ARTICLE 13

Vacations

Section 1.      A vacation will be allowed to an employee who in the anniversary year, which begins on January 1, will have been continuously and actively in the employ of the Company for the period shown below:

A vacation of three (3) working days will be allowed to an hourly-rated employee who was hired between January 1st and June 30th of any year.   No employee will be eligible for any vacation until the completion of his or her probationary period.

Section 2.      An hourly-rated employee who does not meet the requirements of Section 1 of this Article shall receive no vacation, and every employee who does meet the requirements of Section 1 shall receive only the vacation specified in that Section which gives him or her the longest vacation.

Section 3.

(a)       Any employee who is eligible for a vacation under this Article shall receive a vacation or vacation pay even if he or she is not actively in the employ of the Company on the day preceding the start of his or her scheduled vacation.  Should an employee die, or should the employment of an employee be terminated because of resignation, retirement, or layoff during the vacation year, prior to taking the vacation he or she was eligible for in the anniversary year, or at the completion of the ninety (90) day probationary period as noted in Section 1 of this Article, the vacation pay allowance will be paid; provided, however, that this Section shall not apply in the case of any employee who is discharged except for those cases involving attendance, sleeping and poor performance.

(b)       Any employee whose employment is terminated by reason of death, retirement, entry into the military service, or layoff, and who at the time of such termination is eligible to receive, or had received during the calendar year of termination, vacation pay pursuant to Section 1 of this Article shall upon such termination also receive pro-rata vacation pay for each month, or part thereof, in which such employee worked during the calendar year in which such termination occurred; provided that any employee who is eligible for, or had received, vacation pay pursuant to Section 1 of this Article shall not receive pro-rata vacation pay until the employee has completed his or her ninety (90) day probationary period.  Any such pro-rata payment will be deducted from any vacation pay to which the employee may subsequently become entitled for the calendar year in which the termination occurs.

Section 4.      An employee will receive vacation pay as it is taken during the year.  The vacation pay will be based on his or her then effective base hourly rate plus cost-of-living allowance and shift premium.  In those instances in which an employee does not utilize all of his or her vacation at the Company’s request, the employee will be paid for the unused vacation days at his or her effective base hourly rate, plus cost-of-living allowance and shift premium, if any, at the end of the eligibility year.

Section 5.      The vacation pay allowance of an employee who receives a vacation pay allowance pursuant to Section 3(a) of this Article shall be computed on the basis of the employee's hourly base rate plus cost-of-living allowance and shift premium in effect at the time of such employee's termination.

Section 6.     

(a)       Employees who are assigned to the regular rotating shifts on which they work alternate weeks on first shift and alternate weeks on second shift will, for the purpose of vacation pay computation, be credited with a 5% shift premium.

(b)       Employees of the Power House who regularly work an eight hour shift one-third of the time on first shift, one-third of the time on second shift, and one-third of the time on third shift will, for the purpose of vacation pay computation, be credited with a 6.67% shift premium. 

(c)        Employees who are absent from work because they were excused by the Company from this work to attend to Union business during regularly scheduled work hours shall be treated as if they had actually worked during such absence.

Section 7.      The pro-rata vacation pay mentioned in Section 3(b) of this Article shall be computed by multiplying the vacation pay received by the terminated employee pursuant to Section 3(a) of this Article by one-twelfth (1/12) for each month in which such employee worked in the calendar year in which such termination occurs, but not including the employee’s ninety (90) day probationary period with the Company.

Section 8.      The determination of whether there shall be a vacation or vacation pay in lieu of a vacation shall be solely at the discretion of the Company. 

Section 9.

(a)       An employee shall be credited with four (4) hours extra vacation time for each three (3) consecutive calendar months  (non-pyramided), in which such employee demonstrates a perfect attendance record. Employees credited with four (4) hours incentive vacation time will be allowed to use such incentive vacation time (or pay in lieu thereof) immediately following the period during which it was earned or at any time thereafter but the time must be taken within the next twelve (12) months.  Employees requesting incentive vacation time (or pay in lieu thereof) will be required to receive the approval of their supervisor.  

(b)       Perfect attendance is defined as having worked a full eight (8) hours or a full, regular six and one-half (6-1/2) hours, during each of an employee's regularly scheduled workdays during such three (3) consecutive months.  Absence caused by any of the first five (5) sick or personal days, jury duty, military service, bereavement leave, authorized family medical leave, Workers’ Compensation doctor visits or attendance at a Workers’ Compensation hearing during part, but not all of said three (3) consecutive calendar months, or any absence concurrent with a contract ratification meeting between the parties shall not be considered an absence for the purposes of this Section.

(c)                Regularly scheduled workdays shall include all days of an employee's normal workweek, which excludes vacation days.

Section 10.    Employees who are entitled to three (3) or more weeks of vacation will be allowed to take their third, fourth and/or fifth week of vacation in individual days, which includes taking ten (10) days in half day increments, provided they make the request of their supervision for each day or part day requested prior to the time off and such approval is granted.