RETAIL PHARMACIST AGREEMENT

between

RITE AID, INC.

and

UFCW LOCALS

135, 324, 770, 1036, 1167, 1428 and 1442

 

JULY 5, 1999 -- JULY 7, 2002

INDEX                            PAGE

 

 

RETAIL PHARMACIST AGREEMENT

 

July 5, 1999 - July 7, 2002

This Agreement is entered into and effective July 5, 1999, between RITE AID INC., hereinafter referred to as the "Employer," and UFCW LOCALS 135, 324, 770, 1036, 1167, 1428 and 1442, chartered by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC, hereinafter referred to as the "Union" and the parties agree as follows: 

 

ARTICLE 1 - MANAGEMENT RIGHTS

Except to the extent expressly abridged by a specific provision of this Agreement, the Employer reserves and retains, solely and exclusively, all of its common law rights to manage the business, as such rights existed prior to the execution of this or any other previous Agreement with the Union. 

 

ARTICLE 2 - BARGAINING UNIT

A. UNION RECOGNITION. 

1. The Employer recognizes the Union as the sole collective bargaining agent with respect to work, rates of pay, hours, and terms and conditions of employment for the appropriate bargaining unit composed of all pharmacist employees, including employees of lessees, licensees and concessionaires (sometimes herein referred to as "leased department") who perform work within its pharmacy departments presently operated and hereafter established, owned or operated by the Employer within the present geographic jurisdiction of the Local Union. Drug stores are defined as those types of establishments covered by Collective Bargaining Agreements identified as Retail Pharmacist Agreement, July 3, 1995 - July 4, 1999. 

2. The Union agrees that it will not make claim to any employees of present concessionaires or sublessees who work in the present or future store or stores of the Employer, unless the Union can show its majority representation of such employees within an appropriate bargaining unit. In that event, the Union may take economic action without violating this Agreement. 

B. INCLUDED BARGAINING UNIT WORK. 

1. Current Work. All work performed on the premises in the nature of work generally performed by employees of the bargaining unit shall not be assigned to any person not in the bargaining unit or contracted for with any other union. 

2. Future Work. Any future work of the nature generally performed by pharmacists created by the Employer shall be performed by members of the bargaining unit as herein set forth. 

3. Employee Definitions. For the purpose of this Agreement, the following definitions shall apply:

a. A pharmacist is a professional employee to whom a license to practice pharmacy in the State of California has been issued by the California State Board of Pharmacy.

b. A graduate pharmacist is a professional employee as described in Paragraph 1, above, during his first (1st) year of employment as a licentiate in pharmacy.

c. A full-time pharmacist is one who is employed and/or scheduled to work forty (40) hours in a workweek. Any employee who is scheduled and works ten (10) consecutive weeks at forty (40) hours or more will be classified as a full-time employee. This requirement shall not apply during the Christmas or vacation season or where an employee is scheduled forty (40) hours due to the absence of another employee in excess of three (3) consecutive weeks. Provided however, that forty (40) hours or more in a workweek worked immediately prior to any of the above exceptions and those worked immediately following the exception shall be considered continual for the purpose of the calculating the ten (10) consecutive workweeks.

d. A part-time pharmacist is one who is scheduled to work less than forty (40) hours in a workweek.

e. Hereinafter "employees" or "all employees" shall mean employees covered by this Agreement.

f. Probationary Employees. The first (1st) forty-five (45) calendar days of employment shall be considered a probationary (trial) period, provided, however, that a part-time employee shall be considered as probationary for the first (1st) two hundred (200) hours of employment. During such probationary period an employee may be terminated for any reason and he shall have no recourse to the grievance procedure set forth in this Agreement. 

C. EXCLUDED BARGAINING UNIT WORK. The following individuals shall be excluded from the coverage of this Agreement:

1. Management Exclusions.

a. All pharmacy departments shall be allowed one (1) exclusion, the Pharmacy Manager as designated by the Employer. This exclusion shall be one (1) of the total four (4) exclusions provided for in the Retail Drug Agreement. In addition, the Pharmacy Manager shall be permitted to perform any and all work designated by the employer without restrictions.

b. A department located within a multi-department retail establishment shall not be entitled to any exclusion unless it is a concession, in which case there shall be only one (1) overall manager excluded, regardless of the number of such departments involved. 

c. In said concession, leased or subleased departments, where the Employer is actively engaged in the performance of clerks' work for more than fifty percent (50%) of his time in any one (1) single location, he shall be considered the store manager for the purpose of exclusion from the collective bargaining unit. No other exclusions shall be allowed in other departments operated by the concessionaire within the same establishment where the excluded manager, as hereinabove identified, has supervision. 

D. INDIVIDUAL AGREEMENTS. 

1. All Employees. The Employer agrees not to enter into any agreement or contract, either orally or written, with its employees covered by this Agreement, individually or collectively which in any way conflicts with the terms and provisions of this Agreement.

2. New Employees. During the period an employee is not a member of the Union, the regular wages, as herein specified for the classification of said employee and all other provisions of this Agreement shall apply. 

 

ARTICLE 3 - UNION AFFAIRS

A. REQUIRED UNION MEMBERSHIP. 

1. Union Shop. All employees shall, as a condition of employment, become members of the Union not later than the thirty-first (31st) day of their employment or the thirty-first (31st) day following the date of signature or the effective date of this Agreement, whichever is later, and shall remain members in good standing as a condition of continued employment.

2. Seven Day Notice. The Union will advise the Employer in writing when any employee has failed to acquire or maintain Union membership as required by this Agreement. Immediately upon receipt of said notice, the Employer shall advise said employee(s) that they will no longer be scheduled for hours of work on the subsequent weekly schedule until said employee(s) give evidence of compliance or the Union notifies the Employer of such compliance. Failure to comply within seven (7) days after removal from the schedule said employee(s) shall be terminated, if such termination is not in violation of existing law.

B. INFORMATION FOR UNION. 

1. New/Transferred Employees. The Employer shall mail notice to the Union of all new hires and/or permanently transferred employees within fifteen (15) working days excluding Saturday, Sunday, and holidays of the date of employment and said notice shall contain the name of such new employee, the Social Security number of the new employee, the position for which employed, the store number and location, the date of commencement of work, and the rate of pay at which the person is employed. Failure to comply with this notice shall entitle a graduate pharmacist to receive the pharmacist's rate of pay for all days worked after the fifteenth (15th) working day excluding Saturday, Sunday, and holidays and until such notice is received by the Union.

2. Store Employee Lists. The Employer agrees to permit the Union to check the list of employees covered by this Agreement, and their respective wage rates of preceding months and will provide the Union with a seniority list for all employees covered by this agreement including: name, social security number, store number, local union number, wage rates, full-time or part-time status and hire date. The list will be automatically provided twice annually, in January and July.

3. Payroll Data. In case of a dispute over wages the Union representative shall, upon request, have the right to a copy of the necessary payroll information relative to employees covered by this Agreement. The Union reserves the right to require, in such disputed instances as it deems necessary, that owed wages of employees be paid through the office of the Union or a notarized statement submitted to the Union of gross amounts paid and deductions made. Either method may be used by the Employer.

C. STORE VISITS. In order to observe conditions existing under this Agreement and to settle grievances, representatives of the Union shall have the right to visit the stores. 

It is the general policy of the Union for its representatives not to visit the stores during the busy afternoon hours, Saturdays or days preceding holidays. However, upon receipt of a reported violation, a Union representative shall have the right to visit such store at any time for the purpose of investigating such violation. 

The Union further agrees that it will arrange with the Store Manager for such investigation of reported grievances and that any meetings between employees and Union representatives shall be limited to one (1) employee at a time and shall be conducted with the least possible interference with store operations. Such meetings shall be held on the premises in a place designated by the Store Manager. In instances where employees are working during hours that the stores are closed to the public, the Union may request a list of the employees involved, and the hours worked. 

D. UNION BULLETIN BOARDS. The Union may supply each store with one (1) bulletin board not to exceed two (2) feet by three (3) feet in size for the purpose of posting notices of official Union business. Bulletin boards shall not be used to post notices of a political or adversarial nature. The implementation of this program shall be coordinated by the Employer's Labor Relations Department. 

E. UNION PRINCIPLES. 

1. New Employees. When new or additional employees are needed the Employer may immediately notify the Union of said need. The Employer reserves the right to select the particular applicant to be hired; but there shall be no discrimination against any applicant by reason of membership or nonmembership in the Union, or an applicant with previous employment experience in the Retail Drug industry with an Employer covered by a collective bargaining agreement in the State of California. 

2. Union Principles/Picket Lines. The Employer shall not discharge or discriminate against any employee for upholding Union principles, as long as such act does not constitute a violation of this Agreement, and nothing herein shall be so construed as to abrogate an employee's rights under the law, including the right individually to refuse to cross a bona fide picket line established in a bona fide dispute by any bona fide labor organization. For the purpose of this Paragraph, a sanctioned picket line shall be one which is sanctioned by the Local Union signatory to this Agreement and the Southern California Food and Drug Council or the appropriate County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.

F. UNION BUSINESS. 

1. Employees shall be granted time off without pay for the purpose of attending negotiations, adjustment or arbitration hearings or for other bona fide Union business.

2. The Employer agrees to schedule any employee who is an officer, or representative of the Union in any capacity, for hours of work that will permit the employee to attend meetings of the Union, provided it involves not more than one (1) employee per store, except where such absence unnecessarily interferes with the operation of a single shift closed case pharmacy. 

3. The Union agrees to give the Employer no less than ten (10) days' notice of such meetings.

4.  While the employee/representative of the Union serves in this capacity, they will not be transferred outside the jurisdiction of their current local union.

 

ARTICLE 4 - DISCIPLINE/VOLUNTARY QUITS

A. REGISTER SHORTAGES/IRREGULARITIES. 

1. No employee may be required to make up cash register shortages, unless the employee is given the privilege of checking the change and daily receipts upon starting and completing the work shift, and unless the employee has exclusive access to the cash register during the work shift, except as specified below.

2. No employee may be required to make up register shortages when management exercises its rights to open the register during the employee's work shift, unless the register is opened in the presence of the employee and the employee is given the opportunity to verify all withdrawals and/or deposits. 

3. When, as the result of a shopper's report, an employee, subsequent to the shopping incident, is called upon for an interview by a security agent, the employee may, upon receipt of such advice or during such interview, request the presence of a Union representative during the interview. Such Union Representative must be available within a reasonable period of time but in no event later than twenty-four (24) hours after such request, or the interview may proceed without a Union representative.

When an employee is the subject of a shopper's report or multiple reports and is to be counseled on said report or reports by the Employer, the counseling will take place within a reasonable time period not to exceed thirty (30) days from the date of the last report affecting the employee. The employee and the Union Representative will, by request, be given an opportunity to read said reports during counseling. 

4. A warning notice shall not be required in the case of a discharge for cash register irregularities but such alleged irregularities must constitute good cause for the purpose of sustaining said discharge. Such alleged irregularities shall not constitute good cause for discharge when the Employer fails to follow the procedures set forth in Article 4, Paragraphs A-1 and 2, unless the alleged irregularities are not affected by failure to follow said procedures.

B. INVESTIGATION/INTERVIEW. In any instance where an employee is to be interviewed and/or interrogated by the Employer or an Employer representative in respect to any alleged violation of the collective bargaining agreement or alleged infraction of Employer policies which may result in disciplinary action, the employee shall be afforded the opportunity of calling a Business Representative and having a Business Representative present during such interview or interrogation.

C. DISCIPLINE. 

1. Good Cause. Non-probationary employees shall not be discharged except for good and sufficient cause such as dishonesty, insubordination, incompetency, intoxication, unbecoming conduct or failure to perform work as required. Age, sex, creed or color shall not be grounds for the termination of an otherwise qualified employee.

2. Warnings. Non-probationary employees who are discharged for incompetency or failure to perform work as required (including excessive absenteeism or excessive tardiness) shall first have had two (2) prior warnings in writing within twelve (12) months preceding the discharge of such incompetency or of related or similar failure to perform work as required, with a copy sent to the Union. The employee so notified shall be required to sign such notice, but such signing shall in no way constitute agreement with the contents of such notice. 

3. Discharge for Incompetency. It is understood that a discharge for incompetency shall occur only at the end of an employee's weekly schedule after the employee has completed the probationary period. 

4. Notice. Any employee who is discharged shall be informed at the time of discharge of the immediate cause of discharge. The cause to be confirmed in writing, with a copy sent to the Union and affected employee, within ninety-six (96) hours thereafter, excluding Saturday, Sunday and holidays. 

D. NOTICE OF INTENTION TO QUIT. An employee who intends to quit the job shall, to the extent possible, give two (2) weeks' notice of the intention to quit. An employee who gives any notice of the intention to quit his job shall not be terminated or otherwise discriminated against during the current workweek and the workweek following the date on which the employee gives such notice, but in no event can the employee insist upon working later than the designated quit date if a replacement employee has already been hired. 

 

ARTICLE 5 - TRANSFERS/SENIORITY

A. EMPLOYER TRANSFER OF EMPLOYEES. 

1. The Employer may transfer employees to meet the necessities of the business, as long as in so doing, he does not exceed the transfer-travel limits set forth below. Reasonable tolerance of these time limits shall be allowed for temporary transfers such as vacation relief and store openings. For good and sufficient reason, an employee may refuse a transfer from the jurisdictional area of one Local Union to another. 

2. Requests for transfers within the Union's geographical jurisdiction so an employee may work nearer one's home will be given appropriate consideration and will not be refused arbitrarily. Similarly, an employee will not be arbitrarily transferred to a store farther from one's own home. 

3. Transfer Travel Limits. When the transfer of an employee becomes necessary, the Employer shall not require said employee to travel one way more than twenty-five (25) miles between their place of residence and the new location. If an employee travels more than twenty-five (25) miles between their place of residence and the new location, due to the Employer's request, the employee will receive mileage reimbursement at the rate set by company policy for all Rite Aid, Inc. employees (currently $.24 per mile) for miles in excess of twenty-five (25) miles as outlined in Article 7-K.

In making transfers under Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article and this Paragraph, the Employer will make every effort to assign employees on a nondiscriminatory basis to the store which would cause the least hardship to the employee and require the least travel time. Such transfer shall not be used for disciplinary purposes.

4. Pharmacists who desire to transfer to a higher rated prescription department shall put their requests in writing to the Pharmacy Supervisor. The Employer will give full consideration to such requests and grant them if they do not have an adverse effect on the business of the Employer. Such requests shall not be refused arbitrarily. 

B. INTER-UNION TRANSFER. If an employee is transferred from one UFCW Union's area to another in Southern California, the employee shall retain all seniority, but during a period of six (6) months from date of transfer, shall not displace any other employee, or reduce his hours.  This clause shall not be applicable in the event of the application of Article 5-E.

C. SENIORITY. 

1. Definition. Seniority is the length of continuous employment of an employee with an individual Employer. Temporary absence from work in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement shall not break seniority. Seniority can be broken only by the following:

a. Quit. 

b. Discharge. 

c. Layoff for more than nine (9) months. 

d. Failure to return in accordance with the terms of a leave of absence or when recalled after a layoff. 

2. Transfer to Higher Category. When an employee is transferred from one job classification to another, the seniority acquired with the store and the Company shall be retained, and new seniority in the new classification shall commence as of the time of transfer. Transfers shall not be made for the purpose of displacing another employee. Should a layoff or reduction in hours occur in his new job classification, he shall be permitted to reclaim the position he formerly vacated, or whatever equivalent job he is able to perform and to which he is entitled by his combined seniority in his old and new classification. 

3. Vacation Relief. The seniority of a newly hired employee shall not take effect until the employee has completed the probationary period as provided under Article 2-B-3-f of this Agreement and shall then be retroactive to date of hire. However, the seniority of employees hired for vacation relief periods shall not take effect until sixty (60) days of employment and then shall be retroactive to date of hire. Said sixty (60) day period shall be between June 1 and August 31. 

D. QUALIFICATIONS. When seniority is invoked by an employee, his qualifications in performing the work claimed shall be the determining factors in establishing such rights. 

E. LAYOFFS/RECALLS/HOURS REDUCTIONS. 

1. It is recognized that legitimate business reasons may require reduction of hours and/or layoff of employees. In such event, the following shall apply:

a. In laying off an employee, other than during the probationary period, the Employer agrees to abide by the seniority rule as defined above in the following order: Seniority in the Store, Seniority in the Pharmacy District. The Company will advise the Union of its Pharmacy Districts and any realignments thereof.

In the event of the closure of all stores within an existing district, seniority for layoff purposes as provided in this Agreement may be applied to the remaining stores of the Company within the jurisdiction of the Union Local in which the affected employees are employed at the time of such closure. It is not the intention of this clause to continue to retain a single store in the District for the purpose of making this paragraph inoperative.

The Employer will give the Union advance notice of a permanent store closing.

b. A full-time employee who is to be laid off or reduced to part-time status will be:

1. Offered the least senior full-time position within the mutually agreed upon layoff area. If no such position exists, said employee will be offered the least senior full-time position within the Employer=s district in which the employee is employed at the time of layoff or reduction. To accept the offer, the employee must respond within twenty-four (24) hours, excluding Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

2. Or may claim any part-time positions in his own store.

c. The affected full-time employee may elect not to bump the least senior full-time employee in the Pharmacy District in which they are employed and may take a reduction to part-time within their own store based on seniority and the hours available for which they are qualified and available to work.

d. The least senior part-time employee who is being laid off from work in their store may displace the least senior part-time employee within the Pharmacy District in the same manner as set forth in Paragraph (b) above.

If the affected part-time employee is the least senior within the Pharmacy District, they shall be laid off and shall have no bumping rights.

e. The above is subject to qualified employees being available to perform the required work. It is recognized that the affected employees must possess the necessary ability and qualifications to perform the work when they assert their seniority rights under these provisions.

f. Legitimate business reasons shall be:

1. Reduction in sales; or

2. Technological change which would result in elimination, reduction or modification of current job duties.

2. Part-Time. 

a. A part-time employee who is to be laid off due to legitimate business reasons will be offered the least senior part-time position within the mutually agreed upon layoff area. If no such position exists, said employee may claim the least senior part-time position within the Employer=s district in which the employee is employed at the time of layoff or reduction. To accept the offer, the employee must respond within twenty-four (24) hours, excluding Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

The parties will review and change, if necessary, layoff areas as listed in Appendix _____ once/year to be consistent with the original intent.

b. After first having notified, in writing, the home store manager and the Union, a part-time employee shall also have the right to request additional available hours up to forty (40) hours per week at no more than three (3) other stores within the Union's jurisdiction. Said part-time employee shall notify, in writing, the manager of such stores of the request, and said manager shall endeavor to comply with such request on a seniority basis.

3. Recall.

a. The last employee laid off for legitimate business reasons shall be given the first (1st) opportunity to reinstatement in the former position, if said employee presents himself for work within ninety-six (96) hours, excluding Saturday and Sunday, from the postmarked date of a certified or registered letter to the employee=s last known address, and such letter shall state that failure of such employee to present himself within the ninety-six (96) hour period shall cancel his seniority. Provided however, that no employee will be required to travel more than fifteen (15) miles from their residence.

b. Rite Aid agrees to recall laid off employees by seniority to any newly constructed stores within the district before hiring any new employees.

4. A full-time employee, who has been reduced to part-time employment because of legitimate business reasons or for medical reasons must be offered the first (1st) full-time job that opens in the Company, agreed upon layoff area, in which he is currently employed. If the employee declines the offer, his only rights to be restored to full-time status shall be within his store.

5. No new part-time or extra employees shall be hired until or unless said part-time employee has been afforded the opportunity to work such additional hours on a seniority basis as set forth above. 

6. A layoff shall occur only at the end of an employee's weekly schedule after the employee has completed the probationary period. 

 

ARTICLE 6 - WORKDAY/WORKWEEK/SCHEDULES

A. STORE HOURS. The Employer shall have the sole right to fix and determine the opening and closing hours of its stores. 

B. WORKDAY/WORKWEEK DEFINED. For the purposes of this Agreement, a working day is the period from midnight to midnight. Where shifts overlap into two (2) working days, payment shall be made for the hours worked on each working day in accordance with the rate established for such days. A workweek as used in the Agreement shall be a consecutive seven (7) day period, as designated by the Employer, provided that any change of the workweek is done for all stores in the bargaining unit.

C. GUARANTEES. 

1. Full-Time/Scheduled Workday.

The following shall be effective October 11, 1999:

Modify to provide that pharmacists shall receive forty (40) hours work per week, scheduled either as five (5) eight (8) hour days or with written agreement between the company and union four (4) ten (10) hour days. In the first (1st) instance, overtime shall be payable after eight (8) hours in any one (1) day, in the second (2nd) instance, overtime shall be payable after ten (10) hours in any one (1) day. Work after twelve (12) hours in any one (1) day shall be paid at the rate of double (2) time the employee=s straight time hourly rate.

All full-time employees reporting for work on their scheduled workday shall be guaranteed a full day=s work of eight (8) hours with pay; except if a full-time employee is scheduled to work six (6) days in any workweek, the employee shall be guaranteed four (4) hours= work on the sixth (6th) day. The four (4) hour day need not be the actual sixth (6th) day, but may be, in the Employer=s discretion, any one (1) of the workdays in the weekly work schedule except Sunday.

The integrity of the eight (8) hour day shall be preserved and all time worked shall be paid for. Part-time jobs shall not be created or scheduled for the purpose of destroying the eight (8) hour day principle.

With written agreement by the company, the union and the employee, an employee may work an alternate work schedule consisting of no more than twelve (12) hour shifts at straight time. In such cases, any work over twelve (12) hours shall be at double (2) time and any work over forty (40) hours in a workweek shall be at time and one half (12).

2. Part-Time. Upon reporting for work, all part-time employees and those replacing employees in an emergency shall be guaranteed not less than four (4) hours' work with pay.

3. On Call. If the Employer requires an employee to remain at home "on call" the Employer shall guarantee the employee four (4) hours' pay at the appropriate rate for such day. All Employer requests for an employee to remain available for "on call" duty shall be in writing to the employee. 

D. WORKWEEK GUARANTEES. The workweek shall be Monday through Sunday. Eight (8) hours shall constitute a regular day=s work, and forty (40) hours, consisting of five (5) eight (8) hour days shall constitute a regular week=s work. All employees hired to work on a full-time basis or who are scheduled and work at least forty (40) hours in ten (10) consecutive weeks shall be guaranteed forty (40) hours= work per week, except in a holiday week, in which it shall be thirty-two (32) hours, provided the employee is available and able to work the required work schedule. Part-time jobs shall not be created or scheduled for the purpose of destroying the forty (40) hour week principle.

E. INTERRUPTION OF OPERATIONS. In the event operations cannot commence or continue when so recommended by civil authorities; or public utilities fail to supply electricity, water or gas, or the interruption of work is caused by an Act of God, the foregoing guarantees shall not be applicable. 

F. WORK SCHEDULE. 

1. Ready for Work. All employees shall report for and be ready for work at their scheduled starting time. The term "ready for work" shall include appropriate or required dress.

2. Work Schedule. The Employer shall post a work schedule in ink for all employees showing their surname and first (1st) initial not later than the end of the first(1st) shift on the Wednesday preceding the first(1st) day of the following workweek. Any alteration in such work schedule must be made not later than the end of the first(1st) shift on the Friday of such preceding week. If the work schedule within any day is changed after the end of the first (1st) shift on Friday without reasonable cause, the matter may be subject to the grievance procedure. An employee shall be guaranteed pay for the specific days in a workweek upon which he is scheduled to work, provided he is available for such work.  The schedules shall show total number of hours scheduled for each employee. The information shall be posted alongside the schedule indicating employee classification and full-time/part-time status. This information shall be updated quarterly.

In the event that a new schedule is not posted, the previous week's schedule shall apply. In formulating the work schedule of any employee, a minimum of ten (10) hours shall have elapsed between the two (2) consecutive work shifts unless the weekly rotation of Sunday and night shifts is involved, provided, however, that this provision shall not apply to an employee designated by the store manager to act in his absence, nor shall it apply in the event of emergencies. Work performed prior to the ten (10) hours' elapsed time in violation of this Paragraph shall be paid at the rate of time and one-half (12). 

 

3. Rotation of Work. For regularly scheduled employees, work on nights, Sundays, and holidays shall be rotated equally and on a periodic basis to the extent possible.  Variation from such rotation shall occur only if approved by the Employer and the Union to meet problems of the individual employee and in cases of emergency.

4. Rest Periods.

a. An employee working more than six (6) hours in a day shall receive two (2) ten (10) minute uninterrupted rest periods during such day. The first (1st) rest period shall be given in the first (1st) half of the shift and the second (2nd) period during the second (2nd) half of such shift. 

b. An employee working more than two (2) hours and not more than six (6) hours shall receive one (1) ten-minute uninterrupted rest period. This shall be given during the first (1st) four (4) hours of the employee's shift. 

c. Insofar as practicable, rest periods shall be in the middle of each work period. 

d. All employees who are required to work a minimum of an additional one (1) hour of overtime shall be entitled to a ten (10) minute rest period prior to the start of such overtime work. 

e. The term uninterrupted means not being called to perform work. If the employee is called back to work during the break, the employee will be given a new uninterrupted break period to replace that which was interrupted as soon as possible. 

5. Lunch Period. All hours shall be worked consecutively, except for a meal period which shall be one (1) hour. No employee shall be scheduled more than one (1) hour after the middle of his shift or less than one (1) hour before the middle of his shift for a meal break. If the Union becomes aware of abuse it reserves the right to revoke the option at any location(s) after first covering the Steps 1 and 2 of the grievance procedure contained in Article 16. 

"On Call". There shall be no on-call lunch allowed unless there is a pharmacy technician on duty. When the pharmacist is working more than six (6) hours and less than ten (10) hour day, the pharmacist may take an Aon call@ lunch of one-half (2) hour on the Employer=s time and will receive an extra one-half (2) hour pay. Said pharmacist shall remain within the store during the lunch period, but shall not be called upon to perform any duties during this lunch period except in cases of bonafide emergency. Pharmacists working a ten (10) hour day or more shall take a lunch break on his own time of not less than one-half (2) hour. Said pharmacist shall not be in the pharmacy during this lunch period. On and after the effective date of AB261, the pharmacist shall be paid one (1) extra hour pay in addition to being paid an on call lunch, if for any reason a pharmacist is not provided an off premises lunch period on his own time.

During graveyard shifts, an Aon call@ lunch is permissible without a pharmacy technician present. The pharmacist will be paid an additional one-half (2) hour pay for working an Aon call@ lunch.

On Sundays, if no pharmacy technician is on duty, the company will give the pharmacist a one-half (2) hour uninterrupted lunch period. A pharmacist working more than six (6) hours and less than ten (10) hours on a Sunday, may request an Aon call@ lunch without a technician present. Such a schedule shall be permitted unless the Union objects. The pharmacist will be paid an additional one-half (2) hour pay for working an Aon call@ lunch. If the pharmacist determines that it is necessary to fill a prescription during an Aon call@ lunch, he=ll receive an additional one-half (2) hour pay for a total of one (1) hour extra pay.

Pay for time worked in this section shall not be used in the calculation of overtime.

6. Sixth/Seventh Day. No employee shall be required to work seven (7) days in any workweek except in an emergency. It shall not be a violation of this contract, nor shall it constitute cause for discharge, if an employee declines to work on the sixth (6th) day of the workweek unless scheduled to work on such day.

7. Sunday Ratio. The Employer may schedule no more than two (2) part-time shifts for every one (1) eight (8) hour shift scheduled.

8. Holiday Ratio.

a. An employee who works on a holiday shall be guaranteed eight (8) hours' work, except that a full-time, or regular part-time employee who regularly works less than eight (8) hours on the day on which the holiday is observed, shall be guaranteed not less than the number of hours regularly worked on such day. 

b. The eight (8) hour guarantee shall be deemed to have been complied with if less than an eight (8) hour shift is worked on the holiday, but said hours are part of an eight (8) hour shift which includes hours on either the day before or the day after the holiday. Hours worked during the twenty-four (24) hour period of the holiday shall be compensated at the holiday rate as set forth in this Article, and each hour so compensated shall apply toward the eight (8) hour holiday guarantee. 

c. On holiday schedules, if eight (8) hour shifts create unnecessary overlapping of employees, then full-time employees may work a short shift of four (4) or more hours on a holiday to prevent the overlapping, but an employee shall not be required to work on a holiday if less than eight (8) hours' work or pay is provided, unless the store is open less than eight (8) hours on said holiday, in which case a five (5) hour minimum guarantee is provided.

9. Holiday Scheduling. Work on Thanksgiving and Christmas shall be assigned by the Employer on a voluntary basis. Should the Employer be unable to staff its store with volunteering employees the Employer may assign employees to work the holiday by inverse seniority. Once an employee has agreed to work on Thanksgiving or Christmas and the work schedule has been posted, he shall be required to work said days. Written requests to work on any holiday shall be given first (1st) preference based on seniority. Employees working on the day of December 24 and/or December 31 shall be scheduled on the basis of inverse seniority to allow the most-senior employee the early shift on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. 

10. Overtime Preference. Employees shall be given preference for overtime work by seniority provided they are qualified to perform such overtime work.   This provision shall not be a requirement on the Employer to create overtime work.

11. Inventory Work. The present inventory taking practice shall continue; provided, however, that employees covered by this Agreement shall be paid for all time spent taking inventory at the appropriate contractual rate. No inventory work shall be required to be performed by employees covered by this Agreement on the evenings before Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. 

12. Schedule Preferences. The Company recognizes the right of pharmacists to express preferences for schedules in certain stores in geographical areas in which they wish to work. The Company will keep written requests on file and supply a copy to the Union. When a vacancy occurs in a store or area requested, the Company shall notify the pharmacists who have registered requests, and simultaneously notify the local union, and will consider them on the basis of seniority and the ability to fulfill the requirements of that particular vacancy.

 

ARTICLE 7 - WAGES

 

A. ALL EMPLOYEES. 

1. Base Rates. Attached to and made a part of this Agreement is Appendix A which sets forth the straight-time hourly rates for all employees covered by this Agreement.

2. Head Pharmacist.

a. Pharmacies doing in excess of a daily average of one hundred twenty-five (125) prescriptions shall have one (1) head pharmacist on schedule.  This daily average shall be determined by dividing the total number of prescriptions per month by the total number of days per month the pharmacy is operating on the following basis: weekdays = 1 day, Saturday = 2 day, and Sunday = 0 day.   One of the criteria that will be considered by both parties will be the national average of prescriptions per pharmacy operation.  No head pharmacist shall be demoted from that position because of deficient performance in the job without first having received a prior warning notice in writing, copy to the Union, calling attention to his/her deficiencies.

b. This head pharmacist shall receive an additional fifty cents (504) per hour over the applicable pharmacy rate of pay.  The selection of head pharmacist shall be solely vested in management.  The semiannual evaluation periods will be October 1 through March 31 and April 1 through September 30.  The necessary adjustments based on this evaluation will be effective the first (1st) payroll period in January and July of each year.

c. Effective July 1, 1995, those pharmacists currently receiving the head pharmacist premium will be "red circled" and will continue to receive said premium. In addition, the company will continue to pay the head pharmacist premium in those stores without a pharmacy manager.

B. NIGHT PREMIUM. A premium of one dollar ($1.00) per hour in addition to the applicable straight-time rate shall be paid on all hours worked by employees between the hours of 10 P.M. and 7 A.M.

C. OVERTIME.

1. Daily/Weekly Overtime. Between July 5, 1999 and October 1, 1999, all work performed in excess of eighty (80) hours of work within a consecutive two (2) week work period shall be deemed overtime and paid at the overtime rate of time and one-half (1 1/2) the employee's regular straight time rate of pay or at a higher premium rate, if such is applicable. Effective October 1, 1999, SB 651 providing for coverage of pharmacists under the California Wage Order No. 7 shall apply to all bargaining unit pharmacists. Between October 1, 1999 and the effective date of SB 651 all time worked in excess of eight (8) hours in any one (1) day (ten (10) hours for pharmacists working a four (4) day ten (10) hour workweek pursuant to written agreement between the company and the union) shall be paid at the overtime rate of time and one-half (12). All time worked in excess of twelve (12) hours per day shall be paid at the overtime rate of double (2) time. All work performed in excess of forty (40) hours of work within a workweek shall be deemed overtime and paid at the overtime rate of time and one-half (12) the employee=s regular straight time rate of pay or a higher premium rate, if such is applicable.

With written agreement by the company, the union and the employee, an employee may work an alternate work schedule consisting of no more than twelve (12) hour shifts at straight time. In such cases, any work over twelve (12) hours shall be at double (2) time and any work over forty (40) hours in a workweek shall be at time and one-half (12).

2. Sixth Day Overtime/Full-Time. Time and one-half (12) shall be paid to a full-time employee, who works on said sixth (6th) day in a workweek, provided the employee completes the scheduled workweek.

3. Seventh Consecutive Day Overtime/Full-Time. When a five (5) day, full-time employee is scheduled to work more than seven (7) consecutive days in any combination of workweeks, said employee shall receive time and one-half (12) (or such higher premium as may apply) for all time worked after the seventh (7th) consecutive day, until such time as the consecutive days of work have been interrupted by a prescheduled day off. The above shall not apply to regularly scheduled six (6) day employees, provided that overtime or premium rates are paid where applicable. The sixth (6th) day of work within one (1) workweek, whether prescheduled or not, shall act as an interruption in the continuity of consecutive days worked. When a full-time employee is scheduled to work more than seven (7) consecutive days in any combination of workweeks, said employee shall receive time and one-half (12) (or such higher premium as may apply) for all time worked after the seventh (7th) consecutive day until such time as the consecutive days of work have been interrupted by a scheduled day off.

Where employees exchange days off for their convenience, the effect of which would result in more than seven (7) consecutive days of work, the overtime provision for over seven (7) consecutive days of work where such voluntary exchange is accomplished shall not apply. Prior manager approval of such exchange of days off shall be required but shall not be withheld arbitrarily or discriminatorily.

4. Predesignated Day Off/Full-Time. Any full-time employee called to work on the employee's predesignated day off, as established in the work schedule provision, shall be guaranteed eight (8) hours' work at the overtime rate of pay; provided that this provision shall not apply in those situations where employees voluntarily agree to switch scheduled shifts with other pharmacists or where they voluntarily agree to work less than eight (8) hours on such day.

5. Sixth Day Overtime/Part-Time. Part-time employees shall be paid time and one-half (12) for all work performed on the sixth (6th) day of work as such, in any regular workweek. This paragraph shall not apply when a part-time employee desires, in writing, to work on a sixth (6th) workday at straight time and the Union and Employer agree in writing.

6. Early/Late Meal Periods. An employee who is required to work more than one (1) hour beyond the middle of his shift without a meal period shall receive overtime pay from said hour until the meal period commences. Employees who are required to commence their meal period prior to one (1) hour before the middle of their shift shall receive overtime pay for the time between the start of the meal period and one (1) hour before the middle of the shift.

7. Overtime Basis. The overtime rate for employees who receive a wage scale in excess of the rates in this contract shall be based on said employee's actual rate of pay.

8. Nonpyramiding, The following are penalty rates:   overtime rates, night premium rates and holiday rates. No penalty rate of any kind shall be pyramided or paid in addition to any other penalty rates, and only the single highest applicable penalty rate shall be paid for any given hour of work. 

D. PAY PERIOD AND WAGE STATEMENT. All employees shall be paid on a weekly or biweekly basis. The Employer shall designate a pay day not to exceed six (6) days following the completion of the applicable pay period and employees must be paid on that day. The Employer agrees to furnish each employee with a weekly itemized wage statement showing the name of the employee, period covered, straight-time and overtime or premium hours worked, total amount of straight-time, overtime and premium wages paid and all deductions made. An employee scheduled off on a payday shall be paid on his or her last scheduled working day before the payday, if checks are available.  For definition purposes, pay period as used in this agreement shall be two (2) consecutive weeks. In addition to the itemized wage statement, the Employer will provide to each employee on the first (1st) payday in each calendar quarter, a statement indicating their earned vacation and sick leave hours.

E. TIME RECORDS.

1. Daily Records. The Employer shall furnish forms, either time cards or other time records, on which the employee shall be required daily to record time worked on each day. Such daily record shall be verified by the Employer and employee at least weekly and shall be available for inspection upon request by the Union representative entitled to such information. 

2. Collusion or Coercion. In the event of falsification of time records through collusion or coercion, where it is established that both the employee and the Employer had knowledge of such falsification, the employee shall be paid for all time worked, by check mailed to the Union.

F. BONUS PAYMENTS. All bonuses and commissions paid to the employee shall not be considered as wages but are to be considered for the purpose of this Agreement as extra compensation over and above the minimum wage provided for in this Agreement. All bonuses and commissions are at the option of the Employer and may be changed or discontinued at any time without notice, except as provided herein in this Agreement. Bonuses and commissions shall not be used to defeat the wage provisions of this Agreement.

G. TRAVEL TIME. Whenever an employee is required by the Employer to change from one (1) store to another during the same day, all time consumed by said employee in going either to or from one (1) store to another shall be considered and paid for as part of the employee's regular duties. 

H. INJURY ON THE JOB. When an employee is injured on the job, there shall be no deduction from the employee's pay for the day in which the employee was injured and reported for medical care. When such employee returns to work following the injury, and is certified as ready and able to perform all regular duties, but requires medical treatment as a result of the same injury, the Employer shall adjust the work schedules without penalty to the employee, to provide both the time for medical care and the number of hours of work for which the employee is regularly scheduled. 

I. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. 

1. Required Appearance. Any employee served with a legal notice, citation or subpoena which involves any facet of the Employer's operation, or which may require the employee to appear in legal proceedings during scheduled work time, shall immediately inform the Employer of such service. 

2. Requested Appearance. Employees shall be paid as time worked under the terms of this Agreement for time spent at appearances in legal proceedings at the request of the Employer. 

3. Work Related Appearance. In addition, employees shall be paid as time worked under this contract for time spent at appearances or required standby in legal proceedings under subpoena issued by the court when the event, or events, giving rise to the issuance of the subpoena occurred while the employee was on duty working for the Employer, and so long as the Employer is not a party defendant or respondent in such proceeding, and no relief of any kind is sought against the Employer nor the imposition of any penalty or punishment upon him. 

4. Former employees who at the time of the legal appearance are no longer employed by the Employer, shall be paid by such Employer at the rate of straight time for the time spent at the legal appearance, with a minimum guarantee of four (4) hours per day. In no sense is it to be construed that the former employee becomes an employee as a result of such payment. 

J. STORE/COMPANY MEETINGS. 

1. Store Meetings. No store and/or Company meetings shall be held as to conflict with the regular meetings of the Union, and upon three (3) days' notice to the Employer of a special meeting, the Employer agrees to hold no store meetings in conflict therewith. Employees shall not be required to attend store meetings on their scheduled days off. Actual time spent at store meetings shall be considered as time worked and paid for in accordance with this Agreement, but shall not constitute hours worked with respect to overtime or any other premium pay and report-in pay provisions of Article 7-C-2, and 3 and Article 6-C-1, 2 and 3 shall not be applicable. Should the Company have more than one (1) store meeting per quarter all time spent at store meetings in excess of the one (1) per quarter shall be considered as time worked and paid for in accordance with this Agreement, including all premiums, overtime and report-in pay. 

2. Company Meetings. Attendance at Company meetings (as distinguished from store meetings) shall not be required, but shall be completely voluntary on the part of the employee. 

K. AUTO ALLOWANCE. The mileage allowance shall be the company=s uniform mileage allowance but in no event shall it be less than twenty-five cents (254) per hour.

L. TRAINING SCHOOL FEES. Where, as a condition of employment, the Employer requires attendance at a school or training establishment, and where a fee is charged for such instruction or training, the fee shall be borne by the Employer. 

M. BOND FEES. Whenever the Employer requires the bonding of any employee or the carrying of any insurance for the indemnification of the Employer, the premiums for the same shall be paid for by the Employer. Should an employee be refused bond by a bonding company, after the first (1st) thirty (30) days of employment, the Employer agrees to make a reasonable effort to secure a bond in an appropriate case without added cost to the Employer.

N. REQUIRED HEALTH EXAM FEES. The Employer shall pay the cost for any city, county or state health examination required of employees who are covered by this Agreement. 

O. NO REDUCTION IN RATES. It is further agreed that no employee shall suffer any reduction in rates or general working conditions by reason of the signing of this Agreement. No employee receiving hourly rates in excess of the rates herein shall be replaced by another employee at a lesser hourly rate for the purpose of avoiding any of the provisions of this Agreement. 

P. WAGE/PRICE CONTROLS. If by Presidential decree or legislative enactment, wage and price controls are instituted which cause any provisions of this Agreement to affect either of the parties adversely, such provisions may be reopened for negotiations. The party adversely affected must give fifteen (15) days' written notice to the other party in order to so reopen this Agreement. Any issues unresolved as a result of such reopening may be submitted to final and binding arbitration by either party under the procedures set forth in Article 16.

Q. CHARITY. The Employer shall not conduct or handle any campaign or drive for charitable purposes among the employees except where the cooperation and contributions of the employees are voluntary. 

 

ARTICLE 8 - VACATIONS

A. FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES. 

1. One Year. All full-time employees who have been continuously employed by the Employer for one (1) year shall receive one (1) week's vacation with full pay. 

2. Two Years. All full-time employees who have been continuously employed by the Employer for two (2) years shall receive two (2) weeks' vacation with full pay. 

3. Five Years. All full-time employees who have been continuously employed by the Employer for five (5) years shall receive three (3) weeks' vacation with full pay. 

4. Fifteen Years. All full-time employees who have been continuously employed by the Employer for fifteen (15) years shall receive four (4) weeks' vacation with full pay.

5. Twenty Years. All full-time employees who have been continuously employed by the Employer for twenty (20) years shall receive five (5) weeks' vacation with full pay.

6. Continuous Employment Defined. Continuous employment for the purpose of this Article shall be measured from the last date of hire with the Employer. However, where there has been continuous leave of absence in excess of one (1) year, the period of continuous employment shall be reduced by the number of full years of such absence. 

B. PAY. 

1. Full-Time Vacation Pay. The term "full pay" shall be defined as forty (40) hours' pay at the employee's straight-time hourly rate which was in effect at the time the vacation became due on the employee's anniversary date.  

Absence. Absence from work up to seven (7) weeks or two hundred eighty(280) straight-time hours within the period of fifty-two (52) consecutive weeks, immediately preceding the employee's anniversary date, due to sickness, injury or temporary layoff, or other bona fide emergencies, shall be considered as time worked for the purpose of determining eligibility for full vacation pay. In the event that an employee is absent from work in excess of seven (7) weeks, as set forth above, whatever vacation pay the employee is entitled to shall be prorated according to the ratio that the straight-time hours actually worked bear to two thousand eighty(2,080) hours. Hours worked shall include paid holidays, paid vacations and paid jury duty. 

2. Part-Time Vacation Pay. Part-time employees shall be entitled to vacation pay on each anniversary date of their employment, prorated on the basis of the average straight-time hours worked during the preceding year, according to the vacation formula set forth in this Article 8-A. Said vacation pay shall be based on the straight-time hourly rate in effect on the employee's anniversary date provided, however, that if the Employer does not pay the vacation pay on the anniversary date, the payment shall be based on the straight-time hourly rate of pay in effect at the time the employee takes the vacation. 

3. Payment Date. The Employer must pay the employee the vacation pay on the employee=s anniversary date. Each week of vacation pay shall be issued by separate check and taxed at the employee=s regular weekly tax rate. Termination vacation pay is due within seven (7) calendar days of termination or resignation. 

4. Pro Rata. 

a. General. Upon termination of employment for any reason other than discharge for proven or admitted dishonesty, an employee shall receive whatever vacation pay is due, prorated on the basis of the number of straight-time hours worked, provided that the employee has been in the continuous employ of the Employer for six (6) months or longer. Said vacation pay shall be prorated according to the ratio that the straight-time hours actually worked bear to two thousand eighty (2,080) hours. Employees terminated for proven or admitted dishonesty shall forfeit all vacation pay. 

b. After 6 Months. Employees whose employment is terminated, and who have been in the continuous employ of the Employer more than six (6) months, but less than one (1) year, shall not be entitled to such pro rata pay where termination of employment is due to a discharge or to a voluntary quit, but shall receive prorated vacation only where termination of employment is due to a layoff.. 

c. After 12 Months. Any employee who has been in the employ of the same Employer for twelve (12) consecutive calendar months, but not to exceed eighteen (18) consecutive calendar months, shall upon termination of employment be entitled to receive a pro rata of the earned vacation on the basis of one (1) workweek consisting of forty (40) hours at straight-time pay for all months for which no vacation has been paid. 

d. After 18 Months. When an employee has been in the employ of the same Employer in excess of eighteen (18) consecutive calendar months, the employee shall receive upon termination, a pro rata of accrued vacation pay on the basis of eighty (80) hours at straight-time pay for all months for which no vacation has been paid, but in no event shall vacation pay for the first (1st) year's employment exceed one (1) week's pay. It is further provided that employees who voluntarily quit after eighteen (18) consecutive calendar months of employment with the same Employer, and prior to two (2) years' employment with the same Employer, shall receive pro rata of accrued vacation pay on the basis of forty (40) hours at the straight-time rate of pay.

e. After 5 Years. An employee who has been in the employ of the same Employer for five (5) years or more shall, upon termination, receive accrued vacation pay on the basis of three (3) weeks per year for all time in excess of five (5) years for which no vacation pay has been received. 

f. After 15 Years. An employee who has been in the employ of the same Employer for fifteen (15) years or more shall, upon termination, receive accrued vacation pay on the basis of four (4) weeks per year for all time in excess of fifteen (15) years for which no vacation pay has been received. 

g. After 20 Years. An employee who has been in the employ of the same Employer for twenty (20) years or more shall, upon termination, receive accrued vacation pay on the basis of five (5) weeks per year for all time in excess of twenty (20) years for which no vacation pay has been received. 

5. Not Waived. Vacation may not be waived by an employee, nor may extra pay be received for work during that period; provided, however, that by prior mutual agreement between the Employer, the employee and the Union, this provision may be waived. 

C. INDUSTRY VACATION. Additional vacation pay based on industry experience shall be provided in accordance with the provisions of the Trust Fund set forth in Article 14. Said additional vacation pay shall be paid to the employee by the Trust Fund. Any employee entitled to vacation pay as herein provided shall not suffer any loss of credits for health and welfare benefits or pension benefits that are provided under Article 14 of this Agreement.

D. SCHEDULING. 

1. Posting/Selection/Scheduling. The Employer shall prepare and post in each store a vacation schedule not later than January 15th of each year and such vacation schedule shall remain posted until March 1st for the purpose of enabling the employees to select their vacation period. Vacation periods shall be fixed by the Employer to suit the requirements of the business, but as far as possible and practicable, vacations will be given during the summer months (through October if requested by the employee), and for employees with school-age children during the school summer vacation. Vacation periods other than those listed above may be applied for to management and full consideration will be given to grant the request unless it has an adverse effect on the Employer's business. Vacation period shall be unbroken except by mutual consent between Employer and employee.

2. The Employer shall be required to give vacation time off based on the number of weeks of vacation due the employee from the Employer and from the vacation trust fund. Within the limits set forth in this Paragraph, vacations shall be scheduled by seniority.

3. Notice. In scheduling a vacation of an employee, the Employer shall give as much notice as possible prior to the date of beginning the vacation but not less than thirty (30) days. 

4. No Cumulation. Vacations may not be cumulative from one (1) year to another. 

5. Holiday During Vacation. If a holiday named under Article 9 of this Agreement falls within the vacation period of an employee, the employee shall be granted an additional day of vacation with full pay, or an additional day's pay in lieu of the holiday. The additional day of vacation shall be counted as a day worked for the purpose of weekly overtime computation during the period the employee returns to work. 

 

ARTICLE 9 - HOLIDAYS

A. PAID HOLIDAYS. 

1. Eligibility. The following days shall be holidays and granted without reduction in pay. 

New Year's Day Christmas Day

Memorial Day Employee's Birthday

Independence Day Employee's Anniversary Date of Hire

Labor Day Personal Holiday

Thanksgiving Day

No employee shall receive pay for any holidays not worked unless such employee has reported for work on the regular working day next preceding and next following said holiday. Employees shall be deemed to have reported for work if absence on said day before and said day after said holiday is due to express permission from or action of the Employer, provided the employee has worked during the holiday week, except that if the employee is absent during the entire holiday week due to illness or injury, then the employee must have worked at least one (1) day during the week immediately preceding the holiday week in order to be entitled to holiday pay. 

2. When one (1) of the above days falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be considered the holiday instead of Sunday with the exception of Christmas Day and New Year's Day which shall be celebrated on December 25 and January 1 respectively. If the employee's birthday or anniversary date of hire falls on another Contract holiday, it shall be observed the following day or within thirty (30) days as set forth in Paragraph 4, below. The Employer recognizes that the employee's birthday and the anniversary date of hire holidays are paid holidays to be scheduled in conjunction with the employee's regular day off. 

3. During the first (1st) year of their employment, employees shall not be entitled to pay for time not worked on the holiday. 

4. If an eligible employee's birthday or anniversary date of hire falls during December, the Employer may schedule the employee's birthday or anniversary date of hire holiday during the following January. Reasonable notice shall be given to the eligible employee of the date. In the event an eligible employee terminates employment for any reason after the birthday or anniversary but prior to actually receiving the personal holiday off with pay, the employee shall receive pay for the birthday holiday or anniversary date of hire holiday. 

5. Personal Holiday. An employee requesting a given workday date as the personal holiday must do so at least fourteen (14) calendar days in advance. The Employer shall endeavor to grant such requests subject to store operational requirements. The Employer will grant such holiday time off with pay to the senior requesting employee(s). Personal holiday dates, once granted for that year, will become permanent fourteen (14) calendar days prior, and no senior employee(s) shall have a right to such date. 

Personal holidays are expected to be scheduled and taken. In cases where an employee has been scheduled for a personal holiday, and the Employer cancels such holiday, the employee will receive holiday pay in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph B, below. Mutual rescheduling may be undertaken in lieu of holiday pay. 

6. The Company agrees that no employee will be denied a birthday, anniversary or personal holiday to which he would otherwise be entitled as a result of the employee's failure to request such a holiday in advance. Rather employees who fail to request the birthday, anniversary or personal holiday in advance shall be entitled to another mutually agreeable day off with pay within thirty (30) days of the request. The Company will make every effort to inform employees of their entitlement to the above named holidays. 

7. With respect to any of the holidays listed in this Agreement which may, by virtue of controlling legislation be celebrated on Monday, this Agreement will be changed automatically to permit such Monday observance, coincident with the dates specified in such legislation. 

B. HOLIDAY PAYMENT. 

1. Holiday Allowance. A full-time employee who does not work on a holiday shall be paid eight (8) hours' holiday allowance. Part-time employees shall receive holiday allowance as provided in Paragraph B-6, below.

2. Holiday Work. All employees scheduled to work on a holiday shall receive one (1) hour straight-time holiday allowance for each hour worked on said holiday plus straight-time pay for each hour worked; provided, however, that any employee scheduled for less than the eight (8) hours on a holiday shall be guaranteed the number of hours of holiday allowance set forth in Paragraph 1, above.

3. Holiday Week -- Overtime.  In a holiday period, bi-weekly overtime for employees shall commence after eighty (80) hours of work. Work on the holiday shall be included in the calculation of said eighty (80) hours.    When a holiday falls on an employee's sixth (6th) day of work within a workweek, he shall be paid time and one-half (12) in addition to his holiday allowance for each hour worked.

Effective October 1, 1999, weekly overtime for employees shall commence after forty (40) straight-time hours of work. Work on the holiday up to eight (8) hours shall be included in the calculation of said forty (40) hours. When a holiday falls on an employee=s sixth (6th) day of work, he shall be paid time and one-half (12) in addition to his holiday allowance for each hour worked.

4. Guarantee. Full-time employees shall continue to be guaranteed four (4) eight (8) hour days of work in a holiday week excluding the holiday. Any employee called in on a holiday which is his predesignated day off shall be guaranteed eight (8) hours' work at the overtime rate of pay as provided in Article 7-C-3 in addition to his holiday allowance for each hour worked.

5. Part-Time Holiday Pay.

a. Effective July 1, 1999 to October 1, 1999: Holiday pay for part-time employees shall be based on ten percent (10%) of the employee's average hours worked per pay period in the three (3) pay periods worked immediately preceding the holiday or the number of pay periods worked if less than three except that in computing pay for the New Year's holiday, the same period of time used in computing pay for the Christmas holiday shall be used.

b. Effective October 1, 1999: Holiday pay for part-time employees shall be based on twenty percent (20%) of the employee's average hours worked per week in the six (6) weeks worked immediately preceding the holiday or the number of weeks worked if less than six (6) except that in computing pay for the New Year's holiday, the same period of time used in computing pay for the Christmas holiday shall be used.

6. Examples: The following hypothetical examples accurately reflect the intention of the parties set forth above with respect to pharmacists who work a regular workweek (five (5) eight (8) hour days) after one (1) year of employment.

Hours of  Total Pay at

(Holiday) Hours Straight

M Tu W Th F Sa Su Worked Time

Example #1

Hrs. Wkd. 0 8 8 8 8 0 0 32

Pay for 8 8 8 8 8 0 0 40

Example #2

Hrs. Wkd. 0 8 8 8 8 8 0 40

Pay for 8 8 8 8 8 8 0 48

Example #3

Hrs. Wkd. 8 8 8 8 8 0 0 40

Pay for 16 8 8 8 8 0 0 48

Example #4

Hrs. Wkd. 0 8 8 8 8 8 8 48

Pay for 8 8 8 8 8 8 12 60

Example #5

Hrs. Wkds. 8 8 8 8 8 8 0 48

Pay for 16 8 8 8 8 12 0 60

Example #6

Hrs. Wkd. 4 8 8 8 8 0 0 36

Pay for 12 8 8 8 8 0 0 44

Example #7

Hrs. Wkd. 4 8 8 8 8 8 0 44

Pay for 14 8 8 8 8 8 0 54

Example #8

Hrs. Wkd. 9 8 8 0 8 8 0 41

Pay for 18 8 8 0 8 8 0 50

7. Holiday Week - Four (4) Ten (10) Hour Shift Pharmacists: Pharmacists working a four (4) day, ten (10) hour day schedule shall receive ten (10) hours straight time pay for all holidays. In addition, if the pharmacist works the holiday, he shall receive straight-time for all time worked on the holiday.

C. VOLUNTARY HOLIDAY CLOSING. When the Employer voluntarily closes his store to the public because of any commemoration day or celebration day, or on any holiday other than those set forth in Paragraph A, above, it is agreed that the employees shall suffer no reduction in straight-time weekly earnings on account of such closing.

 

ARTICLE 10 - SICK LEAVE PAY

A. BENEFITS. 

1. Eligibility. All employees covered by this Agreement who have been continuously employed by the Employer for a period of at least one (1) year shall be entitled to forty-eight (48) hours sick leave with pay, and on each anniversary date of employment thereafter, they shall be entitled to forty-eight (48) hours sick leave with pay (subject to Paragraphs C-1 and 2 of this Article); however, such sick leave benefits shall not accumulate from year to year. Sick leave shall be payable only for bona fide nonhospitalized illness or injury beginning with the first (1st) working day's absence and shall be payable only during the first (1st) three (3) calendar days of absence, or until the employee is eligible for State benefits. Any working day on which an employee works more than four (4) hours shall not be considered the first (1st) day of absence.

2. Supplementary Disability Benefits. Supplementary Disability Benefits will be provided in accordance with provisions of Article 14 hereof. 

3. Sick Leave Integration. Sick leave pay shall be integrated with the Supplementary Disability Benefits provided under the Trust Fund and California Disability Insurance or California Workers' Compensation Temporary Disability Benefits, or both, so that the sum of the sick leave pay hereunder, and the aforesaid State disability daily benefits which may be payable to an employee shall not exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the employee's daily wage at straight time. If the sick leave pay allowable to an employee hereunder when so combined with any such Supplementary Disability Benefits from the Trust Fund and California Disability Insurance or California Workers' Compensation Temporary Disability Benefits, or both, exceeds one hundred percent (100%) of the employee's daily wage at straight time for any one (1) day, then such sick leave pay for that day shall be reduced accordingly. Any portion of the day's sick leave pay not received by the employee by reason of any such reduction shall be retained as part of the accumulated sick leave pay credit subject to the provisions of Paragraph C, UNUSED SICK LEAVE PAID, of this Article. 

4. Sick Pay Defined. For the purpose of this Paragraph sick pay shall mean pay at the employee's regular classification rate for those days and hours which the employee would have worked had the disability not occurred, calculated at straight time. 

B. PRO RATA. Part-time employees, and full-time employees who failed to work the full year, shall be entitled to sick leave on the basis set forth above on a pro rata of total hours worked or paid for during the year preceding the anniversary date as a ratio to two thousand eighty (2,080) hours.

C. UNUSED SICK LEAVE PAID. 

1. Employed Before 7/20/83. For employees hired prior to July 20, 1983, commencing with the employee's second (2nd) and succeeding anniversary dates of employment, any unused sick leave to which an employee may be entitled shall be paid on the employee's anniversary date of employment. After a year's employment, the employee, in the event of termination, shall be entitled to a payoff of unused sick leave entitlement and to pro rata payment of accumulated sick leave since the employee's last anniversary date. Termination shall include a nonpromotional transfer to a store or department not covered by the Retail Drug Agreement. In the event termination from the bargaining unit is due to a promotion, any unused sick leave pay accumulated at the time of promotion, will be given the employee if the employee leaves the Employer's employ within six (6) months of such promotion. After said six (6) months' period, the Employer's obligation to pay unused sick leave to the promoted employee ceases. The pro rata payment of accumulated sick leave since the employee's last anniversary date shall not be paid to an employee who is discharged for proven or admitted dishonesty, or who quits voluntarily. 

2. Employed on/after 7/20/83. For employees hired on or after July 20, 1983, commencing with the employee's second (2nd) and succeeding anniversary dates of employment, any sick leave not utilized (unused and unpaid leave) by the employee during the anniversary year shall accumulate to a maximum of eighteen (18) days. On the employee's fourth (4th) and succeeding anniversary dates of employment, the employee shall be entitled to receive pay for unused sick leave as provided for employees hired prior to July 20, 1983 under Paragraph C-1 of this Article. 

After four (4) years of employment the employee shall be entitled to a payoff of a maximum of eighteen (18) days of the unused accrual sick leave, provided, however, the payment of unused accrual sick leave shall not be paid to an employee who is discharged for proven or admitted dishonesty. 

 

ARTICLE 11 - BEREAVEMENT LEAVE AND/OR PAY

Leave for all employees shall be provided because of death of a member of the employee's immediate family provided, however, that employees shall not be entitled to bereavement pay during the first (1st) year of employment, but will be given up to three (3) days off without pay. Pay for such leave shall be at the straight-time rate for the hours scheduled for each workday lost because of such absence to a maximum of three (3) consecutive days. Verification of time required for such paid leave shall be supplied to the Employer by the employee, if requested. Immediate family shall be defined as the employee's spouse, child, mother, father, stepparent, brother, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent, stepchild, legal guardian, or other relative living in the employee's home. 

 

ARTICLE 12 - JURY DUTY LEAVE AND/OR PAY

When a full-time employee is required to be in any court or courthouse for jury service the employee shall be scheduled for a day shift from the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on each day that the employee is scheduled for jury service, and on a Monday-through-Friday workweek and shall receive pay during such workweek for each day on such jury service at the rate of eight (8) hours times his straight-time hourly rate. An employee shall not be entitled to receive jury duty benefits during the first (1st) year of employment. 

If such employee in addition works for the Employer on Saturday or Sunday, the employee shall be paid at the rate of straight time. 

If an employee is excused, temporarily or permanently from jury service on any scheduled day, i.e., Monday through Friday, the employee shall immediately report for work to complete the remaining hours of the scheduled work shift. Failure to so report shall disqualify an employee from any pay for jury duty for the day in question as long as the transportation time will permit the employee to return to work prior to one (1) hour before the end of the shift. 

The Employer may require proof of attendance for jury service. 

An employee must report immediately that he or she has been called for jury service and shall cooperate with the Employer in securing release from such service as appropriate in the circumstances then existing and with regard to the work performed by the individual concerned. 

An employee shall be eligible for jury duty pay for a maximum of thirty (30) days only during the life of this Agreement. Jury duty pay shall not be required for Grand Jury service. In the event an employee is called for a second (2nd) tour of duty during the term of this Agreement, the Employer shall join the employee in seeking the employee's excuse from service if such service would cause a financial hardship to the employee. 

 

ARTICLE 13 - OTHER LEAVES OF ABSENCE

A. EMERGENCY LEAVE. Non-probationary employees may take an automatic emergency leave of absence not to exceed two (2) weeks in the event of certified, serious illness or injury of the employee, or serious illness, injury or death in the employee's immediate family without prior notice; provided that the employee makes every reasonable effort to notify the Employer within twenty-four (24) hours of the commencement of said leave. Said two (2) weeks automatic emergency leave of absence shall be a part of the time limits set forth in Paragraph B below. 

B. AUTHORIZED LEAVE. Employees with six (6) months seniority shall be entitled to leaves of absence for the following reasons and up to the following maximum periods:

1. Death in Family. Death in the employee's immediate family or other personal reasons deemed sufficient by the Employer up to a three (3) month period.

2. Illness/Injury. Certified illness, injury, or pregnancy of the employee requiring absence from work up to six (6) months renewable for up to an additional six (6) month period. 

3. Workers' Compensation. In absences covered by Workers' Compensation, the employee's leave of absence shall be continuous until such time as the employee has been released from his period of temporary disability and is available and qualified for work, provided, however, such leave of absence shall not exceed fifteen (15) months. This provision is subject to the requirements of Article 15-I of this Agreement.

C. LEAVES IN WRITING. All leaves of absence shall be in writing and copies shall be given to the Union and the employee. 

D. REINSTATEMENT AFTER A LEAVE. Upon a return from a leave of absence the employee shall be restored to the job and location the employee left. If this is impractical, the employee shall be restored to as comparable a job as possible, or to a store which is as close to the person's home as geographically possible within the travel limitations. Further, said employee, upon written request, shall have the right of first (1st) refusal for any openings in their prior store. In no event shall a probationary employee be a bar to the returning employee. 

E. EMPLOYMENT DURING LEAVE. If an employee works for remuneration during a leave of absence, without receiving written permission from both the Employer and the Union, the employee shall be considered a quit. 

F. TERMINATION AFTER A LEAVE. Any employee on a leave of absence who fails to return to work at the expiration of said leave, may be automatically terminated by the Employer and shall then receive all vacation pay and sick leave pay owed under the contract with written notice of termination sent to the employee and the Union.

 

ARTICLE 14 - TRUST FUNDS

A. BENEFIT FUND. 

1. Benefits. The existing Health and Welfare Trust Fund known as the Southern California Drug Benefit Fund (hereinafter "Benefit Fund") shall be continued as modified herein. The Benefit Fund will continue to provide hospital, medical, surgical, mental health, podiatry, predictive medicine, dental and orthodontic, vision care, hearing aids, artificial limbs, and prescription benefits to eligible employees and retirees and their spouses and dependent children under the age of twenty-four (24), subject to rules established by the Trustees. Further, the Benefit Fund will continue to provide supplementary unemployment, Workers' Compensation, and disability benefits and additional vacation pay to eligible employees, as well as benefits payable upon the death of active employees and their dependents or retirees, subject to rules established by the Trustees.

The alternate plan of benefits, the Gold Plan, will continue to be maintained for certain employees in accordance with the existing eligibility rules. The Union trustees shall design the benefits of the Gold Plan so long as the actuarial value of the resulting plan design is no more than seventy-five percent (75%) of the actuarial value of the Platinum Plan.

The Platinum and Gold Dental Indemnity Plan shall be subject to an annual (January 1 to December 31) deductible of fifty dollars ($50) per eligible employee and each of their dependents to a maximum of one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per family. This deductible shall not apply to diagnostic and preventive care. Effective for claims incurred on or after August 1, 1999, the Fund shall continue to provide that the dental schedule of allowances shall be adjusted annually to approximately seventy-five percent (75%) of the average fees charged in the experience of the Plan for covered dental services based upon the review and recommendations of the Benefit Fund consultant, except that the cost increase of each year's adjustment may not exceed seven and one-half percent (72%) over the prior year's cost.

Existing benefits under the Platinum and Gold Plans are to be maintained, with those benefits with a fixed dollar amount adjusted (to reflect changes in the cost of health benefits since the prior Agreement) once during the term of this Agreement, except for those benefits specifically adjusted in Paragraph 2 below. New benefits are not to be added, except for those benefits specifically added by this Agreement.

2. Benefit Changes. Trustees are instructed to make the following benefit changes:

a. Effective for claims incurred on or after August 1, 1999, under the Platinum and Gold Plans, increase the vision benefit allowance to one hundred dollars ($100.00).

b. Increase the orthodontic benefit under the Platinum and Gold Plans to two thousand two hundred dollars ($2200.00) for procedures begun after July 1999.

c. Reduce the waiting period for dental benefits for Gold participants to eighteen (18) months of eligibility, effective August 1, 1999. Eligible months prior to August will count, but the coverage will not begin until August.

d. Reduce the waiting period for prescription benefits for Gold participants to six (6) months of eligibility, effective August 1, 1999. Eligible months prior to August will count, but the coverage will not begin before August.

e. Add an industry vacation benefit for Gold participants. This benefit would reimburse those employers who pay vacation based upon total industry time, even though the participant may not have worked enough years with that employer to get the full vacation benefit.

f. Increase the lifetime maximum under the Platinum and Gold Indemnity Plans to one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) including the non-PPO benefits.

g. Establish a mental health and substance abuse benefit using a closed network and a gatekeeper under the Platinum and Gold Plans.

3. Cost Containment. In order to further the goals of cost containment, the bargaining parties instruct the Trustees to adopt the following changes to the Benefit Fund:

a. Increase the co-payment in the Platinum Plan by three dollars ($3.00) for brand name prescriptions where generic substitute is available.

b. Amend the Retiree Plan to suspend benefits to retirees who are working within the industry for other than a contributing employer.

c. Subject to acceptance by the Trustees, effective January 1, 2000, benefits from the Benefit Fund will be suspended for retirees working more than forty (40) hours per month [fifty (50) hours in a five (5) week month, sixty (60) hours in a six (6) week month] for a contributing Employer. Implement an enforcement plan that may require retirees to provide Social Security records, IRS records, and other documentation as required by the Trustees to demonstrate retiree status.

d. Under the Platinum and Gold Plans and the Retiree Plan, eliminate the prescription drug reimbursement outside the prescription network, except for emergency and other situations where access to the network is not available; in such cases, the reimbursement for non-network prescriptions claims will be reduced to one hundred percent (100%) of AWP, less the co-payment.

e. The Benefit Fund Trustees are directed to explore all reasonable methods of cost containment to minimize the Employer contribution obligations under the contract.

4. Continuation of Benefits and Eligibility. The benefits in their present structure and to their present extent, as modified by this Agreement shall be continued and shall be limited only by available funds as specified in Paragraphs 6 and 7 below. Nothing herein, however, shall limit the Trustees in determining the priorities to be given to any particular benefit or set of benefits. The Trustees shall have the authority to modify the existing eligibility rules and regulations for active employees and retirees to the extent they determine necessary.

5. Retiree Health and Welfare Eligibility. Platinum Plan participants who retire under one of the recognized pension plans and are not receiving a disability retirement benefit will be eligible for full or partial coverage under the Retiree Plan at the levels specified below:

Age + credited service = 65 - 50% coverage

Age + credited service = 66 - 55% coverage

Age + credited service = 67 - 60% coverage

Age + credited service = 68 - 65% coverage

Age + credited service = 69 - 70% coverage

Age + credited service = 70 - 75% coverage

Age + credited service = 71 - 80% coverage

Age + credited service = 72 - 85% coverage

Age + credited service = 73 - 90% coverage

Age + credited service = 74 - 95% coverage

Age + credited service = 75 - 100% coverage

Level of health and welfare coverage determined by age + service on date of actual retirement.  For retirements before age fifty-five (55), coverage begins at first (1st) of month on or after attainment of age fifty-five (55).

There is no obligation on the Employer to continue to contribute or on the Trust Fund to continue to provide retiree benefits after the expiration of this Agreement unless a successor agreement provides for continuation of such coverage. If the contributions provided in Paragraph 7 below, are not sufficient to continue present benefits, the Trustees shall have complete discretion in modifying benefits for retirees including requiring retirees to pay part of the cost of their benefits.

 

6. Reserves.

a. The Trustees shall maintain a cash reserve as directed in Paragraph 7-a below. 

b. It is further understood and agreed that upon the termination of this Agreement, the Trustees shall cause to be contributed such additional contributions as necessary to establish the equivalent of a three (3) month reserve, including one (1) month in cash, one (1) month in accrual, and one (1) month for which the Employer will contribute an additional amount equal to his last month's contribution under this Agreement. The Trustees may determine the amounts due under this provision either on an all-employer or an individual employer basis, subject to contribution limitations imposed under Paragraph 7 below. 

7. Contributions. 

a. The parties agree to the following contribution rates:

Employers to pay the cost of the Plan, up to a maximum Platinum rate of two dollars and twenty-eight cents ($2.28) per hour for hours worked July 1999 through June 2000. Contributions will be up to two dollars and fifty-seven cents ($2.57) per hour for hours worked July 2000 through June 2001, and up to two dollars and eighty cents ($2.80) per hour for hours worked July 2001 through June 2002. The Gold rate will be seventy-five percent (75%) of the Platinum rate.

The contribution rates for Employers who first participated in the Pension Fund after June 30, 1989 shall be the rates established above plus eighty-two cents (824) per hour. When contributions to the Pension Fund resume, this additional amount shall be reduced by the amount of the Pension contribution.

In determining the appropriate contribution rate under this paragraph, the Trustees shall maintain, as nearly as possible, a ten (10) million dollar ($10,000,000.00) reserve or three (3) months reserve whichever is greater. The trustees shall determine the reserve annually each June.

b. Medicare. In the event Medicare becomes secondary in the application of the retiree benefit plan, the Trustees will take immediate and remedial action to protect the financial integrity of the Plan. 

8. Other Benefit Plans. It is understood that the Employer retains any existing rights which he may have, in his exclusive discretion, to alter, amend, cancel, or terminate any existing employee benefit plan or plans or part thereof that are not provided for in this Agreement.

9. Excluded Employees. Employees excluded from the bargaining unit who work for an Employer signatory to this Agreement may participate in any of the foregoing benefits under rules and regulations established by the Trustees. The trustees shall determine the contributions required for such benefits.

10. National Health and Welfare Coverage. In the event that there is passage of National Health and Welfare legislation, the parties agree to reopen the agreement for negotiations, the sole purpose of which shall be to negotiate language instituting prevention of duplicate costs for both the Employer and the employees involved. 

11. Amendments. The Trustees are directed to amend the Trust Agreement or Benefit Plans to be consistent with the provisions of this Agreement. The Trustees shall have the discretion in acting on claims for benefits under the plan subject to review only in accordance with the arbitrary and capricious standard. 

 

B. PENSION FUND. 

1. Trust Fund and Pension Plan. The Southern California UFCW Unions and Drug Employers Pension Fund (hereinafter "Pension Fund") and the Southern UFCW Unions and Drug Employers Pension Plan (hereinafter APension Plan@