181.02 SICK LEAVE.
Unless otherwise provided for in subsection (c) of this section, permanent employees of the City hired before January 1, 2016, including permanent employees originally hired before January 1, 2016 and reinstated to City employment pursuant to Civil Service rule or any legal requirement, shall be granted sick leave on the basis of length of continuous service and shall be entitled to leave with pay in accordance with the following schedule:
(a) Each permanent full-time City employee whose normal work schedule equals or exceeds forty hours per week and each permanent part-time employee hired prior to January 1, 2014 who, upon his/her anniversary of service with the City, has provided at least 1,300 hours of City service in the previous year, shall be entitled to sick leave of ten hours per month for each month in which the employee has actively worked. Unless specified otherwise by negotiated labor contract, unused monthly accruals shall accumulate.
(1) Each uniformed member of the Police Division shall be permitted to accumulate unused monthly accruals to a maximum of 2,160 hours.
(2) Each uniformed member of the Fire Division shall be permitted to accumulate unused monthly accruals without limit pursuant to Ohio R. C. 124.38.
(3) Each permanent employee regularly working on a schedule of twenty-four hour tours of duty in the Fire Division shall be entitled to sick leave of thirteen and one-quarter hours per month for each month in which the employee has actively worked. Unused monthly accruals shall accumulate in accordance with Ohio R.C. 124.38, for employees so regulated.
(4) Each permanent, part-time employee hired prior to January 1, 2014 whose normal average work schedule is less than twenty-five hours per week shall be entitled to sick leave of five hours per month for each month in which the employee has actively worked. Unused monthly accruals shall accumulate to a maximum of 2,040 hours.
(5) An employee may use sick leave consistent with policies established by and with the approval of the City Manager for absence from his or her normal work schedule due to personal illness or injury, exposure to contagious disease which could be communicated to other employees, illness or other medical emergency in the employee's immediate family or to attend a medical, dental or optical appointment for treatment and/or examination when such appointment cannot be scheduled during the employee's off-duty time.
(6) The usage of accrued sick leave shall reduce the employee's accumulated balance by an amount equal to the actual usage rounded to the nearest quarter hour.
(7) The City Manager may require the employee to furnish a certificate and proof that his/her absence was caused by illness or any of the other causes mentioned in this section, or for any reason mentioned herein. In the case of absence of any employee due to illness, the City Manager may order a physical examination of such employee to be made by a physician selected by the City Manager. Refusal of an employee to undergo such examination shall be cause for discontinuance of further sick leave pay.
(b) Each permanent City employee who has accumulated at least 240 hours of sick leave at the commencement of an extended illness shall be entitled to additional sick leave pay when his/her regular accumulation has expired; this shall be equivalent to one-half his normal daily sick leave rate for a period of time equal to his/her accumulated sick leave at the beginning of his/her illness. For purposes of this benefit, maximum sick leave accumulations shall be limited to 1,200 hours for those employees whose normal work schedule does not exceed forty hours per week and 1,680 hours for those Fire Division employees whose average work schedule is based upon a twenty-four hour tour of duty.
(1) Utilization of subsection (b) hereof requires prior certification from a physician of an employee and creates no rights to payment at retirement, death or other termination of employment.
(2) This section is inoperative if the employee is entitled to benefits under Ohio Workers' Compensation.
(3) The provisions of this section shall not affect the City's right to initiate disability retirement.
(c) Permanent employees hired on or after January 1, 2016, eligible employees originally hired prior to January 1, 2016, who have opted-into the Paid Time Off (PTO) system as of January 1, 2023, and permanent employees originally hired before January 1, 2016, who have been rehired or reinstated to City employment pursuant to Civil Service rule or any legal requirement after January 1, 2023, will not be eligible for benefits under this section. They will be eligible for Paid Time Off benefits under Section 181.26.
(Ord. 2017-1-2. Passed 1-11-17; Ord. 2022-11-108. Passed 11-16-22.)