Rights Review

Knowing when we are required to be present to work is important, nobody likes to present to work if they are not required to do so. Follow me as we discuss key points relating to tours of duty found on the Master Agreement Article 21 Section 3.

1. A workweek will usually not be extended for more than 5 days from Sunday to Saturday (typically for those who work 8 hour shifts).

2. If you work rotating shifts (day, evenings and/or nights), you should not be scheduled to work more than two work shifts within a 14 consecutive days period, unless agreed to do so by employee and manager.

3. Employees shall not be required to work before a 12 hour off-duty time after their last shift, unless agreed to do so by employee and manager (if you left work at 8am, you should not be required to present to work until at least 8pm that night).

4. Weekend, holiday and rotating shifts must be distributed in a fair and equitable manner.

5. Weekends are defined by the contract as Saturday and Sunday, there may be some exceptions where Friday and Monday may be counted as a weekend, but it is not the norm, no manager should tell you that Fridays and Mondays are part of your weekend rotation.

6. Preffered tours are determined by seniority. Locally, seniority is defined by when you started in the Robley Rex VAMC and not by your SCD.

7. The Union has the right to review staffing options when there is an excessive use of Over Time.

8. If you work 8 hour shifts, you should not be scheduled to work for more than 6 consecutive days.

9. If you work 10 hour shifts, you should not be scheduled to work for more than 4 consecutive days.

10. If you work 12 hour shifts, you should not be scheduled to work for more than 3 consecutive days.

11. Any changes made to employees schedules as mentioned on bullets 8, 9 and 10 shall not be made without notice to the Union.

12. If you are required to change uniforms as part as your role, the Department must provide you up to 10 minutes at the beggining and end of your tour for change. You must also be allowed a reasonable amount of time to change if your uniform becomes soiled.

13. The Department must provide a reasonable amount of time for cleanup time at the end of your shift. No employee should be required to remain after the end of their shift for clean up purposes without appropriate compensation.

Whenever we are asked to present to our Tours of Duty at a questionable time, it may be intimidating to question why. Thankfully, you should not find yourself in this situation as the Master Agreement covers most of when you should and should not need to be required to present to your TOD. If you do find yourself in this situation, let us know right away so we may take appropriate action. Remember, we cannot act if we do not know, so be involved, and keep us in the loop!

If you would like to request a Grievance Filing, click here to get the process started.

Let us know what you think about this article of if you have any other questions regarding it.

Have any other articles you would like for us to review? Let us know so we can cover it on our next post!