(a) Accrual. Each eligible employee, as defined in Section 161.01(e), shall be entitled to sick leave of four and six-tenths (4 6/10) hours with pay for each completed eighty (80) hours of service. Employees may use sick leave, upon approval of the department head, for absence due to personal illness, pregnancy, injury, exposure to contagious disease which could be communicated to other employees, and illness, injury or death in the employee’s immediate family. Immediate family as used herein is defined as spouse, child, brother, sister, parents, grandparents, grandchild, father in-law, mother in-law, son in-law, daughter in-law, brother in-law, sister in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepsister, stepbrother, stepson, stepdaughter, half-brother, and half-sister. The City reserves the right to require employees to utilize sick leave if the employee is or becomes visibly or obviously sick at work. Unused sick leave shall be cumulative without limit. When sick leave is used, it shall be deducted from the employee’s credit on the basis of a minimum of one hour (1) for every one (1) hour of absence or part thereof from work, in one (1) hour increments. The department head may require an employee to furnish a satisfactory written and signed statement to justify the use of sick leave. If medical attention is required, a certificate stating the nature of the illness from a licensed physician may be required to justify the use of sick leave and a statement of such leave shall be filed with the City Administrator at the end of each pay period.
(b) Sick leave from another public agency. All eligible employees, as defined in Section 161.01(e), entering the employment of the City may bring up to one hundred and twenty (120) hours from their sick leave balance from another public agency as defined in Ohio R.C. 124.38. The balance must be certified by the public agency. Sick leave balances from another public agency may not be used until all sick leave accrued through the City is exhausted. (Ord. C25-13. Passed 5-6-13.)
(c) Certification. All eligible employees, as defined in Section 161.01
(e), leaving the employment of the City either upon termination or retirement shall receive certification from the City of their unused sick leave.
(d) Payment of Unused Sick leave Upon Retirement or Resignation. Any eligible employee, as defined in Section 161.01
(e), leaving employment of the City either upon retirement or resignation shall be compensated for the employee’s unused sick leave as set forth herein. The amount of payment for unused sick leave shall be calculated by subtracting three hundred sixty hours (360) hours from the certified sick leave balance and dividing that result by two (2). The resulting hours shall be paid at the employee’s final base rate of pay. A retiring employee is guaranteed a payout equal to one-fourth (1/4) of the total number of sick leave hours accumulated.
(e) Payment of Unused Sick leave Upon Termination. Any eligible employee as defined in Section 161.01
(e), leaving employment of the City upon termination shall not be eligible to receive payment for any unused sick leave.
(f) Payment of Unused Sick leave Upon Death. In the event an employee dies as a direct result of an injury sustained in the course of employment, the employee’s estate shall be paid on a day for day basis for his or her certified sick leave of the employee’s final base rate of pay.
(g) Conversion. At any time, an eligible employee, as defined in Section 161.01
(e), who has accumulated and maintains three hundred sixty (360) or more hours of unused sick leave shall be given the option of converting unused sick leave earned with the City for paid compensation of fifty percent of the total hours at the employee’s regular base rate of pay; (for example, one hundred (100) hours will yield a total of fifty (50) hours of pay multiplied by the employee’s regular base rate). No employee conversion per this section may result in such employee maintaining less than a minimum of three hundred sixty (360) hours. (Ord. C25-13. Passed 5-6-13.)
(h) Donated Sick Leave.
(1) Eligibility. Any eligible employee, as defined in Section 161.01
(e), may apply to the Human Resources Coordinator or the City Administrator’s designee, to receive donated sick leave, if the employee requesting such donated sick leave: (C25-13. Passed 5-6-13.)
A. Has a non-work related serious illness or serious injury, as documented in writing by a medical doctor, which renders the employee unable to perform the essential functions of the employee’s position for a minimum of four (4) consecutive weeks;
B. Has exhausted all leave balances and does not have a sufficient amount of accrued and unused paid leave to cover the estimated period of absence.
C. Has not been offered non-work related Transitional Duty; and
D. Has no record of ever being disciplined for sick leave abuse.
(2) Procedure.
A. An employee qualifying for sick leave donation hereunder shall make a written request for such leave by completing the necessary form and submitting same to the Human Resources Coordinator or the City Administrator’s designee. Written documentation from a medical doctor of the employee’s serious illness or injury must be attached to the request. The City Administrator shall have the discretion to approve or deny such request. Copies of the written request and written documentation from a medical doctor shall be provided to Human Resources. (Ord. C25-13. Passed 5-6-13.)
B. Upon approval of a request for sick leave donation, the City Administrator or City Administrator’s designee shall complete the necessary form and forward copies of same to the employee requesting sick leave donation.
C. An employee wishing to donate sick leave to a fellow employee eligible for donation shall complete the necessary form and forward same to the City Administrator or City Administrator’s designee, who shall provide a copy to Human Resources.
(3) Approval. Upon approval of an employee’s request for donated sick leave, the City Administrator or City Administrator’s designee shall:
A. Notify all eligible employees of the employee’s need for donated sick leave, while respecting the employee’s right of privacy;
B. Approve payment of any such donated sick leave to the requesting employee on a pay period by pay period basis up to the amount of donated leave, or the hours necessary to provide the member with their regular, straight-time pay for such pay period, whichever is greater.
(4) Donating Sick Leave. Employees may donate accrued and unused sick leave to their credit to any other employee who has been approved to receive donated sick leave if the donating employee:
A. Retains a sick leave balance of at least two hundred forty hours after deduction of the hours offered for donation; and
B. Voluntarily elects to donate sick leave to the employee approved for donation, understanding that any such leave donated and not used shall be returned.
(5) Terms and Conditions. The following additional terms and conditions shall apply to the Sick Leave Donation Program:
A. All donation of sick leave shall be in eight-hour increments, with eight hours being the minimum donation;
B. An employee receiving donated sick leave shall be paid at the employee’s regular, straight-time rate of pay, regardless of the rate of pay of the employee donating such leave;
C. Sick leave shall be deducted from donating employee proportionately from all donated hours and credited to the receiving member’s account on pay day up to the amount necessary for the employee to be paid their regular two (2) week’s pay. No sick leave shall accumulate in the account of a receiving employee or be converted to cash or compensatory time. Any sick leave donated by an employee that is not used shall remain in the account of the donating employee.
D. An employee using donated sick leave shall be in active pay status and shall accrue sick and vacation leave, and be entitled to any benefits they would normally receive. All paid leave provided to or accrued by an employee while using donated sick leave shall be used in the following pay period before donated sick leave is used.
E. Employees receiving donated sick leave shall be eligible to receive such leave only until the employee’s estimated date of return to duty, or until the first pay period during which the receiving employee fails to receive enough donated leave to receive their full two (2) weeks pay. Employees who have continued to receive full donations and whose physicians extend their estimated date of return will be eligible for notification for the need for further donation.
F. No employee receiving donated sick leave will be permitted to be off work on such leave more than twelve (12) consecutive calendar months. An employee may not apply for donated leave more than once in any twelve (12) month period.
G. No employee may donate more than eighty (80) sick leave hours to another employee in a calendar year. (Ord. C15-18. Passed 3-20-18.)
H. The City Administrator or City Administrator’s designee shall ensure that no employee is forced or coerced into donating sick leave for a fellow employee. Donation shall be strictly voluntary. Only the Human Resource Coordinator shall directly solicit donations of sick leave from another employee.
(Ord. C10-87. Passed 3-16-87; Ord. C47-01. Passed 8-6-01; Ord. C10-09. Passed 2-17-09; Ord. C10-09. Passed 2-17-09; Ord. C23-10. Passed 5-3-10; Ord. C33-16. Passed 5-2-16; Ord. C40-22. Passed 6-20-22.)