135.03 VACATIONS.
(a) Vacation leave shall be granted to all qualified permanent employees of the City as further provided herein. Vacation leave shall accumulate for each permanent employee on a bi-weekly, pro rata basis, starting from the date of employment, and may be taken in that year or thereafter as may be approved by the employee’s department head. At the end of any given calendar year, an employee’s vacation balance shall not exceed three (3) times the employee’s current annual rate of accrual, and any further accumulated vacation leave not so taken shall lapse. When in the discretion of the Mayor, an employee’s absence from his duties would be detrimental to the City, the Mayor may authorize payment for vacation leave earned and not used.
(b) In time of emergency as determined by the Mayor, any department head shall have the authority to suspend or postpone vacation leave.
(c) All part-time permanent employees who work a minimum of twenty (20) hours per week on an annual basis, whether compensated by salary or by the hour, shall be granted annual vacations on a pro rata basis. At the end of any given calendar year, such employee’s vacation balance shall not exceed 160 hours, and any further accumulated vacation leave not so taken shall lapse.
(d) Accumulated vacation leave and personal earnings shall be payable upon an employee's death, in accordance with the laws of Ohio.
(e) In the year in which an employee retires, such retiree may take his full accumulated vacation time for that year or elect to be paid a lump sum for such accumulated vacation time and terminate his employment at such earlier date. In any event, the lump sum payment shall not exceed an amount equivalent to the value of three (3) times the employee’s annual rate of vacation accrual at the time of retirement.
(f) Annually, each full-time permanent employee for twelve (12) months continuous service shall be granted two (2) weeks vacation. Each full-time permanent employee with five (5) years or more cumulative service shall be granted three (3) weeks vacation, and with eleven (11) years or more of cumulative service shall be granted four (4) weeks vacation, and with seventeen (17) years or more of cumulative service shall be granted five (5) weeks vacation.
(g) Interpretations of this section, as may be required on a case-by-case basis, may be made by the Mayor, whose decision shall be final.
(h) The provisions set forth herein shall not apply to any employee of the City who is a member of a collective bargaining unit with which the City has a written collective bargaining agreement. (Ord. 94-169. Enacted 9-26-94.)