NAPE/AFSCME member Jay Jensen, a Senior Highway Maintenance Worker in Omaha, recently prevailed in grievance after his vacation leave request was unreasonably denied.
In July, Jay requested to take a week of vacation leave in February 2025. Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) management denied his request based on an alleged policy that simply didn’t exist.
NDOT management stated that it will not approve any employee’s leave request that falls between October 1 and April 30 because policy did not allow such leave during winter operations. The only problem was, the policy management cited didn’t exist.
Our union contract guarantees that reasonable vacation leave requests will be approved. Not only did the policy not exist, but it is also unreasonable to forbid all employees from requesting vacation leave during half of the year- especially in cases such as Jay’s, where his vacation required early purchase of airline tickets and hotel accommodations.
“We’re fully staffed so there’s no excuse for it. They’re just playing with our rights and I’m always going to stand up for myself and other people when they start messing with our rights and our union contract,” Jay said. “It’s them trying to control us and our union does a great job of protecting people when the contract isn’t being followed.”
Jay prevailed and his vacation leave was approved. If you feel your leave request has been unreasonably denied, contact us right away. Strict time limits apply.
