William O. Douglas

“ He seeks vacation pay for the work year following March 12, 1958, and for the Memorial Day and Independence Day holidays in 1962, which followed his re-employment.
Under Magma's collective bargaining agreement with petitioners' union, paid vacations are provided at the end of a work year if the employee works 75% of the shifts available to him in that year and is employed with Magma on the one-year anniversary date. Employees who get paid holidays must have worked the shift before and the shift after the holiday and have been on Magma's payroll continuously for three months before the holiday. ”

“ But if 'status' were meant to include eligibility for fringe benefits, Congress would not have left unchanged the explicit provision that 'other benefits' are to be dispensed as if the returning serviceman had been on leave of absence. ”

“ But this case does not concern 'seniority.' No employee of Magma, it appears, regardless of how long he has been with the firm, gets paid vacation if he is not on the payroll on his work-year anniversary date. No employee gets a paid holiday unless he has been with Magma for the three preceding months. The length of vacation and the amount of vacation and holiday pay Magma gives do turn on seniority. ”