RULE 73: LEAVE OF ABSENCE
| Description: RULE 73 - LEAVE OF ABSENCE (a) Employees shall not take leaves of absence without Company authorization except for sickness or emergencies where advance approval cannot be obtained. (b) A leave of absence for one day to and including fifteen days will be considered authorized when approved by the chief crew dispatcher or other authorized representative of the Company. The Company representative handling the crew board under which the employee is working will be an authorized representative for the purpose of this rule. The minimum period for which leave of absence may be authorized shall be twenty - four hours, except that an employee other than an employee on an extra board may report for his regular assignment in less than twenty - four hours. (c) Leaves of absence exceeding fifteen days but not exceeding six months must be approved by the Division Superintendent. Leaves of absence exceeding six months must be approved by the General Manager and General Chairman. The standard leave of absence form shall be executed for all leaves of absence exceeding fifteen days. (d) Leaves of absence exceeding ninety days shall not be granted except for sickness, disability, committee work, or by permission of the General Manager and the General Chairman. (e) Employees accepting official positions in the service of the Company or the Organization shall be considered as on leave of absence while holding such positions. (f) Employees shall not absent themselves from service without proper authority. (g) Leaves of absence will be granted only at the employees' home terminal except in emergency. Employees shall not report for work following leaves of absence at points other than their home terminal or the home terminal of their assignment. (h) Employees reporting for duty after having been granted permission to be absent shall give advance notice of the time they will report for duty as follows: (1)At points where extra boards are maintained road service employees shall give the crew dispatcher at least two hours advance notice. (2)Employees holding assignments at outlying points where extra boards are not maintained must report for work at least twelve hours in advance of the starting time of the assignment. (3)Yardmen returning from leave of absence must report no less than three hours before the starting time of their assignment. (i) Extra employees granted leaves of absence shall be placed at the foot of the extra board at the time they report for duty, (j) Employees, who fall to report for duty at the expiration of the period of their authorized absence, unless a request for additional leave is pending, shall automatically terminate their seniority rights and employee relationship with the Company. However, the employee affected may make a written request for a formal investigation of the termination of his seniority provided the request for investigation is made within thirty days of the expiration of the leave of absence. If request is not made within thirty days, the termination will stand. (k) An employee returning to service following a leave of absence and an employee returning from vacation, may exercise his seniority rights to any assignment which has been bulletined and assigned during his absence and which has been assigned to an employee his junior, provided such action is taken before accepting other service. NOTE: Under paragraph (k) of this rule, if an employee accepts other service or is used in other service, except in emergency, he shall in that case forfeit all rights to displace any employee his junior assigned to positions bulletined during his absence. |
