(a) Purpose. In accordance with the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the City will provide eligible employees with unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons, with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.
(b) Definitions as used herein:
(1) “Eligible Employee” small mean a full-time or part-time employee of the City who has completed one full year of service consisting of at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months preceding the request for leave. An “Eligible Employee” does not include workers who contract to provide services to the City are not employees of the City.
(2) “FMLA leave” shall mean the leave provided for by this policy and pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq. and implementing regulations (29 CFR Part 825), as amended from time to time.
(3) “Health Care Provider” shall mean a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, dentistry, psychology, optometry, or chiropractic medicine (limited to treatment consisting of manual manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation as demonstrated by X-ray to exist); or a nurse practitioner, nursemidwife, clinical social worker and physician assistant who is licensed and authorized to practice in his/her/their medical or professional field and who is performing such practice within the scope of their practice as defined by the State in which such provider practices.
(4) “Incapacity” shall mean an inability to work or perform other regular daily activities due to the serious health condition, treatment therefore, or recovery therefrom.
(5) “Inpatient Care” shall mean an overnight stay in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, including any period of incapacity as defined in § 825.113(b), or any subsequent treatment in connection with such inpatient care.
(6) “Serious Health Condition” shall mean an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility or continuing treatment by a licensed health care provider. Conditions for which cosmetic treatments are administered (such as most treatments for acne or plastic surgery) are not serious health conditions unless inpatient care is required or unless complications develop. Restorative dental or plastic surgery after an injury or removal of cancerous growths are serious health conditions provided all the other conditions of this section are met. Mental illness or allergies may be serious health conditions, but only if all the conditions of this section are otherwise met.
(7) “Serious Injury or Illness” shall mean an injury or illness sustained or incurred while on active duty by the eligible employee’s spouse, daughter, son, or parent who is a “covered service member” in the U.S. Armed Forces as defined in 29 USW § 2611(18).
(8) “Treatment” shall mean, (but is not limited to) examinations to determine if a serious health condition exists and includes related evaluations and therapies requiring special equipment or course of prescription medication, but does not include routine physical examinations, eye examinations, dental examinations, over-the-counter medications, bed-rest (other than as prescribed for a serious health condition), drinking fluids, exercise, and other similar activities that can be initiated without a visit to a health care provider.
(c) Family/Medical Leave. All eligible employees shall be entitled to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave during a rolling twelve-month period for:
(1) The birth or pending birth of the eligible employee’s child and to care for the newborn child birth.
(2) The placement with the eligible employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year after the adoption or placement.
(3) To care for the eligible employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition.
(4) The eligible employee’s own serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of the employee’s job.
(5) A qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the spouse, son, daughter, or parent of the eligible employee is on “covered active-duty” or been notified of an impending call or order to “covered active duty” as set forth in 29 USW § 2612(a)(1)(E) and 29 CFR § 825.126.
(d) Military Caregiver Leave. An eligible employee shall be entitled to take up to 26 weeks of leave during a rolling 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of the covered service member and as set forth in 29 CFR § 825.127.
(e) Type of Leave.
(1) Continuous. Leave taken because of a birth of the eligible employee’s child or placement of a child for adoption or foster care with the eligible employee must be taken in one continuous period of time and entitlement to such leave expiring at the end of the twelve-month period beginning on the date of such birth or placement.
(2) Intermittent. Leave taken when needed to care for a sick family member or for the eligible employee’s own serious health condition may be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule only when that type of leave is medically necessary. To accommodate the FMLA leave request, the City may require the eligible employee to transfer temporarily to an available alternative position for which the employee is qualified and which better accommodates the employee’s requested leave. The alternative position will have equivalent pay and benefits, although it may not have equivalent duties.
(3) Combined Leave. Any eligible employee taking FMLA leave for a combination of family/medical leave and military caregiver leave is entitled only to a total of 26 weeks of leave during a single 12-month period.
(f) Pay and Benefits During FMLA Leave.
(1) Leave taken under this policy is unpaid. However, the City may, and in most cases will, require that unused vacation or sick time be substituted for unpaid leave as part of the twelve weeks of leave permitted under this policy. All qualifying events will be recorded under FMLA; therefore, employees are required to designate the reason for sick time when utilizing it. During FMLA leave, the employee will be able to continue participation in the benefits program, including medical, dental and prescription benefits. If the employee is enrolled in family coverage, the employee must make arrangements with payroll to continue paying the employee’s portion of the health care cost.
(2) If the employee fails to return to work after the employee’s leave entitlement has been exhausted or expires, the City may recover its share of benefit plan premiums paid during the period of FMLA leave unless the reason the employee does not return is due to:
A. The continuation, recurrence, or onset of either a serious health condition of the employee or the employee’s family member, or a serious injury or illness of a covered service member, which would otherwise entitle the employee to FMLA leave as substantiated by a medical certification; or
B. Other circumstances beyond the employee’s control and at the City’s discretion. For purposes of this section, an employee who returns to work for at least thirty calendar days, transfers directly from taking FMLA leave to retirement, or retires during the first thirty days after the employee returns to work is considered to have returned to work.
(g) Notice, Reporting and Medical Certification.
(1) Absent circumstances beyond the employee’s control, the employee must provide the City at least thirty days advance notice before FMLA leave is to begin and whenever possible, must consult with the employee’s department head to schedule the treatment so as to minimize disruption to the City’s operations.
(2) If thirty days advance notice cannot be given due to circumstances beyond the employee’s control, for example, an unexpected change in circumstances or a medical emergency, the employee must give notice “as soon as practicable”. (“As soon as practicable” generally means at least verbal notice to the employer within one or two business days of learning of the need to take FMLA leave.)
(3) Notice of a request for FMLA leave must be submitted in writing and include the following information:
A. The reason (s) for the requested leave.
B. The anticipated duration of the leave.
C. The anticipated start of the leave.
(4) If the employee requests leave due to a serious health condition (of employee or family member), the request must comply with the following:
A. Initial request. Within 15 calendar days after the request for FMLA leave, employee must provide to the employee’s department head a complete and sufficient medical certification that contains, at a minimum, the following information:
1. Contact information for the health care provider providing treatment for the person who has the serious health condition;
2. The date the serious health condition began and how long it is expected to last;
3. Appropriate medical facts about the serious health condition;
4. If the request pertains to the employee’s own serious health condition, information showing that the employee cannot perform the essential functions of the job or, if leave is to care for a family member, a statement of the care needed; and
5. If intermittent leave is requested, information showing the medical necessity for intermittent or reduced schedule leave and either the dates of any planned leave or the estimated frequency and duration of expected incapacity due to the condition.
Any failure to provide all of the requested information or the certification within fifteen calendar days may result in a denial of the request for leave.
B. Recertification. If the employee’s need for FMLA leave lasts beyond a single twelve-month period, the employer may require the employee to provide a new medical certification in each new FMLA leave year. Recertification may also be requested every thirty days if the employee remains absent during that time, or within thirty days if any of the following occur:
1. The employee requests an extension of leave;
2. The circumstances described in the previous certification have significantly changed; or
3. The employee’s department head receives credible information that casts doubt upon the employee’s stated reason for leave or the continuing validity of the existing medical certification. A medical certification form will be provided to the employee, if required.
(5) If the employee requests leave because of a qualifying exigency, the employee must provide a copy of the military member’s active-duty orders or other documentation issued by the military which indicates that the military member is on covered active duty or call to covered active-duty status, and the dates of the military member’s covered active-thy service and supported by the information set forth in 29 CFR § 825.309.
(6) If the employee requests leave due to a serious injury or illness, a certification supplying information from a health care provider as set forth in 29 CFR § 825.310.
(7) While the employee is on FMLA leave, the employee must make periodic reports to the employee’s department head or other designated City representative(s) concerning the employee’s status and the employee’s intent to return to work.
(h) Return to Work.
(1) Except as otherwise set forth in the rules of the Civil Service Commission or a collective bargaining agreement, if the employee’s leave is taken as a result of the employee’s own serious health condition, the employee must present certification from his/her/their health care provider that the employee is able to resume work before the employee will be permitted to do so.
(2) When the employee’s FMLA leave ends, the employee is entitled to return to the same position the employee held when the leave began, or to an equivalent position with equal benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment.
(3) Circumstances under which the employee may not be reinstated to employment may include but are not limited to the following:
A. If the employee would otherwise not have been employed at the time for reinstatement (e.g., if there has been a layoff which would have affected the employee if the employee had been working), the employee is not entitled to be.
B. If employee is a qualified “key employee” and such action is necessary to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury to the City’s operations. If the City determines that the employee is such a “key employee”, the employee will be so notified, either when the employee applies for the FMLA leave, or as soon thereafter as the City has made its good faith determination based on the circumstances of the particular case.
C. If the employee fraudulently obtained FMLA leave.
D. If the employee is unable to perform an essential function of the position because of a physical or mental condition, including the continuation of a serious health condition or an injury or illness covered by workers’ compensation.
(i) Further Information. Any questions regarding this policy should be directed to the Director of Human Resources for the City.
(Ord. 22-108. Passed 7-11-22.)