Reminder on Leaves of Absence

[robert_weir@us.ibm.com]

We're getting to vacation season again, and I'd like to remind TC members 
that OASIS has a "leave of absence" policy by which you can preserve your 
voting member status in the TC while absent from meetings.  As you know, 
you ordinarily lose voting rights after two consecutive meeting absences. 
Requesting a leave of absence "freezes" your voting rights until you 
return. 

The official policy is here:

http://www.oasis-open.org/policies-guidelines/tc-process#leavesAbsence


I'll mention quickly some points that are often missed or confused:

1) You need to request a leave of absence by sending a note to the TC 
list.  Sending a note to just one of the chairs is insufficient.

2) You must give 7-days notice before your leave begins.  If you request a 
leave that starts sooner than that, it will not be effective until 7-days 
after your request.

3) Maximum duration for a leave is 45-days.  You are entitled to one leave 
per year, though additional leaves may be granted by vote of the TC.

4) If you participate in more than one TC (like the OIC TC or ODF Adoption 
TC) you need to request a leave separately from each TC.



My practice, as co-chair, has been to record each leave, as requested, on 
the wiki here:

http://wiki.oasis-open.org/office/Leaves_of_Absence

I've no doubt missed some from last year, but I'll try to keep that page 
current in the future.

Regards,

-Rob