Employees should manage own time-off record: Arbitrator
After she failed to book time off before it expired, an employee with Community Living Meaford in Meaford, Ont., grieved to get back the time off or pay in lieu of.
Ashleigh Currie was entitled to four weeks of vacation for the April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017, vacation year. But shortly before she was scheduled to take time off in the summer of 2016, Currie broke her wrist.
She took sick leave from June 27 to Aug. 19, and eventually returned to work full-time on Sept. 20.
When she checked into her vacation balance, Currie found she was owed 116 hours, but it had to be taken before April 1, 2017, or the employer would not normally allow her (or other employees) to carry time off forward.
Currie took some time off, but by the end of November, she had 99 hours remaining. She emailed Lee-Anne Reuber, supervisor, for guidance: “I have two weeks of holidays that I need to use up before the fiscal year is completed. Could you please provide me with month(s) and dates as to when I could utilize this accumulated time.”
Currie took more time off but when she attempted to use the employer’s web-based vacation booking site and it refused her time off in February, she again wrote an email to Reuber:
“As of Jan. 14, 2017, I will have 56 hours of holiday time to use. I went back in and scheduled time off in February (as I would prefer not to be paid out) and those got denied. I would appreciate it if you could give me a week off somewhere if possible.”
It was employer policy for the supervisor to offer alternative dates when time off was denied due to staffing levels, and Currie said she needed some more help scheduling the time.
Reuber responded on Jan. 18, and said, “I’m not sure how many hours you have of holiday time but if you would like to take Jan. 24, 25, 26, 27 off next week I could approve that at this point.”
Currie took those dates off but on Feb. 2, she mistakenly advised her supervisor that more days off in February were unnecessary, because she had completely exhausted all of her earned time off.
However, Currie had 10.25 hours remaining, but they expired after April 1. The union, Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), Local 235, grieved and argued the employer’s policy was unfair.
The union said that it was the employer’s responsibility to schedule time off for employees and it failed to do so in Currie’s case.
But Community Living Meaford countered and said the onus was on the employee to keep on top of vacation scheduling and according to Currie’s pay stub on March 18, she had 10.25 vacation hours remaining.
If Currie wanted to carry over vacation time, the only way to do so, said the employer, was to submit a request “in writing and the executive director will consider each case on its merits,” according to the collective agreement.
Arbitrator Louisa Davie agreed and dismissed the grievance.
“In this case, (Currie) agreed it was an oversight on her part not to have made a request in writing to carry over the 10.25 hours. It is unfortunate that her oversight has resulted in a loss of some vacation entitlement. Her oversight however does not mean that the employer has violated the collective agreement. The employer is not required to pay out unused vacation and a written request to carryover unused vacation was not made,” according to the arbitrator.
It was incumbent upon Currie to manage her own vacation time, said Davie.
“In my view, the initial onus to request vacation and ensure that it is scheduled remains with the employee. Moreover, given the facts of this case, it is inappropriate to place a burden on (Currie’s) supervisor to monitor (Currie’s) vacation usage and schedule vacation for (Currie) when, in her email of Feb. 2, 2017, the grievor herself advised that she didn’t need to schedule more vacation ‘as my holiday time has been used up.’”
Reference: Community Living Meaford and Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Local 235. Louisa Davie — arbitrator. Bonnea Channe for the employer. Val Patrick for the employee. Oct. 9, 2018.
Ashleigh Currie was entitled to four weeks of vacation for the April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017, vacation year. But shortly before she was scheduled to take time off in the summer of 2016, Currie broke her wrist.
She took sick leave from June 27 to Aug. 19, and eventually returned to work full-time on Sept. 20.
When she checked into her vacation balance, Currie found she was owed 116 hours, but it had to be taken before April 1, 2017, or the employer would not normally allow her (or other employees) to carry time off forward.
Currie took some time off, but by the end of November, she had 99 hours remaining. She emailed Lee-Anne Reuber, supervisor, for guidance: “I have two weeks of holidays that I need to use up before the fiscal year is completed. Could you please provide me with month(s) and dates as to when I could utilize this accumulated time.”
Currie took more time off but when she attempted to use the employer’s web-based vacation booking site and it refused her time off in February, she again wrote an email to Reuber:
“As of Jan. 14, 2017, I will have 56 hours of holiday time to use. I went back in and scheduled time off in February (as I would prefer not to be paid out) and those got denied. I would appreciate it if you could give me a week off somewhere if possible.”
It was employer policy for the supervisor to offer alternative dates when time off was denied due to staffing levels, and Currie said she needed some more help scheduling the time.
Reuber responded on Jan. 18, and said, “I’m not sure how many hours you have of holiday time but if you would like to take Jan. 24, 25, 26, 27 off next week I could approve that at this point.”
Currie took those dates off but on Feb. 2, she mistakenly advised her supervisor that more days off in February were unnecessary, because she had completely exhausted all of her earned time off.
However, Currie had 10.25 hours remaining, but they expired after April 1. The union, Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), Local 235, grieved and argued the employer’s policy was unfair.
The union said that it was the employer’s responsibility to schedule time off for employees and it failed to do so in Currie’s case.
But Community Living Meaford countered and said the onus was on the employee to keep on top of vacation scheduling and according to Currie’s pay stub on March 18, she had 10.25 vacation hours remaining.
If Currie wanted to carry over vacation time, the only way to do so, said the employer, was to submit a request “in writing and the executive director will consider each case on its merits,” according to the collective agreement.
Arbitrator Louisa Davie agreed and dismissed the grievance.
“In this case, (Currie) agreed it was an oversight on her part not to have made a request in writing to carry over the 10.25 hours. It is unfortunate that her oversight has resulted in a loss of some vacation entitlement. Her oversight however does not mean that the employer has violated the collective agreement. The employer is not required to pay out unused vacation and a written request to carryover unused vacation was not made,” according to the arbitrator.
It was incumbent upon Currie to manage her own vacation time, said Davie.
“In my view, the initial onus to request vacation and ensure that it is scheduled remains with the employee. Moreover, given the facts of this case, it is inappropriate to place a burden on (Currie’s) supervisor to monitor (Currie’s) vacation usage and schedule vacation for (Currie) when, in her email of Feb. 2, 2017, the grievor herself advised that she didn’t need to schedule more vacation ‘as my holiday time has been used up.’”
Reference: Community Living Meaford and Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Local 235. Louisa Davie — arbitrator. Bonnea Channe for the employer. Val Patrick for the employee. Oct. 9, 2018.
