22 CAR § 5-601. Annual (vacation) leave

(a)(1) 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. (2) The leave year begins on January 1 and concludes on December 31 of each year. (3) A vendor who completes the minimum one (1) year of service in the middle of a leave year is eligible for leave after that time and before the end of the leave year. (4) Any vendor having over three (3) years of seniority will be eligible for ten (10) days of paid vacation per leave year. (5) When a vendor has over fifteen (15) years of seniority, he or she will be eligible for fifteen (15) days of paid vacation per leave year. (6) Annual leave does not carry over from one leave year to the next and can be taken in full or half days. (b)(1) Vacation in excess of allowable paid vacation as stated above is nonessential leave and will necessitate that the vendor pay for the substitute employee or employees. (2) See 22 CAR § 5-509(e), nonessential extra help, and 22 CAR § 5-604, nonessential leave, for further information. (3) It is the responsibility of the vendor to arrange for extra help during vacation periods. (4)(A) The vendor will notify the specialist of the necessary information to enable the specialist to complete the extra help payroll information form. (B) See Appendix A. (c)(1) 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 eighty dollars ($80.00) a day for each day of leave for which they are eligible. (2) They should apprise their specialist of the time period that the facility will be closed and that they have elected to be paid eighty dollars ($80.00) a day in lieu of their regular vacation time, as of August 7, 2016. (3) Payment is subject to availability of funds and a maximum of five (5) days, as of August 4, 2018. (d)(1)(A) Vendors that do not take all their vacation time prior to December 31 may request that they be paid eighty dollars ($80.00) a day for each day of unused vacation leave. (B) This request must be made the last full week of December. (2) If a vendor is retiring, he or she can request payment of unused vacation days on his or her last working day. (3) These payments will be subject to the availability of funds, as determined by the Vending Facility Program. (4) Payment is subject to availability of funds and a maximum of five (5) days, as August 4, 2018. (e) Sales seminar attendance. (1) Vendors must attend all meetings of the annual sales seminar on Saturday. (2)(A) If a vendor does not attend the seminar meetings on Saturday, they will lose five (5) vacation days. (B) However, if the vendor provides a written statement of explanation for the vendor’s absence to the State Committee of Blind Vendors, the committee will review 22 CAR § 5-601 et seq., Leave Policies, to consider whether or not to approve payment of all unused vacation leave of the vendor in question. (C) If a vendor fails to provide a written statement, the vendor will lose five (5) days of vacation leave in the current year. (D) If all vacation has been depleted in the current leave year, vendor will lose five (5) vacation days on January 1 of the next leave year.