§ 32.32 PAID TIME OFF.
   (A)   Paid time off for civilian employees.
      (1)   PTO eligibility. Regular full-time, civilian employees are eligible for paid time off (“PTO”) in accordance with the policy provided for in this section.
      (2)   PTO accrual. Eligible employees start accruing PTO time at the beginning of employment. The PTO accrual amount is based on years of service. Following the first calendar year of employment, PTO time is allotted on January 1 of each year in accordance with the following schedule:
Length of Service
Accrued PTO Amounts
Length of Service
Accrued PTO Amounts
Hire date: January 1 - June 30 (1st year)
20 days/160 hours
Hire date: July 1 - December 31 (1st year)
10 days/80 hours
January 1 - (2nd year)
25 days/200 hours
January 1 - (3rd year - 6th year)
25.5 days/204 hours
January 1 - (7th year)
26 days/208 hours
January 1 - (8th year)
27 days/216 hours
January 1 - (9th year)
28 days/224 hours
January 1 - (10th year)
29 days/232 hours
January 1 - (11th year)
30 days/240 hours
January 1 - (12th year)
31 days/248 hours
January 1 - (13th year)
32 days/256 hours
January 1 - (14th year)
33 days/264 hours
January 1 - (15th year)
34 days/272 hours
January 1 - (16th year)
35 days/280 hours
January 1 - (17th year)
36 days/288 hours
January 1 - (18th year)
37 days/296 hours
January 1 - (19th year)
38 days/304 hours
January 1 - (20th year)
39 days/312 hours
January 1 - (21st year and above)
40 days/320 hours
 
      (3)   Civilian PTO usage. PTO is available to be used after 90 days of employment. Employees may not use PTO time until after completion of their initial 90 days of employment. PTO time may be used for a variety of reasons, including personal days, vacation, and personal illness. PTO time will be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay earned at the time the PTO is used, excluding any amounts earned for overtime, bonuses, incentives, and the like. Employees must schedule PTO in advance with their supervisor or department head, unless using PTO for unexpected illness. In general, employees should seek approval for planned absences at least 30 days in advance. Employees may not use more than ten PTO days at one time without approval from an elected official. PTO requests will be granted to the extent feasible, depending on staffing and business needs.
      (4)   Reserve banks.
         (a)   Beginning January 1, 2022, employees will be provided a reserve bank for certain unused PTO time to be used only in accordance with this PTO policy. Reserve bank time may be used only during approved FMLA leave or during an approved leave of absence. Usage of reserve bank time for a non-FMLA reason must be approved by a department head and Human Resources.
         (b)   At the end of each calendar year beginning in 2022. up to 120 hours of unused PTO time may be converted into the reserve bank. The reserve bank has a maximum balance of480 hours. At no time may the reserve bank contain more than 480 hours.
      (5)   No rollover. To the extent the employee has unused PTO time that cannot be converted to the reserve bank, any remaining, unused PTO time will be forfeited. Moreover, once the reserve bank reaches 480 hours, any unused PTO time not converted will be forfeited. Unused PTO time does not carryover from year to year, and any PTO time not used during the calendar year or converted to the reserve bank will be forfeited. No payouts will be provided for unused PTO time at the end of the year.
      (6)   Separation of employment.
         (a)   Involuntary termination. Employees who are involuntarily terminated from employment for any reason are not eligible for and will not receive a payout for any unused PTO time or reserve bank time. Any unused PTO time or reserve bank time existing at the time of termination will be forfeited.
         (b)   Voluntary termination. Employees who voluntarily resign or are voluntarily terminated from employment in good standing will receive a pay out of PTO time in accordance with the schedule below. Any unused PTO time in excess of the below percentages will not be paid out and will be forfeited. Employees with ten years or more of service at the time of their voluntary termination are also eligible to receive 10% of their unused reserve bank time in existence as of the date of separation. Employees with less than ten years of service at the time of separation are not eligible for a payout of reserve bank time, and any reserve bank time remaining at separation will be forfeited.
 
QUARTER
DATE OF LAST DAY WORKED
PERCENT OF ACCRUED, UNUSED PTO PAID OUT
Quarter 1
January 1 - March 31
25%
Quarter 2
April 1 - June 30
50%
Quarter 3
July 1 - September 30
75%
Quarter 4
October 1 - December 31
100%
 
      (7)   Borrowed leave. PTO time may not be taken if an employee does not have sufficient accrued PTO time at the time of usage. PTO time may not be borrowed in advance from subsequent years. Additionally, employees may not share or borrow PTO time with other employees.
   (B)   Paid time off for the Police Department.
      (1)   Policy.
         (a)   It shall be the policy of the Police Department to grant employees their earned paid time off within the guideline as established by this section. Earned paid time off will be determined by years of service by each individual employee and will include the holidays that are determined by the Mayor prior to the beginning of the year.
         (b)   Employees must schedule PTO in advance with their supervisor or Chief of Police, unless using PTO for unexpected illness.
         (c)   Patrol officers required to work on certain holidays, as listed below, will be paid time and a half for that shift. The holiday where the officer is paid time and a half will be on the shift that starts on that particular holiday. The time and a half pay for working the below listed holidays will be for patrol officers only and will not include administration, support personnel or detectives.
         (d)   The following holidays will be honored for receiving time and a half pay. Additionally, the holidays listed below will be honored on the actual holiday and may not coincide with the dates listed on the City of New Haven Holiday Schedule.
            1.   New Year’s Day (January 1).
            2.   Memorial Day (varies).
            3.   Independence Day (July 4).
            4.   Labor Day (varies).
            5.   Thanksgiving Day (varies).
            6.   Christmas Day (December 25).
      (2)   Procedures.
         (a)   Seniority paid time off.
            1.   Seniority paid time off will apply to requested days within the time period of April 1 through January 1 of the following year.
            2.   Requests for days within the time period of January 2 through March 31 will be granted on a first come first served basis with requests submitted no more than six months in advance. Seniority for this time period will only be considered when duplicate requests are received on the same day.
            3.   On or about January 15 of each calendar year, the shift sergeant will begin the process of scheduling seniority paid time off requests.
            4.   The process will begin with the most senior patrol officer submitting his or her paid time off request and continue, based on department seniority, until all officers have had the opportunity to make their request. Shift sergeants discretion as to timeline.
            5.   Individual officers will have the opportunity to view the schedule for available days prior to actually submitting their request.
            6.   Officers will only be able to schedule up to 75% of their paid time off during the seniority bid.
            7.   Requests must be for full eight-hour shifts and cannot exceed two full consecutive rotations. Requests must reflect the officer returning for a full four-day rotation after scheduling two full rotations off.
            8.   Officers will not be allowed to make changes to their request (add or delete days) until the process has been completed.
            9.   The process has been completed when the last officer for that shift has made his or her request and it has been scheduled.
            10.   Only one officer will be allowed off per shift using scheduled paid time off.
         (b)   Non-seniority paid time off.
            1.   Once the seniority paid time off process has been completed, officers will have the opportunity to schedule any paid time off they have earned, based on availability, on a first come first served basis.
            2.   These requests will not be subject to seniority unless duplicate requests are submitted on the same day.
         (c)   Sick call in.
            1.   PTO will be used for personal illness.
            2.   Employees calling in sick shall contact New Haven Police Communications reporting the absence. New Haven Communications will then transfer the caller to the voicemail box of the Chief of Police. New Haven Communications shall then notify command on-call of the absence.
            3.   An employee who is off due to sick call in is in-eligible to work any off-duty employment for 24 hours following the call in.
            4.   An employee who is off due to sick call in is ineligible to utilize a Police Department take home vehicle for 24 hours following the call in.
(Ord. G-98-11, passed 9-8-1998; Ord. G-09-01, passed 2-10-2009; Ord. A-16-05, passed 10-11-2016; Ord. A-17-08, passed 10-24-2017; Ord. A-19-18, passed 10-22-2019; Ord. G-21-29, passed 1-4-2022)