(a) Vacation Leave.
(1) All employees in the City service, except temporary, part-time and seasonal employees, shall be allowed vacation leaves with pay after the completion of one year of employment at the rate of two work weeks and at the completion of four years of employment, they will be eligible for thirteen paid vacation days as established by the Treasurer.
(Ord. 5-97. Passed 1-6-97.)
(2) All such employees who have completed six years of continuous service with the City shall be allowed three work weeks, as established by the Treasurer, of paid vacation per year thereafter.
(3) All such employees who have completed twelve years of continuous service with the City shall have four work weeks, as established by the Treasurer, of paid vacation per year thereafter.
(Ord. 124-78. Passed 12-18-78.)
(4) Beginning with the employee's sixteenth calendar year, the employee shall be entitled to twenty-one paid vacation days; beginning with the employee's eighteenth calendar year, the employee shall be entitled to twenty-two paid vacation days; beginning with the employee's twentieth calendar year, the employee shall be entitled to twenty-three paid vacation days; beginning with the employee's twenty-second calendar year, the employee shall be entitled to twenty-four paid vacation days; beginning with the employee's twenty-fourth calendar year, the employee shall be entitled to twenty-five paid vacation days; beginning with the employee's twenty-sixth calendar year, the employee shall be entitled to twenty-six paid vacation days.
(Ord. 25-94. Passed 2-7-94.)
(5) Absence on account of sickness, injury or disability in excess of that hereinafter authorized for such purpose may, at the request of the employee and within the discretion of the department head, be charged against vacation leave allowance.
(6) Each department head shall keep record of vacation leave allowances and shall schedule vacation leaves with particular regard to the seniority of employees, in accordance with operation requirements, and, insofar as possible, with the written request of the employee.
(7) After any employee has completed his first year of service, he shall be eligible to take his vacation for succeeding years beginning January 1 of the year in which his succeeding anniversaries fall. In no way does this section affect any previous section with regard to vacation scheduling and seniority. (Ord. 124-78. Passed 12-18-78.)
(8) At the completion of each calendar year, all employees in the City’s service, except temporary, part-time and seasonal employees, shall be allowed, as additional paid vacation leave, called bonus vacation, one-third of each unused sick day earned during such completed calendar year, which leave shall be taken, if at all, in the year following the calendar year which was the basis for allowance thereof. In no way shall this subsection (a)(8) affect any prior section or subsection with regard to vacation scheduling or seniority. Instead of taking bonus vacation, as herein allowed, as time off, eligible employees may elect to receive part or all of such bonus vacation in cash. Such election shall be made in writing filed with the City following the year in which such bonus vacation was earned. Bonus vacation so elected to be taken in cash shall be paid by the City to such electing employee, at the employee’s rate of pay in effect on the December 31 immediately preceding such election, up to and including January 31 following such election. (Ord. 99-2011. Passed 12-19-11.)
(9) Effective for the year 1996 and thereafter for all employees except those covered by a collective bargaining agreement containing contrary provisions, unused vacation leave may not be carried over from one year to another. All unused vacation leave of an employee shall be paid to such employee in a cash payment at the employee’s rate of pay in effect on December 31 of the year the vacation leave was allowed subject to the following rules:
A. An employee who is allowed up to and not exceeding 80 hours of vacation leave must use all of such employee’s vacation leave in the year allowed or lose that portion not used and such an employee is not eligible for a cash payment of any portion of such allowed vacation leave;
B. An employee who is allowed 81 hours to 120 hours of vacation leave in a year must use a minimum of 80 hours vacation leave in the year allowed or lose that portion of the 80 hours not used and is eligible for all over 80 hours of vacation leave allowed up to a maximum of 40 hours of vacation leave to be paid in cash;
C. An employee who is allowed 121 hours to 160 hours of vacation leave in a year must use a minimum of 80 hours of vacation leave in the year it is allowed, or lose that portion of the 80 hours not used, and is eligible for all over 80 hours of vacation leave allowed up to a maximum of 80 hours of vacation leave to be paid in cash;
D. An employee who is allowed 161 hours or more of vacation leave in a year must use all of the vacation leave allowed except up to 80 hours of which may be elected to be paid in cash and all of the vacation leave not used or paid in cash is lost, provided however, that for the year 1996 only all unused vacation leave in excess of 80 hours shall be paid in cash at the rate of pay in effect on December 31 of 1995; (Ord. 16-96. Passed 2-21-96.)
E. Payment will be made up to and including January 31 following such election; (Ord. 99-2011. Passed 12-19-11.)
F. Provided, however, unused vacation leave up to a maximum of 40 hours for special circumstances beyond the employee’s control and with the Mayor’s written permission may be carried over to the year following that in which such leave was allowed.
(Ord. 16-96. Passed 2-21-96.)
(10) All full-time City employees covered by this chapter, who were employed by the state, or any political subdivision of the state who were eligible to earn vacation credit may count their prior service time for the purpose of computing the amount of vacation leave as determined by the Treasurer. (Ord. 4-2008. Passed 1-3-08.)
(b) Sick Leave.
(1) All full-time employees in the City service shall be entitled to sick leave with pay. Sick leave credit shall accrue at the rate of one and one-quarter days with pay for each completed month of service.
(2) Provisional appointees or those who render part-time, seasonal, intermittent, per diem or hourly service shall be entitled to sick leave for the time actually worked at the same rate as that granted full-time employees. (Ord. 1-84. Passed 1-4-84.)
(3) Unused sick leave credit may be accumulated up to a maximum of 180 work days on and after January 1, 1984 through December 31, 1988, and thereafter there is no limit on the amount of unused sick leave credit that may be accumulated. (Ord. 7-91. Passed 1-7-91.)
(4) Employees absent from work on legal holidays, during sick leave, vacation, for disability arising from injuries sustained in the course of their employment, for all authorized leaves of absence with pay and for authorized leaves without pay for not over ten days in any one calendar year shall continue to accumulate sick leave at the regularly prescribed rate during such absence as though they were on duty, subject to the maximum limitation herein provided.
(5) An employee eligible for sick leave with pay may use sick leave upon approval of his department head for absence due to illness, injury, exposure to contagious disease or due to illness or death in the employee’s immediate family requiring the employee’s personal attendance. An employee on sick leave shall inform his immediate supervisor of the fact and the reason therefor as soon as possible and failure to do so within a reasonable time may be cause for denial of pay for the period of absence. The department head may require a doctor’s certificate before approving sick leave pay.
(6) Absences for parts of a day that are chargeable to sick leave in accordance with these provisions shall be charged at the rate of one hour of sick leave for each hour or part of an hour of absence.
(Ord. 1-84. Passed 1-4-84.)
(7) Upon death or retirement with proper notice, an employee or his estate shall be entitled to cash payment for accrued unused sick leave as follows:
A. Not to exceed 120 work days for all such employees who are employed by the City on December 30, 1983.
B. All employees hired between January 1, 1984 and December 31, 1999 shall receive payment for one-half of such accrued sick days up to a maximum of 120 days.
C. All employees hired on or after January 1, 2000 shall receive payment for one-third of such accrued sick days up to a maximum of 120 days. (Ord. 4-2000. Passed 1-3-00.)
(8) Should a full-time employee be on sick leave of absence due to illness, injury or other health hazard, the City shall pay for such employee’s fringe benefit (insurance) for the month in which he leaves the City service, thereafter the City shall continue to pay the same until the beginning effective date of such employee’s long-term disability insurance. The employee so having his fringe benefits paid by the City beyond the month in which he leaves shall, on returning to the City service, repay the City therefor. (Ord. 1-84. Passed 1-4-84.)
(c) Personal Leave.
(1) An employee will be granted a maximum of twelve (12) weeks of unpaid leave in a twelve (12) month period for the birth of a child, in order to care for a newborn child, and/or because of the placement of a child with the Employee for adoption or foster care, in order to care for a spouse, child, or parent of the Employee who has a serious health condition, provided the Employee provides a certification to verify the serious health condition. The Employee may be required to obtain the opinion of a second care provider designated or approved by the City. The City will continue to pay the Employee's health care, life, and disability insurance for up to twelve (12) weeks provided the Employee makes his/her contribution each month in advance. An Employee must exhaust all accrued, but unused vacation leave, compensatory time, and sick leave, in this order, before utilizing Family Leave set forth herein. However, an employee may hold back sixty (60) hours of accrued vacation leave.
The annual twelve (12) month period shall commence and be measured forward from the date the employee first uses the twelve (12) week leave set forth herein. (Ord. 10-2013. Passed 1-22-13.)
(2) In the event of death to the parent, child, spouse, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister or in-law of a full-time employee in the City service, such employee shall be entitled to leave with pay if he attends the funeral as follows: three days if the burial takes place in the City or within 500 miles thereof; four days, if the burial takes place between 500 and 900 miles from the City; and five days if the burial takes place more than 900 miles from the City. Such days shall be consecutive and one of such days shall be the day of the funeral. (Ord. 7-91. Passed 1-7-91.)
(d) Leave for Convenience of the City or the Employee.
(1) A leave for convenience may be granted to any full-time employee not to exceed ninety days, on written application by the employee to the department head, stating the reasons for the request, which application, together with the department head’s recommendation endorsed thereon, shall be presented to the Mayor, who shall grant the application or some modification thereof or deny the same. The granting of such application shall be endorsed thereon by the Mayor who shall state thereon specifically whether such leave is for the convenience of the City or the convenience of the employee and whether the leave is with or without pay.
(2) No leave for the convenience of an employee shall be granted in excess of ninety days. A request for such a leave in excess of ninety days shall be equivalent to and treated as a resignation.
(Ord. 124-78. Passed 12-18-78.)
(e) Military Leave of Absence. Any employee who is a member of the National Guard or any reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States will be entitled to a military leave in pay status during which time the employee is engaged in the performance of official duty or training under competent orders. While on such leave, such employee shall be paid the employee's regular rate of pay, not to exceed a total of twenty-two (22) eight (8) hour work days or one hundred seventy-six (176) paid hours in any one payroll year; provided however, to receive payment of salary an employee must, prior to the leave, file with the Head of the Department a copy of official orders and upon return a certification from the Commanding Officer of performance of duty in accordance with the terms of the orders.
Where such annual military leave exceeds twenty-two (22) eight (8) hour work days annually and is pursuant to Executive Order or other legislative action of the Congress, such employee shall be entitled only to the difference between his regular wage and his military pay, as set forth in Ohio R.C. 5923.05. (Ord. 10-2013. Passed 1-22-13.)
(f) Emergency Leave and Compensation. The Mayor shall be permitted to declare in writing an aggregate maximum of eight working days annually as emergency leave during which period those City employees not required by the Mayor to work in essential municipal service, as provided in such declaration, shall be excused from performing their duties and from reporting for work during the declared emergency leave period with no loss of pay. Those employees not so excused shall be paid additional emergency compensation at the rate of one hundred fifty percent (150%) of regular compensation during the emergency leave period. The Mayor may terminate any remaining portion of an emergency leave period of any or all City employees by declaration in writing to that effect, and thereafter City employees shall resume performing their duties and reporting for work as though no emergency leave had been declared. (Ord. 7-91. Passed 1-7-91.)
(g) Precinct Election Official Leave. All non-bargaining unit employees in the City service, except temporary, part-time and seasonal employees, shall be allowed a pre-approved leave with pay to work as election judges on Election Day, however, the employee’s supervisor reserves the right to reject the request based on operational need. The employee’s accrued, sick, vacation, personal, compensatory leave accruals are not reduced by participation in this voluntary program. (Ord. 7-2020. Passed 3-16-20.)