§ 2-595. Policies established for fulltime nonseasonal employees.

(a)

Flexible time off (FTO).

(1)

In recognition of the need for its employees to be away from work, the city agrees to establish and accrue a bank of time off for any personal needs such as personal or family illness, extension of bereavement leave or vacations, or for any other purpose. Such bank may also be used to satisfy the five-day waiting period for longterm disability (LTD) leave described in subsection (b) of this section. Such bank will not include personal holidays, bereavement leave (unless as an extension), jury or subpoenaed witness duty, LTD leave, leave of absence, or military leave.

(2)

FTO accrual shall begin on the first day of employment for fulltime employees and may be taken as accrued. Accruals shall be credited to each employee's account on the first day of each month for the prior month's service at the rate of one-half day per month and continue at the same rate for each month of credited service.

(3)

FTO days will continue to accrue as long as the employee remains in paid status, subject to the limitation listed in subsection (a)(7) of this section.

(4)

FTO days may be taken in full- or half-day increments. If becoming ill at work and leaving early, employees will be charged with one-half FTO day if leaving after mid-shift and a full FTO day if leaving before mid-shift.

(5)

Employees are expected to plan time off, setting aside some time in their personal bank for sickness. Employees are encouraged to keep a minimum of five days in their bank at all times to provide for unexpected shortterm sickness or for the required five-day LTD waiting period described in subsection (b) of this section. If all FTO days or any other paid leave time is not available, any shortterm illness will be an excused absence, but without pay. Likewise, any longterm illness will result in a loss of pay for the five-day waiting period. The city retains the right to limit the number of excused absence occurrences as described in this subsection.

(6)

Employees should schedule FTO time at least 24 hours in advance with the approval of a supervisor. The city recognizes that there will be times, such as days an employee or a dependent is ill or a personal emergency arises that cannot be anticipated. In such cases, it is the responsibility of the employee to inform his supervisor, as soon as possible prior to the beginning of a workday or shift, of such absence and when the employee expects to be able to return to work.

(7)

Employees may carry over accrued but unused FTO days from year to year but in no event can they accumulate more than 25 FTO days.

(8)

All FTO days shall be on the basis of the employee's regular base day's salary.

(9)

The city will buy back FTO days from any employee, up to a maximum of six FTO days per year. It is the responsibility of the employee to make timely application prior to this buy-back arrangement if so desired. In any event, the city will not buy back an amount of FTO days which would reduce the employee's personal bank to less than five days, except as provided in subsection (a)(10) of this section.

(10)

In the event a regular, fulltime employee's service to the city is terminated, including termination due to death or retirement, he shall be entitled to pay, in lieu of FTO days for days due and not yet taken, as of the date of such termination, including any FTO days carried over from prior years.

(11)

As this section replaces part of the former section's sick leave provisions, the conversion to this FTO plan will be accomplished for each employee on January 1, 1999 by crediting each employee with a starting bank of FTO days, based on the number of sick days surrendered by that employee on that date, based on the following schedule:

0—20 days	5 days FTO
21—40 days	6 days FTO
41—60 days	7 days FTO
61—-80 days	8 days FTO
81—100 days	9 days FTO
101 + days	10 days FTO

 

(b)

Longterm disability (LTD) leave.

(1)

In recognition of the fact that employees may become disabled and may not be able to perform their normal duties due to a longterm illness or injury (whether occupational or otherwise), the city hereby establishes, beginning January 1, 1999, a longterm disability (LTD) leave program for all regular, salaried, fulltime employees, not covered by collective bargaining agreements.

(2)

LTD leave will not begin until a five-working-day waiting period has elapsed. Employees must bridge this waiting period with any leave time available to them at the start of the leave period.

(3)

The LTD leave period shall be for a maximum of 52 weeks. While on leave, employees will be paid all or part of their regular approved base salary, according to the following schedule:

a.

For each complete year of service, one week LTD benefits at 100 percent of pay, to a maximum of 26 weeks, after the waiting period has expired.

b.

Then, 67 percent of pay through the 26th week following the waiting period.

c.

Then, 50 percent of pay through the 52nd week following the waiting period.

d.

Then, no benefit (0 percent).

The LTD benefit paid to an employee on LTD leave will be reduced or replaced entirely by any amount of workers' compensation or social security disability pay received by the employee, including waiting-period reimbursement. It is the employee's responsibility to make timely application for such benefits if physically possible.

(4)

Any wage increases scheduled to occur during disability will not become effective until returning to work. Benefits, such as group medical and group life insurance, and FTO day accrual, will continue during LTD leave.

(5)

The employee must provide medical documentation as to proof of his physical disability to qualify for LTD leave and proof of his ability to return to work following LTD leave. The city retains the right to request an independent medical examination by a physician of the city's choice. Additionally, the city may require subsequent proof of continued disability, obtained at city expense, at intervals of not less than two months during a disability period. Failure to comply with this provision on a timely basis, or failure to return to work as soon as possible may result in termination.

(6)

No employee will be entitled to LTD leave for a disability resulting from the use of alcohol or drugs, for injury during the commission of a crime, or for disabilities occurring in the course of employment for other than the city or for remuneration through self-employment, for injury occurring while performing any outside work for remuneration or profit, or while on official leave of absence.

(7)

If the employee returns to work and becomes disabled again within six months from the same injury or illness, the disability is considered a continuation. In this event, no new waiting period will be required. The employee will resume the LTD schedule where he left off upon returning to work.

(8)

A new disability period, including the requirement for a waiting period, shall begin if the employee returns to work for more than six months and becomes disabled again from the same injury or illness, or returns and becomes disabled due to an unrelated injury or illness.

(9)

An employee returning to work following LTD leave shall return to his regular work, if so released by a physician. If requested by the physician, light duty work may be arranged on a temporary basis by the city, if such light duty work is available and practical with reasonable accommodation. An employee declared by a physician to be incapable of returning to his regular work may be placed in any available job for which the employee is declared by a physician to be physically fit. The employee's rate of pay following retrogression will be the greater of the rate of pay for his new job classification, or two-thirds of his prior position's pay. In case of the latter, the employee shall remain at this rate of pay, without periodic salary increases until the rate of pay for his new classification equals or exceeds his retrogression rate of pay.

(10)

As this section replaces part of the former section's sick leave provisions, employees on sick leave as of the effective date of this plan will continue their sick leave under the provisions of the former section until returning to work, when this section will govern any subsequent sick leave.

(Code 1985, § 34.01; Ord. No. 4365, 12-8-1998)