(a) Sick/personal Leave.
(1) Upon becoming a full-time employee of the Village, each full-time employee shall be entitled to an initial combined pool of Sick/Personal Leave credit of three workdays. In addition, each full-time employee shall earn Sick/Personal Leave at the rate of one workday for each month of continuous service, i.e., twelve workdays per year. In applying this rule, the employee shall be credited with eight duty hours for each day of paid leave on which he would have worked except for such leave.
(2) Sick Leave. Sick Leave for full time employees of the village with full pay because of sickness may be granted and approved by the respective department head or the Mayor. Sick leave for department heads with full pay because of sickness may be granted and approved by the Mayor. Upon approval, a full-time employee may use Sick leave due to his own illness, injury, or exposure to contagious disease which might reasonably be expected to be communicated to other employees, or for absence due to emergency caused by illness of or injury to members of the employee's immediate family.
(3) Personal Leave. Personal Leave for full time employees of the village with full pay because of any reason the employee deems personal may be granted and approved by the respective department head or the Mayor. Personal leave for departments heads with full pay because of any reason the employee deems personal may be granted and approved by the Mayor.
(4) Sick/Personal Leave shall be used in no less than one-hour increments.
(5) In cases in which a salaried employee is absent because of illness for less than one full workday, his department head or the Mayor may permit him to make up the lost time at a later date without loss or adjustment of pay.
(b) Approval.
(1) Three Workdays or Less. For periods of Sick/Personal Leave of three workdays or less, the department head or Mayor may accept the employee's statement as to reason for the absence or may require the employee to present satisfactory written evidence of the existence of facts entitling the employee to Sick/Personal Leave.
(2) More than Three Workdays. For periods of Sick/Personal Leave in excess of three workdays, the department head or Mayor require a written medical certificate or other acceptable written evidence. When an employee is absent for more than three workdays as a result of illness or injury, his department head may require a physical examination by a doctor designated by the Village before the employee may return to work. If the Village doctor confirms the employee's ability to return to regular work, he shall return to work and shall be paid for the days missed between the date he would have returned to work but for the scheduling of an examination by a Village doctor and the time of the Village doctor's approval of return to work. But if the Village doctor reports that the employee is not able to return to regular work, he shall be continued on Sick/Personal Leave, or if has been exhausted, shall continue on leave with no pay, until the Village doctor approves of his return.
(3) Seven Workdays or More. When an employee is absent for a period of seven workdays or more on account of illness or injury (regardless of whether such illness or injury is or is not covered by Workers' Compensation or Sick/Personal Leave), his department head or Mayor may require him to submit written evidence of his inability to return to work and may require an examination by a doctor designated by the Village.
(4) It shall be the responsibility of the employee to determine from his doctor, as far in advance as possible, the date of which his doctor anticipates the employee will be able to return to work, or the date which may be scheduled for a final physical examination, by the employee's doctor, prior to the employee's return to work, and to notify his supervisor of this anticipated date so the Village may schedule the physical examination with a minimum loss of time. Should the employee have prior notice of the aforementioned anticipated date of return to work, or of final physical examination, and fail to notify his supervisor, the payment provided in the preceding paragraph shall not apply.
(c) Holidays. An employee is not deemed to be on Sick/Personal Leave on a day which is observed as his holiday.
(d) Workers' Compensation.
(1) The Village of Wakeman has elected to provide coverage for its employees under the provisions of Ohio R.C. Chapter 4123, the Workers' Compensation Act. This benefit provides for compensation and payment of medical expenses for every employee who receives an injury which the Industrial Commission finds compensable.
(2) An employee may not use accumulated Sick/Personal Leave and also collect industrial compensation. If an employee is going to be absent because of a compensable industrial injury for a prolonged period of time, the employee may request a Sick/Personal Leave savings agreement if he has accumulated Sick/Personal Leave. Such an agreement provides that an injured employee may collect his regular earnings in the form of Sick/Personal Leave for the period of time which he is absent as a result of a compensable industrial injury. Such earnings will continue to be paid until the employee's accumulated Sick/Personal Leave is exhausted. The employee in turn agrees to pay to the Village the amount of money which he receives from the Bureau of Workers' Compensation for the time that he is absent due to such compensable injury. On payment by the employee to the Village of the funds which the employee receives from the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, the employee will regain Sick/Personal Leave credit equal to the number of times his current daily earnings can be divided into the amount of money which he receives from the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and pays to the Village.
(3) The employee shall be permitted to use accumulated Sick/Personal Leave for the time lost due to an industrial injury when the days lost are not determined to be compensable by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. Accumulated Sick/Personal Leave may also be used for any time lost by the employee because of leaving the job for treatment.
(4) The Village may provide transportation for an employee who is injured on the job to and from the doctor's office or the hospital on the day of the injury. If the doctor is of the opinion that the injured employee is unable to return to work on the day of the injury, the employee shall receive pay for the full day regardless of the hours worked prior to the injury, and the day shall not be considered as or charged to Sick/Personal Leave.
(e) Each department head or the Mayor shall administer Sick/Personal Leave within his department equitably, but with diligent regard for the fact that the Village grants such leaves only to ease hardship and not as part of the earnings of employment to which an employee is entitled as a matter of right as he is to vacations. Sick/Personal Leave is not to be granted except when an employee is unable to work because of illness or an accident or in cases of sickness or any reason the employee deems personal or bereavement due to death in the employee's family as set forth elsewhere in this section. Each department head or the Mayor may require his employees to present written evidence satisfactory to him of the existence of facts entitling such employees to Sick/Personal Leave and may deny such leave for failure to present such evidence.
(f) Unused Sick/personal Leave.
(1) An employee of the Village may elect at the time of retirement from active service with the Village or voluntary termination of employment while in good standing, if at such time the employee has three or more years of service with the Village to be paid in cash for one-fourth of his total accrued but unused Sick/Personal Leave credit, but not in excess of forty days at the employee's wage or salary rate in effect at the time of retirement.
(2) Unused Sick/Personal Leave shall be cumulative from the day of first employment by the Village with unlimited number of days.
(g) Bereavement Leave. In addition to the Sick/Personal Leave pool, each full-time employee of the Village shall be entitled to separate Bereavement Leave due to death in the employee's family as follows:
(1) Employee may be granted up to five workdays Bereavement leave upon death of father, mother, husband, wife, domestic partner, son or daughter.
(2) Employee may be granted up to three workdays Bereavement leave for death of grandparents, father-in-law, mother-in-law, foster-or stepparent, brother, sister, son in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, or grandchildren to attend the funeral.
(h) Definition(s).
(1) Immediate Family. For the purpose of this section, immediate family shall mean spouse, parent, children and domestic partner.
(2) Domestic Partner. For the purposes of this section, "domestic partners" are two individuals who:
A. Share a regular and permanent residence; and
B. Have a committed personal relationship for at least six months; and
C. Can demonstrate financial interdependence; and
D. Are not related by blood, not legally married, nor in a domestic partnership with anyone else.
(Ord. 2021-O-4. Passed 3-8-21.)