Below you find the article as published in the current CWA. Further below we provide some comments and explanations for this article.
Like always it is the obligation of the company to follow these rules and a pilot is entitled to a roster reflecting these rules. If a pilot notices a non-compliance with the CWA, it is his/her right that his roster will be changed to be fully compliant with the CWA.
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36.17. Vacation The annual vacation for a Pilot will be 42 calendar days per year as from the first year of service. Vacation for an incomplete year of service equals to number of months employed by the Company times 3.5 days.
36.17.1. Vacation – General Rules A Vacation Period begins and ends at the Pilot’s Home Base.
Once a Vacation Period has been allocated on a Pilot’s Roster it cannot be changed without the consent of the Pilot.
The Pilot will be scheduled to be off Duty for at least 12 hours before the start of a Vacation Period.
In case of Ground Duty at Home Base, the Pilot will be scheduled to be off Duty for at least 6 hours before his Vacation Period begins. A Pilot is entitled to stop a Ground Duty at Home Base in case the Ground Duty is not completed 6 hours before his Vacation Period begins.
If a Pilot’s Duty other than Ground Duty is not completed between 12 and 6 hours before the first Vacation Day, the Pilot is entitled to overtime payment for hours worked between 12 hours before the first Vacation Day and end of Duty. Compensation shall be equivalent to Roster Period Overtime as defined Article 38.5.1 and shall be paid in addition to any overtime worked by the Pilot during the Roster Period when late arrival before Vacation occurred.
If a Pilot’s Duty other than Ground Duty is not completed 6 hours before the first Vacation Day, then the Pilot is entitled to:
a) Compensation payment for hours worked between 12 hours before the first Vacation Day and end of Duty. Compensation shall be equivalent to Roster Period Overtime as defined Article 38.5.1. and shall be paid in addition to any overtime worked by the Pilot during the Roster Period when late arrival before Vacation occurred and;
b) one additional Vacation Day will be added to the Pilot’s vacation entitlement and;
c) select compensation from the following alternatives:
i. move the Vacation Days as a block to accommodate the late arrival at Home Base or;
ii. reduce the Vacation Days of the Vacation Period concerned to accommodate for the late arrival at Home Base. The reduced Vacation Day(s) will be added back to the Pilot’s vacation entitlement.
If it is anticipated that a Pilot cannot be scheduled to be off Duty at Home Base latest by 00:00 local time of the first Vacation Day of a Vacation Period, Cargolux will send a standardized email to the affected Pilot’s company email address in order to find out whether the Pilot agrees to fly into his Vacation Day or not. This email will be sent latest 12 hours before the (re)scheduled departure time of the first sector of the Duty Period immediately before the Pilot returns to Home Base. Only a positive reply from the affected Pilot or acceptance of a roster change qualifies for a compensation as per letter d) below.
d) If the Pilot agrees to fly into his Vacation Day(s), then the affected Vacation Day(s) will be swapped with Off-Days in the respective Roster Period and compensation as foreseen in Article 36.16.2. b) 3. will be applied. This rule is also applicable, if a Pilot offers to be available for any Duty during his Vacation Period. In such cases the compensation for late arrival into a Vacation Period as per Article 36.17.1. is not applicable.
e) If the Pilot does not agree to be off Duty after 00:00 local time on his first Vacation Day of a Vacation Period, Cargolux will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that the Pilot will arrive at Home Base according to Article 36.17.1. In this case, any late arrival will be compensated as per Article 36.17.1, including overtime payment for the time between 12 hours before the start of the first originally planned Vacation Day and the time when the Pilot’s Duty ends at Home Base.
If a Pilot agrees to voluntarily fly in his Off-Day that is scheduled immediately prior a Vacation Period, the compensation as per Article 36.17.1 will not be applicable and any possible delay into the Vacation Period will be compensated as per Article 36.17.1 d). If no Off-Days are left to be swapped in the respective Roster Period, the affected Vacation Days will be added back to the Pilot’s vacation entitlement. Swapping Vacation Day(s) with Off-Day(s) should preferably make use of fixed Off-Days (e.g. A-Days, B-Days) and can be backdated within the respective roster period.
The Company will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that a Pilot will be off Duty at Home Base latest at 00:00 local time of the first Vacation Day of a Vacation Period. Only in case of reasons outside the control of the Company (Force Majeure), a Pilot’s Rotation may be extended without the expressed consent of the Pilot, so that the Pilot would be off Duty after 00:00 local time. In this case the Pilot will be reimbursed any proven financial damage resulting from not being off Duty at Home Base latest at 00.00 local time of the first Vacation Day of the Vacation Period concerned.
Vacation during the initial training period is addressed in the individual employment contract.
During the calendar month in which the Pilot is on vacation, his crew duty will be regulated as follows for the purpose of calculating overtime:
Each day of vacation time is credited as 8 hours towards the 173 hours limit per Roster Period. For the calculation of paid vacation hours, 8 hours per day and 56 hours per week will however be taken into account.
Requesting and allocation of vacation time for Pilots is regulated in a vacation agreement concluded between the Company and the Pilot Representatives.
36.17.2. Sickness during vacation If a Pilot falls ill during his vacation, the days during which he is ill will not be counted as vacation if he notifies Crew Control by means of a doctors’ certificate.
8 hours per day are counted towards credit hours, but not more than 40 hours per week for sickness of more than 5 consecutive days. This rule applies for sickness during the year.
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The CWA contains only the general rules outlining vacation entitlements for pilots. The rules on how vacation days are allocated are not stipulated in the CWA, but outlined in the “Two Step Vacation-Bidding-System” document, which is distributed every year at the beginning of the vacation bidding period.
Below you will find some comments and explanations.
· A vacation day (VAC) is defined as a day, which begins and ends at midnight local time. All vacation days will be given at the pilot’s Home Base, which per CWA Part III is “For all Employees at the Company and for the Company itself: Luxembourg Airport.“
· Once a vacation period has been allocated, it must not be changed without the consent of the pilot.
A pilot is entitled to 42 vacation days per calendar year. If a pilot is not employed for the full 12 months of a calendar year, the vacation entitlement will be reduced. In this case the pilot is entitled to 3,5 vacation days per calendar month he is employed by the company.
· Before any vacation period, which could be also a single vacation day, the pilot must be planned to be free of all duties for a minimum of 12 hours. Only if, the day before the first vacation day consists of a ground duty, such as simulator or ground school, the time free of all duties before the first vacation day is reduced to minimum 6 hours, which means that the pilot must be off duty latest by 18.00h local time. He/she even has the right to stop the ground duty.
· If a pilot´s duty other than ground duty isn’t finished latest at 12.00h local time on the day before the first vacation day, the pilot is entitled to receive the following compensation:
o If the pilot´s duty other than ground duty ends between 12.00h and 18.00h local time, an overtime payment for the hours worked between 12.00h local time and the end of duty will be paid.
o If the pilot´s duty other than ground duty ends after 18.00h local time, he is entitled to receive:
1. Overtime payment for the hours worked between12.00h local time and the end of duty, and
2. One additional vacation day will be added to the vacation entitlement, and
3. Choose from the following alternatives:
· Move the entire block of vacation to accommodate for the late arrival at Home Base, or
· Reduce the concerned vacation period by one day. This day will be added to the vacation entitlement.
· In any case, the pilot must be scheduled to be off duty latest at 00.00h local time on the first vacation day of a vacation period. If it is anticipated that a pilot cannot be scheduled to be off duty latest at 00.00h local time on the first vacation day, then crew control must send an email to the pilot latest 12 hours before the (re)scheduled departure time of the first sector of the duty period immediately before the pilot returns to home base.
IMPORTANT:
Only in case of a positive reply from the affected pilot or acceptance of the roster change the affected vacation day(s) will be swapped with off days in the respective roster period and compensation as foreseen in Article 36.16.2. b) 3. will be applied.
If the Pilot does not agree to be off duty after 00:00 local time on his first vacation day, Cargolux will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that the pilot will arrive at home hase according to Article 36.17.1. This includes the possibility to insist on a commercial flight, to comply with this. The late arrival will be compensated as per Article 36.17.1.
· Only in case of reasons outside the control of the company (Force Majeure), a pilot’s rotation may be extended without the expressed consent of the Pilot, so that the pilot would be off duty after 00.00h local time on his first vacation day. Should this result in any proven financial damage, the pilot will be reimbursed.
Example A:
A pilot is scheduled to arrive back at Home Base the day before his first vacation day. The flight is scheduled to arrive at 08.15h UTC (10.15h local time). As the pilot operates this flight his duty ends 30 minutes after arriving back at Home Base, at 10.45h local time. This is in line with Art. 36.17.1. as the pilot “…will be scheduled to be off Duty for at least 12 hours before the start of a Vacation Period.”
Example B:
A Pilot has a vacation period scheduled. Due to changes the flight is now planned to arrive (Block On) at 14.00h UTC (16.00h local time). The pilot´s duty ends 30 minutes after Block On at 16.30h local time. As the pilot is not “… scheduled to be off Duty for at least 12 hours before the start of a Vacation Period.”, he is entitled to receive overtime payment for 4,5 hours.
Example C:
For various reasons a pilot arrives only at 18.30h local time on the day before his first vacation day. His duty ends at 19.00h local time. He is now entitled to receive the following compensation:
· 7 hours of overtime payment, and
· 1 additional vacation day added to his vacation entitlement, and
· Either move the entire vacation block by one day or reduce the vacation block by one day. This day will be added to the vacation entitlement.
Example D:
Because of an AOG, the pilot can only be scheduled by the company to arrive at home base in the evening of his first vacation day. As a result, he misses the booked flight to go on family vacation. He manages to book another flight and is able to catch up with his family on the next day. The proven additional cost (financial damage) due to this AOG will be reimbursed by the company.
· For each vacation day 8 hours are credited and are taken into consideration when calculating roster period overtime, as per Art. 38.5.1.
· If a pilot falls sick during a vacation period, he is by law entitled to compensation for vacation days he was on sick leave. To receive vacation days back a pilot who is sick during vacation needs to provide the company with a sick leave certificate.
