(A) Unused sick leave accumulated. Each full-time village employee shall be entitled, for each completed month of service, to sick leave of ten hours with pay. Employees may use sick leave for absence due to a short-term or long-term illness, injury, exposure to contagious disease which could be communicated to other employees, and illness or death in the employee's immediate family. All sick leave must be approved by the administrative officer in charge of the department in which the employee serves. Department heads may develop policies to curb and discipline sick leave abuse.
(B) Maximum of accumulated hours. Unused sick leave may be accumulated up to a maximum of 1,600 hours.
(C) Compensation for unused sick leave. The village will compensate employees for unused sick leave under the terms and conditions set forth herein.
(1) Existing employees of the village as of June 1, 2013 are entitled to payment of unused sick leave upon a qualifying separation from employment with the village. Payment will be made on a two-for-one basis, with every two hours of unused sick leave (up to a maximum of 1,440 hours) qualifying for one hour of paid sick leave (up to a maximum of 720 hours, equivalent to 90 eight-hour days). The amount of the payment is subject to an amortization schedule as follows, depending on the employee's term of service with the village:
After ten years of service 50%
After 11 years of service 55%
After 12 years of service 60%
After 13 years of service 65%
After 14 years of service 70%
After 15 years of service 75%
After 16 years of service 80%
After 17 years of service 85%
After 18 years of service 90%
After 19 years of service 95%
After 20 years of service 100%
(2) All employees commencing employment with the village on or after June 1, 2013 are entitled to payment of 25% of their unused sick leave upon a qualifying separation from employment with the village, provided that the total value of unused sick leave that is paid shall not exceed 240 hours (equivalent to 30 eight-hour days). This section applies to any person that previously worked for the village and is rehired on or after June 1, 2013.
(3) Payment for unused sick leave shall be at the employee's rate of pay at the time of a qualifying separation of employment from the village.
(4) Qualifying separation of employment. For the purposes of this section, a qualifying separation of employment from the village means: (1) the employee has at least ten years of service with the village immediately prior to separation; and (2) the employee retires from the village. The retirement condition includes death, an involuntary separation without cause, or a disability or service retirement under any state retirement system in this state, as defined in R.C. § 124.39.
(5) The village shall make payment of unused sick leave with the employee's last paycheck, or no later than 30 days after the employee's last date of employment with the village.
(6) If an employee does not choose to receive payment for unused sick leave, the employee may retain those hours and transfer them to any future employer which accepts the hours.
(7) Payment will be made in a single lump sum. Except as otherwise provided herein, payment will not be made for a portion of unused sick leave. A payment for unused sick leave constitutes a full payment of all sick leave at the time of separation.
(D) Proof of illness. The employee requesting sick leave shall furnish a satisfactory affidavit or doctor's statement that his or her absence was caused by illness or any other cause mentioned above.
(E) Upon the death of a village employee who has less than ten years of service with the village, said employee's estate shall receive a lump sum payment equivalent to eight hours of pay for each 32 hours of accumulated, unused sick leave.
(F) Each full-time employee of the village shall be entitled up to 16 personal hours off each calendar year. Such personal hours must be used by the end of the calendar year and do not accumulate or roll over to future years.
(G) Transfer of sick leave credits.
(1) Within 30 days of initial employment, and upon presentation of appropriate written documentation, a full-time employee shall be given credit for up to 1,600 hours of unused sick leave accumulated while in the employment of another Ohio municipality, township, school district, county or the state of Ohio, including prior employment with the village, for which the employee has not been compensated. The deadline can be extended by the Village Manager for good cause.
(2) The transfer of sick leave credits to the village is allowed only if the employee has been employed with an Ohio public agency within the previous ten years, and if the credits have not previously been converted to a cash benefit or other compensation.
(H) All sick leave credits will be accumulated, used, and otherwise administered by the number of hours. If sick leave maintained by, or transferred to, the village is stated as a number of days, those days will be converted to hours at an eight-hour per day basis as long as the conversion does not cause the employee to lose any sick leave previously earned.
(I) Payment of unused sick leave as provided herein is a benefit of employment granted voluntarily by the village. Such benefit is not one that vests except upon retirement and the satisfaction of any other conditions specified herein. Such benefit may be increased, reduced, eliminated, or otherwise amended in the future at the discretion of Council for any reason.
(J) Donation of sick leave.
(1) Purpose. To support employees that are forced to endure a catastrophic illness or injury, employees are permitted to donate sick leave to other employees in order to supplement their paid sick leave while absent from work.
(2) Definitions.
DONEE. The person receiving a donation of leave.
DONOR. The person donating leave to another employee.
(3) Each donation of sick leave must be for a minimum of eight hours. An employee may donate up to a maximum of 80 hours of sick leave to another employee each time there is a need and it is approved by the Manager and Fiscal Officer. Donors must retain a sick leave balance of at least 400 hours after a donation. No donated leave will be returned to the donor, whether or not the leave is used by the donee. All requests to donate sick leave must be in writing by the donor to the Village Fiscal Officer. Donation requests must be approved by the Fiscal Officer, the donor's and donee's respective department heads, and the Village Manager, before the leave can be donated.
(4) A separate sick leave bank will be established for each donee in need. Donated time may be used by a donee only after he or she has exhausted his or her paid leave, including but not limited to all sick leave, vacation leave, comp time, etc. Each donee's sick leave bank may not exceed a total accumulation of more than 240 hours at any time. All unused leave in the donee's sick leave bank will expire 90 days after the donee returns to work. Donated sick leave may be used by the donee as his or her regular sick leave is used, except that time in the sick leave bank cannot be used by the donee to receive payment upon retirement.
(5) Donors and donees must be in good standing with his or her department in order to participate in the donation program.
(6) The Village Manager has the authority to determine whether a potential donee's illness or injury warrants participation in the donation program. The Manager may require whatever proof of illness or injury from the potential donee or his or her medical providers deemed necessary to enable the determination.
('69 Code, § 32.02) (Am. Ord. C-449, passed 11-14-77; Am. Ord. C-772, passed 4-11-94; Am. Ord. 2000-8, passed 5-8-00; Am. Ord. 2001-21, passed 11-12-01; Am. Ord. 2003-16, passed 11-10-03; Am. Ord. 2006-11, passed 6-12-06; Am. Ord. 2013-04, passed 4-8-13; Am. Ord. 2018-8, passed 3-12-18; Am. Ord. 2022-5, passed 1-9-23)