Page 1 of 6 PURPOSE: To identify a system of accrual for paid vacation time off that provides a valuable benefit to eligible BAMSI employees while assuring consistent high-quality service delivery to persons served. STATEMENT OF POLICY: It is the policy of BAMSI to provide paid vacation time off for eligible employees. SCOPE: This policy is effective July 1, 2010, and applies to regular employees who are regularly scheduled for 20 to 40 hours per week unless otherwise covered by the terms of a bargaining unit agreement or another applicable BAMSI policy. This policy replaces the Flexible Time Off portion (Section 3) of BAMSI s Flexible Benefit Time Policy, PE-30-03, as clarified 7/9/2007. Employees regularly scheduled for 10 to 19 hours as of June 30, 2010, and accruing benefits under Section 3 of PE-30-03 ( grandfathered employees ) shall accrue paid vacation benefits as described below. PAID VACATION TIME ACCRUAL: 1. Eligible employees who have completed their initial orientation period shall accrue or earn paid vacation time bi-weekly at the end of each pay period, on a pro-rated basis, beginning each July 1, earning 1/26 of their annualized vacation accrual every two weeks, according to the annualized table below:
Page 2 of 6 Paid Vacation Time Annualized Amount Years of Service 40 hours 30-39 hours 20-29 hours 10-19 hours* (Pre-June 30, 2010) 6 months to 2+ 120 hours/year 90 hours/year 60 hours/year 30 hours/year 3 to 5+ 160 hours/year 120 hours/year 80 hours/year 40 hours/year 6 or more 200 hours/year 150 hours/year 100 hours/year 50 hours/year * Accrual for grandfathered employees regularly scheduled for 10 to 19 hours per week is limited to those employees in that category who were accruing Flexible Time Off under PE-30-03 as of June 30, 2010, and who continue to be regularly scheduled for at least 10 hours per week. Employees who exit this category (for example, they become scheduled for fewer than 10 hours or more than 19 hours or they move into a position that does not accrue benefits under this policy, such as a per diem position) lose grandfathered status and henceforth must qualify under the same terms as other 20- to 40-hour employees. Example: A full-time, 40-hour employee who has completed four years of service is eligible to take 160 hours of paid vacation time during the July 1 to June 30 fiscal year. The vacation time is earned at the rate of about 6.15 hours every two weeks, at the end of the bi-weekly pay period. 2. Employees do not accrue paid vacation time until they have successfully completed their initial orientation period, including all extensions. 3. As an employee uses paid vacation time, the amount used shall be deducted from his or her balance of earned paid vacation time. An employee may borrow against his or her earned paid vacation time total, up to the maximum annualized amount for which he or she is eligible. In other words, an employee may use vacation, with the approval of his or her supervisor, before it is earned, up to the annualized amount expressed in the table above.
Page 3 of 6 4. This Paid Vacation Time Policy is a use it or lose it policy. Paid vacation time may not be carried from one fiscal year to another. At the end of the fiscal year, except as noted in item 6 in this section and item 2 in the Other Provisions section below, all unused paid vacation time shall be converted to paid sick time or, if the employee has reached the maximum accumulation under the Paid Sick Time Policy (PE-32-10), such unused paid vacation time shall be forfeited. 5. If an eligible employee s employment or vacation eligibility under this policy terminates before the end of the fiscal year, the employee s actual pro-rated accrued paid vacation time shall be reconciled with his or her vacation usage in the employee s final pay check. This may result in some employees being paid for accrued and unused vacation time and other employees having deductions taken from their final pay check to account for overpayment for vacation based on actual accrual. Example: A full-time 40-hour employee with four years of service begins accruing paid vacation time on July 1 but resigns on December 31, having accrued 80 hours of paid vacation time (13 bi-weekly pay periods times 6.1538 hours per pay period). If the employee has taken only 40 hours of paid vacation time by the time his employment terminates, he will be paid the balance of the 80 hours, or 40 hours, in his final check. However, if the employee has already taken 120 hours of paid vacation time, the overpayment (40 hours) shall be deducted from his final check. Overpayment in excess of the amount of the final check shall be repaid by the employee. 6. Employees who become eligible to accrue paid vacation time after April 30 (for example, an employee who is hired on December 1 and completes her initial orientation period on June 1) may carry over the paid vacation time accrued between May 1 and June 30 into the following fiscal year, during which it must be used. If unused by the end of the following fiscal year, the paid vacation time shall be converted to paid sick time or forfeited as described in item 4 above.
Page 4 of 6 PAID VACATION TIME USE: 1. Paid vacation time may be used by employees for any purpose, provided it has been approved in advance by the employee s supervisor. 2. Eligible employees who request paid vacation time must submit a completed Request for Time Off Form to their supervisor for approval. Requests for up to one consecutive week of paid vacation time must be submitted at least one calendar week in advance. Requests for more than one consecutive week of paid vacation time must be submitted at least two calendar weeks in advance. 3. Supervisors will make every effort to approve requests for paid vacation time if requested as specified in this policy. However, paid vacation time may be denied for legitimate operational or staffing reasons or because requests are not submitted within the advance time frames specified above. 4. Supervisors should promptly consider requests for paid vacation time and either approve or deny the request. In cases of approved requests, supervisors should submit the signed original request form to the Payroll Office, provide a copy of the signed form to the employee, and keep a copy or other record for themselves. In cases of denied requests, supervisors should sign the form and note the reason for the denial, keep the original for their records, and promptly return a copy of the signed form, noting the reason for denial, to the employee. 5. Employees should never assume that a Request for Time Off is approved until they have received the signed and approved Request for Time Off Form back. OTHER PROVISIONS: 1. Paid vacation time may not be used by employees who are absent from work and receiving workers compensation due to an injury or illness related to the performance of their job, nor
Page 5 of 6 may it be used for any other absence time for which the employee is paid under another benefit policy. 2. In some cases, requests for paid vacation time that have previously been approved may have to be revised or cancelled by the supervisor due to unusual operational or staffing situations or other emergencies. If such revision or cancellation comes so late in the fiscal year that the employee is not reasonably able to reschedule the time before the fiscal year ends, the supervisor may submit a request to the Vice President of Human Resources or designee to carry over only that amount of time that has been affected by the revision or cancellation into the next fiscal year. Such request must detail the reasons for the revision or cancellation. If approved, the employee must use the time in the following fiscal year or it shall be converted to paid sick time or forfeited as described in item 4 of the Paid Vacation Time Accrual section above. 3. Employees hired on or before June 30, 2010, and regularly scheduled to work between 10 and 19 hours per week, will continue to accrue paid vacation time benefits as specified in the table in the Paid Vacation Time Accrual section above, as long as they continue to be regularly scheduled for 10 to 19 hours per week. If any of these grandfathered employees become regularly scheduled for fewer than 10 hours per week or more than 19 hours per week, they shall lose all grandfathered rights in the event they subsequently return to being regularly scheduled for 10 to 19 hours per week. All other terms and conditions of this Paid Vacation Time Policy (PE-30-10) shall apply to these employees, including the use it or lose it provisions of item 4 in the Paid Vacation Time Accrual section for all paid vacation time accrued after June 30, 2010. TRANSITIONAL PERIOD: 1. Benefits under the Flexible Benefit Time Policy (PE-30-03, as clarified 7/9/2007) will cease to accrue effective June 30, 2010.
Page 6 of 6 2. Accrued and unused flexible time off in excess of the maximum carry over limits specified in the Flexible Benefit Time Policy (PE-30-03) shall be transferred to the employee s paid sick time under the Paid Sick Time Policy (PE-32-10) to the maximum limits specified in the Paid Sick Time Policy (PE-32-10). 3. All accrued and unused flexible time off that does not exceed the maximum carry over specified in the Flexible Benefit Time Policy (PE-30-03) as of July 1, 2010 shall be maintained in a Flexible Time Off Bank that eligible employees may access under the same terms and conditions that apply to use of paid vacation time under this policy. 4. The Flexible Time Off Bank shall not be subject to the annual use it or lose it provisions of the time accrued under the Paid Vacation Time Policy (PE-30-10), but shall be used by June 30, 2012. 5. Any unused time in the Flexible Time Off Bank as of July 1, 2012 shall be converted to paid vacation time under the Paid Vacation Time Policy (PE-30-10) and shall be included as part of the accrual of paid vacation time for the fiscal year of July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013. Example: An employee with 10 years of service still has 20 hours of flexible time off in her Flexible Time Off Bank as of June 30, 2012. Effective July 1, 2012, the employee s Flexible Time Off will be converted to 20 hours of paid vacation time under the Paid Vacation Time Policy (PE-30-10). The ten-year employee is entitled to a total accrual of 240 hours of paid vacation time for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012, under the Paid Vacation Time Policy (PE-30-10). Those 240 hours of paid vacation time shall be composed of the 20 hours of converted flexible benefit time and 220 hours of newly accrued paid vacation time. The converted flexible benefit time off shall be considered the first hours of paid vacation time used in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012, and must be used by June 30, 2013. 6. The converted flexible time off shall be considered the first hours of paid vacation time used during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012.