Even though the CBC’s fiscal year doesn’t end until March 31, you may be under some pressure from the Corporation to use up your annual leave left over from previous years. However, you have a say in whether you take the accumulated time in leave or get a payout from CBC, no matter how many days you are owed.

Unlike any unused time off in lieu (TOIL) you may have earned, which is automatically paid out at the end of the fiscal year, CBC management cannot unilaterally pay out your earned annual leave.

Note that the leave you take after April 1, 2010 was actually earned in the fiscal year of April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2010. That means that any accumulated annual leave that you have right now was earned in the fiscal year 2008-9 or before. Nothing in the collective agreement limits how much annual leave you can carry over from one year to the next; however, an employee must get agreement from management to carry over annual leave.

If you prefer to take your accumulated time as leave, you must work with your manager to schedule it.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind (see Article 68 of the collective agreement for further information):

– your current annual leave (earned in 2009/10) should be scheduled according to three principles: your preference, your seniority and operational requirements.
– if you have outstanding annual leave from a previous year, management cannot unilaterally decide when and how you use it. According to our collective agreement, a manager must meet with the employee to discuss the assignment or scheduling of accrued annual leave. Every effort is to be made to schedule such leave in a manner that is satisfactory to both parties. However, the Corporation does have the ultimate right to schedule accumulated leave if you don’t reach an agreement with your manager on precise dates.

And a final note: the collective agreement, and not CBC corporate policies, governs annual leave rights for CMG members.

For more information, contact the Guild office at info@cmg.ca or call us at 1-800-465-4149 or 416-591-5333.