With the start of 2022, we want to alert you to a recent arbitrator's ruling involving Article 21 (Vacation Leave). The ruling may impact your vacation selection process for the new year. The ruling stems from a contract dispute and grievance we filed over unilateral changes implemented by the Department to the vacation selection process.

The question before the arbitrator was whether you could combine compensatory time with your vacation leave when scheduling your three (3) segments during the vacation selection process. 

In the past, different facilities have handled that process differently. Some facilities allowed employees to utilize comp time and vacation leave during the vacation selection process. In contrast, others only let employees utilize vacation leave. The arbitrator's ruling now creates a statewide, uniform process for the annual vacation selection. 

According to the ruling, you may only utilize your vacation leave balance and accruals - not compensatory time - when making your vacation selection.  You can view the complete arbitrator's ruling here.

For many of you, this will not change the established practice at your facility; for others, it may impact your annual vacation selection process moving forward. Please check with your roster manager for further clarification. If you have questions, reach out to your Union Representative. You can find their contact information here.

With bargaining coming up this year, we will have an opportunity to negotiate this and all other aspects of our collective bargaining agreement. Please complete your contract survey when it is available and attend a contract proposal meeting later this year to bring your ideas to the bargaining table.