Employees who terminate their employment with the City for any reason shall have their termination pay computed in the following manner:
(a) The employee shall be compensated for any vacation hours accumulated in his or her vacation bank at the time of termination.
(b) In addition to the above, the employee shall be paid for any holidays worked for which he/she has not been compensated either in the form of pay or time off. If the employee was entitled to discretionary holidays and has not taken them and is terminated on or before June 30, he/she shall receive pay for one (1) discretionary holiday. If the employee terminates after June 30, he/she shall receive pay for two (2) discretionary holidays.
(c) In addition to the amount set forth in Subsections (a) and (b) herein, employees who retire or die while in the employment of the City, or employees who separate in good standing from employment after twenty-one (21) years of continuous service with the City, shall also receive severance pay for unused sick time in accordance with the provisions of Section 2101.29, Accumulation of Sick Days; provided, however, to be eligible for sick time payment apart from retirement or death, Police Deputy Chiefs must separate in good standing after twenty-five (25) years of service, and Fire Deputy Chiefs must leave City employment prior to their forty-eighth (48th) birthday with twenty-five (25) years of service.
(i) Service shall be deemed to be "continuous" for purposes of this section despite a break in service due to a lay off, a call to military duty, or other circumstance for which a provision of this chapter specifies that employees will continue to accrue seniority.
(ii) An employee who is laid-off shall not be considered to have had continuous service under this section if the employee refuses recall to employment to any position when recall is first offered, but later accepts recall.
(iii) For purposes of this section, "years of service" for those employees hired on or before December 31, 1994 shall only include other public service if an express agreement to count such time for this purpose existed as of November 30, 1994.
(iv) For purposes of this section, to "retire" while in the employment of the city shall mean leaving city employment upon qualifying for retirement under the applicable state retirement system; provided, however, that employees eligible to retire who have worked fewer than eight (8) full continuous years with the city shall only receive severance pay for one-fourth (1/4th) the value of the employee's accrued but unused sick leave credit not to exceed thirty (30) days pay as provided by state law.
(d) (i) In the event the employee has died as the direct result of injuries sustained in the course of employment with the City, his or her estate shall be paid full accumulated sick time at the time of death.
(ii) Any Police Deputy Chief who is totally and permanently disabled as a result of injuries received under unusual circumstances which may arise in the performance of his/her law enforcement duties, or any Fire Deputy Chief who is totally and permanently disabled as a result of injuries received on duty during activities directly related to fire suppression or medical runs, shall receive payment of the full accumulation of sick pay at the time of retirement. This provision shall have retroactive application to January 1, 1988.
(e) Employees entitled to Longevity Pay shall have that pay added to their base rate when termination pay is calculated.
(Ord. 599-23. Passed 11-21-23.)