INDIANA HARBOR BELT RAILROAD COMPANY

 

 (CORRECTION) CIRCULAR  NOTICE  NO.  68

                                                October 20, 2011

2012 VACATION BIDS

NOVEMBER 1 TO NOVEMBER 30

 

Bidding for vacations for 2012 starts November 1 and finishes on November 30.  In order to bid your vacation for 2012 select item 17 on the crew call menu and make your vacation selections.  This can be done at any crew call computer or via your home computer if you have access to crew call.  You can make changes to your bid anytime you want up to November 30 when the computer will finalize your current bid.

 
On November 1 menu item 17 will become active on your crew call menu and be available to bid your 2012 vacations.  Bid all weeks entitled to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In bidding remember the following:

If you are entitled to take vacation in days the maximum number of weeks allowed is indicated on the bid sheet.  Claim the number of weeks in days wanted up to the maximum allowed.  This should be done on each bid sheet.  Vacation days are not assigned.  For example: you are allowed 5 weeks of vacation and can take 1 weeks in days and you want 1 week in days.  You would put claim 1 on all bid sheets for 1 week in days.  You would only need a maximum of 4 bid sheets filled in since you would only have 4 weeks vacation of vacation to assign.  The computer would never get to sheet 5.  Failure to indicate days on all sheets may result in your not getting single day vacation!

 

The easiest way to bid your vacation is to make your bid in the following manner:

On first screen bid for your first week of vacation indicating in order of preference the week that you want for first week.  When you have bid all of your preferences for this week press <PF5> to update bid and then press <PF12> to bring up another bid sheet to bid for your next week of vacation.

Bid in preference order for this week of vacation press <PF5> to update bid and then press <PF12> to bring up next screen to bid next week of vacation due.  Repeat until you have bid all weeks of vacation entitled to minus any weeks in single days claimed.

 

The computer will take each vacation bid in order and start with 1st choice and look down choices for the first match of your preference and what is open and will award that selection to you.  If there is no week open for your choices or there are no bids the computer stops until Crew Management and Local Chairman select a week or weeks to give you if you have bid multiple weeks on the bid sheet.  The computer will then go to the next vacation bid sheet and start with 1st choice and look down until it can award you the first choice that is open or stop if there are no available choices on your bid sheet.  You are then forced to an open week and the process resumes.  The process is repeated until all of your vacation is totally awarded and then the next senior person’s bid is evaluated.  It is important to make many choices to avoid being force assigned due to insufficient choices.

 

It is possible to bid consecutive weeks of vacation on one bid sheet.  You would indicate week and duration of how many consecutive weeks wanted.  For example if you wanted two weeks together in July you would bid in the following manner.  1st choice week 26 duration 2; 2nd choice week 27 duration 2; 3rd choice week 28 duration 2; 4th choice week 29 duration 2; and 5th choice week 30 duration 2.  In order to be awarded any of these picks both weeks must be available.  If during the above period the maximum had been reached for all weeks but week 26 you would get forced assigned to two open weeks together.  This is something to consider when making multiple week selections on one bid sheet.  Make sufficient choices.

                                                                        D. D. Kelley

                                                                        Supt Transp & Mechanical Opers