Justification for overnight retention shall be based on the following criteria:
(a) A vehicle is assigned to a County officer or department head who is required to participate regularly in official County business after normal business hours;
(b) The employee must respond to emergencies which require immediate attention during off-duty hours for the protection of persons or property specifically requiring the presence of the employee in a supervisory or technical capacity to reduce the emergency.
Such emergencies shall require immediate travel to the emergency scene. A six (6) month average of at least three (3) emergency calls per month requiring travel shall be documented by payroll or other acceptable records;
(c) The employee’s working hours are typically irregular and require the continuous availability and use of a vehicle during hours other than normal business hours;
(d) The employee’s duties are such that the checkout of a County vehicle from a County facility at the start of a normal workday would be both impractical and uneconomical due to lost time and increased County transportation costs. This includes those who frequently travel directly from home to the field or directly from the field to home without reporting directly to the main office. In such cases, it shall be determined that the employee’s productive working hours would be reduced by travel time if the vehicle were not parked at the residence;
(e) The employee’s assigned County storage facility for the County vehicle is not adequate due to a lack of security or space, and there is no other County storage facility available. Overnight retention under such circumstances shall be limited until such time as secure storage can be provided by the County;
(f) The availability of off-street parking is a criterion;
(g) Temporary overnight retention shall be permitted:
(1) When an employee is returning from an officially authorized trip after regular working hours or leaving before working hours;
(2) When an employee is scheduled for standby duty outside of normal working hours;
(3) When an employee is working on a special assignment, such as a criminal or civil investigation, requiring the continuous availability of a County vehicle. Such authorization shall only extend over the span of the special assignment; and
(4) When an employee requires the use of a County vehicle to attend a meeting and/or a training session in or out of the County, and such an assignment is to the benefit of the County; and
(h) When the need for after hours’ availability no longer exists, the employee shall arrange for the vehicle to be parked at a location designated by the County. Such requirement shall apply to, but not be limited to, the following periods:
(1) When the employee is on vacation, sick leave, or otherwise off duty for more than three (3) days; and
(2) When the required conditions which justified overnight retention are interrupted for more than three (3) days. (§ 1, Ord. 910, eff. June 25, 1981)