On Friday, November 15, 2019, the union and the agency signed an MOU granting regular days off in conjunction with annual leave (also known as wraparound days off) for those who use more than 40 hours of leave, including days of holiday off, upon request from the agent.
This means that if you have a 40-hour block of annual leave, you need to request your wraparound days off in BPETS — otherwise, there’s no guarantee that your supervisors will do the same thing they’ve been doing for decades — give you wraparound days off.
When the new CBA was signed, Border Patrol Headquarters decided that they were not going to allow wraparound days off anymore, despite there being no prohibition in the CBA nor any intent between the bargaining teams to end the practice of allowing wraparound days off.
Thankfully, the union and agency agreed to reinstate this long-established practice in time for the holidays. Del Rio Sector Headquarters notified its Patrol Agents in Charge on Saturday, November 16, 2019, so all stations should be aware of the fix.
If you are scheduled for a 40-hour period of annual leave (even if one of those days is a holiday off) and you do not get your wraparound days off, get with your supervisor and your local union rep to figure out what happened.