(A) Accrual of paid time off for vacation leave.
(1) Officers, including the Town Marshal, shall be entitled to the following paid time off for vacations, in accordance with the following:
(a) Each officer shall earn and accrue under this section 60 hours of paid time off upon the one-year anniversary date of his or her employment.
(b) Each officer shall earn and accrue under this section 120 hours of paid time off upon the two-year anniversary date of his or her employment.
(c) Each officer shall earn and accrue under this section 180 hours of paid time off upon the seven-year anniversary date of his or her employment.
(d) Each officer shall earn and accrue under this section 240 hours of paid time off upon the 15-year anniversary date of his or her employment.
(2) Officers, including the Town Marshal, shall earn and accrue paid time off in accordance with the above schedule in each consecutive year of continuous employment with the town.
(3) Leave hereunder shall be charged in one-hour increments.
(B) Accrual of paid time off for personal leave.
(1) Officers, including the Town Marshal, shall earn and accrue under this section 48 hours of paid time off for personal leave upon the one-year anniversary date of his or her employment, and in each consecutive year of continuous employment with the town thereafter. Paid time off for personal leave shall be used for any personal matter of an officer during his or her employment other than vacation or illness. Paid time off for personal leave as set forth herein shall be in addition the paid time for vacation leave granted in division (A) of this section.
(2) Leave hereunder shall be charged in one-hour increments.
(C) Accrual of paid time off for birthday leave.
(1) Officers, including the Town Marshal, shall earn and accrue under this section 12 hours of paid time off for leave to celebrate his or her birthday, commencing in the year following the one-year anniversary date of his or her employment, and in each consecutive year of continuous employment with the town thereafter. Paid time off for birthday leave as set forth herein shall be in addition the paid time for vacation leave granted in division (A) of this section and in addition the paid time for personal leave granted in division (B) of this section.
(2) Leave hereunder shall be charged in one-hour increments.
(D) Rate of pay and accrual of paid time off for holidays.
(1) Officers, including the Town Marshal, shall be entitled to the following paid time off for holidays, in accordance with the following:
(a) In addition to his or her base salary to be paid upon working on an approved holiday, an officer shall receive an additional 12 hours of pay at his or her applicable salary rate of pay. Officers who are off duty or scheduled to be off duty on an approved holiday shall receive 12 hours of paid time off for holiday leave.
(b) In addition to his or her base salary to be paid upon working on an approved half holiday, an officer shall receive an additional six hours of pay at his or her applicable salary rate of pay. Officers who are off duty or scheduled to be off duty on an approved half holiday shall receive six hours of paid time off for holiday leave.
(c) Approved full holidays are as follows; New Year’s Day (January 1), Good Friday (Friday before Easter), Memorial Day (last Monday in May), Independence Day (July 4), Labor Day (first Monday in September), Veteran’s Day (November 30), Thanksgiving (4th Thursday in November and Friday after Thanksgiving) and Christmas Day (December 25). Approved half holidays are as follows: Christmas Eve (December 24) and New Year’s Eve (December 31).
(d) Paid time off for holiday leave as set forth herein shall be in addition the paid time for vacation leave granted in division (A) of this section and in addition the paid time for personal leave granted in division (B) of this section.
(2) Leave hereunder shall be charged in one-hour increments.
(E) Accrual of paid-time-off for sick leave.
(1) Officers, including the Town Marshal, shall be entitled to the following paid time off for sick leave, in accordance with the following:
(a) Officers, including the Town Marshal, shall earn and accrue under this section 120 hours of paid time off for sick leave immediately upon the commencement date of his or her employment, and in each consecutive year of continuous employment with the town thereafter. Paid time off for sick leave is provided as a protection for the officer or the officer’s immediate family in the case of illness, or medical, dental or eye examinations or treatment for which arrangements cannot be made outside normal working hours.
(b) Officers and the Town Marshall will be allowed to carry over unused sick days into the following year, subject to a maximum of 480 hours that may be carried over into the following year. An officer may not have a balance of more than 480 hours of paid time off for sick leave at any time. Upon officer’s balance of paid time off for sick leave totaling 480 hours, the officer will not accrue any additional paid time off for sick leave.
(c) The Town Marshal may send any officer home who reports to work when sick and shall require that such leave will be applied to that officer’s accrued paid time off for sick leave.
(d) Any officer with accrued paid time off for sick leave may transfer all or a portion of his or her accrued balance to another officer, subject to the approval of the Town Marshal. Notwithstanding, any balance transferred shall then be held by and compensated to the transferee at his or her base salary rate, with no credit to the transferor. Further, any amounts transferred shall be subject to the maximum aggregate balance restriction set forth in this subsection (b) hereof.
(e) The Town Marshal or his or her designee reserves the right to request documentation from a licensed health care provider for the medical necessity to use sick leave after one working day of absence due to a sickness. After three continuous working days of absence due to sickness, documentation from a licensed health care provider for the medical necessity to use sick leave shall be mandatory. Documentation for sick leave may also be required in accordance with the town’s family medical leave policy.
(2) Leave hereunder shall be charged in one-hour increments.
(F) Unauthorized leave. Every other absence not covered by one of the above types of leave or any unpaid leave individually-authorized by the Town Marshal or his or her designee will be designated as unauthorized. Unauthorized leave is cause for discipline of an officer.
(G) Advance notice; requests for leave; documentation and procedures for leaves and absences.
(1) Absent extenuating circumstances, in all instances officers are required to request leaves of absence in advance, usually at the time the officer learns of the need for the absence. Specifically, arrangements for paid time off for vacation leave, personal leave and birthday leave should be requested by the officer and approved in advance by the Town Marshal or his or her designee. The Town Marshal and all officers should plan and schedule each fiscal year to allow an officer to take vacation leave.
(2) The Police Department may develop procedures and forms for requesting use of accrued leaves. Time frames established in the Department’s standard operating procedures apply except that the Town Marshal may require notice further in advance for vacation leave and may waive advance notice requirements for accrued leaves in extenuating circumstances.
(3) For those circumstances in which more than one type of leave is available and appropriate, the provisions for each leave must be reviewed separately and coordinated to give effect to each type of leave. It is always the officer’s responsibility to know his or her accrued leave balances and to request and document the type of leave that is appropriate and available at the time of the absence.
(4) The Town Marshal maintains sole discretion to grant vacation or personal leave without advance notice. In such cases, the Town Marshal may or may not grant paid time off for vacation, personal or birthday leave based on the manpower, business and operational needs of the department.
(H) Accrual during unpaid leaves and breaks in service; application to overtime and compensatory time. Notwithstanding the above, dates and patterns for accruing leave will be adjusted for unpaid leaves of absence lasting 30 days or more and for breaks in service. Accrual of leave is suspended during time spent on unpaid leaves and the time spent unpaid leave shall not be credited towards the accrual of additional vacation, sick, birthday or personal leave. Paid time off for the leaves established herein, whether accrued or used, shall not be counted or credited within a work period towards the accrual of overtime or compensatory time.
(I) Payout of accrued paid time off at separation of employment.
(1) Except as otherwise provided herein or by a subsequent separate act of the Town Council, accrued leave balances are forfeited upon the expiration of the fiscal year in which they accrued. Upon termination of employment, officers including the Town Marshal, shall be compensated for the accrued leave balances, and such compensation shall be paid at the regular rate earned by the officer at the time the officer receives such payment. Unused and uncompensated accrued leaves remaining after an officer is laid off will be restored for use if the officer is subsequently recalled from layoff.
(2) Use of accrued and unused leave in a manner that merely extends the effective date of an officer’s final day of employment without the performance of meaningful work for a sustained period upon return from such leave is prohibited, and will not be paid unless prior approval of the Town Council is obtained.
(J) Superseding provisions; all other leaves. This section as applied to officers of the Police Department supersedes any similar, related or conflicting provisions of Chapter 35. Except as otherwise provided herein, all other leaves provided in Chapter 35 shall apply to the officers of the Police Department.
(Prior Code, § 33.42) (Ord. 2018-06, passed 7-3-2018; Ord. 2019-02, passed 2-12-2019)