(a) Sick Leave (Includes Maternity).
(1) An employee who has completed his or her probationary period may be granted a sick leave request, due to an extended illness, by the appointing authority. A certificate from the doctor determining the fitness of the employee to perform his or her required duties shall be a prerequisite for returning to his or her assigned position.
(2) An employee who fails to report to work at the expiration of his or her leave or who fails to request an extension of his or her leave shall be deemed to be absent without leave and shall be subject to termination of employment.
(3) Accumulated sick days may be used for this leave of absence.
(b) Bereavement Leave.
(1) An employee shall be granted a leave of absence with pay in the event of the death of a member of the employee's immediate family. "Immediate family" means spouse, mother, mother-in-law, father, father-in-law, children, step-children, sister, step- sister, sister-in-law, brother, step-brother, brother-in-law, grandparents, step grandparents, grandchildren, step-grandchildren, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, niece or nephew.
(2) An employee shall be granted a leave of absence in the event of the death of an aunt, uncle, step-parent or grandparent of the employee' s spouse and such leave shall be charged to accumulated sick days.
(3) An employee may be absent for not more than three work days for each death, including travel time, in the State, and five work days for each death, including travel time, outside the State.
(4) Proof of bereavement shall be presented to the appointing authority upon return to work, if requested, in order to be paid.
(c) Personal Leave.
(1) An employee who has completed his or her probationary period may be granted an unpaid personal leave of absence by the appointing authority for good cause shown, for not more than three months. The granting of such a leave will be based upon the operational needs of the department. An application for such a leave shall be made in writing at least one week prior to the beginning of such leave.
(2) Fringe benefits and length of service shall not continue nor will they accumulate during the leave set forth in paragraph (c)(1) hereof if this leave exceeds two weeks.
(3) Upon a one-week notification, an employee may return to work prior to the expiration of a personal leave, if such early return is agreed to by the City.
(4) Upon return, an employee will be assigned to the position which he or she formerly occupied or to a similar position if his or her former position is not vacant or no longer exists. An employee who fails to report to work at the expiration or cancellation of his or her leave shall be deemed absent without leave and shall be subject to termination of employment.
(5) Accumulated sick days shall not be used for this leave.
(d) Injury on Duty.
(1) Every full-time employee shall be entitled to apply for benefits under this subsection on account of sickness or injury, provided that such disability was occasioned while in the direct line of duty and under such circumstances as would cause the disability to be compensable under the Worker's Compensation Law.
(2) To apply for benefits under this subsection, written application shall be made to the Director of Safety-Service accompanied by a certificate from a registered physician stating that such employee is unable to work and that such disability is the result of or is connected with the duties of such employee. The Director shall approve or reject the application and, in doing so, he or she may require examination of the employee by a registered physician of his or her selection.
(e) Military Leave. An employee shall be granted a military leave in accordance with State and Federal laws.
(f) Jury and Witness Duty.
(1) An employee called for jury duty or subpoenaed as a witness shall be granted leave with pay.
(2) All compensation received from the court shall be given to the City with documented proof of duty upon return to work.
(3) Any employee who is party to a lawsuit shall be granted a leave without pay to attend the court proceedings. Personal holiday or vacation time may be used.
(g) Unpaid Sick Leave (Including Maternity Leave). Upon request to the appointing authority, an employee who has completed his or her probationary period shall be granted an unpaid leave of absence for not to exceed six months because of personal illness or injury not related to his or her occupation, provided that such illness or injury is supported by medical evidence satisfactory to the City.
(h) Donated Leave Policy.
(1) At the discretion of the appointing authority, and for good cause shown, an employee may voluntarily donate comp, sick or vacation leave to a fellow employee or make a request to receive donated leave if a critical and immediate need, due to a serious health condition, exists.
(2) This policy is not intended to violate or supersede any contrary provisions of existing collective bargaining agreements, the terms of which are controlling.
(3) For this section, "a serious health condition" is defined as:
A. An illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition of the employee or the employee's immediate family member that involves inpatient care in hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility; or
B. With respect to an employee or the employee's immediate family member, a period of incapacity of more than seven days that also involves:
1. Treatment by a health care provider in connection with such inpatient care; or
2. The constant supervision of a health care provider; or
3. A condition which is permanent or long-term, for which treatment may not be effective.
(4) Eligibility. In order to determine if an employee is eligible to receive donated comp, sick or vacation leave under any leave donation policy implemented by the appointing authority, the employee must provide sufficient medical documentation of his or her serious health condition to the appointing authority. It is the responsibility of the employee to provide documentation for determination of eligibility. A request for donated leave will not be considered until all accompanying documentation is provided. Upon receiving a request for donated leave, the appointing authority will review the provided medical documentation to determine whether it meets the standards for leave usage and the donated leave policy set forth herein.
(5) Donation process.
A. At the discretion of the appointing authority, a City employee may voluntarily donate accrued, unused comp, sick or vacation hours to another City employee who has no accrued leave and who has a critical and immediate need for leave due to a serious health condition, as defined in this section. Any employee wishing to donate leave to a fellow employee must utilize a form approved by the appointing authority to indicate and certify the following information:
1. The name of the employee for whom the leave is intended;
2. The understanding that the employee voluntarily elects to donate leave and that any donated leave time will not be returned; and
3. The amount and type of leave time to be donated, in one hour increments.
B. The donating employee must retain a combined leave balance (sick/vacation/comp) of eighty hours if a full-time employee, or the equivalent number of work hours in a standard two-week pay period if a part-time employee. The amount of donated leave time shall be in one hour increments, regardless of the hourly rate of pay of the donor and that of the recipient. An employee may donate leave time to a co-worker employed at an equal or lower rate of pay. An employee, however, may not donate leave time to a coworker employed at a higher rate of pay.
C. The donation of leave must be in an amount not to exceed the total number of leave hours needed by the requesting employee to accommodate the period of leave needed as a result of the serious health condition.
(6) Administering the program.
A. The program shall be administered on a pay-period-by-pay-period basis. The appointing authority shall establish procedures to ensure that departmental personnel adequately and properly document and inform the City Finance Director of leave donation transactions, on a pay-period-by-pay-period basis.
B. An employee utilizing donated leave shall be considered in active pay status and shall accrue leave and any other benefits to which he or she would otherwise be entitled.
C. Leave accrued by an employee while utilizing donated leave shall be used, if needed, in the following pay period before any additional donated leave may be received or utilized.
D. Donated leave shall not count toward an employee's probationary period.
E. Donated leave shall not be converted to a cash benefit.
F. Donated leave or leave accrued by the utilization of donated leave is ineligible for reimbursement when used to satisfy the waiting period for workers compensation benefits.
G. A donating employee's sick leave balance will be adjusted as though the donating employee utilized said sick leave for himself/herself, including for the purposes of Section 165.07(d), (e), and (f).
(i) Unless set forth herein, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 29 U.S.C., § 2601 et seq. and analogous State law shall apply.
(Ord. 90-298. Passed 12-3-90; Ord. 2012-97. Passed 8-6-12; Ord. 2017-48. Passed 4-17-17.)