250.05   VACATIONS.
   (a)   All full-time employee shall earn vacation according to the schedule set out below based on the employee's anniversary date of service with the City of Mentor-on-the-Lake. Such time may be used as it is earned upon approval of the department head except as set out below in the first year.
   Years of Completed            Entitlement
            Service            Maximum Accrual Computation
Less than one year               -0-
First year through fifth year            3.1 hours for each 80 hours in active pay status
Sixth year through tenth year         4.6 hours for each 80 hours in active pay status
Eleventh year through eighteen year      6.2 hours for each 80 hours in active pay status
Nineteenth year through twenty-fifth year   7.7 hours for each 80 hours in active pay status
More than twenty-five years of service   9.2 hours for each 80 hours in active pay status
   (b)   Upon successful completion of the first year of service with the City of Mentor- on-the-Lake, the employee shall have earned and will be eligible to use vacation based on the 3.1 hours for each 80 hours in the active pay status.
   (c)   No vacation leave shall be credited for overtime hours worked. Employees working less than their normally scheduled work hours in a given bi-weekly pay period shall be credited proportionate to the total number of hours of active pay status during the respective pay period.
   (d)   Vacation hours shall be cumulative without limit. Effective January 1, 2016, earned vacation time within the calendar year shall be used in the current calendar year for those employees that have at least 300 hours of accumulated vacation time. Unused current year’s vacation earnings will not carry over to the next calendar year. Upon separation of employment with the City, the employee shall be entitled to compensation at his or her current rate of pay for any earned but unused vacation, but not to exceed 40 hours in excess of his or her current accrued compensation step as defined in subsection (a) hereof.
   (e)   Vacation preferences shall be given based upon seniority. Requests for vacation scheduling should be submitted no later than March 1. Any holiday falling on and observed on a regular workday during an employee's vacation period shall not be charged as a day of vacation.
   (f)   Employment service accumulated at another governmental agency will be credited in computing vacation entitlements, provided that there has not been more than a 30-day period between employment with the previous governmental agency and employment with the City.
   (g)   Death of an employee shall result in the payment of any accrued vacation time to be paid to the employee's spouse or the employee's estate.
   (h)   A full-time employee with an accrued vacation balance in excess of 300 hours may elect to cash-in up to one week (40 hours) of accrued vacation time once per year. The employee's notice of intent to cash-in vacation hours must be submitted to Finance no later than December 1 of each calendar year. At no time may the redemption of vacation time cause the employee's accrued vacation balance to be less than 300 hours.
(Ord. 91-O-07. Passed 3-26-91; Ord. 98-O-22. Passed 12-8-98; Ord. 2000-O-09. Passed 4-11-00; Ord. 2004-O-06. Passed 3-9-04; Ord. 2011-O-08. Passed 3-22-11; Ord. 2015-O-09. Passed 3-24-15; Ord. 2021-O-14. Passed 7-27-21.)