(a) Purpose and Scope. The purpose of this section is to provide policy and instructions governing the administration of leave. This section is applicable to all employees.
(b) Responsibilities.
(1) The Manager shall:
A. Determine exigencies of public business.
B. Approve the restoration of leave forfeited because of exigencies or illness.
C. Interpret policy governing leave.
D. Maintain this section in a current status and review it annually.
(2) The Finance Director shall:
A. Maintain official leave records and determine the amount of leave available for use.
B. Compute and make payment for all accumulated leave (AL) upon separation of an employee.
C. Issue a Leave and Earnings Statement to employees at the end of each month.
(3) All supervisors who are delegated authority to approve leave and account for employees’ time will adhere to the provisions of the following:
A. While employees have an obligation to request AL in a timely manner, supervisors will require AL to be scheduled for use during the year to avoid situations where employees approach the end of the leave year with a significant amount of AL that must be used or forfeited.
B. Establish an AL schedule for each employee supervised indicating month and date (day/hours) leave is requested. Such schedule must show the signature of the approving official and date of approval.
C. Be aware of the nature of the illness of an employee who is on extended sick leave. Contact the employee or a member of his family during the first few days of the absence and continue contacts periodically or as often as it is considered reasonable and necessary to demonstrate an interest in the employee’s whereabouts and condition.
D. During prolonged sick absences of employees, require an Application for Leave, be furnished as necessary for certification of time and attendance reporting, normally after each two weeks.
E. Consider requests for advance Sick Leave (SL) not to exceed thirty days, in those cases of serious illness or injury of non-permanent nature. Deny approval of advance SL request when it is known that the employee will be separated prior to returning to duty. Forward approved requests and supporting documents to the Finance Director for completion of action. When SL is advanced, inform the employee of the amount of SL authorized.
F. Limit requirements for return to duty clearances with employee’s physician to those cases where there is reason to believe that the employee’s presence at work would endanger the individual’s health or would constitute a hazard to others.
G. When abuse of sick leave is suspected, counsel the employee. After consultation, if abuse of SL seems likely, notify the employee by letter of the requirement for submission of a Doctor's Certificate for each occasion of SL absence, regardless of duration. This requirement will be imposed for a three month period, and automatically lifted at the end of three months, unless extended by actions of the supervisor for another three months. At the end of six months, the circumstances must be reviewed by the supervisor to determine what action is to be taken.
(4) Employees will comply with all provisions of leave administration as outlined in the following:
A. Request in writing at the beginning of each new year or as soon thereafter as possible, all AL expected to be used during the leave year. It is recognized that circumstances and plans change which necessitate changes in the approved leave schedule during the year.
B. Obtain approval of AL in advance of the absence. When a personal emergency prevents requesting leave in advance, report the reason and probable duration of the absence to the supervisor within two hours after the beginning of the workshift.
C. Request AL or LWOP be substituted for SL whenever there is insufficient SL to cover the sick absence. Should the employee fail to submit such a request, the excess will be deducted from pay after discussion with the supervisor.
D. Initiate request for restoration of forfeited AL, when warranted under the rules.
E. When requesting advance SL specify amount of SL and probable return to duty. Reimbursement is required for the unearned amount of leave taken should separation occur for causes other than death, disability or retirement for reason of disability.
(c) Definitions.
(1) "Absence without leave (AWOL)" means an absence from duty which was not authorized or for which a leave request has been denied. A charge of AWOL may serve as the basis for disciplinary action.
(2) "Accrued leave" means leave the employee has earned during the current leave year.
(3) "Accumulated annual leave" means, for purposes of lump-sum payment, regular carryover balance from the previous leave year, if any; plus accrued and unused annual leave for the current year, if any; plus restored leave maintained in a separate account.
(4) "Administrative dismissal" means the release of groups of employees without charge to leave or loss of pay. As examples, when the normal operation of an establishment is interrupted by events beyond the control of management and employees, or when the closing of an establishment or portions thereof for short periods of time is required because of managerial reasons.
(5) "Available annual leave" means all annual leave an employee earns during the leave year which becomes available for use at the beginning of the leave year.
(6) "Contagious disease" means a disease which is subject to quarantine or which requires isolation or restriction of movement of the patient for a specified period prescribed by the health authorities having jurisdiction.
(7) "Enforced annual leave" means the placing of an employee on annual leave with or without his consent. As an example, when it becomes necessary to temporarily close down an establishment, or portion thereof, for administrative reasons. Another usage of enforced leave is, in emergency situations where the employee's presence constitutes an immediate threat to government property or the well-being of the employee, his fellow workers or the public.
(8) "Excused absence" means absence from duty administratively authorized without charge to leave or loss of pay. Ordinarily, excused absences are authorized on an individual basis.
(9) "Exigency of public business" means situations where operational demands are of such magnitude or significance that employees cannot be excused from duty for annual leave.
(10) "Leave year" means the period from the beginning of the first complete pay period in the calendar year to the beginning of the first complete pay period in the following calendar year.
(11) "Medical certificate" means a written statement signed by a registered practicing physician or other practicing physician or other practitioner certifying to the incapacitation, examination, or treatment, or to the period of disability while the patient was receiving professional treatment.
(12) "Restored leave" means annual leave which may have been forfeited because of administrative error, exigencies of public business or sickness.
(13) "Immediate family" means parents, brothers, sisters, children, grandparents, mother and/or father-in-law and others within the household.
(d) Leave Charges.
(1) Unless a different minimum charge is established through negotiations, or by direction of the Manager where employees are not covered in a labor agreement, the minimum charge for either annual or sick leave is one hour and additional leave is charged in multiples of one hour. Fractional hours of leave are not transferable and are forfeited; however, an employee may be permitted to take the annual leave necessary to even off his annual leave balance prior to his move.
(2) Absence in a nonpay status (LWOP or AWOL) is charged in multiples of fifteen minutes for the actual time absent. Under no circumstances will an AWOL charge include any time in a duty status. Only absences during a regularly scheduled basic tour of duty may be considered an absence without leave.
(3) Unauthorized absences is charged to AWOL. If circumstances warrant, the charges to AWOL may be changed to annual leave, sick leave or LWOP.
(4) When an employee has insufficient available annual leave to cover an annual leave charge, the excess absence is charged first to any compensatory time to his credit, and then to LWOP.
(5) When an employee has insufficient sick leave to cover a sick leave charge reported, the excess is charged first to any compensatory time, second to any earned annual leave, and then to LWOP. If an advance of sick leave is approved later, it may be substituted for the leave initially charged.
(Ord. 436. Passed 9-12-77.)
(e) Annual Leave.
(1) The City shall grant vacation to employees in accordance with the following schedule:
LENGTH OF SERVICE | VACATION |
1 year but less than 6 years | 2 weeks |
6 years but less than 13 years | 3 weeks |
13 years but less than 23 years | 4 weeks |
23 years or more | 5 weeks |
Employees shall accrue earned vacation leave on the employee’s anniversary date. (Ord. 1301. Passed 9-8-03.)
(2) Regular full-time employees are credited with annual leave as follows:
Category 1: 2 calendar weeks excluding legal holidays
Category 2: 3 calendar weeks excluding legal holidays
Category 3: 4 calendar weeks excluding legal holidays
Category 4: 5 calendar weeks excluding legal holidays.
(Ord. 1186. Passed 6-12-00.)
(3) Regular part-time employees with regularly scheduled tours of duty earn leave at the rate of 3.1 hours per 80 hours worked for all the time they are in a pay status, including hours worked outside their scheduled duty hours.
(Ord. 603. Passed 5-10-82.)
(4) Temporary employees will accrue no annual leave.
(5) Unless restricted because of the limited nature of appointment, employees earn and are credited with annual leave beginning with appointment. If an appointment is for less than ninety days, the employee is not entitled to annual leave until after employed for a continuous period of ninety days under successive appointments without a break in service.
(6) The maximum amount of annual leave that may be carried forward from one leave year to another is thirty days.
(7) Annual leave in excess of the permissible carry-over at the end of the leave year may be restored to a separate leave account for a period of two years under these conditions:
A. Administrative error. Annual leave that may have been forfeited because of administrative error may be restored to a current employee.
B. Exigencies of public business. When the operational demands are of such magnitude or significance that employees cannot be excused to avoid forfeiture of annual leave, it may be restored to a separated account. Criteria established for determining exigencies of public business must include:
1. Extent of exigency;
2. Duration of exigency;
3. Reasonable alternatives considered before cancellation of scheduled leave; and
4. Specific beginning date and ending date of the exigency.
Only a bonafide emergency would preclude making the determination in advance that an exigency exists which will prevent the employees from using scheduled leave or permit rescheduling of leave.
C. Sickness. When a period of illness interferes with the usage of scheduled annual leave, and it occurs at such time late in the leave year or was of such duration that the annual leave could not be rescheduled for use to avoid forfeiture, annual leave may be restored to a separate account.
D. Scheduling prerequisite. Before annual leave may be considered for restoration because of exigencies of public business or sickness, it must have been scheduled in writing before the start of the third biweekly pay period prior to the end of the current leave year.
(8) Granting leave.
A. An employee serving under an appointment with a definite time limitation cannot be granted more leave than the amount that can be earned and credited to him before his appointment expires.
(Ord. 436. Passed 9-12-77.)
B. Employees are provided annual leave to allow them time off for vacations and for personal and emergency purposes. It is a right of the employee in that he is ether given an opportunity to use his annual leave, or he is paid for at the time of separation. In the event of the death of the employee, such payment shall be paid to the employee’s beneficiary.
(Ord. 1186. Passed 6-12-00.)
C. Restored annual leave must be planned, scheduled and used as expeditiously as circumstances permit. A time limit of two years is established within which restored annual leave must be used. The two years are computed as follows:
1. From the date the annual leave was restored in correcting an administrative error.
2. From the date the employee is determined to have recovered and is able to return to duty if the leave was forfeited because of sickness.
3. From the date fixed as the termination of the exigency which resulted in the forfeiture of annual leave.
D. Documentation to support the restoration of forfeited annual leave must include, and must be retained until the restored leave has been used for the expiration of the two-year limit, as follows:
1. The calendar date the leave was scheduled, i.e., approved by the official having authority to approve leave.
2. The date(s) during which the leave was scheduled for actual use and the amount of leave (days/hours) that was scheduled for use.
3. Reason(s) for subsequent cancelling of approved leave, e.g., if because of an exigency of the public business, documentation must include the beginning and ending dates of the exigency and a copy of the approval action.
4. The calendar date the cancelled leave was scheduled for use.
5. The date(s) during which the leave was rescheduled for use and the amount of leave (days/hours) that was rescheduled for use.
(Ord. 436. Passed 9-12-77.)
E. Except in cases of emergency, annual leave must be requested in writing by the employee and approved by the appropriate leave approving official in advance of the absence. Supervisors must ensure that all employees understand the procedure they must follow in requesting and obtaining approval of leave. This includes requests for leave in advance of the absence as well as requests for leave for emergencies. Supervisors should consider the employee’s desires and personal convenience as well as the work situation when granting leave. The time and determination as to the time and the amount of annual leave granted at any specific time is made by the supervisors authorized to approve leave on the basis of his responsibility for assuring that adequate resources are available to accomplish mission functions and other management considerations. Vacation time must be used in increments of no less than one (1) hour.
(Ord. 1186. Passed 6-12-00.)
F. An employee may be granted all available annual leave to him in the current leave year. However, in granting an employee annual leave in excess of the amount he has actually earned, the supervisor authorized to approve leave must have reasonable assurance that the employee will be in a duty status long enough to earn the leave granted before the end of the leave year.
G. With the exception of Reservists and National Guardsmen, employees cannot be carried on annual leave during active military duty.
H. No employee who reports “ready and able” to work may be placed on annual leave without his consent:
1. As a disciplinary measure;
2. Pending issuance of a notice of proposed adverse reaction; or
3. During the notice period before an adverse action.
I. Otherwise, (for example, during a period of reduced or suspended operations where an employee is instructed to take vacation leave at a time other than at the specific time initially requested) employees may be placed on annual leave as the needs of the Municipality require. The required use of enforced annual leave must be based on factors that are reasonable and equitable, and which do not discriminate among employees.
1. When LWOP is charged pending receipt of an employee’s leave record from his former employing agency, annual leave credited upon receipt of the leave record is substituted for the LWOP.
2. When LWOP is granted to an employee pending a recredit of annual leave upon completion of a refund of a lump sum payment, the annual leave recredited upon completion of the refund may be substituted for the LWOP, provided the employee requests the substitution at the time the LWOP is granted.
J. An employee on extended sick leave, including sick leave for maternity reasons, may request and be granted annual leave to cover any part of the absence, provided the request is made in advance. Advanced sick leave may be liquidated at the employee’s request by a substitution of earned annual leave.
(9) Lump sum payments.
A. Employees are entitled to payment, on separation, for all annual leave to his credit. For this purpose, “accumulated annual leave” consists of the following:
1. The regular carry-over balance from the previous year, if any.
2. Accrued and unused annual leave during the then current leave year, if any.
3. Any unused restored annual leave maintained in a separate account.
B. Former employees are entitled to lump-sum payments for forfeited annual leave caused by administrative error. The administrative errors could have occurred at any time during the employment period. Claim for payment must be filed by the former employee or someone acting in his behalf within three years immediately following the date of discovery of the error.
C. Restored annual leave included in a lump-sum payment is not subject to refund of the lump-sum payment and may not be recredited if the employee is reemployed prior to expiration of the lump-sum period. Regular annual leave, however, is subject to refund and recredit on reemployment within the time covered by the lump-sum payment up to the maximum amount of leave the employee was permitted to carry over into the leave year of separation.
D. An employee who separates to enter on active duty with the armed forces has the option of either receiving a lump-sum payment for accumulated annual leave or having the annual leave remain to his credit until his return to a position from active duty. This second option however, applies only to annual leave in the employee’s regular leave account. Any unused restored leave in a separate account must be liquidated by lump sum payment at the time of separation to enter on active duty.
(Ord. 436. Passed 9-12-77.)
(f) Sick Leave.
(1) All hourly employees, regardless of their length of service, earn 4.6 hours of sick leave per 80 worked; salaried employees earn 1.25 days per month. No sick leave shall be earned on overtime hours worked.
(2) All regular part-time employees, regardless of their length of service, earn 4.6 hours of sick leave per eighty hours worked. No sick leave shall be earned on overtime hours worked.
(3) All temporary and seasonal employees earn no sick leave.
(Ord. 436. Passed 9-12-77.)
(4) Sick leave becomes available for use at the end of the pay period during which it is earned. An employee may not accumulate or carry a credit of more than seventy-five days of sick leave at any one time. All accumulated or credit of sick leave in excess of seventy-five days shall be forfeited. An employee may not carry more than sixty days sick leave from one calendar year to the next calendar year. In the last pay period of December of each year, all accumulated sick leave in excess of sixty days, but not more than fifteen days, shall be paid to the employee on a one to one basis.
Any sick leave to an employee’s credit upon separation may be recredited if he is reemployed within a ten year period. An employee who transfers from one public agency to another shall be credited with the unused balance of his accumulated sick leave upon the maximum permitted in the public agency to which the employee transfers.
An employee who retires shall be paid for accumulated sick leave to his credit at the time of retirement, not to exceed sixty days of sick leave, on the following basis:
A. An employee with ten to twenty years of service shall receive one day of pay for each two days of sick leave.
B. An employee with twenty or more years of service shall receive one day of pay for each day of sick leave.
An employee shall be considered to have retired when at separation, he is eligible for retirement under the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio or the Police and Fire Pension Fund.
(Ord. 1186. Passed 6-12-00.)
(5) Sick leave is a qualified right of the employee in that it may be used only for absences:
A. When incapacitated from performance of duties by sickness, injury, pregnancy and confinement, or illness resulting from immunizations or vaccinations, whether or not required as a condition of employment.
B. For medical, dental or optical examination or treatment.
C. When a member of an employee’s immediate family is afflicted with a contagious disease, as defined in subsection (c)(6) hereof, and requires the care and attendance of the employee or when through exposure to contagious disease, the presence at work of the employee would endanger the health of others.
(6) Requests and approvals are as follows:
A. Sick leave for prearranged medical, dental or optical examinations or treatment must be requested in advance of absence. Sick leave for absence because of illness, injury, exposure to contagious disease, illness of a family member or other circumstances of incapacity which are not known in advance, must be requested as soon as possible after the beginning of the absence, normally within the first hour or so.
B. Sick leave of more than three consecutive workdays must be supported by a medical certificate. The certificate must cover all absence beyond the third workday, and show that the employee was incapacitated for duty for the entire period covered by the certificate. In cases of extended illness, medical certificates may be required periodically, if necessary to establish the employee’s continued inability to return to duty for health reasons.
C. Sick leave due to exposure to contagious disease or the illness of a member of the immediate family must be supported by a medical certificate, regardless of the length of absence.
D. Ordinarily, except as provided in subsection (f)(6)C. hereof, a medical certificate is not required for an absence of three days or less. An employee who is absent frequently for short periods of illness may be advised to visit a physician for a physical check-up. When there is a reason to believe that an employee is abusing sick leave, a medical certificate may be required for absences of three days or less. Practices must not be established which require submission of medical certificates by all employees for absences of two days or less, check-up visits to the homes of all absentees or compels procedures for approval of sick leave.
E. Any requirement for clearance with a medical facility before returning to work must be limited to those specific cases where there is reason to believe that the employee’s presence at work would endanger his health or would constitute a health hazard to others. What may be considered as acceptable evidence of incapacity is determined by the leave approving official. If there is doubt as to the validity of a medical certificate presented to support a request for sick leave, the medical officer at the activity may be requested to consult the employee’s physician. Where evidence does not justify the approval of sick leave, the absence may be charged to annual leave, LWOP or as AWOL.
F. If illness occurs during a period of annual leave, sick leave that is supported by a medical certificate may be substituted for the previously approved annual leave.
(7) In cases of serious disability or illness, employees may be advanced up to thirty days sick leave. An advance of sick leave is not granted if it is considered likely that the employee will not return to duty for a sufficient period of time to earn the leave.
(Ord. 661. Passed 10-24-83.)
(g) Leave Without Pay.
(1) Absences can be charged to LWOP only when the employee specifically requests LWOP or when he has insufficient annual leave, sick leave or compensatory time available to cover an approved absence. LWOP can be imposed as a penalty. It must not be confused with absence without leave (AWOL) which is charged for unauthorized absence or absence for which the employee's sick leave request was denied as unjustified.
(2) The granting of LWOP is a matter of administrative discretion. An employee cannot demand that he be granted LWOP except a Reservist or National Guardsman must not be denied LWOP if necessary to perform military training duties.
(3) LWOP should be granted only when it is apparent that it will result in increased job ability, protection or improvement in the employee's health, or the retention of a desirable employee. Circumstances in which the approval of LWOP would be appropriate include, but are not limited to, the following:
A. Educational purposes when the course of study is in line with work performed for the Municipality and completion of the course would serve the best interests of the Municipality.
B. Temporary service with an outside enterprise when it will contribute to the public welfare or when the experience to be gained will benefit the Municipality.
C. For recovery time from illness or disability not of a permanent or disqualifying nature.
D. For protecting an employee's status and benefits pending final action by the Civil Service Commission on his claim for disability retirement, after all sick leave and annual leave has been exhausted.
E. For protecting an employee's status and benefits pending action by the Bureau of Employee's Compensation on a claim resulting from a work related illness or injury or during a period the employee is carried on the rolls while he is being compensated by BEC.
F. For service with a recognized employee organization.
(4) There is no maximum prescribed by law or regulation on the amount of LWOP which can be granted. Costs and inconveniences as a result of granting extended LWOP include encumbrance of a position, loss of services, complication of retention registers in event of reduction of force. These costs and inconveniences should be weighed against the benefits to be gained by granting LWOP.
(5) Supervisors authorized to approve annual and sick leave determine, subject to any higher administrative approval required locally, when requests for a LWOP for one year or less may be granted. Initial grants of LWOP may not exceed twelve months. If an additional grant is deemed justified, the employee's request for extension must be submitted to the Manager and Council for prior approval. Extension beyond one year is approved only when interests of the Municipality will be furthered, or when it is determined administratively that, because of unusual circumstances, the employee would be subjected to undue hardship if the extension was denied.
(h) Court Leave.
(1) Court leave is leave of absence from duty without loss of pay or charge to annual leave to perform jury duty to a federal, State or municipal court or to serve as a witness for the United States. This includes absence during periods of regularly scheduled overtime as well as absence during the employee's regularly scheduled basic workweek. For the purpose of granting court leave, a military court is considered the same as a federal court.
(2) A permanent or temporary employee with a regularly scheduled tour of duty, part-time or full-time, is eligible for court leave. Employees serving on an intermittent or when-actually-employed basis are not eligible for court leave.
(3) Court leave is granted only for absence during any employee's regularly scheduled tour of duty including regularly scheduled overtime. It can be granted only for those days and hours the employee would otherwise be in a pay status. An employee cannot be granted court leave for jury or witness duty performed within a period of nonpay status. If the employee's absence is properly chargeable to court leave, he cannot elect to have the absence charged to his annual leave.
(4) Because of the importance of trial by jury as an American system of justice, it is Municipal policy not to request that an employee be excused from jury service on the basis of his Municipal employment except in cases of extreme necessity. Effective administration of court leave also requires the exercise of good judgment in order to avoid imposing hardship on employees. Employees assigned to night shifts or standby tours of duty are granted court leave comparable with employees assigned to regular day shift work. Since jury or witness duty generally requires an employee's presence in court daytime hours, an employee who is scheduled to work at night is granted court leave during the day on which the night shift begins or ends. If he works during part of his regularly scheduled night shift, only that part of the regularly scheduled shift during which he is absent is charged to court leave. If he works his regular night shift, no court leave is charged.
(5) Court leave is granted employees who are summoned or otherwise assigned by the Municipality to testify, whether in an official or unofficial capacity, or produce official records on behalf of a State or local government, or a private party. However, court leave for witness service, as distinguished from official duty while testifying in official capacity or producing official records, is not available when the service is strictly on behalf of a private party. Such service must be on behalf of the Municipality.
(6) If an employee serving as a witness or juror is excused or released by the court, he is expected to return to duty unless this would be impractical. In determining whether the employee will be required to report for duty, the supervisor considers the amount of time remaining in the workday, and special need for employee's services, the distance involved, and the type of transportation available. If the employee fails to return to duty as directed, he is charged annual leave, LWOP, or absence without leave for the excess time involved.
(7) Whenever an employee is called for jury or witness duty, he shall present the court order, subpoena, summons or official request to his supervisor as soon as possible. The days and hours of court leave are entered on his time and attendance report. When the employee returns to duty he submits written evidence of his attendance in court showing the dates and hours, if possible. The supporting documents are forwarded to the payroll officer with the time and attendance report that includes the court leave entry.
(i) Military Leave.
(1) Military leave is absence from duty in the employee's civilian position without loss of pay, including pay for regularly scheduled overtime, to perform military duty as specified in subsection (i)(3) hereof.
(2) Military leave is granted only to a regular full time employee whose appointment is not limited to one year or less. An employee appointed on a part-time or when-actually-employed basis is not eligible for military leave although he may qualify for annual and sick leave benefits.
(3) An eligible employee who is a member of any one of the organizations listed below is granted a maximum of fifteen calendar days of military leave in the calendar year whenever he is ordered to active duty or active duty for training. In addition, an eligible employee in the National Guard is also granted military leave on all days which he is ordered to active duty for parade or encampment:
A. The Army Reserve.
B. The Air Force Reserve.
C. The Naval Reserve.
D. The Marine Corps Reserve.
E. The Army National Guard.
F. The Air National Guard.
G. The Coast Guard Reserve.
(4) An eligible employee who is a member of any of the organizations listed in subsection (i)(3) hereof or the Ohio National Guard who is ordered to full-time military duty to provide military aid in enforcing the law is granted a maximum of twenty-two workdays of military leave in a calendar year. This military leave can be granted only for absence during the employee's regularly scheduled tour of duty, including regularly scheduled overtime. It cannot be granted for military duty performed within a period of nonpay status. Any pay the employee receives for such military service, other than travel, transportation or per diem allowance, is credited toward the pay he receives in his civilian position during his absence to perform the military duty.
(5) Conditions for granting leave. An eligible employee is granted any military leave available to him whenever he is ordered to active duty as specified in subsection (i)(4) hereof. Neither annual leave or LWOP is granted for such active military duty until the employee has used all the military leave available to him unless this would result in a forfeiture of annual leave. Requests for military leave must be supported by copy of orders which is forwarded to the payroll office with the attendance report on which the absence is first reported. The employee is required to submit a certification by the appropriate military officer of evidence that the active military duty was performed. This certification is forwarded to the payroll office with the attendance report on which the return to duty is reported.
(6) Military leave granted under subsection (i)( 3) hereof is charged on a calendar day basis. No charge is made for nonworkdays at the beginning and end of a period of absence on active military duty. However, all intervening nonworkdays falling within the period of military duty must be charged to military leave. An employee cannot be granted more than fifteen calendar days of military leave for any one period of active duty although the tour extends into another calendar year. However, when an employee is ordered to active duty a second time in the same calendar year, he acquires entitlement to another period of military leave if he is still on active duty on January 1, of the following year. For example, if a reservist who was ordered to active duty in December was granted only three days of military leave at that time, he would be eligible for twelve days of military leave beginning on January 1, to complete the fifteen calendar days of military leave for that period of active duty.
(7) Military leave granted under subsection (i)(4) hereof is charged on all days the employee would otherwise have worked and received pay, including days on which he was scheduled to work overtime on a regular basis. No charge is made to military leave for holidays or for any other day established by law as a holiday.
(8) Absences related to military duty are considered as follows:
A. An employee required to register under the Universal Military Training and Service Act is excused without charge to leave up to one day for the time required to register. Additional absence is charged to annual leave or LWOP.
B. An employee is excused without charge to leave or loss of pay for the time required for physical examination before induction or recall to active duty in the armed forces. Absences in excess of one day require a justifying statement from the examining station. An employee required to report for periodic physical examination for retention of his status in any reserve component or National or State Guard is granted sick leave for medical examination.
C. An employee who reports for induction or who is recalled to extended active duty in the armed forces is carried in leave status until the Municipality is notified that he has been inducted or accepted for extended active duty, or if he is rejected, until he returns to duty or separation action is effected. A reservist or National Guardsman is granted all military leave to which he is entitled before separation for military service. A reservist called to active duty for training to satisfy an initial military obligation of at least six months in conjunction with his reserve assignment is granted leave of absence. An employee not eligible for military leave is carried on annual leave or leave without pay as he elects, pending his acceptance or rejection for military duty. An employee, other than a reservist or National Guardsman, cannot be carried on leave during military service, but must be separated at the close of the day preceding the date he enters on active duty.
(j) Funeral Leave.
(1) Employees who are veterans of the armed forces and who participate as a pallbearer, a member of an honor guard in funerals for members of the armed forces who lost their lives on active duty are excused from duty without charge to leave for not in excess of four hours for one day.
(2) An employee is excused for not more than three days to make arrangements for or to attend the funeral or memorial service for the immediate family. Two additional days of excused absence may be authorized on the basis of the specific circumstances involved. However, in authorizing excess absence of more than three days, the excused time allowed for travel is limited to the time required for travel by common carrier, or usual mode of transportation.
(k) Absence Without Leave. An absence from duty which was not authorized or approved or for which a leave request has been denied is charged as AWOL. Pay is withheld for the entire period of such absence. AWOL may serve as a basis for disciplinary action. If it is later determined that the absence without prior approval was excusable or that the employee was ill, the charge of AWOL may be changed to annual or sick leave.
(Ord. 436. Passed 9-12-77.)