The city adopts for full-time civil city and city utilities employees (not including police officers and firefighters) the following sick leave policy.
(A) All full-time employees are allowed leave with pay due to personal illness. Each employee shall earn sick leave at the rate of 1 day for each calendar month of full employment. Sick leave credit may be accumulated to a maximum of 60 days. For each 6 days earned in excess of the allowable accumulation of 60 days, the excess days shall be automatically converted to equal 1 extra regular vacation day.
(B) Sick leave benefits shall be used only for legitimate illness. Employees returning to work after using 3 or more days of sick leave consecutively shall be required to furnish a doctor’s statement.
(C) An employee who, due to illness, has used up all of his or her earned sick days and his or her earned vacation days may be granted a leave of absence without pay to protect his or her seniority. He or she must submit a written request to his or her department head for 30 days leave of absence without pay and must accompany this request with a written statement from his or her doctor. The written request must state the reason for the requested leave of absence and the date on which the employee intends to return to work. Failure to return and report for work on the specified return date may result in termination, unless an extension of the leave of absence is requested (again, in writing) and granted. For a requested extension beyond the initial 30-day leave of absence, the employee must submit an updated doctor’s statement.
(D) Extended maternity leave, as a leave of absence without pay, shall be available in 6-week increments for the period during which the attending physician’s statement indicates that the employee is disabled and cannot perform the normal physical requirements of her job. Extended maternity leave may be granted for 1 additional 6-week increment upon submission of appropriate physician’s statement. The employee shall exhaust all accrued sick and vacation days before applying for extended maternity leave. Any further extension of maternity leave other than sick leave shall be regarded as a general leave of absence and will only protect the employee’s accrued service record.
(E) An employee using sick days and vacation days to recuperate from illness or injury will continue to participate in the Public Employee Retirement Fund (PERF) and insurance programs. However, additional sick days will not accrue while on sick leave. Employees taking extended leaves of absence without pay do not earn sick days, nor vacation days, but employees shall be covered under the city insurance plans for up to 6 months. If an employee elects to extend the insurance coverage beyond the 6-month limitation, he or she may do so by paying the premium.
(F) No cash settlement will be made for sick leave accrued, but not taken upon any termination from employment.
(G) Sick leave accruals may be transferred if the employee changes to another department within the city.
(H) If an employee becomes ill or is injured while on vacation, the scheduled vacation time shall be counted as vacation. If the disability continues beyond the scheduled time of vacation, the sick leave allowances, if any, shall begin on the first scheduled working day after the end of the scheduled vacation.
(I) Regarding time off for injuries occurring on the job, Worker’s Compensation laws control.
(1) An employee who is injured or disabled while working (at his or her city job) and must, due to that injury or disability, miss work, shall receive his or her normal rate of pay for the first 5 days of work missed; provided that, a physician acceptable to the city certified that the employee is unable to work. These 5 days shall not be counted against the employee’s accrued sick time. Thereafter, the employee is entitled to receive the difference between his or her regular compensation and the amount paid by Worker’s Compensation, via his or her accrued sick days, until his or her earned sick days (and vacation days) are exhausted. After that, no further payments will be made to the employee by the city.
(2) An employee injured on the job is not entitled to receive both full pay from the city (by the use of sick/vacation days) and benefits from Worker’s Compensation for the same periods of time.
(3) When an employee returns to work after sick leave (or leave of absence) from an on-the-job injury, he or she shall again begin to earn sick days.
(4) When an employee misses work for an on-the-job injury for which Worker’s Compensation pays benefits to the employee, the city shall continue the employee’s insurance benefits in effect (as they were when he was working) for a period not to exceed 1 year. Thereafter, the employee must obtain and maintain his or her own insurance program.
(5) When an employee misses work due to an on-the-job injury, he or she must submit a statement from the doctor estimating how long it will be before the employee may return to work. If the employee is not able to return to work pursuant to the doctor’s estimate, he or she must obtain and submit an additional statement from the doctor.
(6) When an employee does return to work, he must bring with him or her a doctor’s release to return to work. The city does not provide “light duty” functions, so an employee must be completely released by the doctor to return to his or her regular job before he or she may return to work.
(7) If the Worker’s Compensation Board determines that an employee’s Worker’s Compensation claim is fully compensable, then any sick days/vacation days used by the employee (and for which the city is reimbursed by its Worker’s Compensation insurer) shall be restored to the credit of the employee.
(J) This section shall not affect sick time already earned.
(K) Each department director shall have a complete record-keeping system of employees’ sick days earned and taken.
(Prior Code, § 37.18) (Ord. 5000, passed 2-10-1986)