Section 1. Road Freight Service Allotment. On the effective date of this Agreement, all train service employes in road freight service not covered by the National Paid Holiday Rules will be entitled to personal leave days on the following graduated basis:
| YEARS OF SERVICE |
PERSONAL LEAVE DAYS |
| Less than five (5) years |
2 days |
| 5 years and less than 10 years |
4 days |
| 10 years and less than 15 years |
6 days |
| 15 years and less than 20 years |
8 days |
| 20 years and more |
11 days |
Personal leave days may be taken one or more, at any time upon written notice given 2 hours prior to calling time to an appropriate Carrier officer or his designated representative. The employe will be paid one basic day at the rate of the last service performed for each personal leave day.
Personal leave days will be awarded on a fiscal year basis rather than a calendar year basis. The effective date of this Agreement, August 1, 1984, shall be the first day of the fiscal year and July 31, 1985 shall be the last day of the fiscal year and each succeeding fiscal year shall be August 1 through July 31.
Section 2. An employe off account personal leave days will advise Carrier when ready to return to duty. However, any employe who is absent 31 consecutive days or more, excluding vacation period and personal leave, must be protected by an authorized leave of absence.
Time off by an employe at the expiration of personal leave days shall not be treated the same as personal leave days in filling such vacancy or vacancies.
Section 3. Blanked Vacancy. When a member of a standard crew is on personal leave day, if the position is not a must-fill position, the assignment may be operated with a reduced crew. The remaining two crew members will be required to work and receive the special allowance and the productivity fund will be credited.
A personal leave vacancy will be considered as blanked, unless it is a must-fill position.
Section 4. Non-Covered Service. An employe who exercises seniority from passenger or yard service to road freight service and qualifies for personal leave, shall be entitled to one or more personal leave days after performing a tour of duty in road freight service.
Section 5. Holiday Offset. The number of personal leave days in any calendar year each road freight service employe is entitled to shall be reduced by the number of paid holidays received.
Section 6. Personal leave days will be counted as qualifying days for vacation purposes.
Section 7. Granting Personal Leave. The number of employes permitted to be off on personal leave will recognize the requirements of the service and their seniority, assuring that must-fill positions will be filled either from available extra employes or from the source of employes on blankable positions. If the personal leave vacancy involves a must-fill position, such vacancy will be filled as provided in this Agreement.
Section 8. Carry-Over. Where the requirements of the service do not permit the taking of personal leave days in accordance with a request, the appropriate Carrier representative will refuse in writing to grant the request. The number of personal leave days so requested and not granted may be carried over, but must be requested in writing and granted prior to February 1 of the following year. In lieu of carrying the requested personal leave days over to the next fiscal year, an employe may make further requests to take such personal leave days in the first year.
The following questions and answers apply to this entire Article X:
- Q-1: In the year 1984, an employe with a seniority date of November 28 J 1969 will have fifteen years seniority. Will the employe be eligible for eight days personal leave in 1984?
A-1: Yes.
- Q-2: In reference to the above, if the employe took one or more personal leave days prior to Novenber 28, 1984 (anniversary date) then would the employe be eligible for only six days in 1984?
A-2: No, except that two additional days could not be taken until after November 28, 1984.
- Q-3: An employe has twenty-three years of service which includes five years in a craft other than trainman. Does this make the employe eligible for eleven personal leave days?
A-3: No, the years of service must be in the craft of conductor, brakeman/yardman.
- Q-4: An employe has five years of service as of July 28, 1985, and is entitled to four personal leave days, but there are only three days remaining in the fiscal year. After taking three personal leave days, may he then carry the fourth day over into the next fiscal year?
A-4: No.
- Q-5: An employe who will have five years of service on September 1, 1984 takes two personal leave days prior to that date. Is he entitled to an additional two personal leave days after September 1, 1984?
A-5: Yes.
- Q-6: If an employe on a job that qualifies for holiday pay fails to qualify on one of the holidays, does this reduce his personal leave days?
A-6: No.
Example: A 20-year employe is on an assignment qualifying for holiday pay. While the employe was on the assignment there were four holidays. The employe earned two paid holidays and failed to qualify for two paid holidays. He then takes a job that does not qualify for holiday pay. How many personal leave days is the employe entitled to?
He would be entitled to 9 personal leave days but would not be entitled to more than 11 personal leave/holidays through a combination of the two.
- Q-7: What is the maximum number of personal leave days/paid holidays which an employe may receive in a fiscal year?
A-7: In no event may an employe accrue more than eleven days personal leave and/or holiday pay.
Example 1: An employe, with more than five years and less than ten years of service is on an assignment qualifying for holiday pay and earns six paid holidays. Should he take a job that does not qualify for holiday pay, he would be entitled to four personal leave days.
Example 2: An employe with more than five years and less than ten years of service is on an assignment qualifying for holiday pay and earns seven paid holidays. Should he take a job that does not qualify for holiday pay, he would be entitled to four personal leave days.
Example 3: An employe with twenty years cdE service is on an assignment not qualifying for holiday pay and takes 11 personal leave days. Should he take a job that qualifies for holiday pay, he would not be entitled to holiday pay.
Example 4: An employe with twenty years oiF service is on an assignment not qualifying for holiday pay and takes six personal leave days. Should he take a job that qualifies for holiday pay, he would be eligible for five holiday pay opportunities.
- Q-8: A qualifying road man is denied five (5) personal leave days while occupying an assignment not covered by the National Holiday Rules. In subsequent months of that fiscal year, the employe is forced to move or exercises seniority to an assignment covered by the National Holiday Rules and remains in that service. May this employe carry over the personal leave days previously denied him to the following fiscal year?
A-8: Yes, such personal leave days may be carried over subject to adjustment for the holidays credited to the employe in that year and to the limitation set forth in Q-4 and A-4 of this ARTICLE X.
- Q-9: If personal leave days are carried over into the following fiscal year and the employe requests in writing the personal leave days prior to January 1 of the following fiscal year, as provided in Section 8, is it mandatory that his request be granted?
A-9: Yes.
- Q-10: If an enploye carries over personal leave days as provided in Section 8, will such employe be permitted to take his personal leave days even though he is holding, at the time, an assignment qualifying for holiday pay?
A-10: No, so long as the employe is holding an assignment qualifying for holiday pay, such employe will not be permitted to take carry-over personal leave days. However, should the employe be unable to exercise seniority to return to an assignment not qualifying for holiday pay prior to the carry-over deadline date, the Carrier shall compensate the employe for the unused personal leave days in accordance with the terms of this agreement. Should the employe elect not to exercise seniority to an assignment not qualifying for holiday pay prior to the carry-over deadline date, the employe shall forfeit the carry-over personal leave days.
- Q-11: Personal leave is granted to an employe holding a blankable assignment in freight service. Prior to his assignment being called the employe is displaced by a senior employe, may the assignment still be blanked?
A-11: If the employe making the displacement is rested and available he would be permitted to work and the position would not be blanked and the employe granted the personal leave would be permitted to take the entire personal leave that was requested and granted. However, if the displacement is made after the assignment of the employe granted personal leave is called, the one trip or tour of duty may be blanked.
- Q-12: A trainman holding a regular position in through freight service requests four personal leave days. The employe’s regLilar turn is called ^or 11:00 p.m. on the 1st. When do the personal leave days start?
A-12: 12:01 a.m., the 1st.
- Q-13: In reference to the above, the employe’s regular assignment is again called on duty at 8:00 p.m. on the 4th. Does this mean the employe cannot return to work on regular assignment because personal leave days are not up until 12:00 Midnight on the 4th?
A-13: Yes.
- Q-14: May an employe request four personal leave days and after two days are taken, request to go back to work and be charged with only two personal leave days?
A-14: No, once personal leave days are granted, they cannot be cancelled by either the employe or the Carrier.
- Q-15: Is an employe who starts personal leave “off” until reports?
A-15: Yes, see Section 2 of Article X.
- Q-16: Mould an employe have to obtain a leave of absence if he laid off 15 days, took 7 days personal leave days, 7 days vacation, laid off 15 days, vacation 7 days then laid off an additional 30 days?
A-16: No.
- Q-17: Are the personal leave day or days intended to commence on a day when the employe would otherwise stand to work?
A-17: Yes.
- Q-18: May an extra board employe designate personal leave day or days desired and the first day on which he otherwise would have worked or deadheaded be the first day charged for commencement of his personal leave?
A-18: Yes.
- Q-19: In reference to extra, board employes taking personal leave from filling an outside vacancy, where the deadhead trip is taken as a personal leave day, how will compensable deadhead payments apply?
A-19: If the enploye is required by Schedule Rules to report to the outside point upon return from personal leave, the enploye will not be entitled to deadhead pay for that trip. However, the returning deadhead will be governed by applicable schedule rules.
- Q-20: A yardmaster forfeits his yardmaster’s seniority and exercises his brakeman/yardman seniority into train service. What would be his entitlement to personal leave days?
A-20: If the employe goes directly into road service, he shall have the number of personal leave days to which entitled according to his seniority. If the enploye goes first to yard service and then to road service, the number of personal leave days shall be reduced by the number of paid holidays received.
- Q-21: In reference to the above, would the same conditions apply to an officer of the Company who relinquishes his officer position and exercises his retained UTU trainman’s seniority, an enploye exercising retained UTU trainman’s seniority returning after an extended leave of absence or an enploye exercising UTU trainmen’s seniority in accordance with Section 3 of Article VIII of the August 25, 1978 UTU National Agreement?
A-21: Yes.
- Q-22: If an enploye holding a regular assignment working Monday through Friday with designated rest days of Saturday and Sunday, requests four (4) personal leave days commencing with Friday, would the four (4) personal leave days granted include the enploye’s Saturday and Sunday rest days?
A-22: Yes, they must be taken consecutively.
- Q-23: May two or more members of the same crew be granted personal leave at one time?
A-23: Yes, however, requirements of service and seniority will prevail.
- Q-24: While on personal leave, may an employe be granted an extension?
A-24: Yes, provided request is made prior to the expiration of existing leave.
- Q-25: A personal leave vacancy is a blanked vacancy. Does this mean such vacancy is not to be filled?
A-25: The vacancy need not be filled unless it is a must-fill vacancy.
- Q-26: When protected men are on furlough, must personal leave vacancies be filled?
A-26: No, unless it is a must-fill vacancy.
- Q-27: On what basis will the employe taking personal leave be compensated?
A-27: The employe taking personal leave will be paid one basic day’s pay at the rate of the last service performed for each personal leave day taken.
- Q-28: Does the car increment rate apply when an employe is being paid a basic day for personal leave if the last service was through freight at the 126-car rate?
A-28: No, payment will be made at the basic rate of the last service performed for each personal leave day or days.
- Q-29: How will the initial vacancy or subsequent vacancies created by the extra board/combination extra board employe’s personal leave be treated?
A-29: The initial vacancy for which such employe stood may be blanked for the personal leave vacancy if same meets the necessary criteria. The employe at the conclusion of his personal leave days and upon proper notice to the Carrier, will be placed at the bottom of the extra board.
- Q-30: If an employe, regular, or extra, is on personal leave when assigned to a bulletined vacancy, may the position to which assigned be blanked?
A-30: Yes, provided the vacancy to which assigned is blankable. However, the Company may blank assignments only on a one-for-one basis.
- Q-31: An employe holding regular assignment in local freight service requests and is granted three days personal leave. His assignment operates A to B the first day, B to A the second day, and A to B the third day. The employe’s personal leave expires after the third day while his assignment is at the far terminal which does not return until the fourth day. How will the employe be treated for markup on his regular assignment?
A-31: The employe’s return to service will be in accordance with Section 2 of Article X (See Article X, Q/A-15) and Rule 46 of the current Agreement (May 1, 1983).
- Q-32: Will the vacancy of a regularly assigned brakeman who is stepped-up or used off his blankable position as brakeman to fill the vacancy of a conductor i/Aio is taking personal leave be filled?
A-32: Yes, provided there are protected trainmen available to fill the vacancy.
- Q-33: Hew will a train service employe (regular or extra) in road freight service, not covered by the National Paid Holiday Rules, qualify for entitlement of personal leave days upon entering such service f ran any other class of service?
A-33: All train service employes in road freight service not covered by the National Paid Holiday Rules will qualify for their entitlement of personal leave days as follows:
(a) A road service employe (assigned or Pool Freight) must make one trip or perform one tour of duty to establish qualification for his personal leave days.
(b) A road extra board or combination extra board employe must make one trip or perform one tour of duty in any class of service protected by his respective board to establish qualification for his personal leave days.
- Q-34: If a passenger service employe, where no holiday pay applies, goes into freight service where the personal leave days apply, is he eligible for such days when in freight service?
A-34: Yes, subject to the one tour of duty requirement set forth in 0-33 and A-33.
- Q-35: Would an employe in yard service or road service covered by Holiday Pay Rules be entitled to personal leave days?
A-35: No, as long as such employe remains in yard service or on a road assignment qualifying for holiday pay.
- Q-36: An employe takes personal leave days (either all or part of his entitlement) and then returns to yard service. For how many paid holiday days is he eligible?
A-36: The employe is eligible for that number of paid holiday days which, when combined with his personal leave days taken, will not exceed a total of 11.
- Q-37: An employe takes 11 personal leave days, returns to yard service and his assignment does not work on a holiday. Is he entitled to any compensation for not working the holiday?
A-37: No.
- Q-38: Are personal leave days inflated for vacation purposes?
A-38: Yes.
