For all types of leaves with the exception of VESSA leave, the Elected Official/Department Head may require employees to use vacation, sick leave, comp time or any other type of accumulated or accrued benefits before the employee is placed on leave without pay status.
(A) Holidays and Vacations. All non-union full-time employees shall be entitled to the following paid holidays each year: New Year's Day; Good Friday; Memorial Day; Fourth of July; Labor Day; Veteran's Day; Thanksgiving Day; the Friday following Thanksgiving; Christmas Eve Day; Christmas Day, and each such employee shall have a paid holiday on such employee's birthday. To the extent that this provision contradicts any existing employee contracts, the employee contracts shall prevail. (Ord. No. 1548; 09-27-10)
All the foregoing full-time employees shall be entitled to vacation leave with pay as follows: ten (10) days after the anniversary date of one (1) year of normal, continuous, and uninterrupted service to the City by the employee; and fifteen (15) days after the anniversary day of eight (8) years of normal, continuous, and uninterrupted service to the City by the employee; and twenty (20) days after the anniversary date of eighteen (18) years of normal, continuous, and uninterrupted service to the City by the employee. The corporate authorities of the City, by motion or resolution, may allow earned vacation time to accumulate when it is in the best interest of the City. To the extent that this provision contradicts any existing employee contracts, the existing employee contracts shall prevail.
Part-time employees are excluded from the provisions of this subsection. Computation of normal, continuous, and uninterrupted service, for purpose of this subsection, shall not include service rendered prior to any severance of employment from this City. Employees as used in this subsection shall include the Director of Public Works and the department supervisors as defined in this Code. To the extent that this provision contradicts any existing employee contracts, the existing employee contracts shall prevail. (Ord. No. 1141; 04-26-99)
(B) Sick Leave. All non-union full-time employees shall be allowed thirteen (13) days of sick leave, of which three (3) may be used as personal days, in each year without any reduction in their respective salaries. After being off work and taking three (3) continuous sick days, the employee shall not be able to return to work without a doctor's excuse. (Ord. No. 1141; 04-26-99)
Restrictions. Sick leave shall not be used for the purposes of an extended vacation, weekend or holiday. Sick leave cannot be used as a substitute for vacation leave. Employees will be granted sick leave only after completing a minimum of twenty-five (25) workdays of actual employment. Sick leave must be accrued before it may be used. Otherwise, time off shall be charged to the employee's accrued vacation leave time, or at the option of the Elected Official/Department Head, shall be taken as leave without pay. Sick days are accrued during probation. Sick time will be deducted for no less than one (1) hour. No sick leave more than three (3) consecutive days shall be authorized unless approved by the Elected Official/ Department Head.
Accumulation. All non-union full-time employees shall be allowed to accumulate ninety (90) days of sick leave. Upon termination of employment, accumulated sick leave will be paid at ten Dollars ($10.00) per day up to fifty (50) days.
The Elected Official/Department Head shall establish notification requirements for taking sick leave.
The employee shall state the nature of the illness or injury, location of confinement and the telephone number where the employee can be reached. The employee must also state whether the absence is claimed to be from a previous injury sustained while on duty. Supervisors are to be kept informed daily, whenever possible, of the employee's condition.
To continue active work assignments or to resume work after an illness or injury or disability, employees must provide the department with a written physician's statement releasing employee to assume activities within their position responsibility:
(1) Upon returning to work after prolonged illness for four (4) consecutive days or more.
(2) Upon returning to work from an extended leave of absence.
(3) After serious illness, injury, or condition.
Illness or Injury at Work. Any employee who is ill or injured on the job shall immediately notify the supervisor who may require the employee to be transported to a hospital for examination by a physician or surgeon.
For employees on an eight (8) hour work schedule, if an employee becomes ill while at work after the first two (2) hours of work, the employee shall lose one-half (½) day of accumulated sick time. For employees on a twelve (12) hour work schedule, if an employee becomes ill at work after the first three (3) hours of work, the employee shall lose one-half (½) day of accumulated sick time.
Maternity. Leave requests relating to pregnancy or childbirth shall be considered the same as any short-term disability, and requests for pregnancy leave shall be made through the disability leave clause. Request for parental leave following childbirth shall be made through the Leave of Absence clause, Section 12-1-7(C), Family and Medical Leave Act. (Ord. No. 1141; 04-26-99)
(C) Leave of Absence. No employee on leave of absence may earn vacation, or sick leave, except when the leave was for the purpose of accepting a temporary work assignment in another office. All types of leave of absence do not earn vacations or sick leave while the employee is on leave of absence.
While the employee is on leave of absence, the length of service continues to accumulate except for special leave situations under Subsection (C) Leave of Absence, (1) Special Leave, and for (7) Family and Medical Leave Act situations. Length of service is specifically prohibited from accumulating on Special Leave cases and on Family and Medical Leave Act situations. The prohibition on length of service accumulation is not contained in any other type of leave of absence situation. Therefore, the Code should be construed to allow accumulation of length of services while on leave of absence other than "special leave" and the "Family and Medical Leave Act."
(D) Employee shall be granted an excused leave of absence for the following:
(1) Special Leave. All full-time and salary exempt employees who have completed one (1) full year of continuous service may request special leave. Special leave will only be granted in exceptional circumstances and must be approved by the employee's Elected Official/Department Head. Special leave shall be granted without pay. The period for special leave shall not exceed six (6) months. An extension may be granted up to a maximum of six (6) months for a total of one (1) year. To continue to receive medical and insurance benefits during a special leave, the employee shall contribute both the employee and the employer's share of IMRF and insurance costs. Length of service or benefits shall not accrue or accumulate during a special leave. A person either hired or promoted to fill the position vacated by the person on leave shall be considered in that position temporarily and shall relinquish it upon the employee's return. If a special leave is approved by the City Council, coverage under Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund may be maintained pursuant to IMRF rules and regulations.
(2) Military. The City will comply with all applicable federal and state laws which provide military leave and benefits to eligible employees, including, but not limited to USERRA, 38 U.S.C. 4301, the Local Government Employees Benefits Continuation Act, 50 ILCS 140/1, The Military Leave of Absence Act, 5 ILCS 325/0.01, The Public Employee Armed Services Rights Act, 5 ILCS 330/1, the Service Member's Employment Tenure Act, 330 ILCS 60/1, the Family Military Leave Act, 820 ILCS 151/1 and the Municipal Employee Military Active Duty Act, 50 ILCS 120/0.01.
(3) Jury Duty. An employee shall be excused from work for days in which the employee serves on Jury Duty. The employee shall: receive his or her
regular pay for jury service. The employee must present proof of jury service and the amount of pay received is to be deposited in the City Treasury. The employee shall also turn over to the City any expense allowances paid by the court if the jury duty is located at the County Courthouse. If an employee is given an early release from jury duty, the employee shall then report to his or her regular work assignment.
(4) Witness. An employee shall be excused from work when lawfully subpoenaed to serve as a witness. The employee must present written proof of the summons to testify to qualify for an excused absence. Notice to employee's supervisor should be made in advance of appearing in court. An employee's excused absence from work shall be on an unpaid basis, unless the employee's witness activity is work related and the witness activity is requested by the City. The employee shall turn over to the City any witness fee when the employee's witness activity is work related.
(5) Educational Leave. The Elected Official/Department Head may grant an employee an educational leave of absence for the purpose of engaging in a training course. No educational leave may be granted unless in the judgment of the Elected Official/Department Head the training course would benefit the City by improving the employee's qualifications to perform the duties of the employee's position or by qualifying the employee for advancement in rank or grade to another position in the County service. Employee shall receive his regular pay during an education leave of absence for training courses when so authorized by the Elected Official/Department Head. Employees may request educational leave without pay to seek further professional training in specialty fields. Such leave may be up to ten (10) months in duration and requires the approval of the Elected Official/Department Head. An employee on education leave without pay does not accrue vacation or sick leave credit for the period of leave. When ready to return to work, the employee will be offered the first available full-time position at the same job level the employee held prior to departing on educational leave without pay.
(6) Bereavement Leave. All employees shall be entitled to use a maximum of 2 weeks (10 workdays) of unpaid bereavement leave to:
(a) attend the funeral, or funeral alternative, of a covered family member as defined by the Illinois Family Bereavement Act;
(b) make arrangements necessitated by the death of a covered family member;
(c) grieve the death of a covered family member;
(d) be absent from work due to a miscarriage / an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure / a failed adoption match or an unfinalized adoption because it is contested by another party / a failed surrogacy agreement, a diagnosis that negatively impacts pregnancy or fertility / or a stillbirth.
Bereavement Leave must be completed within 60 days after the employee learns of the death or of any of the events listed in paragraph (d) of section (6) An employee shall provide the Elected Official/Department Head with at least 48 hours' advance notice of the employee's intention to take bereavement leave, unless providing such notice is not reasonable and practicable.
The Elected Official/Department Head may, but is not required to, require reasonable documentation. Documentation may include a death certificate, a published obituary, or written verification of death, burial, or memorial services from a mortuary, funeral home, burial society, crematorium, religious institution, or government agency.
For leave resulting from any of the events listed in paragraph (d) of section (6), reasonable documentation shall include a form, to be provided by the Department, to be filled out by a health care practitioner who has treated the employee or the employee's spouse or domestic partner, or surrogate, for an event listed under paragraph (d) of section (6), or documentation from the adoption or surrogacy organization that the employee worked with related to an event listed under paragraph (d) of section (6), certifying that the employee or his or her spouse or domestic partner has experienced an event listed under paragraph (d) of section (6).
The Elected Official/Department Head may not require that the employee identify which category of event the leave pertains to as a condition of exercising rights under this Act.
In the event of the death of more than one covered family member in a 12-month period, an employee is entitled to up to a total of 6 weeks of bereavement leave during the 12-month period.
Nothing in this section exempts employees from the requirement to substitute accrued paid leave for unpaid FMLA leave, as outlined in section (7).
(7) Family and Medical Leave Act. An employee is eligible for a leave of absence through the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. To be an eligible employee for leave, an employee must have worked for the City for at least twelve (12) months and must have worked at least one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) hours over the previous twelve (12) months prior to the leave. Eligible female and male employees are allowed up to twelve (12) weeks of leave per twelve (12) month period following the birth of a child, the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, or the serious health condition of the employee of an immediate family member (defined for purposes of this Family and Medical Leave Act situation as including the employee's child, spouse or parent). The leave for birth or placement must take place within twelve (12) months of the birth or placement of the child. The employee's leave shall be unpaid.
Eligible employees are required to substitute accrued paid leave for FMLA Leave. Substitute means that the accrued paid leave will run concurrently with the unpaid FMLA leave. To substitute accrued paid leave, the employee must have both earned the paid leave during the FMLA period, and must have been able to use that paid leave during the FMLA leave period.
When paid leave is used for a reason covered under FMLA, the leave is FMLA-protected.
Employees are not required to substitute leave that is not yet available to the employee to use under the terms of City's leave plan.
The City and/or the Elected Official/Department head may voluntarily advance paid leave to an employee, who may voluntarily accept such leave during an FMLA absence. During the leave, the City shall continue to provide coverage under its group health plan. Following return upon leave, the employee shall be returned to a position with equivalent pay, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment.
Employees must provide notice of their need for FMLA leave and comply with the City's standard policies for requesting leave, unless unusual circumstances prevent the employee from doing so.
When the approximate timing of the need for leave is not foreseeable, employees must provide notice to the City as soon as practicable under the facts and circumstances of the particular case.
(8) Expiration of Leave. When an employee returns from a leave of six (6) months or less, the Elected Official/Department head shall return the employee to the same or similar position in the same class in which the employee was incumbent prior to commencement of such leave. An employee's same or similar position will not be protected for reductions in force or where the position has been eliminated. Employees are subject to termination if they are absent from work for more than six (6) months. No employee may be absent without permission of the supervisor to which assigned. In the absence of extenuating circumstances, an employee who is absent from work for any reason and fails to notify his or her supervisor within two (2) working days will be considered to have resigned. No employee on leave of absence may earn vacation, or sick leave, except when the leave was for the purpose of accepting a temporary working assignment in another office.
(9) General Use Leave. When Part-time and seasonal employees can accrue one (1) day of paid, General Use Leave. Part-time and seasonal employees must work forty (40) hours to accrue one (1) hour of General Use Leave. Any part-time and seasonal employees may only accumulate a maximum of eight (8) hours of General Use Leave. Part-time and seasonal employees must use their General Use Leave in, a minimum of, two-hour (2-hour) increments. When General Use Leave is foreseeable, any part-time and seasonal employees wishing to use their General Use Leave must provide seven (7) days’ written notice to their supervisor. When the use of leave is unforeseeable, any part-time and seasonal employees must provide their supervisor with written notice in a reasonable manner. General Use Leave cannot be accumulated and carried over and does not pay out upon termination or retirement of a part-time or seasonal employee.
(Ord. No. 2225; 12-11-2023)