This Division of the Adjustment Board has jurisdiction over the dispute involved herein.
Claimants R L Deter, III and G. K. Sheetz were on furlough on December 27, 2001 when they were asked if they would volunteer to go to Buffalo, New York, to assist with snow removal. They left Cumberland, Maryland, at 3:00 P.M. that day and arrived in Buffalo at 3:30 A.M. the next morning. They worked, with appropriate rest intervals, through December 31, when they drove back to Cumberland. The two Claimants acknowledged that neither the Roadmaster who called them or the Front Office personnel said anything about how they would be compensated. Later they were told only that they would be paid at the A-Operator rate.
As a result of this stint of work, they put in the following claim: 46 hours at straight time, which includes rest periods; 61.5 hours of time and one-half, which includes travel time; 5.5 hours of double time, eight hours of double time and one-half; and allowance for seven meals. In later correspondence, they noted that they had been paid for 24 hours at straight time, 20 hours at time and one-half, and one hour at double time plus $138.00 in expense reimbursement. In denying their claim, Chief Regional Engineer D. J. Evers stated that they were entitled to reimbursement for the roundtrip from Cumberland to Buffalo, but were not entitled to holiday pay because neither had worked 11 days in the preceding 30, nor the day before and the day after the holidays.
Rule 16(b) states: "The time of employees so notified to report at a designated time to perform service outside of and not continuous with the regularly assigned working hours shall begin at the time required to report and end when released at headquarters. The time of employees so called to perform such service immediately shall begin at the time called and end when they are released at their headquarters."
The parties made many assertions in this case without providing evidence to assist the Board in determining where the proper analysis lies. Based on the evidence before us, we conclude that the Claimants are entitled to reimbursement for the actual mileage for the roundtrip between Cumberland, Maryland, and Buffalo, New York, (980 miles at 34¢ per mile). The record indicates that some but not all of this amount has already been paid. Form 1 Award No. 39686
We also conclude that Rule 16 (b) does not apply in this instance. The plain language of that provision indicates that it applies to active employees who are assigned work outside of their regular hours. The Claimants here were on furlough at the time of this work and, therefore, had no regular hours. Nothing in the record indicates their status in the previous November when apparently they were paid travel time when they reported for snow removal at some distant location.
Although the Carrier did not provide the Claimants' employment records during handling on the property, the Claimants acknowledged that they did not work the 11 days needed in the prior 30 days in order to qualify for holiday pay; they were seeking to be credited with safety days in order to bring themselves to the required 11 compensated days. Nothing in the record reveals under what circumstances employees, active or on furlough, may claim safety days. Absent such evidence, we can find no basis for ascertaining that the Carrier's denial of such a request constituted an Agreement violation. Without the added safety days, there is no question that the Claimants did not have enough work days to qualify for holiday pay.
This Board, after consideration of the dispute identified above, hereby orders that an award favorable to the Claimant(s) be made. The Carrier is ordered to make the Award effective on or before 30 days following the postmark date the Award is transmitted to the parties.