2007 Vacation Annual Leave

FAA Imposed Work Rules:

Article 24

Annual Leave

 Section 1. Annual leave will be administered in accordance with the Human Resource Policy Manual (HRPM).

 Section 2. Eligible employees earn annual leave at the following rate. Full-time employees with:

 a.   Less than three (3) years of service earn four (4) hours of leave each full biweekly pay period (annual accrual of 104 hours [13 days]).

b.   Three (3) or more, but less than fifteen (15) years of service earn six (6) hours each of the first twenty-five (25) full biweekly pay periods and ten (10) hours for the last full biweekly pay period (annual accrual of 160 hours [20 days]).

c.   Fifteen (15) years or more of service earn eight (8) hours for each full biweekly pay period (annual accrual of 208 hours [26 days]).

 Section 3. In determining years of service, an employee is entitled to credit for all service of a type that would be creditable under 5 USC 8332, regardless of whether or not the employee is covered by Subchapter III of Chapter 83.

 Section 4. Employees may not submit leave requests in excess of the annual leave they have accumulated, plus what they will accrue that leave year, plus any restored balance.

 Section 5. Employees have an obligation to schedule annual leave in a timely manner to avoid forfeiture. When an employee makes a conscious decision not to request or use annual leave, the employee is not entitled to have the forfeited annual leave restored for later use.

 Section 6. Once approved, annual leave will not be rescinded unless the rescission is necessitated by the Agency’s workload, staffing, or mission requirements or is required by applicable law or regulation.

 Section 7. Requests for annual leave will be submitted on a Request for Leave or Approved Absence Form (OPM-71), electronically, or on a locally approved form. The Agency will advise the employee of its approval or disapproval once a determination has been made.

 Section 8. Ninety (90) days prior to the beginning of the calendar year, bargaining unit employees shall be given the opportunity to bid vacation annual leave in rounds. Annual leave includes all the annual leave an employee has accumulated to date, will accrue by the end of the upcoming leave year, and any restored balance. Bidding sequence will be determined by seniority.

 a.       The Agency will determine available leave opportunities and advise bidders in advance of their leave request. Employees may only request leave opportunities that the Agency has determined are available.

 b.      During each round, each eligible employee may make one (1) request of one (1) week or two (2) consecutive weeks duration or portions thereof. Once approved, an employee will not be permitted to change his/her selection. Any portion of a week bid shall count as a full week for bidding purposes.

 c.       Rounds will continue for bargaining unit employees who have annual leave available as outlined above. Once an employee fails to bid a round, he/she is ineligible to bid in subsequent rounds.

 Section 9. Non-vacation leave is annual leave that is requested utilizing other than the bidding procedures identified in Section 8 and prior to the schedule being posted. Employees may submit requests for non-vacation leave beginning January 1 for that calendar year.

 Requests shall be approved/disapproved as soon as practicable after the request is made. If the request was disapproved and annual leave for that time period, or any portion of that time period, later becomes available, the leave shall be approved on a first requested basis.

 Section 10. Spot leave is annual leave that is requested after assignments to the watch schedule have been posted. Leave requests shall be approved/disapproved in the order they were requested. This does not preclude the Agency from approving subsequent leave requests based on qualifications.

 Section 11. Annual leave may be cancelled any time prior to the posting of the watch schedule, except that employees may not cancel vacation leave during the bidding process in Section 8. After the watch schedule has been posted, annual leave can only be cancelled with management approval. When management approves the cancellation of annual leave, the employee will be advised of their assignment to the watch schedule.

 Section 12. Lump sum annual leave provisions shall be administered in accordance with LWS-8.11.

 Section 13. Except as authorized in LWS-8.3, no employee will be forced to take annual leave.

 Section 14. Exigencies for public business must be determined by the head of the Agency or his/her designee. Except where made by the head of the Agency, the determination may not be made by an official whose leave would be affected by the decision. The Agency will notify the Union, at the national level, when the Agency makes the decision to place any facility in a leave exigency status. Upon written request of the Union, the Agency shall provide, in writing, within fourteen (14) days, the justification the Agency used in determining the need for the facility to be placed in a leave exigency status. If the Agency determines that an emergency exists at a facility not covered by a leave exigency, which precludes an employee from using appropriately scheduled use-or-lose leave, such leave shall be retained by the employee.

 Section 15. The express terms of this Article apply separately and distinctly to each of the following bargaining units: air traffic controllers, traffic management coordinators/ specialists and NOTAM specialists.

 

Date: September 26, 2006

From: Front Line Manager

To: All Personnel

Subject: Vacation Annual Leave Bidding

On October 3, 2006 at 0730L we will begin bidding for vacation annual leave. Employees will be given the opportunity to bid annual leave in rounds for predetermined available slots. Annual leave includes the annual leave you have accumulated to date, what you will accrue that leave year, plus any restored leave. During each round, each employee may make one (1) request of one (1) week or two (2) consecutive weeks duration or portions thereof. Any portion of a week bid shall count as a full week. Once approved, an employee will not be permitted to change his/her selection.

Each employee has been scheduled a date, a time slot, and a person (TJ or myself) to contact with your bid information. It is your responsibility to contact TJ or myself during your assigned time slot. If your selection is not made during this time, you will be skipped over, and the bidding shall continue. Once an employee fails to bid a round, he/she is ineligible to bid in subsequent rounds. Subsequent rounds will continue until all available leave slots are taken or until employees no longer wish to bid. A calendar has been posted in the hall at the entrance to the front line manager’s office to track the bidding. We are also trying to establish a web site that you could access 24/7 to check available leave slots. Attached is a copy of Article 24 with the pertinent Sections along with the Bidding Schedule. More information about the web site will be forwarded as it becomes available.

Scott Piverotto