NAPE/AFSCME member Dominic Hatch is a Motor Vehicle Examiner for the Department of Motor Vehicles. Dominic is planning to use some vacation leave to take a trip in early 2024. In order to give the DMV as advanced notice as possible so that his team could plan for his absence, Dominic requested to use vacation leave for the first week of January 2024 in early 2023. Dominic was told that his leave request could not be approved.
NAPE/AFSCME members have a right to use their vacation leave. Specifically, the labor contract guarantees that vacation leave cannot be unreasonably denied or deferred. Dominic believed that his vacation leave request was unreasonably denied, so reached out to the NAPE/AFSCME field team for advice and assistance. A field representative agreed with Dominic that his request had been unreasonably denied and filed a grievance on his behalf. Dominic was wise to act quickly–grievances must be filed within 15 work days.
After a grievance meeting and a hearing, the DMV ultimately agreed to approve Dominic’s original request. Dominic used the grievance process to enforce his right to make use of our negotiated vacation leave benefit. It’s important for union members to enforce the contract and Dominic did a great job doing so. If you or a colleague believes that your leave request has been unreasonably denied, reach out to NAPE/AFSCME right away.