A. Sick leave is provided for employees covered under plan “A” as insurance against loss of income when an employee is unable to perform assigned duties because of illness or injury. The mayor may establish rules governing the interfacing of sick leave and workers’ compensation benefits and avoiding, to the extent allowable by law, duplicative payments.
B. Sick leave hours may be used on the first day of the pay period following the period in which the hours are accrued.
C. Each full-time employee accrues sick leave at a rate of 4.62 hours per pay period. For any plan year in which there are 27 pay periods, no sick leave hours will be awarded on the 27th pay period. Authorized and unused sick leave may be accumulated from year to year, subject to the limitations of this plan.
1. Sick Leave Accrual for Fire Battalion Chiefs – Each covered employee shall be entitled to 15 days of sick leave each calendar year, except for members of the Combat Division who shall be entitled to 7.5 shifts of sick leave each calendar year. The City shall credit a covered employee’s sick leave account in a lump sum (either 15 days or7.5 shifts) during the first month of each calendar year. Authorized and unused sick leave may be accumulated from year to year subject to the limitations of this plan.
D. Under this plan “A,” full-time employees who have accumulated 240 hours of sick leave may choose to convert up to 64 hours of the sick leave earned and unused during any given year to vacation. Any sick leave used during the calendar year reduces the allowable conversion by an equal amount .
1. Sick Leave Conversion for Fire Battalion Chiefs – Fire Battalion Chiefs who have accumulated 15 shifts (for combat employees), or 240 hours (for non-combat employees) may choose to convert a portion of the year sick leave grant from any given year to vacation, as follows—
Number of Sick Leave Shifts Used During Previous Calendar Year (Combat Only) | Number of Sick Leave Shifts Available for Conversion (Combat Only) |
No shifts used | 5 shifts |
One shift used | 4 shifts |
Two shifts used | 3shifts
|
Three shifts used | 2 shifts
|
Four shifts used | 1 shift |
(Five or more shifts used | No shifts
|
Number of Sick Leave Shifts Used During Previous Calendar Year (Support Only) | Number of Sick Leave Shifts Available for Conversion (Support Only) |
No days used | 9 days |
One day used | 8 days |
Two days used | 7 days |
Three days used | 6 days |
Four days used | 5 days |
Five (5) or more days used | 0 days |
E. Conversion at the maximum allow able hours will be made unless the employee elects otherwise. Any election by an employee for no conversion, or to convert less than the maximum allowable sick leave hours to vacation time, must be made by notifying the employee’s personnel/payroll administrator, in writing, not later than the second pay period of the new calendar year (or the November vacation draw for Fire Battalion Chiefs). Otherwise, the opportunity to waive conversion or elect conversion other than the maximum allowable amount shall be deemed waived for that calendar year. In no event shall sick leave days be converted from other than the current year's sick leave allocation.
F. Any sick leave hours, properly converted to vacation benefits as above described, must be taken before any other vacation hours to which the employee is entitled, however, in no event is an employee, upon the employee’s separation from employment, entitled to any pay or compensation for any sick leave converted to vacation. An employee forfeits any sick leave converted to vacation remaining unused at the date of separation from employment.