Woodland Equipment Inc. Employee Vacation Policy

Transcription

1 Woodland Equipment Inc. Employee Vacation Policy Policy Number: Vac Revision Number: Replaces: Vac0001 Effective Date: January 1, 2016 Date Last Reviewed: December 2015 Next Review Date: December 2016 This policy document provides an overview of Woodland Equipment s administration of employee vacation time and pay and applies to all regular employees. Employees should not confuse vacations with: Statutory holidays, which are government-designated days off with pay for eligible employees. In BC, these days are New Years Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, BC Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day. Other unpaid leaves which employees are entitled to under BC employment standards, such as bereavement leave, parental or maternity leave, family responsibility leave, and jury duty; Other leaves (paid or unpaid) not covered or addressed by BC employment standards but which may be provided by Woodland on a case by case basis, such as sick leave or time off for training. Employee vacation time and pay are administered as separate and distinct from these other types of leaves. For example: 1. When an employee takes vacation time and a statutory holiday falls within that paid vacation time, the statutory holiday is recognized and compensated separately from the employee s vacation (if the employee is eligible for the statutory holiday). 2. When an employee is off for unpaid leave to attend a close relative s memorial service, this time is not considered to be part of the employee s annual vacation time entitlement. 3. When an employee is off sick, the time missed due to illness is not considered by Woodland to be part of the employee s vacation time entitlement. Vac Page 1

2 1. Vacation Time and Vacation Pay Defined Vacation time and vacation pay, although related, are not fully interdependent. Vacation time is the time that an employee takes away from work for vacation, while vacation pay is the amount of money Woodland must accrue and pay to an employee under BC employment standards requirements. Situations may occur where an employee takes vacation time but is not issued vacation pay, or may be issued vacation pay when no actual vacation time is being taken. 2. Eligibility for Vacation Time and Vacation Pay Eligibility for vacation time and vacation pay is determined by an employee s tenure with Woodland. Vacation time and vacation pay entitlements for employees are outlined in the Summary of Vacation Time and Vacation Pay table on page 6 of this policy. 3. Eligibility for Returning Employees An employee whose employment with Woodland was previously severed through resignation, dismissal, layoff, or other circumstance which implied a permanent separation and who is later rehired by Woodland is deemed to be a New Employee for purposes of determining vacation time and vacation pay under this policy (see paragraph 17 for further clarification). 4. Employment Deemed Continuous An employee who experiences an extended period away from work and whose employment has not been severed per paragraph 3 above is deemed to be continuously employed through the period of absence for purposes of determining vacation time and vacation pay under this policy. Examples include (but are not limited to) time away for training, medical recovery, maternity leave, or other leaves provided under applicable labour regulations. 5. Vacation Days For purposes of this policy, a vacation day is defined as a weekday that an employee is not at work because she or he is on approved or assigned vacation. A week of vacation time consists of five (5) weekdays. Employees who are entitled to two weeks vacation in a year are thus entitled to ten (10) weekdays off from work in that year, and employees who are entitled to three weeks vacation in a year are entitled to fifteen (15) weekdays off from work. Weekend days and statutory holidays are not counted as vacation days even if they are encompassed within an employee s vacation period. 6. Fiscal Year for Administration of Vacation Time and Pay Woodland Equipment establishes the 12-month period of November 1 to October 31 as its year for allocating, providing, and reconciling employees annual vacation time and vacation pay entitlements. This period aligns with the company s fiscal year, and is subsequently referred to in this policy as the fiscal year. 7. Requirement to Take Annual Paid Vacation Time An employee who is eligible for annual vacation time in a fiscal year may not work that entire fiscal year without taking all or some of her or his available vacation time. The BC Employment Standards Act requires employees to take their full allotment of eligible vacation time each year. Accordingly, Woodland encourages employees to take their full amount of available vacation time each year, considering paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 below. Vac Page 2

3 8. No Banking of Unused Vacation Time Employees may not bank unused vacation time to which they are entitled from one year to the next. Eligible vacation time that goes unused in a given fiscal year is deemed to have been forfeited by the employee; however, this does not affect the employee s entitlement to vacation pay. 9. Extended Vacation Time Management may consider and accept or reject a vacation time request which exceeds an employee s annual vacation time entitlement. Although it may be a factor, an employee must not assume that extended vacation time will be approved on the sole basis that the employee took a lesser amount of his or her eligible vacation time in a previous year. Extended vacation time does not trigger additional vacation pay. 10. Assignment of Vacation Dates Management reserves the right to assign vacation time (dates) to employees. Assignment of vacation time will be in increments of full days, ranging from a minimum of one day to a maximum of the employee s annual vacation entitlement. An employee may request to have assigned vacation dates changed to different dates within the same fiscal year. Management reserves the right to approve or not approve requested changes. 11. Scheduling of Vacations Employees must take vacation time in full day increments and may structure their vacation time as desired, subject to approval of requested dates. For example, an employee who is entitled to 2 weeks vacation may choose to take his or her vacation time as two consecutive weeks, or as two single weeks at different times of the year, or as 10 single work days off spread over the fiscal year. These are just examples - other vacation schedules will be considered. 12. Vacation Requests Requests for vacation time are typically considered on a when-requested basis. It is the employee s responsibility to submit his or her documented vacation time request to Management and to ensure that Management has received the request for consideration. Ideally, employees will submit all vacation time requests for the current fiscal year no later than April 30 of the current fiscal year. Employees may submit vacation time requests for subsequent fiscal years at any time for long-term planning purposes. 13. Approval of Vacation Requests Management reserves the right to approve or not approve vacation time requests. Rejection of vacation requests may be for any reason and in most cases will be as a result of one or more of the following: 1. The date(s) of the employee s request conflict with too many other employee vacation periods that have already been approved; 2. The date(s) of the employee s request are such that his or her absence would have a significantly detrimental effect on operations; 3. The duration of the request exceeds the employee s available allotment of vacation time entitlement remaining for the fiscal year. Vac Page 3

4 14. Other Time Off May Be Designated as Vacation Time Management reserves the right to declare unapproved full-day absences as vacation time used in cases where an employee arbitrarily misses work for reasons unrelated to a bona-fide medical issue, emergency situation, preapproved workday trade, government-permitted leave (BC Employment Standards, Employment Insurance, Worker s Compensation, etc.), or other reasonable circumstance. All such incidences will be assessed on a case by case basis. 15. Incidental Branch Closures Management may, on occasion, choose to close one or more branches of Woodland from time to time on days that normally would have been regular operating (working) days. In such cases, Management will inform employees as to how the closure may affect vacation time and pay entitlements. 16. Vacation Blackout Dates An employee whose presence is considered vital to Woodland s fiscal year end activities may be required by Management to be at work during the (approximate) three week period from October 15 to November 7. Such employees are strongly discouraged from requesting vacation time during this period. Employees are encouraged to consult with Management on this matter. As required, Management may implement additional vacation blackout dates on an incidental basis. 17. Vacation Time for New Employees New employees are subject to the same fiscal year as all other employees for purposes of allocating, providing, and reconciling annual vacation time and vacation pay entitlements. New employees are entitled to vacation time after completing their first 12 months or less of employment, as measured from start date of employment to their first October 31 anniversary date. However, all new employees must complete a minimum of three months of employment before any vacation time may be considered. Example #1: An employee hired on May 1 will be deemed to have completed his or her first year of employment for vacation time entitlement purposes on October 31 of that year (completion of six months of employment). Example #2: An employee hired on December 1 will be deemed to have completed his or her first year of employment on October 31 of the following year (completion of 11 months of employment). Example #3: An employee hired on September 1 will be deemed to have completed his or her first year of employment on October 31 of that year. However, since the employee will only have been employed for 2 months, the employee will still need to work through the entire month of November before she or he will be entitled to take any vacation time off. The employee will then be eligible to take his or her entitled vacation time within the next 11 months of that fiscal year (ie. between December 1 and October 31). 18. Vacation Pay Hourly Employees Employees paid by the hour may have their vacation pay paid-out on each month-end payroll, or may accrue (save-up) their vacation pay and have it paid out at different times and in different increments upon request. This is the employee s choice and may change from month to month at the employee s request, subject to notice being provided to Woodland s payroll personnel in a timely fashion. Vac Page 4

5 19. Vacation Pay - Salaried Employees Vacation pay for salaried employees is deemed to be embedded in their base monthly salaries. When a salaried employee takes vacation time, his or her base salary simply continues to be paid through the vacation period and is designated as vacation pay for the time-off taken. 20. Vacation Pay Commissions Employees who earn commissions as part of their gross wages will earn vacation pay on those commissions. An employee who earns vacation pay on commissions may request to have such vacation pay paid-out in the same pay period as his or her commissions are paid out, or may accrue such vacation pay and have it paid out upon request at different times and in different amounts. 21. Vacation Pay Balances at Fiscal Year End Any employee who has a significant accrued vacation pay balance at the end of the fiscal year (October 31) will have that balance paid-out to him or her on either October or November s payroll run. Exceptions to this process may be considered by special request from individual employees. 22. Vacation Pay Payout Requests Employees may request to have all or a portion of their accrued vacation pay paid-out to them at times other than (a) at fiscal year-end, or (b) when they actually go on vacation. 23. Vacation Pay at Termination of Employment In the event of termination of employment by either the employee or by Woodland, the employee s vacation time and pay will be reconciled as of the employee s last day of work. Any vacation pay owing to the employee as of his or her last day of employment will be proportionately calculated and paid-out to the employee at separation. 24. Variances and Changes to this Policy Management reserves the right to: 1. Consider and approve (or reject) employee requests which deviate from any part of this policy on an individual basis, so long as such variances are in compliance with minimum BC employment standards, 2. Alter vacation time and/or vacation pay entitlements to employees on an individual basis when such alterations are for the benefit of the employee, 3. Add, delete, or make changes to all or any part of this policy, so long as such additions, deletions or changes do not violate the minimum requirements of the BC Employment Standards Act. Changes to all or any part of this policy shall be communicated to all employees and shall not take effect until such communication has been achieved. In cases where an employee has already been approved for a specific vacation time or vacation pay arrangement under this policy or under a variance to this policy, and revisions to this policy would negatively impact such an arrangement, the original terms and conditions already approved shall apply to that arrangement. Vac Page 5

6 Summary of Vacation Time and Vacation Pay - All Employees Employment Period Vacation Time Entitlement Vacation Pay Entitlement Payment of Vacation Pay Start date of employment to first October 31 pay date (first fiscal year) No vacation time unless by special exception & approval. 4% of gross wages, paid in accordance with individual employment arrangements Hourly Employees: Paid out each month, or accrued and paid when employee takes paid vacation time or otherwise at employee s request. Salaried Employees: Vacation pay on commissions earned is paid when vacation time is taken, by special request of employee, or after fiscal year end. Fiscal years 2, 3, 4, and 5 (ie. next four fiscal years after the first October 31 pay date) 2 weeks vacation time per fiscal year. Additional vacation time by special exception only as discussed in paragraph 5 of this policy. 4% of gross wages, paid in accordance with individual employment arrangements Hourly Employees: Paid out each month, or accrued and paid when employee takes paid vacation time or otherwise at employee s request. Salaried Employees: Base salary continues during vacation time taken. Vacation pay on commissions earned is paid when vacation time is taken, by special request of employee, or after fiscal year end. 6 th fiscal year and beyond 3 weeks vacation time per fiscal year. Additional vacation time by special exception only as discussed in paragraph 5 of this policy. 6% of gross wages, paid in accordance with individual employment arrangements 6% begins accruing at employee s fiveyear anniversary date. Hourly Employees: Paid out each month, or accrued and paid when employee takes paid vacation time or otherwise at employee s request. Salaried Employees: Base salary continues during vacation time taken. Vacation pay on commissions earned is paid when vacation time is taken, by special request of employee, or after fiscal year end. Vac Page 6