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613 Sick Leave Pool Policy
The purpose of this policy is to preserve an employee’s economic viability, which
would otherwise be endangered because of the employee’s non-job related
catastrophic illness or injury.
.01 Contributions to the Pool
(1) Contributions to the Pool will come from excess sick leave that would be
lost due to maximum carry-over limits and termination of employment. The
Sick Leave Pool will carry over no more than 6,000 hours of accruals from
one calendar year to the next.
(2) Should an employee not use all of the time contributed for their use, the
unused time will revert back to the pool at the end of the calendar year in
which they return to work. Throughout the remainder of the calendar year,
the employee can only use the remaining Pool time for absences due to the
catastrophic illness or injury for which the pool time was originally donated.
A licensed practitioner must provide a statement indicating the date(s) and
duration of these absences and the illness/condition for which the absence
is necessary.
.02 Applying for Pool time.
(1) Full-time and regular part-time, non-probationary employees who meet the
following criteria are eligible to apply for the contributed time for their own
catastrophic injury or illness:
(a) The employee must have exhausted all other forms of paid leave
including sick leave, vacation, comp time and Holiday pay.
(b) The employee must provide certification from a licensed physician
that the illness or injury will require the employee to remain off work
for at least two consecutive calendar weeks, or to work a reduced
schedule for at least two consecutive calendar weeks, following the
exhaustion of all other forms of paid leave.
(c) The employee must not have been disciplined in writing during the
last five years for abuse of sick leave.
(2) A Request for Sick Leave Pool Time must be submitted, along with a signed
Certification of Physician or Practitioner form to the Human Resources
Department.
(a) The physician’s statement must be signed by a licensed practitioner
who furnishes health care services under a license, certification,
registration, or other similar evidence of regulation, issued by this
state or other state of the United States.
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(b) The physician’s statement must include the date the medical
condition began and the probable duration, the estimate of time that
the employee will be unable to perform work of any kind or whether
it is necessary for the employee to work a reduced schedule. If the
physician confirms the employee’s need for a reduced work
schedule, the statement must include the duration of the reduced
schedule and any work restrictions.
(3) A renewal application form and physician certification form must be filled
out and signed by a physician every 30 calendar days that the employee is
eligible for and requires the use of pool leave.
(4) If the employee is incapacitated so that they cannot provide the application
and/or physician’s certification, an employee spokesperson (family member
or physician) may provide this to the City.
(5) Where an employee’s absence qualifies for FMLA and they have exhausted
all accruals, the employee can apply to use paid time from the Sick Leave
Pool. Use of paid sick leave pool time for the employee’s own FMLA
qualifying event will count against the FMLA entitlement per year. All
provisions of the FMLA policy will apply. If there are any conflicts between
the Sick Leave Pool policy and the FMLA policy, the FMLA policy shall take
precedence.
.03 Catastrophic illness or injury is one that:
(1) Affects the mental or physical health of an employee to the extent that they
are unable to perform their job and;
(2) Is not caused by willful misconduct, is not purposely self-inflicted, does not
occur while on leave without pay or absence without leave, or is not
acquired as a result of another job and;
(3) Poses a threat to life and;
(4) Requires in-patient or hospice care or extensive outpatient treatment or
care and;
(5) Requires the services of a licensed physician for an extended period of time,
and;
(6) Causes the employee to need additional time off from work after exhaustion
of all forms of paid leave.
(7) Examples of illnesses or injuries generally considered severe enough to be
considered catastrophic include, but are not limited to:
(a) stroke with residual paralysis or weakness;
(b) Incapacitating heart attack;
(c) Major surgery;
(d) Cancer;
(e) Other severe illnesses or injuries as may cause the employee to
meet the criteria listed above, or other catastrophic illness or injury.
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(8) Examples of illnesses or injuries not categorized as catastrophic include but
are not limited to:
(a) Broken limb;
(b) Cold/Allergy;
(c) Certain types of surgery with no complications (i.e. appendectomy
with no or minor complications), and;
(d) Pregnancy with minor or no complications
.04 Approval Process
(1) The City Manager or designee will review all applications and certifications
for use of sick leave pool time and his/her decision shall be final.
(2) Application for pool leave is on a first-come first-served basis and is
contingent upon the available balance in the pool at the time of application
as well as the employee’s ability to meet the criteria listed in Section .03.
(3) No more than 30 calendar days will be granted at one time. The employee
must reapply and resubmit appropriate forms every 30 calendar days after
the initial two-week period.
(4) The maximum that can be awarded per qualifying event is 180 calendar
days. If the employee is unable to work their regularly scheduled shift and
duties after the use of 180 calendar days of Sick Leave Pool due to their
own catastrophic illness or injury, they may request a Personal Leave as
defined in the Personal Leave policy.
(5) The lifetime maximum that can be received by any employee is 360
calendar days. If the employee is unable to work their regularly scheduled
shift and duties after the use of 360 calendar days of Sick Leave Pool due
to their own catastrophic illness or injury, they may request a Personal
Leave as defined in the Personal Leave policy.
(6) Five working days from submission of the appropriate application and
documentation to the Human Resources Department, a decision will be
returned in writing.
.05 Use of Sick Leave Pool Days
(1) Regardless whether an employee works a 24-hour shift, 8-hour shift or 4-
hour shift, any portion of a day used will count as one calendar day used for
Sick Leave Pool time.
(2) In accordance with vacation and sick leave policies, while out on Sick Leave
Pool time, employees will continue to accrue sick and vacation time.
However, as soon as it is accrued, earned paid time will be used in lieu of
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the contributed time. The hours earned by the employee for vacation, sick
leave or holidays shall not be added to the initial two weeks or subsequent
30-day increments of Sick Leave Pool time contributed to the employee, but
rather are a part of the initial two week or 30-day period.
(3) The amount of time an employee may remain on the health plan (flex-
med/care, medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and voluntary
supplemental plans) while not actively at work is determined by the
guidelines set by the insurance carriers the City contracts with. Employees
should review their summary plan descriptions or contact Risk Management
for more information regarding timeframes and/or coverage continuation
eligibility under COBRA. Employee and City contributions to retirement will
continue while the employee is on Sick Leave Pool time.
(4) If an employee returns to work in their former position or in a different
position after using Sick Leave Pool time and their anniversary date fell
during the period of leave, the annual merit/step increase will not be
awarded until 30 calendar days after the employee initially returned to work.
The merit/step increase will be awarded at this time even if the employee’s
return to work after the anniversary date is on an intermittent or reduced
scheduled, so long as the employee receives a passing score on the
performance evaluation. This delay will not alter the employee’s anniversary
date in subsequent years. Periods of absence, which are covered by FMLA,
will not delay anniversary merit/step increases.
(5) While out on Pool time, any across the board salary increases, COLA’s,
market adjustments, etc., which are independent of performance, will be
awarded to the employee.
(6) While out on Pool time employees will not be permitted to perform outside
work for compensation prior to returning from Pool leave and working their
scheduled shift. Employees found to be in conflict with this policy will be
subject to the loss of the paid leave time, will lose all remaining Sick Leave
Pool time and will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action (in
accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act regarding the docking of pay
for exempt employees).
(7) Holidays that fall during the time an employee is being paid from the Sick
Leave Pool will be charged to Holiday Pay. Holiday pay shall take
precedence over all other paid leave accruals.
(8) Employees seeking to return to work after more than 3 consecutive
days’/shifts’ absence must provide a doctor’s certification indicating that the
employee is able to return to work. The certification will specify any work
restrictions if necessary.
(9) Employees returning to work after more than 10 consecutive days’/shifts’
absence due to the use of Sick Leave Pool time must have a physical where
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required by the nature of the employee’s job and must have a drug screen
regardless of the job held by the employee. Return to work will be delayed
and the employee will continue to draw from the sick leave pool until the
doctor’s certification is provided and the results of the drug screen and
physical, if applicable, have been received by the Human Resources
Department.
(10) If the employee’s physician releases the employee to return to work before
the end of the approved Sick Leave pool period (whether for the initial two-
week period or the 30 calendar day period) the employee must notify their
supervisor and the Human Resources Department and make arrangements
to return to work as soon as possible.
(11) When possible, the employee will be returned to their former position if it
has not been filled. Otherwise, they may apply for other vacancies and be
considered for those positions along with other applicants.
.06 Employees approved for Long Term Disability Benefits
If an employee applies for and is approved to receive Long Term Disability
payments, the employee’s own sick and vacation accruals plus holiday hours and
Sick Leave Pool will make up the difference between Long Term Disability
payments and the employee’s base pay, only for the time period they are approved
to receive pay through the Sick Leave Pool.
.07 Employees Use of Sick Leave Pool Policy for Qualified Family Member’s Illness or
Injury
(1) Full-time and regular part-time, non-probationary employees may apply for
use of Sick Leave Pool hours to care for their qualified family member under
very limited circumstances. The purpose of including certain family
members is to protect the employee’s economic viability when the family
member’s condition is terminal, the employee is needed to care for the
family member, and the employee has exhausted all accruals.
(2) Qualified family members include:
(a) The employee’s spouse as defined or recognized under State law for
the purposes of marriage.
(b) The employee’s child or adult child, defined as a biological, adopted,
or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person
standing “in loco parentis,” regardless of the child’s/adult child’s age,
so long as the child lives with the employee and the child is
unmarried as defined or recognized under State law. Additionally,
the employee/parent must be a single parent, defined as being
widowed, or having sole custody, or never married.
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(3) The employee must follow the same process outlined in Sections .02 and
.04 of this policy to apply for use of Sick Leave Pool hours to care for their
qualified family member. If Sick Leave Pool hours are approved, all
provisions of this policy apply to the employee. Additionally, the prohibition
against performing outside work for compensation extends to the
employee’s qualified family member when the employee is using Sick Leave
Pool hours to care for the family member (refer to Section .05 (6) of this
policy).
(4) Using a Certification of Physician or Practitioner Form, the employee’s
qualified family member must meet all of the following criteria in order for
the employee’s absence to be considered for coverage by hours from the
Sick Leave Pool:
(a) The employee’s qualified family member is incapacitated, incapable
of self-care and needs the employee to provide care, and
(b) The employee’s qualified family member suffers from an illness or
injury that is not simply life threatening, but is terminal in nature.
The illness or injury of an employee’s qualified family member which is
caused by willful misconduct, is purposely self-inflicted, or acquired as a
result of employment will not be considered for the employee’s use of Sick
Leave Pool hours.
(5) If the provisions of the FMLA policy apply, the employee’s use of paid sick
leave pool time for the qualified family member’s illness or injury will count
against the employee’s FMLA entitlement per year. If there are any conflicts
between the Sick Leave Pool policy and the FMLA policy, the FMLA policy
shall take precedence.
(6) Employees returning to full duty after caring for their qualified family
member will not be required to provide a doctor’s certification, nor to
complete a physical or a drug screen.
.08 Employees Grandfathered into Sick Leave Pool Policy
Employees who received donated sick leave hours from other employees prior to
the effective date of this policy will be grandfathered: Individually donated hours
will be retained for use for absences related only to the original illness/injury for
which these hours were donated to the employee. No additional individual
donations will be made after the effective date of the Sick Leave Pool policy; future
needs for leave due to catastrophic injury or illness will come under this new policy.
.09 Property Rights
No property rights or entitlements exist to sick leave contributions provided by this
policy or any previous individual donations of sick leave. The City reserves the
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right to change modify, amend, revoke or rescind all or part of this policy at the
discretion of the City Manager.
Revised 07/24/2014