Vacation Policy – Revised September 2022

 On November 1st of each year the vacation calendar for the following year will be given
to eligible employees to select vacation time. The order in which vacation time is selected is
based on hospital seniority, which is determined by the Human Resources Department. The
calendar will start the first week of the January schedule for that year, and will continue for
the 52 weeks of that year.

 The vacation calendar will be circulated to all eligible employees up to three times,
giving employees the option of choosing 3 weeks for vacation. Employees will choose one
week on each turn. The request must be for Monday through Friday with weekends before
and after the request being included automatically (no partial week or split week requests).
Employees must complete their requests in a timely fashion. Employees will have up to
48hrs to make their vacation selection. After 48hrs, the vacation book will then be given to
the next individual on the seniority list, whether the employee has chosen a vacation week
or not. Employees who are on leave will be contacted for their vacation requests. The
circulation of the vacation book to all employees should be completed within 1 month.

 No additional vacation requests for the following year will be accepted until after the
calendar has circulated through all eligible employees three times.

 Employees that do not have at least 50% of the desired CTO banked are not eligible to
request time off. Staff must have 100% of the desired CTO at the time the schedule is
made or their vacation will be limited to the amount of CTO they have available.

 Employees that are under disciplinary action for attendance issues are not eligible to
request time off until eligible employees have had the opportunity to choose 3 weeks’
worth of vacation.

 A total of 2 RNs and 2 STs can be off at one time (total of 4 employees off). If you are
one of the first 2 RNs or STs to request a week off, you will be granted that time off. If
additional requests for a vacation week is made where there are already 2 RNs/STs
scheduled off, the 3rd request will not be granted and will be denied.

 For Single vacation days requested where the employee wishes to use CTO time, the
requested day off will be granted based on staffing needs and availability of staff. If a day
requested off is during a week where 2 RNs/STs are already off, the request may be denied.
This will be determined on a schedule to schedule basis, and based on the current staffing
requirements. As many requests as possible will be honored at the time the monthly
schedule is made.
 On December 1st, the vacation calendar is open to those requesting additional time off
who have 50% of the necessary CTO in their bank at the time of the request. These requests
are still subject to the 2 RNs/STs off per vacation week limitation.

 If there are extenuating circumstances, the manager has the final approval or denial of
vacation requests, e.g. somebody requesting up to two weeks in a row, or somebody
needing a specific time of for vacation who is lower on the seniority list. These requests
must be submitted by October 15 for the following year so that the vacation calendar can
begin to circulate come November 1st. There will be no special requests permitted for the
highly sought after vacation months of June, July, August, December, or the first 2 weeks
of April (spring break). Only 1 special request per employee per year may be granted.

 After the Initial three rounds of choosing vacation weeks has occurred, additional
requests will be granted based on the date requests are submitted, and on hospital
seniority.

 If there is a conflict, preference will be given to those without disciplinary action for
attendance.

 All monthly requests for days off must be submitted in When To Work by the
corresponding due dates for that schedule. Schedule due dates can be found on the Bulletin
board in the When To Work Application.

 POAs schedule is handles in a similar fashion with ONE POA able to request a full week
off for vacation at a time. Single day requests off from other employees will then be
granted/denied based on availability when the schedule is made.

Weeks of Holidays

 Eligible full time and part time staff will be granted 8 hours of holiday paid time off for
each of the 6 recognized holidays. The 6 holidays that the hospital recognizes are:
 NEW YEARS DAY
 MEMORIAL DAY
 INDEPENDACE DAY
 LABOR DAY
 THANKSGIVING DAY
 CHRISTMAS DAY

 Staff that routinely work three 12 hour shifts per week may be eligible to work two 12
hour shifts and one 8 hour shift on holiday weeks; with the paid 8 hour holiday,
accumulating 40 hours for that week. This is not always guaranteed and will be subject to
availability/staffing needs for the holiday week and availability will be reviewed at the time
the schedule is made to determine if it is possible. If it is not feasible based on staffing/unit
requirements, employees who normally work three 12 hour shifts per week may still be
required to work three 12 hour shifts on a holiday week. This may also apply to employees
who normally work off shifts such as afternoons/midnights/weekends, and so they may also
be required to work three 12 hour shifts during a holiday week. Individuals who normally
work five 8 hour shifts a week, will be scheduled for four 8 hour shifts on a holiday week,
with the paid 8 hour holiday, accumulating 40 hours.

 Employees who normally work five 8 hour shifts a week will have their schedule
changed to two 12 two 8 hour shifts on weeks where it is their turn to work an off shift such
as a weekend/midnight/holiday shift.

 The days surrounding the holidays will be treated separately for additional requests
after the first two requests are granted. Therefore, no additional requests will be accepted
for the following days:

 Wednesday before Thanksgiving

 Friday after thanksgiving (Black Friday)
 December 24th (Christmas eve)
 December 26th (Boxing day in Canada)
 December 31 (New Years Eve)
 January 2nd

 The holiday is decided based on when the START of a shift is. For example, arriving at
11pm on Dec 24th is NOT considered a holiday shift, but arriving at 11pm on Dec 25th IS
considered to be a holiday shift.

 Each holiday will be staffed with the corresponding holiday group for that year. The RN
and ST Holiday groups can be located on the bulletin board in the When To Work
application. 4 RNs and 4 STs are needed to staff the holiday. 2 RN/ST will work 7a-7p, and 2
RNs/STs to work 7a-7p. Who will work what shift is to be determined by the members of
the group. If the group has additional members like a 5th or 6th employee, that employee will
be assigned to an alternative off shift surrounding the holiday that will be determined at the
time the schedule is being made.

 The holiday groups rotate each year through the Holidays in the following order:
 New Years Day
 Labor Day
 Christmas Day
 Independence Day
  Thanksgiving Day
 Memorial Day

 Scheduling is always based around the needs and requirements of the department.
Management reserves the right to make changes to these policies and changes to the
employees’ schedules based on requirements, availability, as well as employee
performance, CTO accumulation, and disciplinary actions.