Loading...
Ordinance 97-1391 ORDINANCE N~0. 97-1391 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CTTY OF LONGWOOD, FLORIDA, AME:[VDING THE "COMPASSIONATE LEAVE BANK" RULES AND PROCEDURES; PRGVIDING FOR CONFLICTS; SEVERABILITY AND EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, it is in the public interest of the citizens of Longwood and its City employees that the Personnel Policies and Procedures be continually reviewed and updated; WHEREAS, the City of Longwood desires to allow employees the ability to donate sick leave to those employees who due to extended illness may need additional paid sick leave. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF LONGWOOD, FLORIDA, AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1: That the City of Longwood Personnel Policies and Procedures, Chapter 7.06 Q, Compassionate Leave Bank Rules .and Procedures be amended. SECTION 2: That these Personnel Policies are adopted as applicable to all non- bargaining unit employees, and sworn. certified law enforcement personnel unless superseded by State Statutes. These; policies are not adopted or applicable to: A. Members of the Longwood City Commission and persons appointed to fill vacancies on the Longwood City Commission. B. Members appointed by the Longwood City Commission to serve on advis~~ry committees or special boards and commissions. C. Persons retained on a contractual fee for services or retainer basis. D. Employees classified as temporary appointments or seasonal employees, except as may be specifically identified in the Personnel Policies and Procedures. E. Volunteers receiving no salary or non-monetary compensation. SEC'T'ION 3: That these policies arse adopted as applicable to all bargaining unit employees except fo;r those provisions which are contained in a collective bargaining unit agreement. SECTION 4: That all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. Ordinance 97-1391 Page 2 of 2 SECTION 5: If any section or portion of a section of this ordinance proves to be invalid, unlawful or unconstitutional, it shall not be held to invalidate or impair the validity, force or effect of any other section of this ordinance. . SECTION 6: This ordinance shall 1•~ecome effective upon final passage and adoption. Q FIl2ST READING: SECOND READING: ~ ~ cI PASSED AND ADOPTED THIS /~9 DAY OF _ ~-~t~-~--~ Cha~Miles III, Mayor, City of Longwood, Florida Aa'T T: ~~o Geraldine D. 'Latnbr' ' y Clerk Approved:. as to form and'legality for the use and reli~axice-oft-lie`City of Longwood, Florida, only. 6 ,/Ricl~ard~ Taylor, Jr., City Attorney COMPASSIONATE LEAVE ]BAl~1]K Purpose: The Compassionate Leave Bank Program is a voluntary program. which provides employees with additional leave should a catastrophic illness or accident occur. Since there are no provisions for the voluntary tra~.nsfer of leave from one employee to another in neither Ordinance 955, Personnel Policies and ]Procedures, LU.O.E. Loca1673 Agreement, L.P.F.F.A. 3163 Agreement, nor Police Benevolent Association (PBA) and there is general agreement and interest among both general employees and bargaining unit members to do so, the following volunttary-participation program is recommended. Process: A. M[EM[BERSHIP ELIGIBILITY Any City employee who has accrued a minimum of forty (40) sicll~ hours may elect to contribute a minimuum of eight (8) hours each fiscal year to the Compassionate Leave Bank. Accual hours must be on the books at time of donation and time of deduction. ~l. Yu~e~~i~~?us Compassionate Le~?~~e members ~i~ith less tB~an forte (•311) sick hrnn•s accrued c9ue to an catastrophic illness during the pu~e~~ious ~~ear, ma~~ petitii?e~ the comn?ittce for an exception of tle forte (~lU) hoa?r iuinimum ?-eyuiremerot. ~2 An employee may join the Compassionate Leave Bank, after open enrollment, only upon accrual of 40 hours sick lleave and is not eligible to use benefits until after completion of a 90 day awaitifng period. ~3. Sick hours contributed will not be included in income and therefore, will not be taxable to the contributing employee, however, the hours upon conversion for use b;y the receiving employee will be taxed. 3:~3. The cash value of the hours contributed will be computed based on the donating employee's rate of pay. This cash value will be deposited in the bank. Funds removed from the bank will be determined by the rate of pay of the indnvidual receiving Compassionate leave. 45 Once deposited in the bank, contributions cannot be refunded. 5:~?: Contributions to the bank will not: be considered as a use of sick .leave by the contributing individual in deternnining eligibility of benefits or incentives according to Ordinance 955, Personnel Policies and Procedures. B. ELIGIBILITY FOR BENEFITS In order to apply for compassionate .leave, an eligible individual will have used all accrued leaves (sick, vacation and holiday) due to a prolonged and bona fide illness(es) or injury(ies) and their subsequent medical treatment, all of which not being covered under Workman's Compensation. The following must apply or be selectively waived on a case by case basis by the committee for approval of request for the use of the bank: 1. Appliicant must be a permanent full-time employee. 2. All other leave options must have keen exhausted. 3. The employee cannot be receiving Worker's Compensation. or other City disability benefits. 4. Beneitits from the Compassionate Leave Bank shall not exceed 240 working hours (for non-shift) per illness or injury. 5. Medical documentation must be p~rovi.ded at the time of the application. 6. Any member of the Compassionate Leave Bank who has not met all of the eligibility requirements may petition the Compassionate Leave Bank Conunittee for special consideration of the 90 day waiting period. C. COMPASSIONATE LEAVE COP?IMITTEE A Compassionate ]Leave Committee will be aF~pointed by the City Administrator, ffrom department head nominations, election to be made by IDecember 31st with term to begin January lst, and serve for two (2) years. This committee will be comprised of seven (7) members, live (5) of which must benon-exempt (F'LSA) employees. The Committee Chairman will be elected by Clue Committee, and serve for two (2) years. D. GUIDELINES FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Committee Chairman will call meetings as needed to review applications for the use of the Compassionate Leave Bank. Employees receiving; Compassionate. Leave must meet all of the criteria in B. above. ]Elowever, meeting that criteria does not obligate the Committee to approve the use of leave from the. Compassionate .Leave Bank. Additional items which should be taken into account include, but are not limiter to: 1. The cash value of time available in. the Compassionate. Leave. Bank. 2. The employee's use of Sick Leave prior to the illness or injury. E. APPLICATION FOR COMPASSIONATE LEAVE Applications for Compassionate leave may be made by completing the application form, which will be designed by the committee, and contain tlhe following information: 1. Name. and employee number of the applicant. 2. The nature of the illness or injury, and the date it was diagnosed. 3. The number of Compassionate Leave hours requested and the period to be covered. 4. A ph~~sicians statement describing the illness or injury and the estimated time of his/her return to work, either for limited on the job injuries or full day. 5. History from the Payroll Division certifying the amount of leave utilized during the previous year. The completed application form should be sent to the Personnel Officer for transmittal to the Committee. F. RES7~,RICTIONS FOR COMPAS,3IONATE LEAVE The following restriictions will apply to Compassionate Leave granted by the Committee: 1. Compassionate Leave in combination with any other benefits will not exceed 100% of the employee's normal gross pay at the time of the injury or illness. 2. Employees shall have no entitlement to Compassionate leave granted, but not used. 3. A maximum of eighty (80) hours per request will be considered, not to exceed a total of 240 hours per incident. 4. Each subsequent request will require fully updated documentation with all necessary signatures. G. RECORDS If any employee is granted Compassionate Leave by the Committee, the City's Payroll Division will be notified by the Personnel Officer by use c?f the Compassionate Leave Determination Form to authorize conversion of funds in the Compassionate Leave Bank, based on the grantee's base rate of pay.