151.01 SICK LEAVE.

   (a)    Effective May 1, 1986, all full-time, permanent employees, and officials, including Fire and Police Department employees, supervisory and non-supervisory, classified, unclassified, elected and appointed employees and officials of the City, working forty hours per week, and not belonging to or included in any labor union bargaining agreement, shall be entitled, except as hereinafter provided, for each completed one month of service, to sick leave of one and one- quarter work days (10 hours) with pay.

(Ord. 132-86. Passed 6-23-86.)

   (b)    Sick Leave Uses. With the approval of the appropriate department head of the City, sick leave may be used by an employee for absence due to any of the following reasons:

        (1)    Illness, injury or pregnancy-related condition of the employee.

      (2)    Exposure of an employee to a contagious disease which could be communicated to and jeopardize the health of other employees.

      (3)   Examination of the employee, for health related purposes including medical, psychological, dental or optical examination, by an appropriate licensed practitioner.

      (4)    Illness, injury or pregnancy-related condition of a member of the employee’s immediate family where the employee's presence is reasonably necessary for the health and welfare of the employee or affected family member.

      (5)   Examination for health related purposes including medical, psychological, dental or optical examination, for a member of the employee's immediate family where the employee's presence is reasonably necessary.

      (6)    Death in the employee's family.

      (7)    Other specific health or medical related conditions seriously affecting the employee, or a member of his immediate family where the employee's presence is reasonably necessary.

      (8)   “Immediate family” means an employee's spouse, children and the employees parents.

   Sick leave shall not be used for work related injuries.

   (c)   Sick leave, by reason of death in the employee's family shall be granted as follows:

 

Wife, husband, or child	Maximum of two weeks
Mother, father, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, sister, brother, or anyone in place of parent	Maximum of 5 days
Sister-in-law, brother-in-law, aunt, uncle, grandparents, grandchild	Maximum of 3 days
All other relatives	Maximum of 1 day

   (d)    An employee who has been laid off, suspended, is on a leave of absence, or is on non-paid status of any kind with the City shall not accumulate or receive sick leave credit for such period of time. An employee shall not earn sick leave while using sick leave to the extent a single period of sick leave use exceeds twelve (12) consecutive weeks. Sick leave taken shall be deducted on an hour for hour basis from an employee's accumulated sick leave. Sick leave shall not accrue for overtime or straight time in excess of forty hours per week.

   (e)    An employee may use sick leave upon the notification of his supervisor or other designated individual in accordance with the policies established for call-in in his department. When making notification, the employee shall state the reason for the request for sick leave. If such notification is not made, the absence may be charged, upon the recommendation of the department or division head, to leave without pay or a disciplinary suspension.

   (f)   Upon retirement, or termination in good standing from active service with the City and with ten (10) or more years of service with the City, all eligible employees except the Police Chief and Police Captains shall be paid one hundred percent (100%) of the value of their accrued sick leave credit up to a maximum of nine hundred sixty (960) hours. Upon retirement, or termination in good standing from active service with the City and with ten (10) or more years of service with the City, the Police Chief and Police Captains shall be paid one hundred percent (100%) of the value of their accrued sick leave credit up to a maximum of one thousand five hundred (1500) hours. The payment shall be based on the employee’s rate of pay at the time of the payment. Such payment shall be made only once to an employee.

   An employee who:

      (1)   Has ten years or more service with the City, and

      (2)   Has a sick leave balance of at least nine hundred sixty (960) hours (one thousand five hundred (1500) hours for the Police Chief and Police Captains).

      (3)   Is within the last three years of his employment with the City and

      (4)   Either:

         A.   Has qualified for a service pension under the rules from the Ohio Public Employees’ Retirement System or Ohio Police and Fire Pension System by reason of age and length of service, or

         B.   Is within three years of qualifying for a service pension under the rules of said retirement systems by reason of age and length of service,

may elect to cash out accrued sick time in three equal and annual payments. All eligible employees except the Chief of Police and Police Captains may cash out accrued sick time up to three hundred and twenty (320) hours per payment. The Police Chief and Police Captains may cash out accrued sick time up to five hundred (500) hours per payment. These payments shall be based on the employee’s rate of pay at the time of each payment. The eligible employee must declare his intent to retire within three years of the declaration and notify his Department Director and the Director of Finance of his election to cash out sick leave as provided herein at least thirty days prior to the first distribution of funds. The third and final distribution of funds shall be made only after the employee has retired. All hours paid under this provision shall be deducted from the payment of accrued sick leave as provided under this agreement. Any remaining sick leave credit may be used until the employee’s retirement date at which time all remaining sick leave balance shall be deemed exhausted and no further sick leave payment will be allowed. Funds paid to the employee on an annual cash-out basis may be rolled over into an employee’s deferred compensation account as allowed by plan rule or paid in cash as requested by the employee.

   For the purpose of funding this sick leave cash-out payment, the Finance Director shall establish a fund and annually deposit a sum sufficient to cover the anticipated payout(s) under this provision. Money set aside in this fund shall only be used for the purpose of paying the benefit set forth in this section and for no other purpose.

   (g)    Sick leave credit transferred into the City from the State or any other political subdivision shall not be converted into cash benefits. For the purposes thereof, sick leave credit earned in Cuyahoga Falls employment shall be the first charged for authorized illness.

   (h)    In the event of death of an employee, unused sick leave in the maximum amount defined in subsection (f) hereof, shall become payable in a lump sum in the employee's name and given to his spouse or his estate if no spouse survives. Only sick leave credit earned by employment with the City may be converted into cash benefits upon retirement, disability retirement or death.

   (i)    The responsible department or division head may require that an employee requesting sick leave furnish or submit to any or all of the following before any request for sick leave shall be approved:

      (1)    A detailed statement specifying the exact nature of the illness or injury; the name, address and phone number of the treating physician; and the anticipated number of days required to treat such illness or injury.

      (2)    A medical report from the employee's physician containing the information specified in subsection (i)(1) hereof.

      (3)    That the employee submit to a physical/psychological exam by a physician/ psychiatrist/psychologist of the City's choice. The cost of any such required examination shall be borne by the City.

   (4)    Such exam shall relate only to the nature of the employee's illness. Failure to furnish, refusal to submit to or falsification of any of the above shall be grounds for disciplinary action, including dismissal.

   (j)    Each department or division head shall maintain accurate attendance records of each employee under his or her supervision and shall report bi-weekly to the Finance Department any time taken off by an employee. For an employee to return to work with pay or receive sick leave benefits after being absent on three consecutive scheduled work days, he shall submit to the department head a satisfactory written statement attesting to the nature of his illness or disability and shall obtain the certificate of an attending physician all attesting to the propriety and reasonableness of the necessity to utilize sick leave pay benefits. Failure to provide or falsification of the above shall be grounds for denial of sick pay and/or disciplinary action, including dismissal. The Finance Director shall provide a written summary of each City employee's total sick leave absences and cash payments to Council, on an annual basis, by no later than January 30th of the next calendar year.

   (k)    In special and meritorious cases of illness, or job related injury, sick leave may be extended or adjusted by order of Council. A request for an extension, accompanied by a certification of a licensed physician shall be submitted by such department or division head to Council at its next scheduled meeting with a written opinion by such department or division head as to the merit of such request.

   (1)    Nothing in this section shall be construed to interfere with existing unused sick leave credit in any department of the City where attendance records are maintained and credit has been given employees for unused sick leave.

   (m)   A regular full-time non-bargaining employee with five or more years of service with a sick leave balance of at least 320 hours at the beginning of the calendar year for which this sick leave incentive program applies shall have the following options with regard to accumulated sick leave.

      (1)    Allow the unused sick leave balance earned to accrue to the employee's sick leave balance.

      (2)    Receive a cash benefit as follows:

   A.    An employee who did not use sick leave for the year may convert forty (40) hours of sick leave at a rate of 100% of the employee's hourly base rate of pay for the year in which the sick leave incentive was earned.

         B.    An employee who used more than zero but not more than eight hours of sick leave may convert forty (40) hours of sick leave at a rate of 75% of the employee's hourly base rate of pay for the year in which the sick leave incentive was earned.

         C.    An employee who used more than eight but not more than sixteen hours of sick leave may convert forty (40) hours of sick leave at a rate of 60% of the employee's hourly base rate of pay for the year in which the sick leave incentive was earned.

         D.    An employee who used more than sixteen but not more than twenty- four hours of sick leave may convert forty (40) hours of sick leave at a rate of 50% of the employee's hourly base rate of pay for the year in which the sick leave incentive was earned.

         E.    An employee who used more than twenty-four but not more than thirty-two hours of sick leave may convert forty (40) hours of sick leave at a rate of 25% of the employee's hourly base rate of pay for the year in which the sick leave incentive was earned.

   Employees meeting the above criteria must notify the Finance Department by January 15 of the year following the year for which sick leave incentive payment is sought and the cash disbursement shall be made on or about February 15.

(Ord. 100-2011. Passed 11-28-11.)