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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 1298 - Sick LeaveORDINANCE NO. 1298 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA REVISING SECTION 2.52.710 OF THE PALM DESERT MUNICIPAL CODE, PERSONNEL SYSTEM, BENEFITS, SICK LEAVE. WHEREAS, the City of Palm Desert's personnel regulations are codified as Section 2.52 of the Palm Desert Municipal Code; and WHEREAS, recent changes in California state law along with Federal regulations necessitate modifications to the City's policy with regard to the administration of paid sick leave; and WHEREAS, the City of Palm Desert has met and conferred in good faith with the Palm Desert Employees Organization (PDEO) in accordance with the Meyers-Milias- Brown Act and the City employer - employee relations Ordinance No. 1042; and WHEREAS, the City of Palm Desert has reached agreement and entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the employees represented by the Palm Desert Employees Organization, for the period July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017; and WHEREAS, the subject revision is consistent with the MOU/Agreement between the Palm Desert Employees Organization and the City of Palm Desert. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. That Chapter 2.25.710 of Title 2 of the Code of the City of Palm Desert, California is hereby revised, and replaced in its entirety, as described in the attached Exhibit A. Section 2. Upon the effective date, this ordinance will supersede, repeal, and replace Section 2.25.710 of Ordinance number 1072. ORDINANCE NO. 1298 Section 3. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption of the Ordinance and shall cause the same to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation printed within the City of Palm Desert, California. Is shall be in full force and effect thirty (3) days after its adoption. PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, on the th day of , 2015, by the following roll call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ATTEST: SUSAN MARIE WEBER, MAYOR City of Palm Desert, California RACHELLE D. KLASSEN, CITY CLERK APPROVED AS TO FORM: DAVID J. ERWIN, CITY ATTORNEY City of Palm Desert, California 2 ORDINANCE NO. 1298 EXHIBIT "A" CHAPTER 2.52 PERSONNEL SYSTEM SECTION 2.52.710 SICK LEAVE 1 _ DEFINED Sick leave is leave from duty which may be granted by the City to an employee because of illness, injury, exposure to contagious disease, illness or injury of a member of the employee's immediate family requiring the employee's attendance, and medical, dental and optical appointments to the extent that such appointments cannot be scheduled outside the work day. a. An employee's immediate family shall consist of the employee's: spouse; registered domestic partner; children; step -children, or the mother, father, brother, sister, grandchildren or grandparents of the employee, spouse, registered domestic partner or other members of the employee's family residing in the employee's home; or other members of the employee's family primarily dependent upon the employee. 2. SICK LEAVE USE a. An employee may be granted sick leave only in case of actual sickness as defined above. In the event that an employee or a member of the employee's immediate family recovers from any such sickness after being granted sick leave, and during the regularly scheduled hours of work, then such employee shall notify the appropriate immediate supervisor and be available to return to duty. b. When an employee is going to be absent due to illness or a medical condition that prevents him or her from coming to work, the employee shall notify his or her department director or manager, or their designee, as soon as possible, but, unless there is an emergency circumstance, no later than one (1) hour after the time set for beginning daily duties. Failure to do so without good reason may result in that day of absence being treated as leave of absence without pay. c. If the employee is absent on sick leave for more than three (3) days, the employee will keep the immediate supervisor informed as to the date the employee expects to return to work. d. Sick leave will not be granted to any employee absent from duty as a result of any sickness, injury or disability purposely self-inflicted or caused by willful misconduct. ORDINANCE NO. 1298 EXHIBIT "A" e. Sick leave will not be granted to any employee absent from duty after separation from service, or during an authorized leave of absence without pay, or any other absence from duty not authorized by the City. f. Sick leave will not be granted to any employee to permit an extension of the employee's vacation. g. Sick leave will be accrued by any employee during the first three full calendar months of the employee's employment. However, only upon the successful completion of three months of employment, will the employee be entitled to utilize accrued sick leave. h. A Department Manager or supervisor may require a physician's note or certificate from employees absent for more than three consecutive work days to be filed with Human Resources Department, excusing their absence and confirming their fitness to return to duty. i. Supervisors shall have the discretion to place employees on sick leave when, in the judgment of the supervisor, the presence of the employee at work would endanger the health and welfare of other employees or where the illness or injury of the employee interferes with the performance of such employee's duties. 3. SICK LEAVE ACCRUAL a. All employees will accrue one (1) work day of sick leave, for each calendar month of service. Such accrual shall take place on a bi-weekly basis. b. Sick leave may be accrued to without a maximum except as provided below: Sick leave granted by the City and used by an employee shall be deducted from the employee's accrued sick leave balance. c. Employees granted a leave of absence with pay or other approved leave with pay shall accrue sick leave as provided herein. d. Sick leave will not be accrued by an employee absent from duty after separation from service, or during an authorized leave of absence without pay, or any other absence from duty not authorized by the City. 4. REIMBURSEMENT FOR ACCRUED SICK LEAVE Upon separation, an employee who has a sick leave accrual balance of one hundred ninety-two (192) hours or greater, and has a minimum of four years of full-time City service may be paid a percentage of the employee's total accrued sick leave according to the table below. Such reimbursement shall be at the employee's base rate of pay at the time of separation. Under the provisions and limitations of CaIPERS contract options Section 20965, the balance of unused and unpaid sick leave may be converted 2 ORDINANCE NO. 1298 EXHIBIT "A" to additional service credit, for employees who retire within four months of their date of separation from Palm Desert. Assuming the above criteria are met, the percentage cash -out is based on the following schedule: YEARS OF SERVICE PERCENTAGE OF PAYOUT Less than four (4) 0 Over four (4) but less than seven (7) 25% Over seven (7) but less than ten (10) 35% Over ten (10) but less than thirteen (13) 45% Over thirteen (13) but less than sixteen (16) 55% Over sixteen (16) 65% *All service time used for the calculation must be full-time paid City service in order to qualify. 5. ABUSE OF SICK LEAVE An employee shall be subject to disciplinary action for abuse of sick leave which is defined as a claim of entitlement to sick leave when the employee does not meet the requirements of sick leave as defined in Section 1. 6. EXCESSIVE USE OF SICK LEAVE Excessive use of sick leave, tardiness, and failing to use the call -in procedures when absent or tardy, can negatively impact the performance of your job or affect others in the performance of their job. Factors that will be considered in determining whether use of sick leave is excessive include, but are not limited to, whether absenteeism is limited to a finite time period or whether it continues over time, the basis for the absenteeism and the significance of the impact on the performance of your job or of others. 7. RETURN TO WORK a. Regular employees unable to perform the essential functions of their position, with or without reasonable accommodation, as a result of a physical or psychological illness or injury for a period of one (1) year from the first date of the absence shall: i.) Be terminated from employment. Employees who are separated pursuant to this section shall be accorded procedural due process (i.e., notice and an opportunity to respond to the separation) in accordance with the appeal ORDINANCE NO. 1298 EXHIBIT "A" procedures for disciplinary actions outlined in these rules and procedures; or ii.) If disabled, be retired under the Public Employees Retirement System, or iii.) Be offered the opportunity to resign from the position and be placed on a rehire list for a period not to exceed one (1) year. Any employee returning to work pursuant to this section shall provide to the Human Resources office verification from a medical practitioner of his/her ability to return to work and perform the essential functions of his/her position, with or without accommodation. If during the period in which the employee is on the rehire list, the employee is physically and/or psychologically able to resume the duties of his/her previous position and there is a vacant position in the employee's classification, the employee will be entitled to return to that position with all the rights, benefits, and responsibilities of a regular employee. However, an employee on a rehire list shall not accrue seniority, nor step increase eligibility. Thus, the employee will return to work with the same amount of seniority held prior to being placed on the rehire list, including for purposes of determining vacation accrual rate. Placement on the rehire list does not preclude an employee from applying for a disability retirement. iv.) Medical Leaves of Absence: Employees on family and medical care leave, pregnancy disability leave or other statutory leaves will not be terminated or offered the rehire list option in lieu of separation during such leave if separation during such leave would be precluded by law. b. Whenever an employee has been given a permanent and stationary rating by the Industrial Accident Commission of the State of California, return to the job must be based on the same medical information that the employee used in order to obtain the award. Unless these medical facts are very carefully considered, subsequent injuries or aggravations of the original injury can occur. It is the policy of the City that an employee return to duties he/she can perform safely without undue risk or further injury to other employees. It is, likewise, the policy of the City that if the employee cannot do so or if he/she is unable or unwilling to accept some other vacant position which the employee is psychologically and/or physically and otherwise qualified to perform, his/her employment will be terminated. The medical criteria presented to the Industrial Accident Commission by the employee and his/her doctor shall be obtained and utilized by the City and interpreted in terms of specific job restrictions and limitations. The department director, or his/her designee, shall then interpret and apply such job restrictions and limitations to the specific physical and/or psychological requirements of the employee's position and make a recommendation to the Human Resources Department Head. 4 ORDINANCE NO. 1298 EXHIBIT "A" A determination shall be made by the Human Resources Department Head as to whether or not the employee shall: ■ Return to the job. Transfer to some other vacant position for which he/she is qualified based upon physical or psychological ability and experience. ■ Separate from employment. 8. CONFLICT WITH MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING If a negotiated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provision is in conflict with a provision of this policy, the MOU provision shall be followed unless this provision was negotiated more recently. 5