gerbils

For AVA/OTO/PLD and non-picked vacation days...that is true. They will not grant you more than 3 days in a row.

 

The only way to get more than 3 days off in a row is to pick vacation.

 

You can, however, get more than 3 days if you bookend your day off requests around your RDO's, if you have picked RDO's. You can also try this when you are new if the crew office has been giving you steady RDO's, it can't hurt.

So, for example, if my days off are Monday/Tuesday, I can only request Sunday and Wednesday off and NOT Wednesday/Thursday or Saturday/Sunday? Essentially, I can only have 4 days off at most with regards to my days off. That said, I can request 3 days off in a row that's not pertaining to my days off (ie in the same example, I would be able to request Thurs, Fri, Sat off?)

Another question. I've found that the day after my requested day off, IVR doesn't have a job listed for me. I'd have to call the crew office to get my job. This has happened to me 3 times. Is that normal? Or is it related to requesting the 2nd day off in a row after my rdo's (thus attempting to get 4 days off in a row)?

There's a train operator who said that the crew office does not grant more than 3 days off in a row. Is that true? That would certainly suck if true...

Anyone hear this going around. Heard that from the February class on, they're gonna have to take 2 signal exams. One is the original before yard posting, then one after YX. A TSS told me that they are implementing it because too many ppl are hitting signals and splitting switches. Anyone hearing this too?

Seems kind of pointless... Hitting signals or splitting switches means you're ignoring the yellow and the red signals. Having the extra signals test isn't going to improve on that. You'd make it a point of emphasis during schoolcar and road operations. But this is the TA so I guess it shouldn't surprise me...

No, you don't get anything automatically on January 1 unless you have been with Transit for over a year, in which case you get a PLD.

 

Every year on May 1 you get 12 sick days. The sick year runs from May 1 to April 30 of the following year. If you are a new employee (who was not with Transit last May 1), you will continue to accrue 1 sick day per month until May 1, when you will get your 12 for the (next) sick year.

 

When you work RDO's you can bank the overtime as OTO, however, in order to do so, you must bank a minimum of two hours as OTO. You cannot bank less than 2 hours (unless your overtime is less than 2 hours, in which case you must bank the whole thing, or opt for pay). Obviously in the case of an RDO (minimum 8+4 for 12 hours) that does not apply, so you must bank a minimum of 2. But if you'd like, you can bank the whole thing, provided it doesn't put your OTO balance above 72 hours (you cannot carry more than 72 hours in the OTO bank, excess will be paid out to you).

 

If you have access to "The Crew Room" here, there's a thread in there explaining how all of the major leave balances work.

Thank you, SubwayGuy! That was very helpful! Here's another oddball question. I was given a job that has a built in late clear. Can I bank the OT that's built into the job?

Do we get extra sick days in the new year? My balance is bit higher than I thought... Also, when we work RDO's, can we bank any of it as OTO?

A couple of questions. The earliest you can request a day off is 20 days in advance? So if I wanted to request a particular Saturday off, the earliest I would call is on a Saturday night at midnight? With regards to certain jobs that finish at less than 8 hours at a different location than you reported at, those particular jobs generally have the deadhead built in?  How does one know how much they're getting paid?

Again, what is this Concourse Yard working the business? I thought if you signed in on the manual and they put down what job you are working for example C-203 then you get paid what that job does, what you are writing is since he signed out at 168 he gets deadhead to 207Y which is 28 minutes, So he's only getting paid 8 hours for posting not what C-203 or whatever job he posted pays.

Oops, I made a mistake. I meant I reported at 207 yard (I was going to Concourse the following day so that was in my brain while I was typing that...)

Sign on at CCY:

 

-Pass, Name, Comment: Student Posting C-### then T/O C, Report 0500 CCY, Relief 1300 CCY, SQ in Remarks - Sign in but not out

 

Sign out at 168:

 

-Pass, Name, Comment: Student Posting C-### then T/O C, Report 0500 CCY, Relief 1300 CCY, SQ in Remarks - Sign out but not in.

 

Fill out an overtime slip (at 168) for late clear 1300 to 1308, and deadhead for the travel time from 168 back to CCY from 1308 to whatever time. Comments: Student posting on C line. Reported to CCY at 0500 hours as per posting papers and posted on job ### which clears at 168 at 1308 hours. Added deadhead back to CCY.

 

This is the correct way to do it.

 

You may still get paid if the Dispatchers who signed you on and off wrote the correct times and locations into the manual sheet on the payroll. However, this is not the best way to do it (even though many TD's and ATD's do it).

 

When you post, your report time is ALWAYS the time on the posting papers, and your clearing time is 8 hours later at the same location. ANY overtime and you need a slip. You also need to make sure you indicate you are a student on the overtime slip, lest they confuse you with your trainer, in which case they won't pay you since they're already paying him.

 

Deadhead is never "built into the job" for students. Remember that. It's built in for your trainer but not you. It's important that you communicate this extremely clearly to any dispatcher, that you are a student, to make sure you get paid.

Ah, okay. That makes sense. The dispatcher at 168 screwed me out of the deadhead time then... 

OK I'm going to keep this as simple as possible in that somewhat complicated scenario. Assume for the example you are posting on the #6 line and reporting to Pelham Bay (PEL), and are posted with a trainer who has a job with a layup who clears in Westchester Yard (WES).

 

AT LOCATION #1 (Original Report)

-0600 report for work at PEL.

 

Dispatcher at Location 1 puts you on the manual from 0600 at PEL to 1400 at PEL. No one is available or willing to take you as a student yet, so you are told to sit down in the crew room and wait for someone. You SIGN IN ONLY, and leave the "out" blank.

 

-0800 someone agrees to take you as a student.

 

Dispatcher at Location 1 calls you back and you meet your trainer who has a job (let's call the job 218) from 0800 at PEL to 1600, but clears at WES. You don't fill out any overtime slips yet. You meet your trainer, give him/her your name and pass # for his/her overtime slip, and that's it. In the comments on the manual where you signed in, the Dispatcher or you will write something along the lines of "Student Posting 6-218."

 

That's it for location #1.

 

Now....

 

AT LOCATION 2 (CLEARING LOCATION):

 

You've posted on the entire job and it's time to go home. The Dispatcher at Westchester Yard will not have you on the manual since it's a different location. You will need to be added to the manual. You will probably have to show the Dispatcher your posting paper.

 

The manual should match the manual at the original location (Pelham Bay) exactly. Your reporting location should read PEL 06:00 and your clearing time and location should read PEL 14:00. And your comments should read "Student Posting 6-218", and "SQ" in the remarks, EXACTLY like Pelham Bay.

 

You will NOT be signing in again. Place a bunch of X's (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) on the IN line of the manual at Westchester Yard and sign OUT only.

 

Now you will be filling out your overtime slip - at the end of the day. Here is what it should have on it:

 

Regular assignment: Student posting 6-218 Report: 0600 Relief: 1400 Date: The actual date Actual OT Date: The date the overtime on the slip counts for.

 

A quick word on date/actual OT date - this only comes into play usually when working midnights or a PM job that clears after midnight. If you're filling out a slip for a PM job on 8/25 after you clear at 1am on 8/26, the "actual OT date" will be 8/25, while the "date" will be 8/26. Just make sure you fill out the dates correctly.

 

THEN....

 

First Code = 40 (Late Clear)

Line/Location = Line you posted / location you are filling the slip out at. Sticking to the example, Say it's the 6 line. You reported to Pelham (PEL) at 0600 and picked up a job that clears at Westchester Yard (WES). Line/Location = 6/WES.

Run No. = 6-### (job number you posted on) and add the word POST after if posting. So if it's 218 job, 6-218 POST. You NEED to do this so your slip does not get mixed up with your trainer's should a situation arise where both of you are filling out a slip for the same thing, so it's good practice to always do it when posting. Any discrepancy, they will only pay one of you and since your trainer's name is on the job you might end up "S.O.L."...

Second Code = 49 (Deadhead)

Line/Location = 6 / WES -> PEL

Run No. = Still 6/218 POST.

Comments: = "Student posting on #6 line. Reported to PEL at 0600 as per posting papers and posted on job 218 which begins at 0800. Posted entirety of 6-218 which clears at 1600 in WES. Added deadhead allowance back to PEL."

 

And that's it.

I had a weird one today. I had to report at 0500 at Concourse Yard to post on the Charlie. I got paired with a guy who started at 440 and finished at 1308 at 168 St. How does that go on the sheets? CCY had me signed on at 0500 on the sign in. At the end of the day around 1250ish, I went to sign out at 168 St. Was I suppose to get deadhead? The dispatcher said that I didn't get deadhead time because it was built into the job. I didn't understand that. He said I was just entitled to the 8 minute late clear since the original job ended at 1308. Can you clarify this for me?

Quick question for you guys. I noticed while looking at my paystub that there are entries for taxable health benefits. Is that normal?