175.27 LEAVES.

   (a)    Personal Leave - More Than Five Days. A personal leave of absence at the request of the employee may be granted upon the approval of the City in accordance with the rules established herein. An approved leave of absence will be required when the employee will be absent on the employee's own accord for more than five work days.

   Any request for excused absence for a period of five days or less may be granted by the employee's supervisor without the necessity of preparing formal leave papers. Request for leave of absence shall be in writing, in triplicate and shall be signed by the employee stating the reason for the leave. It shall be approved by the City. one copy shall be retained by the employee, and one copy by the Safety Director.

   (b)    Leave of Absence. With the approval of the Civil Service Commission, a leave of absence without pay may be granted for up to one year without loss of position by the employee. When an employee returns from an approved leave of absence the employee shall return to the position in the service from which the leave was granted or a comparable position.

   (c)    Loss of Fringe Benefits. An employee on an approved leave of absence shall continue to accumulate seniority during the period of the employee's absence. An employee on an approved leave of absence of ten working days in any calendar year or less shall have hospitalization, surgical insurance, prescription insurance and death benefit continued in force by the City. An employee on an approved leave of absence for more than ten working days in any calendar year shall not receive fringe benefits during the period of such leave; however, the employee may arrange to prepay through the office of the Finance Director the premiums necessary to continue the employee's hospitalization, surgical insurance and prescription insurance, during the period of time the employee is on leave.

   (d)    Falsification. No employee shall be granted a leave of absence for the purpose of entering employment for another employer or becoming self-employed. If a leave of absence is falsely obtained and the employee is found to be employed by another employer or to be self-employed while on leave, the employee shall be given the opportunity to resign from service with the City. If the employee fails or refuses to resign, then the employee will be discharged.

   (e)    Military Leave. An employee who is called or enlists into military service shall be placed on an approved leave of absence during the initial tour of duty. Upon discharge, the employee shall have ninety calendar days to report back to the City to be reassigned in accordance with the law. The employee shall accrue seniority while on such leave.

   (f)    Maternity Leave. A female employee of the City who has six months of seniority shall be granted maternity leave beginning sixty calendar days prior to the expected date of delivery. In the event the employee does not desire to go on leave at that time, she shall furnish the City with a statement from her attending physician indicating that the employee has the physician's approval to continue working. The employee may return to work

any time after the delivery of the child providing approval by her physician.

   If the employee has not taken more than a total of 120 calendar days of maternity leave either before or after the delivery date, then she shall be returned to her former position or a comparable position. In the event the employee desires more leave, she shall apply for such additional time as provided in subsection (b) herein.

   The employee shall be entitled to use as much of her accumulated sick pay as she desires and shall only be placed on leave of absence as provided herein when she is not being paid as provided above.
(Ord. 66-1977. Passed 4-25-77.)

   All P.S.T. employees, both female and male, shall be allowed to use up to ten days of accumulated sick leave as maternity leave, either before or after delivery, without such time being counted for purposes of determining bonus vacation time in accordance with Section 175.15.
(Ord. 228-2000. Passed 12-11-00.)

   (g)    Sick or Injury Leave. When an employee who is sick or has been injured and the employee has no sick days or injury pay left and extended sick or injury pay has not been granted, then the employee may apply for a leave of absence without pay as provided in subsection (b) herein. The request must be accompanied by the statement of attending physician verifying the necessity for such leave. The leave may be granted, with the approval of the Civil Service Commission, for more than ten working days, depending on the condition of the employee, not to exceed one year from the date the employee's sick pay or injury pay has been exhausted.

(Ord. 66-1977. Passed 4-25-77.)