Chapter 1.28
EMPLOYEES—LEAVES OF ABSENCE
Sections:
1.28.005 Definitions of employment status.
1.28.020 Longevity bonus credits.
1.28.025 Longevity compensation.
1.28.005 Definitions of employment status.
(a) “Full-time employee” means any employee who works a forty-hour week during assigned working hours on a year-round basis.
(b) “Part-time employee” means any person employed by Chelan County for less than the standard specified work week, but who works more than seventy but less than one hundred sixty hours per month on a continuing basis.
(c) “Temporary employee” means any person employed by Chelan County for a specific time period, specific purpose, or who works less than seventy hours per month on a continuing basis. (Res. 82-22 (part), 3/2/82: Res. 80-84 (part), 7/7/80).
1.28.010 Annual leave.
(a) Annual leave is earned by a full-time employee of Chelan County at the rate of eight hours for each month of completed service. For part-time employees, leave is earned at one-half the rate of full-time employees. Temporary employees do not earn annual leave. Annual leave will not be utilized until a new employee has served a minimum of six consecutive months. A new employee is defined as a new hire or a reemployed person with more than a six-month break in service.
(b) Full-time employees earn eight hours of annual leave their first employment month if employed on or before the fifteenth of the month. Terminating employees earn eight hours of annual leave their final employment month if they actually work through the fifteenth of the month or longer. Annual leave will not be paid if an employee terminates with less than six months’ service.
(e) Annual leave will be accumulated; however, the amount of such accumulated leave carried over to the succeeding calendar year will be limited to two hundred forty hours; an employee will be credited with unused leave as earned monthly in excess of two hundred forty hours throughout the calendar year, but as of January 1st of the succeeding year, his leave account will be reduced to two hundred forty hours.
(f) All accumulated annual leave, up to two hundred forty hours, is allowed when an employee leaves the employment of Chelan County for any reason, provided adequate notice has been given. In the case of death, all accumulated annual leave will be paid to the estate of the employee. All terminal payments for unused annual leave will be based on the employee’s salary at the time of separation or death. Adequate notice is defined as a written notice submitted at least twenty calendar days prior to termination, unless waived by the board at the recommendation of the department head concerned.
(i) Annual leave is charged in units of full hours. Any part of an hour will be considered a full hour. Only working hours are charged, and at the rate of one hour of leave for each hour of absence.
(j) The department head or elected official must submit a request to solicit donations of annual leave form to the board of county commissioners prior to requesting donations. The donor and the donee must be employed within the same fund. Employees may donate accumulated annual leave to an employee who, as a result of being on extended sick leave as a result of serious illness or injury or medical complications related to pregnancy, has only eighty hours or less of combined accumulated sick, annual, holiday and compensatory time leaves. The donated annual leave shall be donated in increments of four hours.
The hours of donated annual leave will remain in the leave bank of the donating employee until they are needed by the receiving employee. Leave will be removed from the leave account of the donor and used by the donee in the order the donations are received. Unused leave will remain in the account of the donor if the donee returns to work before the donated time is used. Employees with more than two hundred forty hours of annual leave, including hours designated as donated annual leave hours that have not been used, will have their annual leave reduced to two hundred forty hours at the end of the year in accordance with this chapter. (Res. 2007-12, 1/22/07; Res. 92-142, 10/6/92; Res. 82-22 (part), 3/2/82; Res. 80-84 (part), 7/7/80; Res. 193-F (part), 9/11/72; Res. 367-D (part), 2/1/60).
1.28.020 Longevity bonus credits.
Each full-time employee of Chelan County shall be granted longevity bonus annual leave hours with full pay after satisfactorily completing two, three, four, ten, fifteen and twenty years of service, said bonus hours to be granted according to the following schedule:
|
Length of Service |
Regular Hours |
*Longevity Bonus Hours |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 year |
96 |
0 |
96 |
|
2 years |
96 |
8 |
104 |
|
3 years |
96 |
16 |
112 |
|
5 years |
96 |
24 |
120 |
|
10 years |
96 |
32 |
128 |
|
15 years |
96 |
48 |
144 |
|
20 years |
96 |
64 |
160 |
* To be credited as annual leave earned on the anniversary date of current continuous employment. Upon separation, provided due notice is given, bonus hours will be prorated to date of separation.
(Res. 82-22 (part), 3/2/82: Res. 80-84 (part), 7/7/80: Res. 193-F (part), 9/1/71: Res. 367-D (part), 2/1/60).
1.28.025 Longevity compensation.
(a) An employee must be a regular full-time employee of Chelan County.
(b) Upon completion of ten years (eight years for members of sheriff’s bargaining unit effective January 1, 1994) continuous full-time employment with Chelan County, an employee will be eligible to receive a longevity step increase.
(c) Upon completion of fifteen years (fourteen years for members of sheriff’s bargaining unit effective January 1, 1994) continuous full-time employment with Chelan County, an employee shall be eligible to receive an additional longevity step increase. This phase to commence with budget year 1992.
(d) Upon completion of twenty years continuous full-time employment with Chelan County, an employee will be eligible to receive an additional longevity step increase. This phase to be implemented with budget year 1993.
(e) Interruptions in employment, e.g., leaves without pay, disciplinary leave, etc., will not count toward longevity.
(f) Bargaining unit employees are excluded from this longevity plan unless authorized by a collective bargaining agreement.
(g) Elected officials are not eligible to participate in this plan.
(h) For the initial implementation of the longevity plan, current employees with prior Chelan County employment shall be allowed credit for prior full-time continuous employment toward their longevity step increase.
(i) The initial longevity step increase, for those employees with ten years’ eligibility as of January 1, 1991, will be effective January 1, 1991.
(j) After January 1, 1991, employees will be eligible for their longevity step increase on the anniversary date of their employment with Chelan County. This will be reflected on the pay warrant for the month in which they became eligible.
(k) Permanent part-time employees, of Chelan County, for the purposes of this section shall be considered regular full-time employees during the time they were eligible for coverage by the Washington Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS). (Res. 94-62, 5/3/94: Res. 91-32, 3/12/91).
1.28.030 Sick leave.
(a) Sick leave is earned by a full-time employee of Chelan County at the rate of eight hours for each month of completed service. For part-time employees, leave is earned at one-half the rate of full-time employees. Temporary employees do not earn sick leave.
(b) Full-time employees earn eight hours of sick leave their first employment month if employed on or before the fifteenth of the month.
(c) Sick leave is charged in units of full hours. Any part of an hour will be considered a full hour. Only working hours are charged, and at the rate of one hour of leave for each hour of absence.
(d) Sick leave will be accumulated to a total of nine hundred sixty hours, after which time it lapses month by month.
(e) Chelan County nonbargaining unit employees will now upon setting an official date of retirement be eligible to convert sick leave in excess of seven hundred twenty hours to a lump sum deposit into the employee’s VEBA account. (Res. 2006-188, 12/27/06; Res. 82-22 (part), 3/2/82: Res. 80-84 (part), 7/7/80: Res. 80-13, 2/14/80: Res. 75-19, 2/4/75: Res. 90-6, 11/20/73: Res. 193-F (part), 9/11/72: Res. 367-D (part), 2/1/60).
1.28.050 Records to be kept.
(a) The appointing power is responsible for keeping detailed permanent records of all annual, sick and other leave records for each full-time and part-time employee, and will show his or her accrual and taking of leave, and the balance thereof. The appointing power is also responsible for reporting all leave used to the payroll department of the auditor’s office.
(b) Annual and sick leave accrued balances, as of the beginning of each pay period, will show on each employee’s pay warrant stub. Prior to the fifteenth day of each month, a report in triplicate will be sent to each department indicating the leave record activity for the preceding month for each employee. Two copies may be kept by the department so as to provide a worksheet/permanent record copy and to provide all employees with current leave status. One copy is to be certified and returned to the payroll department of the auditor’s office by the third working day of the next month.
(c) Leave corrections other than current-month errors must be approved by the board prior to submission of the leave certification to the auditor’s office.
(d) No annual or sick leave will be paid unless the permanent computerized records indicate an earned balance. The payroll department may, at the direction of the board, deduct a sufficient amount from the next ensuing gross pay to prevent any employee’s record from showing a continued negative balance. (Res. 82-22 (part), 3/2/82: Res. 80-84 (part): Res. 193-F (part), 9/11/72: Res. 367-D (part), 2/1/60).
1.28.060 Policy for use of sick leave and annual leave when receiving Workmen’s Compensation benefits.
(a) When an employee is drawing Workmen’s Compensation time-loss benefits, the employee may also receive sick leave pay. If the employee receives both, then the employee must turn the time-loss benefits back to the county and receive credit for sick leave based on the employee’s gross pay rate to the nearest hour.
(b) If an employee exhausts all sick leave while receiving time-loss benefits they may then receive annual leave pay. If this occurs, the employee will not be required, nor be allowed to, turn over time-loss benefits and receive credit for annual leave.
(c) If an employee receives Workmen’s Compensation time-loss benefits for more than thirty continuous calendar days, sick leave and annual leave benefits shall no longer accrue during the period when time-loss benefits are being paid. (Res. 85-29, 1985).