161.10 SICK LEAVE.

   (a)   Sick Leave Accumulation. Sick leave with pay shall accrue at the rate of one and one quarter working days of leave for each full calendar month of the employee's service. Accrued but unused sick leave credits will be accrued forth each year and such accumulation shall be unlimited.

   (b)   Sick Leave Credits When Off Duty. Employees absent from work on regular holidays, vacation, disability arising from injuries sustained during the course of their employment, or special leave of absence with pay, such as FMLA when being paid shall continue to accumulate sick leave at the regular prescribed rate during such absence.

   (c)   Qualifications for Sick Leave. An employee eligible for sick leave with pay shall be granted such leave for the following reasons:

      (1)   Personal illness. Sickness or physical incapacity resulting from causes beyond the employee's control.

      (2)   Quarantine leave. Enforced quarantine of the employee in accordance with community health regulations.
(Ord. 29-1991. Passed 2-28-91.)

      (3)   Family sick leave. The illness, injury or pregnancy related conditions of a member of the employee's immediate family where the employee's presence is reasonably necessary for the health and welfare of the employee's family member.
(Ord. 53-1998. Passed 6-25-98.)

      (4)   For the purpose of sick leave an employee's family is defined as an employee's spouse, parents, children, spouse's children, step-children, grandparents, siblings, grandchildren, mother-in-law, father-in-law or a legal guardian or the other person who stands in place of a parent.

   (d)   Notification/Approval of Sick Leave.

      (1)   Notice required. An employee not reporting for work on account of any of the reasons stated above shall inform his superior of the fact and reason thereof as soon as possible and prior to the time the work period begins.

      (2)   Application on special form. Before any payment is made pursuant to the provisions of this section, the employee shall submit to his/her immediate Supervisor written application thereof on forms to be furnished by the City.

      (3)   Doctor’s certificate may be required. Sick leave pay or disability leave in excess of three working days shall be granted only after presentation of a written statement from a physician (City provided form), certifying that the employee’s condition prevented him from performing the duties of his position. If the illness or physical incapacity continues more than seven days, weekly reports must be made by the physician. If the illness or incapacity is of sufficient duration, the City may require, as a condition for reemployment, a physician’s statement certifying that the employee is physically able to return to work.

   (e)   When Earned Sick Leave is Exhausted. Whenever absence chargeable to sick leave exceeds the amount earned and authorized, the pay of an employee shall be discontinued until he returns to work. However, an employee with vacation credit may, upon written request, use all or part of his vacation credit as sick leave with pay.

   (f)   Illness or Injury While Off Duty. If an employee becomes ill or injured while on vacation or holiday, he may, by written request and by complying with and qualify under the provisions of this section, have his vacation status changed to sick leave for the duration of such illness or injury providing he does not exceed his sick leave credit.

   (g)   Reemployment Credit. An employee who is laid off from his position for reasons which do not discredit him and, if reappointed, may have available any unused sick leave existing at the time of his lay-off, as allowable by law.

   (h)   Retirement/Termination of Employment.  

      (1)   Retirement/death. An employee, at the time of retirement or disability retirement from active service with the Municipality, or at his/her death, shall be paid in cash, forty percent (40%) of the value of his accrued but unused sick leave credit to a limit of a maximum of forty-eight days (384 hours). Such payment shall be based on the employee’s rate of payment at the time of retirement or death, and shall be made only once to an employee or his/her heirs.

         As used in this section, “retirement” is defined as “disability or service retirement under any State or municipal retirement system in this State”.

      (2)   Service retirement. An employee, other than Safety Force Command Staff, who has a combined service credit of ten years or more with any state, county or local subdivision and is anticipating early “retirement”, will be entitled to cash out forty percent (40%) of their accrued but unused sick leave, to a limit of a maximum of forty-eight (48) days (384 hours), only for sick leave accumulated while employed by the City of Macedonia. Safety Force Command Staff shall be entitled to cash out of the percentage of their accrued but unused sick leave, up to the maximum hours, as set forth in any collective bargaining agreement entered into with a bargaining unit within their respective department. An employee shall receive payment under this section with the understanding that his/her records will indicate such and that, in the event of reemployment with another public entity, there will be no accrued sick leave for purposes of transfer to the other agency.

         As used in this section and subsections (j) and (l) below, “Safety Force Command Staff” is defined to include the Police Chief and Fire Chief as well as the Police Lieutenant and Assistant Fire Chief so long as those positions remain outside of any collective bargaining unit.

      (3)   Termination other than retirement. An employee, with less than ten years of active service with the City of Macedonia will be entitled to be paid twenty-five percent (25%) of their accrued unused sick leave, to a limit of a maximum of thirty days (240 hours) only for sick leave accumulated while employed by the City of Macedonia. An employee shall receive payment under this section with the understanding that his/her records will indicate such and that, in the event of reemployment with another public entity, there will be no accrued sick leave for purposes of transfer to the other agency.

   (i)   Abuse of Sick Leave; Unexcused Absence. Any abuse of sick leave shall be just and sufficient cause for disciplinary action which may include suspension and or dismissal.

      (1)   Through sick leave, the City accommodates employees who, due to personal or immediate family illness, cannot report to work. However, sick leave is not to be used as additional vacation or personal leave. Employees found abusing sick leave privileges will be subject to disciplinary action as outlined in this section.

      (2)   To control absence, it is necessary that all Department Heads compile accurate attendance records. All absences are to be reported by the employee prior to the start of the employee’s work shift. If an employee does not notify the employer through their supervisor of an absence, they will be considered AWOL. The supervisor must inform his/her employees where, when, and whom to call when reporting their absence. The date of absence and the reason for the absence must be accurately recorded on the employee’s attendance record. Attendance records should include such details as:

         A.   Reasons for absence.

         B.   Time of notification.

         C.   Name of person reporting an absence.

         D.   Copies of correspondence such as warnings, etc.

      (3)   Examples of patterns of abuse:

         A.   Absences occurring repetitively before or after weekends or holidays.

         B.   Absences occurring repetitively immediately before or after pay days.

         C.   Absences occurring repetitively when difficult jobs or assignments are scheduled.

         D.   Absenteeism causing individual work performance and/or operational needs to suffer.

         E.   Absences occurring repetitively during certain times of the month or year.

         F.   Absences amounting to 100 hours in a single year or absences amounting to more than 64 hours per year for two consecutive years for 40 hours a week employees, pro-rated for employees who work less.

      (4)   An employee’s accumulated sick leave balance will be a component in assessing a pattern of abuse.

      (5)   If employee’s Department Head has determined that an employee has established a pattern of abuse, he or she shall be notified in writing and required to bring in a doctor’s certificate for the next twelve (12) months for any days reporting off sick.

   (j)   Sick Leave Incentive. Any full-time employee who does not use any sick leave within a calendar quarter, shall receive four hours of compensatory time for that quarter, except that Safety Force Command Staff shall receive the number of hours of compensatory time for that quarter as set forth in any collective bargaining agreement entered into with the bargaining unit within their respective departments.

   (k)   Prior Service. An employee who transfers from one public agency to the City of Macedonia as a full-time employee shall be credited with the unused balance of his/her accumulated sick leave up to a maximum of 960 sick hours. The City of Macedonia shall require an employee to furnish written documentation.

   (l)   Sick Leave Carryover Options. With approval of the Mayor, a full-time or part-time employee who is credited with sick leave, may elect one of the following options with respect to sick leave credit of over 960 hours remaining at the end of the year:

      (1)   Carry forward the balance.

      (2)   Receive a cash benefit. Except for Safety Force Command Staff, the cash benefit shall equal .4 hour of the employee’s base rate of pay for every one hour of unused credit that is converted. The balance of unused sick leave shall not be below the 960 hour limit. The maximum number of hours which can be “cashed out” will not exceed 100 hours per year. Safety Force Command Staff shall be entitled to receive a cash benefit and maximum hours equal to that set forth in any collective bargaining agreement entered into with a bargaining unit within their respective departments.

      (3)   Carry forward a portion of the balance and receive a cash benefit for the remainder. The cash benefit shall be calculated in the same manner as specified in subsection (l)(2).

      (4)   The Mayor shall establish the procedures to allow employees to indicate the option that will be selected. Included within the procedures shall be the final date by which notification is to be made to the Mayor concerning the option selected. Failure to comply with the date will result in the automatic carry forward of unused balances.

      (5)   Cash benefits will be paid the same pay period that includes the last day of December.

      (6)   Balances carried forward are excluded from further cash benefits provided under this section.

      (7)   An employee who separates during the year shall not be eligible for cash benefits provided under this section.
(Ord. 111-2004. Passed 12-9-04; Ord. 35-2021. Passed 6-10-21.).)