NAPE/AFSCME member Vicki Ayres recently transferred from DHHS to the Nebraska Military Department. Vicki gave DHHS a ten-work-day notice that she would be transferring to another state agency. Since she had medical appointments on her last two days of work at DHHS, she requested to use vacation time and sick time during her last week to facilitate a smooth transition for the employee taking over her role at DHHS. Vicki’s supervisor approved her leave request.
The night before her last two weeks of work, Vicki unfortunately fell ill. Luckily for Vicki, she had her negotiated earned sick leave to cover the absence. Since Vicki ended up missing more than three days of work, she was sure to provide a doctor’s note to DHHS in accordance with our contract. At that point, Vicki was set for her new role at the Nebraska Military Department.
Right before starting her new state job, Vicki received an email from her old supervisor telling her that her last day had been changed to the previous Friday. In other words, her previously approved vacation and sick leave request for her last week had been retroactively denied. As a result, Vicki found herself in a leave without pay status for her final week at DHHS. This didn’t seem right to her, so she contacted her NAPE/AFSCME field representative right away.
The NAPE field team quickly identified that the retroactive denial of Vicki’s leave was a contract violation and filed a grievance on Vicki’s behalf. After meeting with DHHS during the grievance process, the agency ultimately agreed that Vicki should have been paid for the leave that had been approved. Because of Vicki’s grievance, DHHS worked to ensure that payroll would credit Vicki for the five days of pay that she had been shorted. Vicki reached out to NAPE right away when she believed she had been wronged. As a result, the NAPE staff was able to assist her by timely filing a grievance. If you believe your contractual rights have been violated, please contact us right away.
