REY NASON, MANAGER, PEOPLE STAFFING
& LAURIE JUNG, PROJECT MANAGER, PEOPLE
Vacation planning for PHC staff covered under the provincial collective agreements opens October 6, 2021! We’ve pulled together 15 tips to help you as you plan out your 2022 vacation.
By all accounts, it has been a busy year. COVID-19 has added unforeseen challenges to our health system – and you have stepped up in a big way to continue to provide the best care possible for our community. That’s why in the year to come, it will be more important than ever that you take your much deserved vacation. To make scheduling that as easy as possible, People Staffing has put together a list of 15 tips to help you in the process in the new Andgo system this year. For allied staff, decentralized or offsite staffing departments, please speak to your leader for more details.
Every year starting in the fall until the end of December, the annual vacation planning process for unionized staff begins. Staff select their preferred vacation dates for the upcoming year in a series of three rounds with one alternate round.
Round 1 (one consecutive block* only)
- The first round of vacation planning opens on Wednesday, October 6, 2021. Staff must submit their first choices by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 12, 2021.
- You will receive an email from Andgo once your vacation has been approved or denied. Your vacation will be entered in ESP (Kronos) and published in MySchedule (Employee Portal) prior to the next round beginning.
Round 1B – Alternate round (one consecutive block* only)
The Alternate Round will only be for employees who did not get any requests approved in Round 1.
- The alternate round of vacation planning opens on Tuesday, October 19, 2021. Staff must submit their alternate choice by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, October 22, 2021.
- You will receive an email from Andgo once your vacation has been approved or denied. Your vacation will be entered in ESP (Kronos) and published in MySchedule (Employee Portal) prior to the next round beginning.
Round 2 (one consecutive block* only)
- Selection in the second round begins on Friday, November 5, 2021. The deadline to submit second choices by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, November 10, 2021.
- You will receive an email from Andgo once your vacation has been approved or denied. Your vacation will be entered in ESP (Kronos) and published in MySchedule (Employee Portal) prior to the next round beginning.
Round 3 (any variation of dates: blocks or single days)
- The third round begins on Friday, December 3, 2021 and choices must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8, 2021.
- You will receive an email from Andgo once your vacation has been approved or denied. Your vacation will be entered in ESP (Kronos) and published in MySchedule (Employee Portal) prior to the end of Vacation Planning.
*A “block” is defined as an uninterrupted number of shifts off on vacation. Any time back at work between vacation periods results in another block and must be submitted in a separate round as another vacation choice.
Community and Facilities subsector staff and Health Science Professionals must schedule a minimum of 80% of their vacation entitlement by the respective deadlines above.
Nurses must schedule all hours of their vacation entitlement, with a maximum hold-back of 37.5 hours by the respective deadlines above.
- In Round 1, 1B and 2, you may choose only one block.
- In Round 3, you may choose more than one block and/or any variation of individual/single days to achieve the minimum 80% (Community, Facilities and Health Science Professionals) or all hours excluding up to 37.5 hours (Nurses) of your vacation entitlement.
Vacation choices are approved based on seniority and operational requirements (quotas i.e. the number of staff who can be off on vacation at any point in time). Andgo will prompt all staff to submit a minimum of three (3) vacation submissions per round with a maximum of twenty (20) vacation submissions.
Community, Facilities and Health Science Professionals staff can “hold back” up to 20% of their vacation entitlement. Nurses can “hold back” up to 37.5 hours.
Use the Scheduling Change Request Form to request this time off after annual vacation planning ends on Dec. 31, 2021.
This “hold back” time needs to be scheduled by Monday, August 1, 2022 and taken by Saturday, December 31, 2022.
Ask your leader/manager what your area’s quota is (i.e., the number of staff who can be off on vacation at any point in time); generally, this figure is somewhere between 15 – 20% of staff in each job category in a unit/department or service area.
The number of vacation days you have depends on your bargaining unit, employment status and your years of service but, generally speaking, PHC staff start with four weeks of paid time off for vacation.
If you don’t know how much vacation you have, speak with your leader/manager or look for your vacation entitlement posted on your unit or in the vacation binder.
If your vacation entitlement doesn’t look right to you it could be because this number can be affected by things like a leave of absence, a change to your line or to your full-time equivalent (FTE) – that’s why it’s just an estimate.
If you do notice a discrepancy with your vacation entitlement, contact Payroll; staff are available between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday and email inquiries will be answered within 24 hours.
- Call: 604-297-8683 (press 2) or toll-free 1-866-875-5306 (press 2). Follow the voice prompts and have your employee ID ready.
- Email: PayrollPHC@phsa.ca
Find more information on Payroll Services on connect.
Your vacation balance can be found on your electronic pay statement and is shown as “even” (e.g. 2022) and “odd” (e.g. 2021) years to indicate the year in which it is to be taken. Before the vacation round starts, your vacation balance will show the hours that you’ve taken and your year-to-date balance. Vacation is deducted once the hours have been processed through Payroll.
Your vacation entitlement can also be found under the ‘Estimated Vacation Hours’ column on the vacation estimate sheet sent to your leader/manager. This sheet should be printed out and placed in the vacation binder for your home unit.
To find out the exact number of vacation days you have, contact Payroll (see above for contact details). Once the vacation round opens in Andgo on October 6, 2021, you will also be able to see this in the employee portal.
Your vacation is accrued from July 1 to June 30 each year. These hours are what you use to schedule your vacation for the following year, and are based on your number of years of service at PHC (e.g., 2022 vacation accumulates from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022).
Part-time employees accrue vacation pro-rated to their FTE. For example, a nurse with two years’ experience, working a 0.8 FTE rotation, will be entitled to 120 hours (80% of 150 hours).
“Vacation entitlement” is your total number of vacation hours you have accrued and that you must take in full by December 31 each year, except as otherwise specified in your collective agreement.
“Vacation estimate” is the estimated total number of vacation hours (your vacation entitlement) that your leader/manager provides you and that you must schedule during annual vacation planning; this is an estimate because over the course of the year, your vacation entitlement may change due to a leave of absence or a change in your FTE. It is your responsibility to check your vacation entitlement during the year and schedule time off accordingly.
“Vacation quota” is the maximum number of staff who can be off on vacation at any point in time unless a seasonal or bed closure allows more staff to be off without replacement. See tip #6 above on why this matters in your vacation planning.
“Hold back days” is vacation time that you’re not required to schedule during annual vacation planning, and it varies depending on your collective agreement. Staff should “hold back” vacation days so they have options for last-minute trips or really any time they wish to take off that is not known at the time of annual vacation planning. Requests for held-back time are considered on a first-come, first-serve basis in accordance with departmental guidelines or the operational needs (quotas) of the unit/department, including the number of relief staff available to backfill vacation at regular rates.
A “block” is an uninterrupted number of shifts off on vacation. Any time back at work in between vacation periods results in another block and must be submitted as another vacation choice.
“Seniority” is defined as seniority within the hospital/area of work, specific to the union in which the employee is currently a member.
“Padding” is any additional vacation hours accrued above a part-time employee’s FTE. These additional vacation hours are not able to be taken within a part-time employee’s rotation. As a result, Staffing will schedule these additional hours into the employee’s schedule to be paid out. This process is called Padding. Padding does not apply to staff under the Nurses collective agreement.
Andgo will now be notifying employees via preferred email when the vacation round opens or closes. Please make sure your email in MySchedule (Employee Portal) is correct, as that will be the point of contact for Vacation Planning.
Andgo now has a feature where the system will alert you via email if there is someone with more seniority requesting the same dates as you (Vacation Request Conflict notification). The flexibility of Vacation Planning through Andgo will allow you to submit/change your vacation request from the comfort of your own home, no more paper!
For more information, check out our website at https://andgo.providencehealthcare.org/annual-vacation or direct links below:
We want you to take your well-earned vacation. We also need to adhere to our timelines and operational needs to ensure safe patient care. This is why changes to pre-approved vacation are not allowed; only in exceptional circumstances and by mutual agreement between your Manager and HR will changes be considered.
The 24/7 nature of our work takes its toll on our staff so we expect you to take all of your vacation. This is why we don’t allow you to carry over your vacation (i.e. vacation earned in one calendar year that was not taken in the calendar year it was intended for); however, if additional vacation is accrued as a result of operational needs, and with approval from HR, you may carry over this additional time as long as it is taken by March 31 of the following year.
Now that you know the ins and outs of annual vacation planning, here’s a quick step-by-step.
- Check your vacation entitlement and contact Payroll if there is a discrepancy.
- Log in to MySchedule (Employee Portal) on October 6, 2021 and begin selecting vacation for first round.
- Remember to indicate the number of your choices on Andgo by dragging each submission to the accurate rank.
- Submit a minimum of three (3) alternative choices for each selection.
While taking annual vacation is a treat, planning for it is no easy task. We know that there is a lot of information for you to stay on top of when submitting your requests and there are many inputs to be weighed and calculated.
When we can effectively plan for known vacancies, it helps to better equip us to deal with the unknown that contribute to workload issues for all staff. By planning in advance, you help us provide adequate staffing levels during peak and non-peak vacation periods.
So, please start thinking about what your time off will look like next year and here’s to wishing you a smooth vacation scheduling experience for 2022!
If you have any questions about any of the information above, please connect with your leader/manager, or email the PHC Vacation Planning team at VacationPlanningPHC@providencehealth.bc.ca. If you have any questions about using Andgo for the vacation planning process, please email andgo@providencehealth.bc.ca.
While taking annual vacation is a treat, planning for it is no easy task. We know that there is a lot of information for you to stay on top of when submitting your requests and there are many inputs to be weighed and calculated.
When we can effectively plan for known vacancies, it helps to better equip us to deal with the unknown that contribute to workload issues for all staff. By planning in advance, you help us provide adequate staffing levels during peak and non-peak vacation periods.
So, please start thinking about what your time off will look like next year and here’s to wishing you a smooth vacation scheduling experience for 2022!
If you have any questions about any of the information above, please connect with your leader/manager, or email the PHC Vacation Planning team at VacationPlanningPHC@providencehealth.bc.ca. If you have any questions about using Andgo for the vacation planning process, please email andgo@providencehealth.bc.ca.
