A paid leave package for the Columbus police department will now be implemented under the following guidelines:
A. Eligibility. Based upon current police department policy (12/15/80), an officer may become eligible for a sixty- day paid leave period upon the satisfaction of each of the following conditions:
1. That the officer has served actively for at least nineteen years and six months.
2. That the officer provides a letter of intent to retire from the Columbus police department stating his intention to retire on or after his/her twenty-year anniversary date, as established by the State of Indiana Public Employees Retirement Fund Agency.
3. That the officer's letter of intent to retire is then received by the chief of police.
B. Discretionary approval. The sixty-day paid leave period may be granted at the sole discretion of the chief of police. The chief of police shall deny an officer's request should the officer have failed to meet each of the foregoing conditions of eligibility. The chief of police shall have sole discretion of the scheduling and dispensing of this time.
C. Active time. The sixty-day paid separation/ transition period shall be treated as active time, all of which is commensurate with the definition of “active time” as defined by the State of Indiana Public Employees Retirement Fund Agency. This time shall be in addition to any unused accrued vacation and/or holiday time not already taken by the officer upon his/her date of retirement
D. Revocation of intent to retire letter. In the event that the officer withdraws his/her intent to retire after said paid leave period has commenced, the paid leave days already exercised by the employee will be deducted from the sixty- day total remaining upon his/her eventual retirement.
E. Severance pay. Eligible officers also entitled to receive severance pay as set forth under Policy & Fire, Policy 14, Resignation, Discharge, Retirement, Section 3.0, General Statement, Subsection (c) Retirement, will still be afforded such pay. However, where an eligible officer receives paid leave as authorized under this section, that same officer will have his severance pay offset accordingly, so that no officer shall ever receive more than sixty days of paid leave or severance pay combined.
(Ord. 06-33, 2006)