Wheatland & Adjacent Districts Emergency Medical Services Association Collective Agreement 2018-2023

Article 20: Annual Vacation

1. “Date of Employment” shall mean;
   1. in the case of an Employee whose employment commenced between the first (1st) and fifteenth (15th) days inclusive of any month, the first day of that calendar month; or
   2. in the case of an Employee whose employment commenced between the sixteenth (16th) and the last day inclusive of any calendar month the first (1st) day of the following calendar month.
   3. Subject to Article 21.01(e), during each year of continuous service in the employ of the Employer, an Employee shall earn vacation with pay in proportion to the number of months worked during the vacation year, to be taken in the following vacation year except as provided in Article 20.06. For Part-time Employees “months worked” shall be based on hours compensated at the regular rate of pay. The rate at which vacation is earned shall be governed by the total length of employment as follows:
2. Vacation Entitlements:
   1. during the first year of continuous full-time employment, an Employee shall earn entitlement to vacation based on one hundred and forty four (144) hours
   2. during each of the second (2nd) to ninth (9th) years of continuous full-time employment an Employee shall earn entitlement to vacation based on one hundred and ninety-two (192) hours.
   3. during each of the tenth (10th) to nineteenth (19th) years of continuous full-time employment an Employee shall earn vacation based on two hundred and forty (240) hours
   4. during each of the twentieth (20th) and subsequent years of full-time employment an Employee shall earn vacation based on two hundred and forty (240) hours.
   5. for the purpose of determining compensation for vacation taken on ALPHA and BRAVO work shifts, a full ALPHA and BRAVO work shift is treated as twelve (12) hours of vacation time from the Employee’s vacation bank which shall be compensated at the Employee’s basic rate of pay.
   6. for the purpose of determining compensation for vacation taken on the DELTA Shift Rotation is treated as eight point four (8.4) hours of vacation time from the Employee’s vacation bank which shall be compensated based on eight point four (8.4) hours paid at the Employee’s basic rate of pay.
3. An Employee leaving the service of the Employer at any time before he has exhausted the vacation credits to which he is entitled, shall receive a proportionate payment of salary in lieu of such earned vacation.
4. All Employees shall submit their vacation requests to the Employer prior to April 1, and prior to October 1, of each year and approval of vacation time requested shall be made or denied by the Chief Administrative Officer no later than thirty days after the deadline date of request.
   1. Seniority shall be considered when there is a dispute regarding a preference for the time that vacation is to be taken. Employees failing to exercise seniority rights within two (2) weeks of the deadline dates that Employees are asked to choose a vacation time shall not be entitled to exercise their seniority rights in respect to any vacation time previously selected by an Employee with less seniority.
   2. An Employee may submit a vacation request after the deadline dates. Approval or denial shall be based on a first come, first served basis and shall be subject to approval of the Chief Administrative Officer based on operational feasibility.
5. No Employee may continue to work and draw vacation pay in lieu of taking their vacation.
6. All vacation earned in one vacation year shall be taken during the next year following, at a mutually agreeable time, except that an Employee may be permitted to carry forward a portion of vacation entitlement to the next vacation year.   
7. Notwithstanding Article 20.06 above an Employee shall have the right to utilize vacation credits during the vacation year in which they are earned provided the following conditions are met;
   1. such utilization does not exceed the total credits earned by an Employee at the time of taking vacation; and
   2. such vacation is taken at a mutually agreeable time
8. An Employee may request vacation leave during any period of the year.
9. Upon the request of the Employee earned vacation credits may be divided into more than one vacation period if approved by the Chief Administrative Officer. The periods may be divided into blocks as small as one day at a time unless otherwise mutually agreed.
10. Unless given four (4) weeks notice of an alteration to his scheduled vacation period, an Employee required by the Employer to work during his vacation period will receive the applicable overtime rate of pay for all hours worked. This premium payment will cease and the Employee’s basic rate of pay will apply at the start of his next regularly scheduled shift. The time so worked will be rescheduled as vacation leave with pay to be added to the vacation period, when possible, or the Employee will be granted equivalent time off in lieu thereof at a mutually agreed later date. With the approval of the Employer, an Employee may elect to receive payment at the basic rate of pay in lieu of the aforementioned time off.
11. Vacation for Casual Employees:
    1. A Casual Employee shall be paid, in addition to his basic rate of pay, six percent (6%), eight percent (8%), ten percent (10%) or twelve percent (12%) of his regular earnings in lieu of vacation, whichever is applicable to years of service as per Article 20.02.
    2. A Casual Employee shall not be scheduled to work or be placed on call for three (3) weeks during each vacation year. Such vacation may be applied for during any period of the year, but shall be taken at a mutually agreeable time. Additional leave will be granted during each vacation year as applicable depending on vacation entitlements.
    3. Only those regularly scheduled hours and additional hours paid at the basic rate of pay and on a Named Holiday, and periods of sick leave with pay will be recognized as regular earnings for the purpose of determining vacation pay.