(A) Each employee occupying a regular full-time position shall be entitled to sick leave with pay. Sick leave is earned at a rate of eight hours of sick leave for each full calendar month of continuous service; provided, however, that shift firefighters shall earn ten hours of sick leave for each full calendar month of continuous service, and Operations Division police officers shall earn eight and one-half hours of such leave for each full calendar month of continuous service.
(B) (1) For employees hired on or before December 31, 2018, the rules for the accrual of sick leave are the same as those pertaining to the accrual of vacation credit as prescribed in divisions (D) and (E) of § 1-2-5-2 pertaining to vacation leave, except that sick leave not taken during any calendar year shall be carried over and accumulated for the employee's entire period of employment with the city or until subsequently used by the employee. Upon retirement (with a minimum of 20 years of continuous service) or disability retirement, an employee may redeem unused sick leave at the rate of one hour for every two hours accumulated. No more than 600 hours will be credited (1,200 hour maximum at two for one rate). For firefighters and police officers, the maximum will be 600 hours for any employee killed in the line of duty.
(2) For employees hired on and after January 1, 2019, The rules for the accrual of sick leave are the same as those pertaining to the accrual of vacation credit as prescribed in divisions (D) and (E) of § 1-2-5-2 pertaining to vacation leave, except that an employee may, with the approval of the employee's department head, carry over a maximum of 200 hours of sick leave time from the previous calendar year to the succeeding year. The employee's department head shall notify the Controller's Office in writing in the event that the department head approves any carryover request. Upon retirement (with a minimum of 20 years of continuous service) or disability retirement, an employee may redeem no more than 200 hours of sick leave.
(C) It shall be the responsibility of any employee intending to use sick leave to report such intention to his or her supervisor or department head not later than one hour before the time of the beginning of the employee's scheduled work assignment. Failure to properly report the employee's absence from duty shall result in loss of pay for that absence until the absence is properly reported; provided that an employee shall not be penalized for failure to report where such failure is due to emergency conditions or other conditions beyond the control of the employee. The propriety of the reasons for failure to report shall be determined solely by the employee's department head.
(D) Any employee utilizing more than 24 hours of sick leave shall forward through his or her department head to the Controller's Office a certificate from the employee's attending, licensed physician, describing the nature and duration of the illness. Department heads may require such certificates for sick leave of three days or less where the employee has established a repeated pattern of absence from work suggestive of sick leave abuse, whether the absences were with or without pay.
(E) Any full-time police officer or firefighter who has not used any sick leave in any one calendar month will receive a credit of two hours of personal leave. Department heads shall determine the scheduling of personal leave for all employees of their department. Personal leave not taken during any calendar year shall be carried over and accumulated for the employee's entire period of employment with the city or until subsequently used by the employee. Accrual of personal leave for all other employees of the city shall be discontinued effective January 1, 2019 and shall be frozen thereafter, but may be utilized.
(F) Any full-time police and fire personnel who has incurred illness or injury while on duty and as a direct result of his or her services for the city is eligible for sick leave in the amount of time equivalent to the number of days he or she would have been scheduled to work in a 180-calendar day period without any reduction of the employee's accumulated sick leave prior to the date of the illness or injury. If the employee is cleared to return to duty by a physician, and any restrictions may be accommodated by the police or fire department, additional sick leave shall be taken from the employee's accrued sick time. If 180 days have been exhausted, the city may take additional sick leave from the employee's accumulated sick time or request that the employee be placed on limited duty assignment if released by a licensed physician designated by the city to perform such duties. The city may at any time while the employee is on extended sick leave request that the employee be placed on temporary or permanent disability in accordance with state law.
(G) Sick leave may only be used due to the illness or injury of an employee or a member of that employee's immediate family or for bereavement in accordance with § 1-2-5-5(C).
(H) If this section is at any time inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreements with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 159 and/or the Lawrence Professional Firefighters Association Local 416, then in effect and as approved by the Common Council, the provisions of the collective bargaining agreements shall prevail.
(Am. Ord. 13, 2006, passed 7-3-2006; Am. Ord. 27, 2006, passed 1-2-2007; Am. Ord. 1, 2009, passed 1-5-2009; Am. Ord 4, 2012, passed 4-2-2012; Am. Ord. 22, 2012, passed 12-3-2012; Am. Ord. 25, 2013, passed 12-18-2013; Am. Ord. 20, 2014, passed 12-17-2014; Am. Ord. 17, 2018, passed 10-1-2018; Am. Ord. 7, 2022, passed 3-7-2022)