21.1 Vacation Allowance
Nurses, excluding extra help, or as herein otherwise provided, shall be entitled to vacation with pay in accordance with the following schedules. Vacation accruals shall be pro‑rated for part-time nurses.
(1) During the first five (5) years of continuous service, vacation will be accrued at the rate of 4.0 hours per biweekly pay period worked.
(2) After the completion of five (5) years of continuous service, vacation will be allowed at the rate of 4.9 hours per biweekly pay period worked.
(3) After the completion of ten (10) years of continuous service, vacation will be allowed at the rate of 5.9 hours per biweekly pay period worked.
(4) After the completion of fifteen (15) years of continuous service, vacation will be allowed at the rate of 6.5 hours per biweekly pay period worked.
(5) After the completion of twenty (20) years of continuous service, vacation will be allowed at the rate of 6.8 hours per biweekly pay period worked.
(6) After the completion of twenty-five (25) years of continuous service, vacation will be allowed at the rate of 7.4 hours per biweekly pay period worked.
(7) No nurse will be allowed to carry an accumulation of more than fifty-two (52) biweekly pay periods’ vacation accrual at any one time. However, nurses may accrue unlimited vacation time in excess of the maximum allowance when such vacation accrues because of remaining in a pay status during periods of illness or injury which precluded liquidating vacation credits earned in excess of the maximum allowed.
(8) No vacation will be permitted prior to the completion of thirteen (13) full biweekly pay periods of continuous service.
(9) Vacation may be used in increments of six (6) minutes.
(10) Extra help do not accrue vacation credits, except that service in an extra help capacity may be included with service in a regular established position in computing vacation allowance for purposes of this Section. However, such extra help service may not be included if it preceded a period of over twenty-eight (28) days during which the employee was not in a pay status.
21.2 Vacation Schedule
The time at which nurses shall be granted vacation shall be at the discretion of the appointing authority. Length of service and seniority of nurses shall be given consideration in scheduling vacations and in giving preference as to vacation time.
It is each nurse’s responsibility to request vacation in a timely manner so that vacation may be approved and scheduled prior to reaching the limits described in 20.1 (7) above. Department Heads shall make every effort to accommodate written vacation leave requests which indicate the need to reduce accrued vacation leave balances to the allowed level, particularly when such requests are submitted at least four (4) pay periods prior to the date upon which the allowable limit would be reached. Any nurse who feels s/he is unreasonably denied a vacation request as described above may request that Employee Relations investigate and, if appropriate, ensure that the nurse is allowed to take vacation time off when the nurse is at the maximum vacation accrual level.
21.3 Vacation Allowance for Separated Employees
When a nurse is separated from service after continuous employment of at least thirteen (13) biweekly pay periods, any remaining vacation allowance shall be added to the final compensation. A nurse separated before serving thirteen (13) full biweekly pay periods shall not be eligible for vacation allowance.
21.4 Vacation Pay
Payment for vacation shall be at the base pay of the employee plus applicable differential, if any, as provided in Section 13.