§ 86-516. Sick leave.

(a)

Philosophy. Personal sick leave/family sick leave benefits shall not be considered as a right or a privilege to be used at an employee's discretion. Personal/family sick leave benefits are an allowance granted by the county to provide employees reasonable time off during periods of personal or family illness or injury without loss of pay. Accumulation of personal/family sick leave benefits should be viewed as an insurance policy and should not be considered as money in the bank to which the employee has an acquired right.

(b)

Eligibility. All 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 accumulate personal/family sick leave benefits and may be authorized to use such benefits when accrued. Permanent part-time employees normally working fewer than 35 hours per bi-weekly pay periodshall not be eligible to accrue or utilize personal/family sick leave benefits.

(c)

Rate at which leave is accumulated. All eligible employees shall accumulate personal/family sick leave benefits at the rate of eight hours per month, except as provided in this subsection.

(1)

Permanent part-time employees. Permanent part-time employees who work 35 hours or more per biweekly pay period shall be entitled to accumulate personal/family sick leave benefits in proportion to the number of hours worked. An employee who normally works fewer than 35 hours per bi-weekly pay period shall not be entitled to accrue personal/family sick leave benefits.

(2)

Leave of absence. Personal/family sick leave benefits shall not accrue during a leave of absence without pay.

(3)

Disability leave. Personal/family sick leave benefits 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 personal sick or annual leave.

(d)

Accumulation. There shall be no maximum limit on the amount of personal/family sick leave benefits which may be accumulated.

(e)

Use.

(1)

Approval.

a.

Personal/family sick leave benefits usage must have the approval of the employee's department/division director or his designated representative. Whenever the situation permits, the employee must secure prior approval for the use of personal/family sick leave benefits from his immediate supervisor. If advance prior approval is not possible, the employee, barring any mitigating circumstances, shall notify his immediate supervisor, division or department director prior to the time established for beginning his daily duties.

b.

An employee in an organizational unit operating on a 24-hour basis must notify the appropriate supervisor within the time limit established by the department director.

(2)

Medical certification signed by a licensed treating physician.

a.

A department/division director may require an employee to submit a medical certification signed by the employee's licensed treating physician to substantiate usage of sick leave benefits, including personal sick leave and family sick leave.

b.

An employee shall be required to submit a medical certification signed by the employee's (or employee's immediate family member's) licensed treating physician when returning to duty following an unscheduled absence due to illness or injury that extends beyond three calendar days.

c.

An employee shall be required to submit a medical certification signed by the employee's licensed treating physician whenever the department/division director has reason to question the employee's physical ability to return to duty and perform all duties without restriction or without risk of injury to himself or others.

d.

A department/division director may require an employee to submit a medical certification signed by the employee's (or employee's immediate family member's) licensed treating physician if the employee's absence from duty for illness occurs frequently or habitually, or in such a manner as to suggest a pattern of usage, provided the employee has been notified in writing that medical certification will be required.

e.

A department/division director may require an employee to submit a medical certification signed by the employee's (or employee's immediate family member's) licensed treating physician if the department director has reason to believe that the employee may be improperly using or abusing sick leave benefits.

f.

Any medical certification shall be signed by the licensed physician treating the employee (or immediate family member) for the illness or injury that caused the employee to be absent from duty, and shall include, dates of treatment, the nature of the illness or injury, the prognosis, the extent of restrictions, if any, the probable date when the employee will return to work, and be issued within a reasonable degree of medical probability.

(3)

Minimum charge. Personal/family sick leave benefits 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. Employees assigned to positions scheduled on a 24-hour shift basis shall be charged 16 hours of personal/family sick leave benefits for each 24-hour shift not worked because of illness or injury.

(5)

Purpose of use.

a.

Personal sick leave. Personal sick leave is a benefit which may be granted on account of:

1.

Personal injury or illness of the employee.

2.

Exposure to contagious disease which would endanger others.

3.

Appointments with physicians, dentists or other medical practitioners which cannot be scheduled during nonworking hours.

Pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, childbirth and recovery therefrom shall be considered a temporary disability and subject to the same policies and regulations as apply to regular personal sick leave.

b.

Family sick leave. Family sick leave is a benefit which may be granted on account of absence due to illness, injury or death of immediate family members to the extent that such illness or injury requires the specific time and attention of the employee and until such time as the employee can make appropriate arrangements for other care of the family member.

(6)

Employee certification. An employee shall be required to explicitly state and certify on a prescribed form whether his absence was for personal sick leave or family sick leave.

(7)

On-the-job injuries.

a.

Reporting. An employee, injured on the job, however slightly, must report the injury to his supervisor immediately. The employee's supervisor must follow the appropriate procedures prescribed for reporting on-the-job injuries.

b.

Absence on day of injury. Any absence from duty due to injury on the day of injury shall not be charged to an employee's leave accumulation.

c.

Absence for first seven calendar days. Beginning with the first day after an on-the-job injury and continuing through the seventh day following the injury, an absence resulting from the injury shall be charged to personal sick leave or annual leave.

d.

Absence for eight or more days. Beginning with the eighth day of absence resulting from an on-the-job injury, an employee may elect to use personal sick or annual leave credits to supplement statutory compensation benefits (currently 66 2/3 percent of salary) up to a maximum of full salary.

e.

Absence for 15 or more days. When an employee has been absent due to an on-the-job injury for 15 calendar days, he may be granted worker's compensation benefits for the first week of injury. When this occurs, the employee's sick or annual leave accounts shall be credited with up to two-thirds of any leave that was used during the first seven days of absence.

(8)

Leave of absence. No leave of absence without pay for illness purposes shall be allowed when an employee has accrued personal/family sick leave benefits available.

(9)

Limitations on use. Personal/family sick leave benefits may be used only to the extent of an employee's available accumulation. Personal/family sick leave benefits 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 future leave shall be granted in advance or in anticipation of future leave accumulation. In such cases either annual leave credits may be used or the employee may be placed on leave without pay.

(f)

Extension of service. Personal/family sick leave benefits 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 which he occupies.

(g)

Reinstatement or rehired from a layoff list. If an employee is reinstated or rehired from a layoff list as provided in this article, his previous personal/family sick leave benefits accrual shall be adjusted to account for the employee's previous service. A retired employee that is rehired shall not have his leave accrual balance adjusted, but shall accrue leave benefits in the same manner and at the same rate as a new employee.

(h)

Benefits not to be considered wages. The policy of the county is reaffirmed and declared that personal sick leave benefits received by employees of the county be excluded from wages for the purposes of the Social Security Act in the same manner that such payments are excluded with respect to employees of employers subject to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. It is hereby reaffirmed and declared that personal sick leave benefits are and have been paid entirely on account of personal sickness or disability and are not and have never been merely a continuation of wages.

(Ord. No. 81-19, § 16.06, 9-3-81; Ord. No. 88-31, §§ X, XI, 9-15-88; Ord. No. 95-38, § II, 9-21-95; Ord. No. 98-11, § III, 6-11-98; Ord. No. 01-11, § 2, 5-3-01; Ord. No. 2017-27, § I, 11-16-17; Ord. No. 2018-16, § I, 12-4-18)