The company may force you to take vacation
We have seen an increase in the number of companies requiring our members to schedule and take all earned vacations. Even though it is a good idea to take all the vacation that you have earned, we understand the reason that many of you do not; extra money. A large number of members get their vacation pay on their anniversary along with unused sick pay. They use this money to pay bills, tuition, property taxes, etc., along with saving some for vacations. As hours get cut from the payroll and stores try to avoid lay-offs and try to work within their budgeted hours, the first place that managers are told to monitor is vacations. They are told to make sure that all employees take all the vacation that they should.
Vacations may be scheduled by the employer in the Master Food contract (Albertsons, Ralph’s and Vons), Stater Bros. and Gelson’s contract; CVS and Rite Aid contracts. In all food contracts that were listed, the employer must give the employee at least a two weeks’ notice before scheduling a forced vacation.
In the Drug contracts (CVS and Rite Aid), the employer must give at least thirty days’ notice before scheduling a forced vacation.
We have seen a flood of complaints that members find themselves scheduled to be on vacation on the following weeks schedule with no notice at all. This is a violation of your contract and you may have some recourse if a timely grievance is filed.
We have been successful forcing the employer to put members back on the schedule where proper notice was not given and we have also recovered pay for those weeks that these violations have occurred. If you find yourself being forced to take an unwanted vacation and these time limits were not met by your employer, please do not hesitate to call either your representative or the union office.
Remember, employers can require you to take all vacation time so it would be in your best interest to schedule it and take it when you want it before someone else does it for you.
