(a) Generally. Full-time employees other than Fire and Police Department personnel shall be credited with one day of sick leave for each completed month of work. One work day is equivalent to eight hours. There shall be no limit on the number of sick days which may be accumulated by the employee.
(b) Fire and Police Department Personnel. Full-time Fire Department personnel shall be credited with one-third shift of sick leave for each completed month of work. Full-time Police personnel shall be credited with two-thirds of a shift leave for each completed month of work. The credited amount shall equal eight hours of sick leave for each completed month of work. There shall be no limit on the number of sick days which may be accumulated by the employee. (Ord. 2059. Passed 3-3-05.)
(c) Minimum Charge. The minimum charge against sick leave shall be one-half day, and additional leave shall be charged in multiples thereof. Absences of less than one-half day shall be recorded and shall be charged in multiples of a half-day as they accumulate. Fire Department personnel shall be charged one-third shift in lieu of one-half day.
(d) Termination. When the services of an employee have been terminated, all sick leave credited to him shall be cancelled as of his last working day with the City.
(e) Reinstatement. Any accumulated sick leave may be reinstated if a permanent employee is reinstated to the City within a period of one year from the date of separation.
(f) Grounds. Sick leave shall be granted to full-time employees for the following reasons:
(1) Illness on the part of or injury to the employee, incapacitating him for duty;
(2) Illness in the immediate family of such a critical nature as to require the presence of the employee;
(3) Exposure to a contagious disease and determination by his department head that the presence on duty of the employee may jeopardize the health of others;
(4) Illness due to pregnancy, under the same conditions applying to any illness. A pregnant employee may work as long as her physician and her department head determine her physically able to perform the duties of her position. The employee may return to duty at such time as her physician certifies that she may resume employment; or
(5) Routine dental and medical appointments for treatment or examination.
(g) Leave of Absence Without Pay. No sick leave shall be earned during a leave of absence without pay.
(h) Occupational Injury. Days absent due to injury which is termed as compensable by the Worker's Compensation Commission shall be stated as occupational injury and shall not be deducted from accrued sick leave.
(i) Excessive Loss of Work Time.
(1) Every employee shall be able to work regularly without excessive loss of work time due to illness or injury incurred off the job.
(2) Excessive loss of work time due to illness, injury or other reasons shall be considered as basis for dismissal.
(3) Department heads shall dismiss employees whose excessive absence from work is equivalent to poor performance of their assigned duties.
(j) Records; Monthly Reports. Department heads shall be solely responsible for maintaining an accurate record of the leave taken by each employee in their respective departments. These reports shall be forwarded to the Mayor's office at the end of each month for review.
(k) Notice to Department Head. Any employee absent for work under sick leave provisions shall report the reason for such absence to their department head within one hour before their scheduled starting time. Failure of any City employee to report, as outlined above, shall result in forfeiture of payment of that claimed sick leave.
(l) Doctor's Certificate. A doctor's certificate shall be required for an employee to be paid for more than three working days' absence in a calendar year, unless otherwise excused; provided, that the Mayor, the department head or the supervisor may, if he deems it necessary, visit the employee at his residence. In the event the Mayor, the department head or the supervisor, after visitation, questions the employee's absence, as to whether it was due to illness or injury, the Mayor, department head or supervisor may require the employee to present to them a doctor's certificate covering the illness or injury. In such cases, unless the doctor's certificate states that the illness or injury was not caused by misconduct and was sufficient to render the employee incapable of performing his regularly scheduled duties, the employee shall be subject to having his pay withheld for the time he was absent and shall also be subject to disciplinary action.
(Ord. 1970. Passed 10-21-99.)