Language Amends Article 10.5 (Holiday Pay) of Units 1, 3, 6 Contract
January 24, 2008
After the Units 1, 3, and 6 contract extension went into effect, NAGE continued to work with the Commonwealth on language in Article 10 regarding holiday pay. The resulting amendment to Article 10.5 gives employees much greater control over the manner in which they are compensated for work they are required to perform on a holiday that occurs on their regular workday. The new language affects the first five times in a calendar year that such a situation occurs. The full language is included below, but a brief explanation is as follows:
EXAMPLE: Assume that you're an employee who works a regular schedule of Monday through Friday. This year, Independence Day falls on Friday, which you, the regular Monday-Friday worker has off. Now assume that you are required to work on Independence Day. Under the old language, you would be paid for working Independence Day, and you would get a paid comp day off (to be taken within 60 days after the holiday). If management could not grant you the comp day because of, say, a staffing shortage, then you would receive a day's pay in lieu of the comp day. The decision of whether you would get the paid comp day or the one day's pay was entirely up to management. Under the new language, the decision is up to you. The first five times you are required to work on a holiday that occurs on your regular workday, you get to decide, in addition to being paid for the holiday, whether to be paid for the day or to receive a paid compensation day to be used within 60 days. The new language allows you to make the decision about what's best for you.
Full text of language amending Article 10.5
Effective 1/1/2008, notwithstanding any other contract provisions, an employee who is required to work his/her regular shift on a holiday (and the employee was otherwise not scheduled to work said holiday), shall be entitled to elect, for the first five times per calendar year that such occurs, to receive either: (a) one day's pay in addition to regular pay for compensation for working on the holiday; or (b) a compensatory day off with pay within sixty days following the holiday to be taken at a time requested by the employee and approved by the agency head or if a compensatory day cannot be granted by the agency/department because of a shortage of personnel or other reasons then he/she shall be entitled to pay for one day at his/her regular rate of pay in addition to pay for the holiday worked.
Once five such occasions per calendar year have passed the employee shall then receive a compensatory day off with pay within sixty days following the holiday to be taken at a time requested by the employee and approved by the agency head or if a compensatory day cannot be granted by the agency/department because of a shortage of personnel or other reasons then he/she shall be entitled to pay for one day at his/her regular rate of pay in addition to pay for the holiday worked.