Upon reaching his/her first eligibility date with the
Company and during each succeeding year, an employee subject to this Agreement
shall be credited with a certain number of hours of credit for the purposes of
this Article 8, based upon hours worked during his/her first year of service
and each succeeding year, such credit to be earned and used as designated in
this Article 8.
The credit to which an employee shall be entitled on his/her
first eligibility date, and at any time thereafter, shall be computed in
accordance with the following rules:
8.2(a) An employee with less than five
(5) years of seniority will earn one (1) hour credit for each seventeen (17)
hours worked.
8.2(b) An employee with five (5) or
more but less than ten (10) years of seniority will earn one (1) hour credit
for each sixteen (16) hours worked.
8.2(c) An employee with ten (10) or
more but less than fifteen (15) years of seniority will earn one (1) hour
credit for each thirteen (13) hours worked.
8.2(d) An employee with fifteen (15) or
more but less than twenty (20) years of seniority will earn one (1) hour credit
for each twelve (12) hours worked.
8.2(e) An employee with twenty (20) or
more but less than twenty-five (25) years of seniority will earn one (1) hour
credit for each eleven (11) hours worked.
8.2(f) An employee with twenty-five
(25) or more years of seniority will earn one (1) hour credit for each ten (10)
hours worked.
8.2(g) Seniority shall be the seniority
as defined in Article 14.
8.2(h) Each hour worked on third shift
shall be increased, at the ratio of eight (8) to six and one (6-1/2)-half for
the purpose of computing credit.
8.2(i) Total credit for any period of
service will be computed to the nearest tenth of an hour.
8.2(j) All hours for which an employee
is paid will be counted as hours worked in the computation of credit and hours
worked at premium rates shall be counted as straight time hours in such
computation.
Eligibility for use of credit shall be determined as
follows:
8.3(a) An employee becomes eligible to
use his/her credit as provided in Section 8.4 after reaching his/her first
eligibility date, except as provided in Subparagraph 8.4(c)(2).
8.3(b) The eligibility date of an
employee newly hired or hired after termination of employment shall occur on
the anniversary date of such hire.
8.3(c) An employee who had established
an eligibility date prior to the effective date of this Agreement will retain
such eligibility date so long as he/she remains in the continuous service of
the Company.
8.3(d) Time on layoff and time on
authorized leave of absence will be considered as continuous service for the
purpose of establishing and retaining eligibility dates.
Credit earned by any employee is to be used as follows:
8.4(a) Allocation
of Portion of Credit to Sick Leave Credit and to Vacation Credit.
The first forty (40) hours credited on an employee's first eligibility
date and thereafter as earned during each succeeding year of service shall be
allocated to the employee's Sick Leave Credit.
The number of such hours that at any time are earned and unused shall be
referred to as the employee's Sick Leave Credit.
All hours credited on an
employee's first eligibility date and as earned during each succeeding year of
service, in excess of the number of hours to be allocated to the employee's
Sick Leave Credit as aforesaid, shall be referred to as the employee's Vacation
Credit.
8.4(b) Use
of Vacation Credit as Vacation With Pay or Sick Leave.
Between eligibility dates, an
employee shall use his/her unused Vacation Credit accumulated in the twelve
(12)-month period preceding his/her last eligibility date as vacation with pay
at the rate in effect for each day of the vacation period, including shift
differential, if applicable, subject to the following conditions:
8.4(b)(1) He/she shall request vacation
dates on forms provided by the Company and the Company will endeavor to
schedule his/her vacation as requested.
Generally, Vacation Credit will be used in units of eight (8) hours;
however, Credit may be used in lesser amounts to cover partial days of absence,
subject to advance approval by the employee's supervisor.
8.4(b)(2) In instances where Company
management believes the awarding of vacations as requested would interfere
seriously with production requirements, the scheduling of vacations shall be as
near to the dates requested as possible.
8.4(b)(3) In scheduling vacations, the
Company will attempt to meet its production requirements by use of employees on
a voluntary basis and, failing in this, the seniors will be given their
preference of available vacation dates when request is made thirty (30) or more
days prior to the vacation dates requested to the extent established vacation
schedules will permit.
8.4(b)(4) In the event an employee is
temporarily laid off as provided in Section 22.8 or is on approved leave of
absence, he/she may elect to take his/her vacation with pay, to the extent of
his/her eligibility, during such layoff or leave.
8.4(b)(5) If an employee's Sick Leave
Credit is exhausted, management shall allow an employee to use vacation credit
to care for a child, spouse, parent, parent-in-law, or grandparent as may be
required by law, even if an employee is under a Corrective Action Memo for
attendance. In other cases, management
may approve on a case-by-case basis an employee's request to use Vacation
Credit as sick leave for legitimate reasons for absence under the same
conditions as set forth in Subparagraph 8.4(c)(1). Such approval will not be unreasonably
denied; however, requests will not normally be approved if the employee is then
under a Corrective Action Memo for attendance.
8.4(c) Use
of Sick Leave Credit as Sick Leave. Sick Leave Credit
may be used as follows:
8.4(c)(1) General.
Between eligibility dates, an employee, including an employee on a leave
of absence, may, at his/her option, use any part or all of his/her Sick Leave
Credit as sick leave providing: (A) the employee is partially or wholly
incapacitated by actual illness or injury on the days taken as sick leave, (B)
an illness in the employee's immediate family requires the employee's presence
or (C) the employee has a medical or dental appointment which can be scheduled
only during working hours. The employee
shall be paid for absence charged to sick leave and shall not be penalized for
such absence providing the nature of the absence and anticipated length of
absence is reported to his/her organization on the first day of such absence,
or as soon thereafter as reasonably possible.
As to possible rights after exhaustion of Sick Leave Credit, see
Subparagraph 8.4(b)(5) and Section 8.5(a).
8.4(c)(2) Prior
to First Eligibility Date. Prior to his/her first eligibility date an
employee may use in accordance with Subparagraph 8.4(c)(1) accumulated Sick
Leave Credits anticipated to be allocated on his/her first eligibility date. Use of such credits will be considered to be
an advance from the employees' Sick Leave Credits due on his/her first
eligibility date and will reduce such allocation accordingly. Should the employee terminate for any reason
other than layoff prior to completion of his/her first year of service, sick
leave payment made to the employee may be deducted from the employee's final
paycheck and any remaining amounts will be due the Company.
8.4(d) Unused
Vacation Credit. It is the intent of the parties that employees
shall be required to use Vacation Credit as vacation. However, where an employee does not use all
or part of such Vacation Credit as vacation with pay during the year between
vacation eligibility dates, the employee shall receive pay in lieu of any
remaining unused Vacation Credit after reaching his/her next eligibility
date. An exception to the foregoing will
be to allow employees to elect carryover of vacation credits in order to meet
extended vacation needs, provided the employee makes such election in writing
at least ten (10) working days before the employee's next eligibility date. Once
an employee elects this exception to carryover vacation, that election will
remain in effect unless otherwise requested. Vacation credits so carried over must be used
during the next eligibility year and pay in lieu of vacation credits carried
over will not be allowed until the end of the eligibility year following the
eligibility year in which the carryover election is made. All payments in lieu of vacations shall be
made at the employee's rate in effect on the employee's current vacation
eligibility date, including shift differential where applicable.
8.4(e) Unused
Sick Leave Credit. An employee who, on any eligibility date, has
more than forty (40) unused hours in his/her Sick Leave Credit, less the number
of leave without pay hours taken during the eligibility year, will receive
pay-in-lieu of those hours over forty (40) in accordance with the following
table:
|
Hours
of Unused Sick |
|
|
40 hours |
160% |
|
36 to 40 hours |
150% |
|
32 to 36 hours |
140% |
|
28 to 32 hours |
130% |
|
24 to 28 hours |
120% |
|
20 to 24 hours |
110% |
|
less than 20 |
100% |
Such payments shall be made at
the employee's rate in effect on that eligibility date, including shift
differential where applicable.
Notwithstanding the above, there will be no deduction for leave without
pay hours taken for the following reasons:
departure from work for Union business pursuant to Section 4.9;
temporary layoff pursuant to Section 22.8; time loss as a result of industrial
injury or illness; authorized military leave of absence pursuant to
Section 6.6(b), or emergency plant closure.
8.4(f) Effect
of Termination. Upon termination of an employee's employment
for any reason on or after any eligibility date, such employee shall receive
pay in lieu of his/her hours of Vacation Credit and Sick Leave Credit earned
and unused up to and including the effective date of his/her termination of
employment. For the purposes of this
Section 8.4(f) only, an employee shall be deemed to have terminated on or after
his/her first eligibility date if he/she worked on his/her last scheduled
workday prior to that eligibility date.
Such pay shall be in addition to such benefits as may be payable to the
employee under the Financial Security Plan.
8.4(g) Effect
of Military Service on Credit. Any employee who
leaves to enter military service shall receive pay in lieu of his/her hours of
Vacation Credit and Sick Leave Credit earned and unused up to the effective
date of termination irrespective of whether he/she has been employed until
his/her eligibility date. Such payment
will be made when the employee furnishes proof, satisfactory to the Company, of
his/her entry into military service within sixty (60) days after termination
and without intervening employment elsewhere.
Such pay shall be in addition to such benefits as may be payable to the
employee under the Financial Security Plan.
8.4(h) Effect
of Layoff on Credit. Any employee who is laid off (on other than a
temporary layoff of fourteen (14) calendar days or less) shall receive pay in
lieu of all of his/her hours of Vacation Credit and Sick Leave Credit earned
and unused up to the effective date of layoff irrespective of whether he/she
has been employed until his/her eligibility date. Such pay shall be in addition to such
benefits as may be payable to the employee under the Financial Security Plan. Employees temporarily laid off shall not
receive pay in lieu of unused Credit.
8.4(i) Use
of Credit in Lieu of Working Short Workweek. In the event the
Company deems it advisable to work an employee on a short workweek as provided
in Article 5, Section 5.2, the employee may:
8.4(i)(1) elect against working the short
workweek in which case he/she may apply for and use his/her unused Credit
accumulated in the twelve (12)-month period preceding his/her last eligibility
date (to the extent that it is not allocated or required to be allocated to
his/her Sick Leave Credit) as time off with pay at the rate in effect on the
day(s) such credit is used, including shift differential if applicable, or
8.4(i)(2) elect to work the short workweek
and apply for and use such unused Credit as time off with pay for the regular
workdays that are not worked in the short workweek, or
8.4(i)(3) elect layoff, in which case the
provisions of Section 8.4(h) above shall apply.
8.5(a) Use
of Accrued Financial Security Plan Benefits. The Financial Security
Plan is not applicable to employees within the units to which this Agreement
relates. However, after October 4, 1983,
an employee who has transferred into a unit defined in Article 1 who has an
accrued benefit under the Financial Security Plan shall retain such accrued
benefit under the Plan subject to the current withdrawal and termination
provisions of the Plan applicable to the employee's unit before transfer.
8.5(b) Deferral
of Benefit Payment. A Member may defer payment of benefits upon
termination of Service regardless of the amount of the Member's account
balance.
8.5(c) Annuity
Form of Benefit Payment. A Member to whom a benefit is payable on
account of retirement under a retirement plan sponsored by the Company may,
prior to the Member's retirement date under such retirement plan, elect to
receive all or any designated portion of this Plan benefit in an alternate
annuity form regardless of the amount of the Member's account balance.