days in the bank and gets 4 weeks leave, any unused leave will be paid out in addition to 10 days from the bank being paid out. Any questions on this should be directed to the RCEA office.
31.4 Carry-Over Provisions
31.4.1 Employees shall be entitled to carry earned but unused vacation credits over into the following fiscal year to a maximum of two hundred sixty-two decimal five (262.5) hours leave. The 262.5 hours limit may only be exceeded where the Council cancels a previously scheduled period of vacation leave and reschedules the excess for use at a later date of where the employee was unable to schedule vacation leave based on management’s request. Earned and unused vacation leave credits in excess of the 262.5 hours shall be paid by cheque at the end of the fiscal year at the employee’s daily rate of pay in his substantive position unless the employee has been in an acting position for more than six (6) months at the end of the fiscal year.
31.4.2 Notwithstanding paragraph 31.4.1, if on May 14, 2007 or on the date an employee becomes subject to this Agreement after May 14, 2007, an employee has more than two hundred sixty-two decimal five (262.5) hours of unused vacation leave credits, a minimum of seventy five (75) hours per year shall be granted or paid in cash by March 31st of each year, commencing on March 31, 2008 until all vacation leave credits in excess of two hundred sixty-two decimal five (262.5) hours have been liquidated. Payment shall be in one instalment per year and shall be at the employee’s daily rate of pay in his substantive position unless the employee has been in an acting position for more than six (6) months on March 31.