Any vendor who has a minimum of one (1) year of service but less than three (3) years of service shall receive five (5) days paid vacation leave per year. The “leave year” begins on January 1, and concludes on December 31 of each year. A vendor who completes the minimum 1 year service in the middle of a “leave year” is eligible for leave after that time and before the end of the “leave year”. Any vendor having over three (3) years of seniority will be eligible for ten (10) days of paid vacation per “leave year”. When a vendor has over fifteen (15) years of seniority, he/she will be eligible for fifteen (15) days of paid vacation per “leave year”. Annual leave does not carry over from one leave year to the next and can be taken in full or half days.

Vacation in excess of allowable paid vacation as stated above is non-essential leave and will necessitate that the vendor pay for the substitute employee(s). See Section 5.9.3., Non-essential Extra Help, and Section 6.4., Non-essential Leave, for further information. It is the responsibility of the vendor to arrange for extra help during vacation periods. The vendor will notify the specialist of the necessary information to enable the specialist to complete the Extra-Help Payroll Information form (See Appendix A).

Vendors whose facilities are closed for a period of time due to the shutdown of the establishment on the site where the facility is located may elect to be paid $ 40 for each day of leave for which they are eligible. They should apprise their specialist of the time period that the facility will be closed and that they have elected to be paid $ 40 a day in lieu of their regular vacation time.

Vendors that do not take all their vacation time prior to December 31st may request that they be paid $ 40 a day for each day of unused vacation leave. This request must be made the last full week of December. If a vendor is retiring, he can request payment of unused vacation days on his last working day.

6.1.1. Sales Seminar Attendance. Vendors must attend all meetings of the annual Sales Seminar on Saturday. If a vendor does not attend the seminar meetings on Saturday, they will lose 5 vacation days. However, if the vendor provides a written statement of explanation for the vendor's absence to the State Committee of Blind Vendors, the State Committee will review Section 6 (Leave Policy) to consider whether or not to approve payment of all unused vacation leave of the vendor in question. If a vendor fails to provide a written statement, the vendor will lose 5 days vacation leave in the current year. If all vacation has been depleted in the current leave year, vendor will lose 5 vacation days on January 1st of the next leave year.

6.2.1. Ordinary Sick Leave. Sick leave for vendors will accrue at the rate of 1/2 day on the 15th day of the month and 1/2 day on the last day of the month from the first date the vendor entered, reenters or is eligible to accrue leave. Sick leave can be taken in full or half days. A maximum of 60 days of sick leave may be accumulated. If a vendor is absent from a facility due to illness for more than five consecutive working days, a statement from his/her physician must be sent to the Vending Facility Program office before the vendor can return to work. Otherwise, the vendor will not be compensated for the number of days he/she is absent.

6.2.2. Extended Sick Leave. In cases where a vendor becomes unable, due to illness, to perform the necessary duties required to operate the facility for an extended period of time, the following criteria will apply. The vendor will receive the net profits from the facility and retain assignment to it for not more than 90 working days after all leave is depleted. A working day is defined as a day in which the location is normally open for business by contractual agreement. While on extended sick leave, vendors will not earn sick or vacation leave. When a vendor returns to work from extended sick leave, they will resume their leave benefits. As soon as possible, but at least by the 30th calendar day, after all leave is depleted, the vendor will provide the specialist with a statement from his/her physician outlining his/her condition and possible date that he/she might be expected to be capable of fully operating the facility. The vendor will also provide the specialist with a statement as to his/her desire to retain the facility and some indication as to when he/she will once again be able to assume his/her duties of operating the facility. The vendor must provide the specialist with a physician's statement that the vendor is able to perform the duties required to manage the facility before he/she resumes the responsibility for its operation. When it becomes necessary to determine whether or not the facility should be reassigned, the decision will be made by a committee consisting of; the Vending Facility Program Administrator, the specialist who supervises the facility, and a Transfer and Promotion Committee of the State Committee of Blind Vendors.

6.2.3. Immediate Family - Illness. Sick leave may be taken when needed because of illness in the vendor's immediate family. Immediate family is defined as: parents, siblings, spouse, children, in-laws, grandparents and step-children.

6.2.4. Funeral. Funeral leave, not to exceed five days per calendar year, may be charged to sick leave for funerals of the vendor's immediate family. Immediate family is defined in subsection 6.2.3. Funeral leave of one day may be taken because of deaths of other relatives and may be charged to sick leave.

6.2.5. Maternity. Maternity leave will be granted on the same basis as extended sick leave (see sub-section 6.2.2.).

When a vendor must be absent from a facility for reasons other than for vacation or illness as outlined in subsection 6.2.1. to 6.2.5., extra help will be paid the same as vacation or sick leave upon the specialist's recommendation.

6.3.1. Agency Business. When a vendor is assisting in agency business or is requested to assist the program and requires him/her to be away from the facility during his/her business hours, the Vending Facility Program will provide for the substitute operation of the facility.

6.3.2. Jury Duty. When a vendor is requested to perform Jury duty, the substitute operation of the facility will be provided at no expense to the vendor of the facility.

6.3.3. Training While Not On Suspension. Should training for deficiency or upward mobility training involve the vendor's absence from their location, extra help will be paid for by the Program and not charged to the vendor.

6.3.4. Administrative Leave. Effective January 1, 1994, when a vendor wishes to attend conventions, meetings and/or seminars, he must request from his specialist the use of administrative leave. This leave will not be counted against any other form of leave. However, the vendor must pay for the substitute worker either as essential or non-essential help.

A vendor may use non-essential extra help for 12 days per calendar year. Use of non-essential leave beyond 12 days will be subtracted from available vacation leave. If vacation is not available then the progressive discipline process in policy 5.5 will be followed.