(A) (1) Each non-bargaining full-time employee and each non-bargaining, non-seasonal, non-temporary part-time city employee, whose salaries or wages are provided for in § 33.01 of this chapter, shall be entitled, for each completed 80 regular straight-time hours of service, to sick leave of 4.6 hours. There is no accrual of sick leave for hours worked in excess of 80 hours in a pay period. This accrual rate shall be pro-rated for portions of full 80 hour bi-weekly pay periods. An employee may use accumulated, but unused, sick leave, upon proper approval of the appropriate department head or his or her designee, for absence due to personal illness, injury, pregnancy, exposure to contagious diseases which could be communicated to other employees, for any leave designated as family and medical leave, and to illness, injury, or death in the employee’s immediate family. The minimum time of request and approval shall be one-tenth of an hour. IMMEDIATE FAMILY
as used herein is limited to husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandparents, great grandparents, grandchildren, mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and persons acting, or who have acted in loco parentis to the employee. The authority to use sick leave due to death in the employee’s immediate family is in addition to the funeral/bereavement leave provided for in § 33.25 of this chapter.
(2) Department heads shall require an employee to furnish a satisfactory written, signed statement to justify the use of sick leave. The statements, after being approved by the department head, shall be maintained by the city for at least one year. If medical attention is required, a certificate from a licensed physician, stating the nature of the illness and the employee’s ability to return to work, shall be required before the employee may return to work. A physician’s statement may also be required, at the discretion of the Human Resources Director, for a period of one day or less in the following cases: (a) for probationary employees; (b) repeated one or two-day absences; and (c) multiple absences on a single day. Falsification of either a written, signed statement, or a physician’s certification shall be grounds for disciplinary action, including dismissal.
(3) Unused sick leave shall be cumulative without limit. Sick leave earned over and above 960 hours shall not be retroactively accumulated or granted, but must be earned after October 6, 1975. The previously accumulated but unused sick leave of an employee who has been separated from public employment in this state shall be placed in the employee’s credit upon employment with the city, if the reemployment takes place within ten years of service. An employee who transfers from a public agency in this state to employment with the city shall be credited with the unused balance of the employee’s accumulated but unused sick leave in accordance with requirements established in the Ohio Revised Code.
(4) At the time of retirement from employment with the city, an employee who was hired prior to September 1, 2014 shall be paid for 25% of the employee’s accumulated but unused sick leave. RETIREMENT
shall mean that an employee is eligible at the time that employment is terminated to obtain a service or disability retirement in accordance with the requirements of the state retirement system into which that employee contributes. Payment for sick leave on this basis shall be considered to eliminate all sick leave credit accrued by the employee at that time. The payment shall be based on the employee’s rate of pay at the time of retirement and shall be made only once to any employee in accordance with the schedule set forth in division (A)(12) below of this section.
(5) At the time of retirement from employment with the city, an employee who was hired by the city on or after September 1, 2014, shall be paid for 25% of the employee’s accumulated but unused sick leave, but such payment shall not exceed 25% of 960 hours of unused sick leave. RETIREMENT
shall mean that an employee is eligible at the time that employment is terminated to obtain a service or disability retirement in accordance with the requirements of the state retirement system into which that employee contributes. Payment for sick leave on this basis shall be considered to eliminate all sick leave credit accrued by the employee at that time. The payment shall be based on the employee’s rate of pay at the time of retirement and shall be made only once to any employee in accordance with the schedule set forth in division (A)(12) below of this section.
(6) At the time of retirement from employment with the city, a Fire Chief or Fire Deputy Chief, who was hired by the city prior to September 1, 2014, shall be paid for 25% of the employee’s accumulated but unused sick leave. RETIREMENT shall mean that an employee is eligible at the time that employment is terminated to obtain a service or disability retirement in accordance with the requirements of the state retirement system into which that employee contributes. Payment for sick leave on this basis shall be considered to eliminate all sick leave credit accrued by the employee at that time. The payment shall be based as follows. The payout shall be based on the employee’s
current hourly rate at the time of retirement as Chief, Deputy Chief or Assistant Chief. This payment shall be made only once to any employee in accordance with the schedule set forth in division (A)(12) below of this section.
(7) At the time of retirement from employment with the city, a Fire Chief or Fire Deputy Chief who was hired by the city on or after September 1, 2014, shall be paid for 25% of the employee’s accumulated but unused sick leave, but such payment shall not exceed 25% of 960 hours of unused sick leave. RETIREMENT shall mean that an employee is eligible at the time that employment is terminated to obtain a service or disability retirement in accordance with the requirements of the state retirement system into which that employee contributes. Payment for sick leave on this basis shall be considered to eliminate all sick leave credit accrued by the employee at that time. The payout shall be based on the employee’s current hourly rate at the time of retirement as Chief, Deputy Chief, or Assistant Chief. This payment shall be made only once to any employee in accordance with the schedule set forth in division (A)(12) below of this section.
(8) This section shall be administered uniformly to eligible non-bargaining employees covered under this section. No sick leave may be granted to any employee upon or after the employee’s retirement or termination of employment.
(9) Each non-bargaining employee, who is eligible to accrue sick leave and who is killed in the line of duty, shall have 50% of his or her accumulated but unused sick leave paid to his or her designated survivor(s) or to his or her estate.
(10) A non-bargaining employee of the city, who is eligible to accrue sick leave and who dies while still employed by the city, shall have 25% of his or her accumulated but unused sick leave paid to his or her designated survivor(s) or to his or her estate. This does not apply to those employees who are killed in the line of duty.
(11) The city may require any employee using sick leave to submit to a physical examination, pertaining to the injury or illness by a doctor of the city’s choosing at the city’s expense when the city needs to clarify an employee’s leave and/or return to work status. In the event that the employee’s physician and the doctor chosen by the city are unable to agree that the employee is capable of performing the essential functions of his or her job classification, the two doctors shall select a third doctor to examine the employee. The decision of the third doctor concerning the capability of the employee to perform the essential functions of the job shall be binding on the city and the employee.
(12) The sick leave payout at retirement or upon death of an active employee may be paid out in installments, at the city’s option, as outlined below:
(a) If the employee is entitled to receive payment for 240 hours or less, it shall be paid within 30 days following verification of any of the above occurrences.
(b) If the employee is entitled to receive payment for 241 to 750 hours, the payment may be made in two equal annual installments.
(c) If the employee is entitled to receive payment for more than 750 hours, the payment may be made in three equal annual installments.
(B) Sick leave, Fire Division.
(1) Each full-time employee of the Fire Division whose average biweekly hours are 104 hours shall accumulate sick leave at the rate of 5.98 hours for every 104 hours of service. This accrual rate shall be pro-rated for portions of full 104 hour bi-weekly pay periods. Employees of the Fire Division whose average biweekly hours are 80 hours of service shall accumulate sick leave at the rate of 4.6 hours for every 80 hours of service not to exceed 15 normal work days per calendar year. This accrual rate shall be pro-rated for portions of full 80 hour bi-weekly pay periods. An employee may use accumulated, but unused, sick leave, upon proper approval of the Fire Chief or his or her designee for absence due to personal illness, injury, pregnancy, exposure to contagious diseases which could be communicated to other employees, and to illness, injury, or death in the employee’s immediate family. The minimum time of request and approval shall be one-tenth of an hour. IMMEDIATE FAMILY
as used herein is limited to husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandparents, great grandparents, grandchildren, mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and persons acting, or who have acted in loco parentis to the employee. The authority to use sick leave due to death in the employee’s immediate family is in addition to the funeral/bereavement leave provided for in § 33.25 of this chapter.
(2) The Fire Chief shall require an employee of the Fire Division to furnish a satisfactory written, signed statement to justify the use of sick leave. These statements, after being approved by the Fire Chief or his or her designee, shall be maintained in the Human Resources Department for at least one year. If medical attention is required, a certificate from a licensed physician, stating the nature of the illness and the employee’s ability to return to work, shall be required before the employee may return to work. A physician’s statement may also be required, at the discretion of the Human Resources Director, for a period of one day or less in the following cases: (a) for probationary employees; (b) repeated one or two-day absences; and (c) multiple absences on a single day. Falsification of either a written, signed statement, or a physician’s certification shall be grounds for disciplinary action, including dismissal.
(3) Unused sick leave shall be cumulative without limit. Sick leave earned over and above 960 hours shall not be retroactively accumulated or granted, but must be earned after October 6, 1975. The previously accumulated but unused sick leave of an employee who has been separated from public employment in this state shall be placed in the employee’s credit upon employment with the city, if the reemployment takes place within ten years of service. An employee who transfers from a public agency in this state to employment with the city shall be credited with the unused balance of the employee’s accumulated but unused sick leave.
(4) [Reserved]
(5) [Reserved]
(6) This section shall be administered uniformly to eligible non-bargaining employees covered under this section. No sick leave may be granted to any employee upon or after the employee’s retirement or termination of employment.
(7) A non-bargaining employee of the Fire Division, who is eligible to accrue sick leave and who is killed in the line of duty, shall have 50% of his or her accumulated but unused sick leave paid to his or her designated survivor(s) or to his or her estate.
(8) A non-bargaining employee of the Fire Division, who is eligible to accrue sick leave and who dies while still employed by the city, shall have 25% of his or her accumulated but unused sick leave paid to his or her designated survivor(s) or to his or her estate. This does not apply to those employees who are killed in the line of duty.
(9) The city may require any employee using sick leave to submit to a physical examination, pertaining to the injury or illness by a doctor of the city’s choosing at the city’s expense when the city needs to clarify an employee’s leave and/or return to work status. In the event that the employee’s physician and the doctor chosen by the city are unable to agree that the employee is capable of performing the essential functions of his or her job classification, the two doctors shall select a third doctor to examine the employee. The decision of the third doctor concerning the capability of the employee to perform the essential functions of the job shall be binding on the city and the employee.
(10) The sick leave payout at retirement or upon death of an active employee may be paid out in installments, at the city’s option, as outlined below:
(a) If the employee is entitled to receive payment for 240 hours or less, it shall be paid within 30 days following verification of any of the above occurrences.
(b) If the employee is entitled to receive payment for 241 to 750 hours, the payment may be made in two equal annual installments.
(c) If the employee is entitled to receive payment for more than 750 hours, the payment may be made in three equal annual installments.
(1980 Code, § 33.22) (Ord. 3364, passed 10-6-1975; Am. Ord. 3542, passed 12-20-1976; Am. Ord. 3619, passed 10-17-1977; Am. Ord. 4408, passed 3-5-1984; Am. Ord. 4802, passed 9-21-1987; Am. Ord. 4967, passed 12-19-1988; Am. Ord. 5860, passed 6-5-1995; Am. Ord. 6201, passed 9-2-1997; Am. Ord. 6286, passed 4-20-1998; Am. Ord. 6731, passed 3-5-2001; Am. Ord. 7477, passed 10-17-2005; Am. Ord. 7563, passed 6-19-2006; Am. Ord. 7904, passed 8-3-2009; Am. Ord. 8356, passed 9-15-2014; Am. Ord. 8920, passed 5-17-2021; Am. Ord. 9073, passed 3-6-2023; Am. Ord. 9165, passed 2-20-2024)