Chapter 2.26
SHARED VACATION AND SICK LEAVE
Sections:
2.26.010 Conditions for obtaining shared leave.
2.26.020 Predetermination by department director.
2.26.030 Conditions of transferring leave.
2.26.040 Interdepartment transfers authorized.
2.26.050 Employee status continued.
2.26.060 Transfer of leave is by cost.
2.26.070 Responsibilities of city clerk/treasurer.
2.26.080 Return of unused shared leave.
2.26.010 Conditions for obtaining shared leave.
A department director, with the mayor’s approval, may permit an employee to receive shared leave under this chapter if:
A. The employee suffers, or has an immediate family member suffering from an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition which is of an extraordinary or severe nature and which has caused, or is likely to cause, the employee to go on leave without pay status or to terminate his or her employment with the city;
B. The employee has depleted or will shortly deplete his or her total of accrued vacation, sick leave, compensatory time, holiday time and/or other paid leave;
C. Prior to their use of shared leave, the employee has abided by the city’s sick leave policy;
D. The employee has diligently pursued and is found to be ineligible for state industrial insurance benefits;
E. The use of shared leave will not significantly increase the city’s cost, except for those costs which would otherwise be incurred in the administration of this program or which would otherwise be incurred by the employee’s department. (Ord. 674-A § 2, 1990)
2.26.020 Predetermination by department director.
The department director, with the concurrence of the mayor, shall determine the amount of shared leave, if any, which an employee may receive under this chapter. The employee shall be required to provide appropriate medical justification and documentation both of the necessity for the leave and the time which the employee can reasonably be expected to be absent due to the condition. An employee shall not receive more than a total of 131 days of shared leave throughout the employee’s employment. To the extent possible, shared leave should be used on a consecutive basis. (Ord. 674-A § 2, 1990)
2.26.030 Conditions of transferring leave.
Employees may request their department director to approve the transfer of a specified amount of accrued vacation leave and/or compensatory time to an employee who is authorized to receive shared leave as provided herein. In order to be eligible to donate vacation leave/compensatory time, an employee must have a total of more than 10 days of accrued vacation leave/compensatory time, have taken at least 10 days of vacation leave within the calendar year, or have a total of accrued and unused vacation leave/compensatory time of greater than 10 days for the calendar year. Transfers shall be in increments of one day of leave. In no event shall a transfer of leave be approved which would result in an employee reducing his or her total vacation leave/compensatory time in a calendar year to less than 10 days. When reviewing police employees, the police chief may also consider whether additional adequate time off will be provided through compensatory and/or holiday leave unique to the department. In addition, any transfers by police employees shall be approved by applicable union rules. The department director shall not transfer vacation leave in excess of the amount specified in the request. All donations of leave shall be voluntary. The department director shall determine that no significant increase in city costs will occur as a result of any proposed donation of leave. (Ord. 755 § 2, 1993; Ord. 674-A § 2, 1990)
2.26.040 Interdepartment transfers authorized.
Leave may be transferred from employee(s) from one department to an employee of the same department or, with the concurrence of both department directors, to an employee of another department. (Ord. 674-A § 2, 1990)
2.26.050 Employee status continued.
While an employee is on shared leave, he or she will continue to be classified as a city employee and shall receive the same treatment, in respect to salary and benefits, as the employee would otherwise receive if using vacation leave.
A. All salary benefit payments made to the employee on a shared leave shall be made by the department employing the person using the shared leave.
B. The employee’s salary rate shall not change as a result of being on shared leave, nor under any circumstances shall the total of the employee’s salary and other benefits, including, but not limited to, state industrial insurance or any other benefit received as a result of payments by the city to an insurer, health care provider or pension system, exceed the total of salary and benefits which the employee would have received had he or she been in a regular pay status. (Ord. 674-A § 2, 1990)
2.26.060 Transfer of leave is by cost.
Vacation leave shall be transferred on a dollar-for-dollar basis. The value of the leave shall be determined at the current hourly wage of the transferor and the leave available to the receiving employee shall be calculated at the receiving employee’s wage. (Ord. 674-A § 2, 1990)
2.26.070 Responsibilities of city clerk/treasurer.
The city clerk/treasurer shall be responsible for computing the values of donated leave and shared leave, and shall also be responsible for adjusting the accrued leave balances to show the transferred leave. The city clerk/treasurer shall determine the appropriate fund transfers and budget amendments as needed for city council action. Records of all leave time transferred shall be maintained in the event any unused time is returned at a later date. (Ord. 674-A § 2, 1990)
2.26.080 Return of unused shared leave.
The value of any leave transferred which remains unused shall be returned at its original value to the employee or employees who donated the leave. The department director shall determine when shared leave is no longer needed. To the extent administratively feasible, the unused leave shall be returned on a pro rata basis. (Ord. 674-A § 2, 1990)
2.26.090 Abuse of program.
The city clerk/treasurer shall monitor the use of shared leave to ensure equivalent treatment for all employees of the city. Inappropriate use or treatment of the shared leave provision may result in the cancellation of the donated leave or use of shared leave. (Ord. 674-A § 2, 1990)