§ 2-753. Leave.

(a)

Annual leave. Annual leave (vacation) is granted with pay to all regular permanent employees working at least 18.5 hours or more per week in accordance with the following guidelines:

(1)

Employees may take their annual leave anytime during the calendar year (with prior approval) January 1st through December 31st. Employees involved in military training will continue to earn leave while being paid. (See military leave policy, subsection 2-753(e).)

Starting with the first anniversary date of employment, the employee's annual accrual rate will increase as shown on the accrual factor table below. The accrual factor increase will take effect the first pay period following the service anniversary date.

Annual leave accrual hours per pay period for full-time and part-time regular employees for payroll purposes are based on the accrual factor table shown below:

Years of Service	Accrual Factor	Maximum Accrued Hours per Year
0—1	.0462	96
1—2	.0500	104
2—3	.0538	112
3—4	.0577	120
4—5	.0615	128
5—6	.0654	136
6—7	.0692	144
7—8	.0731	152
8—9	.0769	160
9—20	.0808	168
Over 20	.0923	192

 

Annual leave accrued by an employee may be used in increments of quarter-hours. Annual leave cannot be taken before it has accrued. The number of accrued leave hours to be used for one day of leave shall be equal to the number of scheduled paid hours of work for that day of leave.

(2)

Accrued annual leave may be taken in the year in which it is earned or it may be carried over for use in subsequent years subject to the following guidelines:

Years of Service	Maximum Accrual Hours
1—8	288
9—20	312
Over 20	336

 

(3)

Annual leave accrued in excess of the maximum amount listed on the table will be transferred to the employee's sick leave account as of June 30, 2017 and annually thereafter.

(4)

Authorized days off for annual leave will not be considered as working time for calculating weekly overtime compensation.

(5)

Upon termination of employment, employees are entitled to payment for any unused annual leave that has accrued. Payment is based upon the daily rate of compensation being received at the time of termination.

(6)

Certain amounts paid for unused accrued annual leave when an employee terminates or retires are treated as compensation for county retirement system purposes. These amounts are subject to six percent mandatory employee contribution, and 457(b) deferred compensation plan and MERP employee contributions, if applicable. These amounts are also counted for purposes of computing the county match contributions to the Asset Accumulation Plan and MERP, and for Closed DB benefit purposes.

For retirement system purposes, the maximum amount of an employee's payment for unused accrued annual leave that can be counted is:

For termination or retirement on or before July 1, 2017, (i) the employee's maximum amount listed on the table as of his/her last employment anniversary date prior to July 1, 2016, plus (ii) any unused annual leave the employee accrued since that anniversary.

For termination or retirement after July 1, 2017, the maximum amount listed on the table as of the immediately preceding June 30.

Regardless of the retirement system limits, annual leave accrued above the maximum limit will be paid to the employee, without withholding for retirement system employee contributions.

(b)

Sick leave. It is the policy of the county government that all regular permanent employees working at least 18.5 hours or more per week will receive paid leave for authorized absences due to illness or injury.

(1)

Sick leave accrual. Full-time and part-time employees eligible for benefits shall accrue sick leave based on the number of paid hours per pay period, excluding overtime. The number of hours is determined by multiplying the total number of paid hours per pay period by the accrual factor of .0462. Compensation during authorized sick leave will not be granted before days of paid absence have accrued.

(2)

Unused sick leave. Unused sick leave is accumulated. There is no maximum accrual for sick leave purposes. Accumulated sick leave up to 240 days may be used as credited services for employees under the county employee defined benefit retirement plan for retirement purposes only. Unused days of absences under this policy are not convertible into cash, personal holidays, or vacation during employment. In addition, unused days of accumulated sick leave are not paid when employment terminates, except as provided in section 2-769.

(3)

Sick leave notification and approval. To be eligible for sick leave with pay, employees must give their supervisors as much advance notice of an absence as possible. Notification must be no later than the scheduled time of the employee's workday. An employee must speak directly to his/her supervisor on each day of absence. If the supervisor is unavailable, the employee must speak directly to the manager or department director.

(4)

Health provider's statement.

a.

To be eligible for accrued sick leave with pay during a continuous period of more than three working days, an employee who has been absent must provide a healthcare provider's statement, and expected date of return to work, or some written statement of the facts concerning the illness which is acceptable to the departmental official. It is within the discretion of the departmental official to require documentation concerning illnesses resulting in absences of three consecutive working days or less.

b.

Additionally, when an employee has been out on sick leave for more than three consecutive working days and qualifies for protection under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the supervisor is responsible for notifying the employee and ensuring that all FMLA guidelines are followed.

(5)

Other uses of sick leave.

a.

Family illness or injury. With proper documentation, an employee shall be permitted to use not more than 20 working days of accrued sick leave in any calendar year when required to be in attendance or to provide care because of the illness of the employee's spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, or grandchild. In-laws, step-relatives, and persons residing in the employee's household are also covered as part of this policy. The human resources director may authorize exceptions beyond the 20 working day limit, including the exhaustion of all sick leave in the event of catastrophic illness in the employee's family or household.

In all cases, the director or supervisor must request a healthcare provider's statement from the employee certifying that time off is needed in order to care for a family member that meets the criteria above. Additionally, when an employee has been out on sick leave due to a family illness for more than three consecutive workdays and qualifies for protection under the FMLA, the supervisor is responsible for notifying the employee and ensuring that all FMLA guidelines are being followed.

b.

Medical, dental, and optical appointments. An employee may take sick leave where doctor, dental, or optical appointments are required.

(6)

Sick leave may be taken in increments of quarter-hours.

(7)

Employees are to notify their supervisor and/or director prior to the start of their work shift, stating the reason and anticipated length of absence.

(8)

Authorized days off for sick leave will not be considered as time worked for calculating weekly overtime compensation.

(c)

Bereavement leave.

(1)

Death of immediate family member(s). An employee shall be entitled to a period up to three consecutive days at regular pay (not including overtime) with no deduction(s) from leave balances due to the death of any of the persons listed in the family illness section above. In addition the employee shall be permitted to use up to two additional consecutive days of leave, totaling five days of leave. These two additional days will be deducted from the employee's sick leave balance. If no sick leave remains, the employee must take annual leave. If no annual leave remains, the employee must take unpaid leave. The supervisor must approve any bereavement period that is expected to go over the five-day limit and the employee must use his/her annual time.

(2)

Death of any other person(s). An employee shall be permitted to use up to three consecutive days of bereavement leave due to the death of other persons not meeting the criteria of immediate family members. This leave will be deducted from the employee's sick leave balance. If no sick leave remains, the employee must take annual leave. If no annual leave remains the employee must take unpaid leave. The supervisor must approve any bereavement period that is expected to exceed the three-day limit and the employee must use his/her annual leave for those additional days.

(d)

Leave of absence. A leave of absence for a period of up to three months may be granted to full-time employees for personal or health reasons after all annual and sick leave is exhausted. A request for a leave of absence must be presented to the supervisor and department director at least 30 days prior to the desired date (unless the leave is an emergency). The human resources department, the retirement and pension board, the FMLA administrator, and the payroll department must be notified to ensure that benefits are properly administered while the employee is on leave, regardless of the reason for leave.

The granting of a leave of absence is solely at the discretion of the appropriate hiring authority, unless the leave qualifies as a leave under the Family Medical Leave Act or the Tennessee Maternity Leave Act. However, length of service, employment record, and the reason for the absence will be factors in granting a leave. The total amount of leave and any extension thereof for any one cause cannot exceed one year. Sick and annual leave do not accrue while an employee is on a leave of absence.

The employee must notify his/her supervisor of the anticipated date of return to work prior to that date. The supervisor is responsible for immediately notifying the human resources department, the retirement and pension board, the FMLA administrator, and the payroll department. Upon returning from a leave of absence, an employee will be placed in his/her previous or similar position, if available. If the same or similar position is not available, the employee will be given preference for employment in any available position for which he/she is qualified.

If an employee fails to return to work at the conclusion of an approved leave of absence, the employee will be terminated from employment. If an employee is unable to return to work at the conclusion of an approved leave of absence, he/she is responsible for requesting an extension (in advance) from the hiring authority.

(e)

Military leave. All county employees who are members of the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Coast Guard Reserve, Army National Guard, Air National Guard, or the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service are eligible for military leave for active duty training, inactive duty training, full-time National Guard duty, or absence to determine the employee's fitness to serve in the Armed Forces.

Employees who are members of any military reserve organization are entitled to the maximum of 30 working days annually, per calendar year, of paid military leave when engaged in the performance of duty or training in the military reserve. An employee on military leave shall receive his/her regular rate of pay for that period of leave. Requests for military leave shall include copies of the military orders. An employee ordered for a pre-induction physical examination shall be given time off with pay for this purpose by showing his/her orders to the department head. Requests for leave of absence for more than ten working days should be submitted at least two weeks in advance of the beginning date of the requested leave. Requests for military leave in excess of 30 working days annually shall be processed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d). A regular employee who has completed six months of satisfactory employment, and who enters the Armed Forces of the United States, will be placed on military leave. The county mayor shall approve military leave without pay when the employee presents his/her official orders. The employee must apply for reinstatement within 90 days after release from active military duty. If a position is available, the employee will be reinstated to a position in the current classification plan at least equivalent to his/her former position. His/her salary will be the salary provided under the position classification and compensation plan prevailing at the time of reinstatement or reemployment for the position to which he/she is assigned. If no position is available at the time of the employee's return, the employee will be reinstated into the first available equivalent position. No current full-time employee will be terminated or laid off to allow for the reinstatement.

(f)

Mandatory court appearance leave. A county employee called for jury duty in a state or federal court shall receive leave with pay for such duty during the required absence without charge to accumulated annual leave or sick leave. A county employee subpoenaed as a witness in a case in a state or federal court in connection with his/her official duty shall receive regular compensation for said court appearance. All witness fees and travel allowances received by the employee must be submitted to the county upon receipt. A county employee subpoenaed as a witness in a state or federal court in a case which is unrelated to official duties shall not receive leave with pay during his/her absence. This shall be charged to accumulated annual leave or leave without pay. Witness fees or travel expenses received may be retained by the employee.

(g)

Voting leave. Pursuant to state law, an employee is entitled to vote in an election held in this state, and the employee may be absent from work on the day of the election for a reasonable amount of time, not to exceed three hours.

The employee may not be granted leave if the employee's shift begins three or more hours after the opening of the polls or ends three or more hours before the polls close in the county in which the employee lives.

The county may specify the hours during which the employee may be absent and a leave request for voting must be made to the county before noon (12:00) of the day before the election.

(Ord. No. O-16-8-101 , § 1(Exh. A), 9-26-16)