(a) Eligible employees (those who have worked for the City at least twelve [12] months and for at least one thousand two hundred fifty [1,250] hours during the year preceding the requested leave) are entitled to take up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid leave during any twelve (12)-month period from the first day leave was taken. This leave may be used:
(1) For incapacity due to pregnancy, prenatal medical care or child birth;
(2) To care for the employee’s child after child birth or after placement for adoption or foster care;
(3) To care for the employee’s spouse, son, daughter or parent, who has a serious health condition; or
(4) For a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the job.
Military Family Leave Entitlement. Eligible employees with a spouse, son, daughter, or parent on active duty in a foreign country or called to active duty status for deployment in a foreign country in the Armed Forces, including in the National Guard or Reserves, may use their twelve (12)-week leave entitlement to address certain qualifying exigencies. Qualifying exigencies may include attending certain military events, arranging for alternative child or parent care, addressing certain financial and legal arrangements, attending certain counseling sessions, attending post-deployment reintegration briefings, and spending time with a military member on Rest and Recuperation leave (maximum of fifteen [15] calendar days).
FMLA also includes a special leave entitlement that permits eligible employees to take up to twenty-six (26) weeks of leave to care for a covered current service member or veteran during a single twelve (12)-month period. A covered current service member is a current member of the Armed Forces, including a member of the National Guard or Reserves, who has a serious injury or illness incurred or aggravated in the line of duty. A covered veteran is an individual who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable during the five (5)-year period (not including 10-28-09 through 3-8-13) before the first date the eligible employee takes FMLA leave to care for the veteran, and who has a serious injury or illness incurred or aggravated in the line of duty or related to military service, subject to certain conditions.
(b) All leave (paid or unpaid) taken for Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) reasons shall be counted against the employee’s annual FMLA leave entitlement.
(c) When leave is foreseeable, employees must provide at least thirty (30) days advance notice, in writing, to their department heads. This requirement can be waived with the approval of the City Manager. If thirty (30) days’ notice is not practicable, then the employee must provide as much notice as is practicable and generally must comply with the required call-in procedure. The initial notice must provide sufficient information for the City to determine if the leave may qualify for FMLA protection. An employee shall complete a leave of absence application form, available from their supervisor, when requesting leave, or as soon after that as is practicable. The employee must list on this form the reasons for the requested leave, the expected start of the leave, and the expected length of the leave. If the employee is requesting intermittent leave or a reduced leave schedule, the employee shall state the reasons why the intermittent leave or a reduced leave schedule is medically necessary and the schedule of treatment. (Intermittent leave and reduced leave schedule are not available for birth or adoption leaves.) The employee must also state if the requested leave is for a reason for which FMLA leave was previously taken or certified.
The City will designate the leave as FMLA or not and so notify the employee. If the employee disagrees, the employee should inform the City immediately. If the employee appears to be eligible, the City will notify the employee of any additional information required, the amount of leave counted against the employee’s leave entitlement and the employee’s rights and responsibilities. If the employee is not eligible, the City will provide the reason.
(d) An employee requesting leave to care for the employee’s spouse, child or parent, or due to the employee’s own serous health condition, must submit a medical certification completed by the health care provider of the employee or the employee’s ill family member, demonstrating the need for the leave. The City will provide a form for this. When the duration of the condition listed in the original certification is thirty (30) days, or less, if the employee’s leave (whether full time, intermittent, or on a reduced schedule) is beyond thirty (30) days, then a new medical certification shall be required after thirty (30) days, and each thirty (30) days after that. When the duration of the condition listed in the original certification exceeds thirty (30) days, a new medical certification shall be required if the employee’s leave is beyond the specified duration or every six (6) months, whichever occurs first. A second opinion may be required, at the City’s expense. If the opinions are conflicting, a third opinion, at the City’s expense, may also be required.
(e) Definition of Serious Health Condition. A “serious health condition” is an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either an overnight stay in a medical care facility, or continuing treatment by a health care provider for a condition that either prevents the employee from performing the functions of the employee’s job, or prevents the qualified family member from participating in school or other daily activities.
Subject to certain conditions, the continuing treatment requirement may be met by a period of incapacity of more than three (3) consecutive calendar days combined with at least two (2) visits to a health care provider or one (1) visit and a regimen of continuing treatment, or incapacity due to pregnancy, or incapacity due to a chronic condition. Other conditions may meet the definition of continuing treatment.
(f) Employees are entitled to maintain their health insurance coverage during FMLA leave, provided that they continue to pay their share of premium costs and meet other conditions of the coverage required for all employees. Failure to pay premiums within thirty (30) days of the due date will result in the cancellation of coverage, although coverage will be reinstated upon the employee’s return to work, subject to insurance eligibility.
(g) All family and medical leaves are without pay, except to the extent paid leave is available. If an employee’s reason for applying for FMLA leave qualifies for the use of sick leave, said employee shall be required to use paid sick leave. In all leave requests under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the employee shall be required to use any available paid leave, including vacation, while on FMLA leave, and the paid leave counts against the twelve (12)-week entitlement. At the discretion of the City Manager, an employee may have a total accrued balance of up to 80 hours of paid leave, unless the employee elects to utilize the full extent (12 weeks) of FMLA, at which point, the paid balance must be exhausted. The employee shall not have the option of using paid sick leave for non-medically related or non-sick leave qualifying leave. Employees will not accrue sick leave or vacation when on unpaid FMLA leave.
(h) While on FMLA leave, employees shall contact their supervisors at least once per month and indicate their intentions to return to work as scheduled. Employees must inform their supervisors of the date they will be able to return to work, no later than one (1) week in advance whenever practicable. An employee on medical leave due to the employee’s own serious health condition must, as a condition to returning to work, submit a medical certificate releasing the employee to return to their job. Upon return from FMLA leave, employees must be restored to their original or equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefit or other employment terms.
(i) All leaves which may be available or taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act are subject to the restrictions, limitations and conditions provided in that law and any valid regulations promulgated under it. An employee who believes their FMLA rights have been violated may file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor or may bring a private lawsuit against an employer. FMLA does not affect any Federal or State law prohibiting discrimination, or supersede any State or local law or collective bargaining agreement which provides greater family or medical leave rights.
FMLA makes it unlawful for any employer to:
* Interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of any right provided under FMLA;
* Discharge or discriminate against any person for opposing any practice made unlawful by FMLA or for involvement in any proceeding under or relating to FMLA.
(j) All requests for FMLA leave must be approved by the City Manager or designee. Records of FMLA leave will be kept and recorded in accordance with procedures established by the Human Resources Department. The City may require any certificate permitted by FMLA.
(Ord. A-2065. Passed 12-23-96; Ord. A-2164. Passed 4-26-99; Ord. A-2594. Passed 12-8-08; Ord. A-2630. Passed 12-14-09; Ord. A-2778. Passed 12-9-13; Ord. A-3111. Passed 11-28-22.)