(A) Sick leave is provided so that an employee will not be seriously handicapped financially if he or she is unable to work because of illness. Sick leave abuse may be cause for dismissal.
(1) All employees occupying full-time regular positions shall receive one day of sick leave credit for each month of service, which shall be credited monthly. For purposes of this policy, an employee’s workday is considered to be the same as stated in the county’s vacation leave policy.
(2) For accrual purposes, employees reporting to work on or before the fifteenth day of the month shall accrue the full amount of sick leave for that month. Employees reporting to work on the sixteenth day of the month or later shall not accrue sick leave until the following month.
(3) (a) Sick leave credit may be utilized by employees when they are unable to perform their duties because of sickness, injury, childbirth, when they are quarantined, or when their absence from work is required due to sickness in the immediate family.
(b) All foreseeable leave for such purposes shall require specific prior written approval of the department head.
(c) In the event of sick leave is taken for three consecutive days for any purpose, the department head or personnel officer may require a certificate from a medical doctor giving information as to the circumstances involved.
(4) (a) Consistent with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, pregnancy/childbirth shall be treated as a temporary disability, and is eligible for use of personal leave.
1. The ability of the employee to return to work shall be determined by the employee’s physician, consistent with the individual medical needs of the employee.
2. Before returning to work the employee must provide documentation from the physician indicating the employee may return to his or her job.
(b) Employees absent from work due to pregnancy/childbirth may utilize vacation leave after all personal leave has been utilized.
1. Leave beyond the employee’s accrued leave balances shall be leave without pay. During leave due to pregnancy/childbirth, vacation days shall continue to accrue and shall be credited if the employee returns to work.
2. Insurance benefits will continue to be paid for full-time employees who provide written certification of their intent to return to work following childbirth.
3. An employee who is not planning to return to work following childbirth is requested to submit a timely resignation to allow the county’s staffing needs to be met.
(c) To the extent possible, an employee shall submit his or her written request for leave in advance, indicating the approximate dates of absence from work, and his or her anticipated return to work.
(5) When an employee takes sick leave, his or her immediate supervisor shall be informed of the fact and the reason(s) thereof no later than one hour after the start of the employee’s work shift. Failure to notify the supervisor may be cause for disallowing the use of sick leave during the period of absence.
(6) Absence for a part of a day that is chargeable to sick leave shall be charged proportionately in an amount not smaller than one hour.
(7) Absences on account of sickness, injury or disability in excess of that authorization for the purposes may, at the request of the employee, and with the approval of the department head, be charged to vacation leave credit.
(8) Employees shall be allowed to accrue an unlimited number of sick leave hours. Upon termination of employment with the county, other than retirement, unused sick leave shall be forfeited without pay. Employees that retire under the county employees retirement system shall be allowed to utilize unused sick time consistent with the governing regulations of the standard unused sick leave program.
(9) Former employees who are rehired by the county, whose past employment was involuntarily terminated without reasonable cause, shall be given credit for sick leave hours that were previously forfeited without pay.
(10) The personnel officer or his or her designee shall keep records of sick leave allowance, sick leave taken and balance of sick leave allowance for individual employees. An employee fraudulently obtaining sick leave, or a department head falsely certifying sick leave allowance for absence from work, may be suspended or dismissed. Abuse of sick leave shall be cause for disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.
(B) (1) The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 requires “covered” employers with at least 50 employees to provide “eligible” employees with up to 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for specified family and medical reasons.
(2) The FMLA applies to all public agencies, including state, local and federal employers. Thus, the county is a “covered” employer as defined in the legislation.
(3) To be eligible for FMLA benefits, an employee must:
(a) Work for a covered employer;
(b) Have worked for the employer for a total of 12 months;
(c) Have worked at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months; and
(d) Work at a location in the United States or in any territory or possession of the United States where at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles.
(4) (a) The county will grant an eligible employee up to a total of 12 work weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period, beginning from the date an employees’ first FMLA leave begins, for one or more of the following reasons:
1. For the birth and care of the newborn child of the employee;
2. For placement with the employee of a son or daughter for adoption or foster care;
3. To care for an immediate family member (spouse, child or parent) with a serious health condition; or
4. To take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.
(b) In the event the county employs both a husband and the wife, the aggregate amount of leave allowed for purposes of childbirth or adoption, or taking care of a sick parent is no more than 12 work weeks during any 12-month period.
(5) In context of this policy, a SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITION means an illness, injury impairment or physical or mental condition that involves one of the following:
(a) Inpatient care (i.e., an overnight stay) in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility, including any period of incapacity or subsequent treatment in connection with or consequent to the inpatient care;
(b) A period of incapacity of more than three consecutive days (including any subsequent treatment or period of incapacity relating to the same condition), that also involves:
1. Treatment two or more times by a health care provider, by a nurse of physician’s assistant under direct supervision of a health care provider, or by a provider of health care services (e.g., physical therapist) under orders of, or on referral by, a health care provider; or
2. Treatment by a health care provider on at least one occasion which results in a regimen of continuing treatment under the supervision of the health care provider.
(c) Any period of incapacity due to pregnancy or for prenatal care;
(d) A chronic condition which:
1. Requires periodic visits for treatment by a health care provider, or by a nurse or physician’s assistant under direct supervision of a health care provider;
2. Continues over an extended period of time (including recurring episodes of a single underlying condition); and
3. May cause episodic rather than a continuing period of incapacity (e.g., asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and the like).
(e) A period of incapacity which is permanent or long-term due to a condition for which treatment may not be effective; (The employee or family member must be under the continuing supervision of, but need not be receiving active treatment by, a health care provider. Examples include Alzheimer’s, a severe stroke or the terminal stages of a disease.)
(f) Any period of absence to receive multiple treatments (including any period of recovery therefrom) by a health care provider or by a provider of health care services under orders of, or on referral by, a health care provider, either for restorative surgery after an accident or other injury; or for a condition that would likely result in a period of incapacity of more than three consecutive days in the absence of medical intervention or treatment, such as cancer (chemotherapy, radiation and the like), severe arthritis (physical therapy) and kidney disease (dialysis).
(6) Employees are required to give 30 days’ notice of the need for leave when the need for leave is foreseeable. If the need for leave is not foreseeable, the employee must give as much notice as is reasonably practical. An employee’s right to leave for a birth or placement for adoption or foster care expires at the end of the 12-month period beginning on the date of the birth or placement.
(7) Employees are required to give 30 days’ notice unless there is a medical emergency or unforeseen events. Where leave is necessary for planned medical treatment, the employee is required to make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment so as not to unduly disrupt the county’s operations.
(8) The 12 weeks’ leave may be taken consecutively, or intermittently if medically necessary. Employees needing intermittent FMLA leave must attempt to schedule their leave so as to not disrupt the county’s operations. The county reserves the right to assign the employee to an alternative position with equivalent pay and benefits during the period of intermittent leave if the position better accommodates the employee’s need for FMLA leave.
(9) (a) The county shall require that a claim for medical leave be supported by a medical care provider’s certification. To comply with this requirement, any employee requesting the leave will be provided with a copy of Form WH-380, Certification of Health Care Provider, developed and approved (March 1995) by the United States Department of Labor. In the event the county has reason to doubt the adequacy of the medical certification, the county may seek a second, non-binding opinion at the county’s expense.
(b) If that opinion differs from the opinion obtained by the employee, a third binding option can be obtained, at the county’s expense, from a health care provider agreed upon by both the employee and the county.
(10) (a) It is the policy of the county that employees shall be required to substitute accumulated paid leave for FMLA leave. Respectively, the employee shall utilize sick leave and vacation leave in place of unpaid leave.
(b) To the extent the employee does not have 12 weeks of accumulated leave, the remainder shall be unpaid leave.
(11) During the period of an employee’s FMLA leave, the county will continue to provide all health care benefits that are provided as part of the employee’s employment.
(12) (a) Upon return to work from FMLA leave, an employee shall be restored to the position he or she held when the leave began, or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment. In instances where an employee has taken FMLA leave due to personal illness, the employee will be required to provide certification from a medical care provider of the employee’s fitness to return to work.
(b) The county expressly reserves the right to deny the previous job to “key employees” in instances where the restoration would result in substantial and grievous economic injury to the county. KEY EMPLOYEE is defined as a salaried FMLA-eligible employee who is among the highest 10% of all county employees.
(2001 Code, § 31.108) (Ord. passed 1-14-2000)