Chapter 3 – Personnel, Training, and Employee Relations

31080.8.1 Vacation

• The following process shall be followed for requesting and/or approving vacations:

  • Correctional Officers

    • The Personnel Assignment Office will publish a schedule of available vacation periods by October 1 of each year. The length of vacation periods may vary from institution to institution (e.g., one week, two weeks, or three weeks). Each institution will determine the vacation periods based on the number of Correctional Officers and the number of vacation relief positions established in the budget.

    • Vacation request forms will be made available to Correctional Officers by October 1 of each year, which must be completed and returned to the site designated on the form within thirty (30) days of issuance. It is the responsibility of all employees to complete and submit a vacation request form each year. Correctional Officers will make their selections on the vacation request form by numbering the periods they desire in descending priority order. For example: First choice is numbered “1,” second choice is numbered “2,” etc.

    • Each Correctional Officer will be assigned a vacation on a seniority basis as specified in Bargaining Unit 6, Collective Bargaining Agreements. The Personnel Assignment Office will assign any remaining vacation periods, without consideration of seniority, to Correctional Officers who failed to submit a vacation request form or improperly completed the form.

    • The approved vacation schedule will be posted by December 1 of each year. Once an employee has been given an approved vacation period, he/she may not trade that vacation period with another employee as a mutual swap.

    • Correctional Officers may notify the Personnel Assignment Office that they wish to cancel approved vacations by submitting a written request no less than 30 calendar days prior to the scheduled vacation. Per the collective bargaining agreements for Bargaining Unit 6, Institutional employees may cancel their vacation, but may not carry over excess vacation time which may accrue as a result of the cancellation.

    • After the annual vacation bidding process is completed, Correctional Officers may submit requests for additional vacations should additional vacation periods open up due to cancellations, retirements, promotions, separations, employees’ transferring out of the institution, or other circumstances.

    • These unexpected openings are called “standby vacations.”

  • Correctional Sergeants and Correctional Lieutenants

    • The Custody Captain will publish a schedule of available vacation periods for all Correctional Sergeants and Lieutenants by October 1 of each year.

    • Vacation request forms will be made available to Correctional Sergeants and Lieutenants by each October 1. These forms must be completed and returned to the site designated on the form within thirty (30) days of issuance. It is the responsibility of all employees to complete and submit a vacation request form each year.

    • Correctional Sergeants assigned to posts for which there is no budgeted vacation relief shall participate in the vacation bidding process along with all other Correctional Sergeants. No later than 30 calendar days before the time of the approved vacation, if it is determined that they will still be assigned to such posts at the time of their approved vacations, those vacation periods will open up as standby vacations for other institutional employees.

    • No-Relief Post Lieutenants Vacation Scheduling

      • Lieutenants assigned to No-Relief (NR) posts shall submit vacation requests to the hiring authority or designee for review and approval.

      • The following lieutenant positions are designated as NR Posts:

        • Assignment or Time Management,

        • Inmate Assignments,

        • In-Service Training,

        • Investigations, and

        • Public Information Officer or Administrative Assistant

      • In the event a lieutenant assigned to a NR post is subsequently reassigned to a post with relief, all preapproved vacation requests shall be honored in the new assignment.

      • If a lieutenant with preapproved vacation is reassigned from a NR post, overtime shall only be utilized for coverage behind the reassigned lieutenant’s vacation if no relief is available to cover.

    • Correctional Sergeants and Lieutenants will be assigned vacations on a seniority basis. Remaining vacation periods will be assigned without consideration of seniority to Correctional Sergeants and Lieutenants who fail to submit a vacation request form or improperly complete the form. The approved vacation schedule will be posted by December 1 of each year.

    • Correctional Sergeants and Lieutenants may request to cancel approved vacations by submitting a written request no less than 30 days prior to the Custody Captain through the normal chain of command. Correctional Sergeants and Lieutenants projected to exceed the maximum accrual of vacation/annual leave credits in the scheduled calendar year will not be permitted to cancel vacations unless alternate vacation periods can be accommodated.

    • After the annual vacation bidding process is completed, Institutional employees may submit requests for additional vacations. Additional vacation periods open up due to cancellations, retirements, promotions, separations, and/or employees’ transferring out of the institution or other circumstances. These unexpected openings are called “standby vacations.”

  • Standby Vacations For Correctional Officers, Correctional Sergeants, And Correctional Lieutenants

    • Standby vacations for which there are no existing bids will be offered to employees in the following priority order:

      • Employees whose vacation/annual leave credits are over the established maximum limits or are projected to go over these limits by the end of the calendar year, will be so notified and required to submit a plan to reduce their credits to the designated supervisor. These employees shall have first priority for standby vacation periods with the highest priority being given to employees with the highest leave balances.

      • Employees who had not been awarded vacations during the bidding process (transfers-in, employees who had not yet completed six month’s of state service, employees who were off on long-term sick leave, NDINon-Industrial Disability Insurance, or IDLIndustrial Disability Leave, etc.).

      • Employees who had requested additional vacations during the applicable vacation period, on seniority basis.

  • All Other Employees

    • By January 15 of each year, all employees (except Correctional Officers, Sergeants, and Lieutenants) will submit to their supervisors, in writing, their vacation requests for the remainder of that calendar year through February of the following year. On or before February 15 of each year, supervisors/managers will review the vacation requests. Vacations shall be awarded based on: operational need; the safe and/or efficient operation of the work area; and the number of employees by classification that may be on vacation at the same time in the designated work area. When the number of employees requesting vacation for a specific time exceeds the number that can be on vacation at the same time, vacations will be awarded by State service seniority. Employees will be informed of the approved vacation schedule by February 20 of each year.

    • An employee may submit additional requests for vacation throughout the year. These will be considered on a timely basis by the designated supervisors and granted whenever possible based on operational need and the safe and/or efficient operation of the work area.

    • Employees who wish to cancel scheduled vacations must notify their designated supervisors in writing no less than 30 days prior to the scheduled vacation.

    • By June 1 of each calendar year, represented employees whose vacation/annual leave balances exceeds or could exceed by December 31 the vacation/annual leave cap allowed by collective bargaining agreements or DPADepartment of Personnel Administration (see CalHR) rules, shall submit to their supervisor, for approval, a written plan to bring their vacation balance to the amount permitted prior to January 1 of the following year. If an employee fails to submit a written plan or adhere to an approved plan, the employee’s supervisor shall order the employee to take sufficient vacation to reduce the actual or potential vacation balance to below the authorized cap.

    • If it is unavoidable that the employee cannot use the scheduled time due to emergency, sick leave, or unanticipated operational needs, the employee shall be allowed to reschedule the time to be taken off.

    • Employees whose vacation or annual leave balances exceed their maximum cap on January 1 may not have the excess deducted from their balances.