§ 86-514. Annual leave.

(a)

Philosophy. Annual leave is provided for the purpose of allowing employees time off from their work for vacation purposes or for necessary time to attend to personal business which cannot be conducted during off-duty hours.

(b)

Eligibility. Permanent full-time and permanent part-time employees in nonexempt classifications hired prior to July 1, 2001, who have not elected to receive personal leave hours shall be eligible to earn and accrue annual leave credits and may utilize such leave upon completion of six months of continuous scheduled service except as provided in this section. Permanent part-time employees normally working less than 35 hours per biweekly pay period week and temporary employees shall not be eligible to earn, accrue or utilize annual leave.

(c)

Rate at which leave is earned. Annual leave shall be earned at the rate of eight hours per month for each continuous month of employment during the first seven years of service. Beginning with the first month of the eighth year of continuous service, annual leave shall be earned at the rate of ten hours per month of continuous employment. Beginning with the first month of the 14th year of continuous service, annual leave shall be earned at the rate of 12 hours per month of employment. Beginning with the first month of the 20th year of continuous service, annual leave shall be earned at the rate of 14 hours per month of employment, or sufficient to cover one full month of leave time.

(1)

Part-time employees. Part-time employees who work 35 hours or more per biweekly pay period shall be entitled to accumulate leave in proportion to the number of hours worked. An employee who normally works less than 35 hours per biweekly pay period shall not be entitled to earn and accrue annual leave.

(2)

Leave of absence. Annual leave shall not accrue during a leave of absence without pay.

(3)

Disability leave. Annual leave shall accrue during any period of disability leave when the employee is drawing full biweekly pay through payments of worker's compensation benefits and use of sick or annual leave.

(d)

Accumulation. A total of 288 hours of annual leave is the maximum that may be carried over from one fiscal year to the next, except for firefighters, who may carry over a total of 403 hours. On the first day of the county's new fiscal year (October 1 or as set by the county manager), the annual leave balance of any employee that exceeds 288/403 hours shall be reduced to 288/403 hours.

(1)

The annual leave account shall contain those hours of annual leave accumulated under this article, but shall never exceed a total of 288/403 hours at the beginning of any fiscal year.

(e)

Use.

(1)

Prior approval required. Annual leave may be used only with prior approval of the department/division director or his designated representative. Absence from work for other than illness reasons without prior approval may result in severe disciplinary action, including dismissal.

(2)

Restrictions on use.

a.

Approval of duration and timing of vacations shall be determined by the department/division director with due regard to the employee's wishes, the employee's length of service, and the needs and workload of the department. Every effort will be made to allow at least two weeks' leave during the year.

b.

Annual leave may be used only to the extent of an employee's available accumulation. Annual leave may not be allowed in advance of being earned. If an employee has insufficient leave credits to cover a period of absence, no allowance for leave shall be granted in advance or in anticipation of future leave credits. In such cases, payroll deductions shall be made for the time for which leave credits were not available.

c.

Annual leave may not be taken during the first six months of employment. The six months may be extended by the amount of any unpaid leave exceeding two weeks that occurred during such period.

d.

Subject to the discretion of the department/division director the use of annual leave may be limited to less than, and in any event shall not exceed, 30 days in a 12 month period, unless prior approval is granted by the appropriate deputy county manager. The 12 month period runs on a calendar year, i.e., January 1 through December 31.

(3)

Minimum charge. Annual leave shall be charged in multiples of one-half hour. One-half hour shall be the minimum charge for any usage. Any use up to one-half hour shall be charged as one-half hour.

(4)

Maximum charge. For each full day's absence, a maximum charge equal to the employee's scheduled work hours for that day shall be charged. A firefighter's 24-hour shift shall be reported as 16 hours for the purpose of charging annual leave credits.

(5)

Use in lieu of sick leave. Annual leave may be used in lieu of sick leave or for sick leave purposes when sick leave is exhausted. Sick leave shall not be used for annual leave purposes.

(6)

Leave of absence. A leave of absence without pay for illness purposes shall not be allowed when an employee has accrued annual leave credits available and is eligible to use annual leave.

(f)

Death of employee eligible for annual leave. Upon the death of an employee who has completed the initial probationary period, any unused annual leave shall be paid at the hourly rate of pay that such employee was earning on the date of death in accordance with section 86-526.

(g)

Extension of service. Annual leave shall not be used by an employee separating from the service for purposes of extending the date of employment beyond the date that such employee ceases to actually perform the duties of the position that he occupies.

(Ord. No. 81-19, § 16.04, 9-3-81; Ord. No. 95-38, § I, 9-21-95; Ord. No. 98-11, § II, 6-11-98; Ord. No. 01-11, § 1, 5-3-01; Ord. No. 2017-27, § I, 11-16-17; Ord. No. 2018-16, § I, 12-4-18)