A. Employees hired on or after November 16, 1997, shall receive personal leave benefits under plan B. Employees who were hired before November 16, 1997, shall participate in plan B if they so elected during any city-established election period occurring after 1998.
B. The benefit plan year of plan “B” begins in each calendar year on November 1. Under this plan “B,” paid personal leave shall be provided for employees as insurance against loss of income when an employee needs to be absent from work because of illness or injury, to care for a dependent, or for any other emergency or personal reason. Where the leave is not related to the employee’s own illness or disability—or an event that qualifies under the FMLA—a personal leave request is subject to supervisory approval based on the operational requirements of the city and any policies regarding the use of such leave adopted by the department in which the employee works.
C. Each full-time employee under plan “B” shall be awarded personal leave hours based on the following schedule:
Months of Consecutive Service | Hours of Personal Leave |
Less than 6 months | 40 |
Less than 24 months | 60 |
24 or more months | 80 |
D. Employees hired during the plan year are provided personal leave on a prorated basis.
E. Not later than the Third Friday of October of each calendar year, employees covered by plan “B” may elect, to update their election in Workday or fill out the Personal Leave Allocation form:
1. Convert any unused personal leave hours available as of October 31 to a lump sum payment equal to the following: For each converted hour, the employee will be paid 50 percent of the employee’s regular hourly base wage rate (not including acting pay) in effect on the date of conversion. In no event will total pay hereunder exceed 40 hours of pay (80 hours at 50%); or.
2. Carryover to the next calendar year up to 80 unused personal leave hours; or,
3. Convert a portion of unused personal leave hours to a lump sum cash payment as provided in subparagraph e(i) above, and carry over a portion as provided in subparagraph e(ii)), above.
F. Maximum Accrual. A maximum of 80 hours of personal leave may be carried over to the next plan year. Any personal leave hours unused at the end of the plan year in excess of 80 will be converted to a lump sum cash payment that will be included in the regular payroll that pays on the second pay date in November as provided in subparagraph e(i) above.
G. Conditions on Use of Personal Leave include:
1. Personal Leave hours may be used starting on the first day of November.
2. Minimum use of personal leave, with supervisory approval, must be in no less than quarter- hour increments.
3. Except in unforeseen circumstances, such as emergencies or the employee’s inability to work due to their illness or accident, or an unforeseen FMLA-qualifying event, an employee must provide their supervisor with prior notice to allow time for the supervisors to make arrangements necessary to cover the employee’s work.
iv. For leave due to unforeseen circumstances, the employee must give their supervisors as much prior notice as possible.
H. Termination Benefits. An employee separating from employment may not exhaust more than 80 hours of any combination of accrued vacation, personal leave, or banked (holiday or vacation) leave prior to their last day of employment. At termination of employment for any reason, accumulated unused personal leave hours, minus any adjustment necessary after calculating the “prorated amount,” shall be paid to the employee at 50 percent of the regular hourly base wage rate (not including acting pay) on the date of termination for each unused hour. For purposes of this paragraph, “prorated amount” shall mean the amount of personal leave credited at the beginning of the plan year, multiplied by the ratio of the number of pay periods worked in the plan year (rounded to the end of the pay period which includes the separation date) to 26 pay periods. If the employee, at the time of separation, has used personal leave in excess of the prorated amount, the value of the excess amount shall be reimbursed to the city and may be deducted from the employee’s paycheck.