HOLIDAYS
Regular full-time employees shall be entitled to eleven (11) paid holidays as determined by the
City Council or union contract. Regular part-time employees who work at least twenty (20)
hours per week, shall after completing 1,040 hours, be entitled to a prorated amount of holiday
hours provided a holiday falls on a part-time employee's normal schedule work day (except for it
being a holiday.)
The following eleven paid holidays are designated for all regular full-time, non-union
employees:
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King Day
President's Day
Good Friday
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Veteran's Day
Thanksgiving Day
Day-After-Thanksgiving
Christmas Day
VACATION
The City of Austin provides paid vacation time for all regular full-time employees. We believe
that this time off from work is beneficial to the health and welfare of our employees and should
be taken each year in accordance with this policy. Regular, part-time employees who have
worked at least 1,040 hours and work at least twenty (20) hours per week will receive vacation
time on a pro-rated basis.
Accrual — Vacation shall be granted to regular employees on the following basis:
• When the date of hire is between January 1st and July 1st, on the following January 1st,
credit for two (2) weeks (80 hours) will be given.
• When the date of hire is between July 1st and October 1st, credit for one (1) week (40
hours) will be given on the following January 1st.
• When date of hire is between October 1st and January 1st, credit for two (2) weeks (80
hours) will be given on January 1st, one year later.
• After one (1) year of service - Two (2) weeks vacation (80 hours)
• After five (5) years of service - Three (3) weeks vacation (120 hours)
• After twelve (12) years of service - Four (4) weeks vacation (160 hours)
• After twenty (20) years of service - Five (5) weeks vacation (200 hours)
• After twenty-five (25) years of service - Six (6) weeks vacation (240 hours)
•
When the end of the 4th, 11th, 19th or 24th years falls between January 1st and July 1st,
additional weeks vacation will be credited on the following January 1st. When the end of
the 4th, 11th, 19th, or 24th year falls between July 1st and January 1st, additional week's
vacation will be credited on January 1st, a year later.
Employees using earned vacation shall be considered to be working for the purpose of
accumulating additional vacation and sick leave.
Employees leaving the municipal service in good standing and having given proper notice of
termination shall be compensated for vacation leave accrued and unpaid computed to the date
of separation.
Scheduling — Vacation request should be submitted to your supervisor as per your
departmental policy. Every effort will be made to honor your vacation requests but
management reserves the right to limit the number of staff on vacation at any one time in order
to take workload needs into account.
COMPENSATORY TIME OFF
Accrued comp time may be used upon approval by the employee's supervisor. Comp time may
be taken in blocks of thirty (30) minutes or more.
SICK LEAVE
Employees are our most valuable resource: our sick leave policy is a form of insurance
provided to reduce the financial burden of non-occupational illness and injury and to ensure the
well being of the employee.
Regular and consistent attendance helps us to work effectively as a team and is necessary to
provide our customers, the public, with efficient, cost-effective public service.
Eligibility — Fulitime, regular employees begin accumulating sick leave from the date of hire.
Part-time, regular employees begin accumulating a pro-rated amount of sick leave after working
1,040 hours. However, employees are not eligible to use sick leave for the first thirty (30) days.
Accrual — Regular fulltime employees of the City of Austin earn eight (8) hours of sick leave per
month (173.3 hours) with no limit as to accumulation. Regular, part-time employees who have
worked at least 1,040 hours and work at least twenty (20) hours per week will accrue sick leave
on a pro-rated basis of eight (8) hours for each 173.3 hours worked. Sick leave hours will be
kept on the following basis: A record will be kept of hours earned and taken and a separate
record will be kept on the value of the hours earned and taken at the rate that they are earned
and taken. The method of using accumulated sick leave hours will be based on the first-in-firstout method.
Use and Procedure for Requesting Sick Leave — Employees may use sick leave where an
accident or illness disables the employee from performing their regular duties or for doctor
visits. Employees should get prior approval from their supervisor for doctor's appointments.
Whenever possible, appointments should be scheduled during off hours. In accordance with
Minnesota Law (Minn. Stat. §181.9413), sick leave may be used in the same manner identified
above for an employee's children, adult children, spouses, siblings, parents, grandparents and
stepparents.
The use of sick leave for the above identified relatives is limited to 160 hours in any 12-month
period. The 160 hour limit does not apply to the employee's stepchild, biological or foster child,
either under 18 or under 20 if still attending secondary school.
Employees requesting time off for sick leave (for themselves or any of the covered relatives)
must notify their supervisor or department head. Employees must explain the nature of the
illness. Sick leave shall be properly documented on the employee's time sheet along with
indication of who the sick leave is being used for.
Employees will be required to furnish a doctor's statement certifying their illness or illness of
their relative along with a fitness to return to duty for the employee's illness only, if they are off
five (5) or more working days.
Employees on sick leave for themselves are expected to be at home for a period of 24 hours
unless they are being cared for at a medical facility. Permission to deviate from this
requirement may be granted by the employee's department head.
Employees may be called at home to verify the nature of their personal illness or injury and the
expected duration of the illness. In the event that the employee cannot be contacted at home
by telephone, the supervisor may go to the employee's home to verify the validity of the
employee's sick leave claim. If sick leave is being used for one of the relatives identified above
and if that relative is living with the employee, the employee may also be called at home to
verify that the employee is at home.
Other acceptable uses —
Sick leave may be used in the event of an emergency closing of a City facility (see
•
separate emergency closing policy).
Up to $750 worth of accrued unused sick leave may be used to cover the costs of health
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insurance deductibles annually (see separate health insurance policy)
• Up to $1,000 worth of accrued unused sick leave may be used toward the purchase of
fitness equipment/memberships annually (see separate sick leave for fitness policy)
Payment Upon Retirement — Payment of accumulated sick leave, with accumulated vacation
leave, shall not exceed an amount equivalent to one year present rate of pay at time of
retirement (as defined by the appropriate retirement fund) or involuntary layoff. Layoff shall
include any termination enacted by the City which is not a disciplinary action.
For employees hired after 1/1/05, sick leave shall be paid out at fifty percent (50%) of
accumulation, which shall not exceed an amount equivalent to one year of pay. The payment
will only be paid upon retirement or involuntary layoff. Layoff shall include any termination
enacted by the City, which is not a disciplinary action.
Supervisory Responsibilities
Analyze Attendance Records. Supervisors should regularly review employee attendance
records for evidence of abuse or excessive use.
Ensure Appropriate Use. Supervisors should ensure that the reasons for the use of sick leave
are allowable under the terms of the appropriate collective bargaining agreement plan and this
policy.
Ensure Confidentiality. Supervisors should maintain the confidentiality of the reasons for
employees' use of sick leave.
Recognize Good Attendance. Supervisors should recognize good attendance through
appropriate methods.
Manage Sick Leave. Supervisors should regularly monitor and manage all of the sick leave
used by employees in accordance with the following guidelines.
Monitoring Use of Sick Leave — Supervisors should monitor the amount of sick leave used by
employees and should review sick leave usage for individual employees when use exceeds
three (3) separate instances in a twelve month period for fifty-six hour employees or six (6)
separate instances in a fixed twelve (12) month period for forty hour or regular part-time
employees.
Instances shall include: all actual sick leave used as well as other types of leave used in lieu of
sick leave (e.g. same-day vacation leave requested in lieu of sick leave, leave without pay taken
for sick leave reasons).
Instances shall not include: Time taken for prearranged doctor's appointments, workers
compensation or sick leave used in conjunction with the birth or adoption of a child or for the
period of time a doctor certifies an employee is unable to work because of pregnancy.
This standard does not define excessive use, but rather the point at which the supervisor
should begin to consider the employee's use of sick leave.
Sick Leave Abuse — Abuse of sick leave is defined as the use of sick leave for purposes other
than those in the collective bargaining agreements or this policy. Supervisors shall periodically
analyze attendance records for evidence of possible abuse (e.g., patterns of absences on
Fridays/Mondays, seasonal absences, absences when a vacation request has been denied).
The City reserves the right to require an independent medical evaluation of an employee
suspected of abuse of sick leave at the City's expense.
Sick leave shall be denied when there is evidence or reason to believe abuse has occurred until
or unless the employee provides satisfactory evidence of legitimate use of sick leave. Sick
leave should be denied when an employee refuses to divulge the nature of the illness. When a
supervisor has reason to suspect that an employee is abusing sick leave the supervisor may
require the employee to provide a doctor's statements to verify legitimate use of sick leave.
Abuse of sick leave may be cause for disciplinary action up to and including suspension without
pay, demotion or dismissal. The minimum penalty for violation of this policy will be: (a) one day
suspension without pay for each day improperly claimed; (b) one day dock for each day that
sick leave is improperly claimed; (c) the time used improperly as sick leave will be credited to
the employee's sick leave account.
Recognizing Sick Leave Use Problems — If an employee meets the standard as described
above, the supervisor needs to consider the following factors to identify sick leave use
problems:
• The frequency of and the reasons for sick leave use (absences necessitated by chronic
long-term illnesses/disabilities may require different considerations than casual,
intermittent absences).
• The employee's unused sick leave balance.
• The impact of the employee's absences on the workplace (e.g. disruptions in work
schedules, overtime costs, incomplete projects.)
Responding to Sick Leave Problems — If the supervisor determines a problem exists then the
supervisor shall:
• Counsel the employee on his/her use of sick leave.
• Refer the employee to the Employee Assistance Program, if appropriate.
• Check with the Human Resources Director about possible alternative arrangements for
the employee (e.g., part-time work schedules, disability leave of absence), if
appropriate.
• Document all of these actions.
EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The City has in place a formal Employee Assistance Program to assist employees in
addressing problems which may affect an employee's performance, including absenteeism.
Employees are encouraged to seek assistance for these and other problems before they
negatively impact attendance and other aspects of job performance. Participation in this
program is voluntary and confidential.
FUNERAL LEAVE
Length of Leave — Paid funeral leave will be granted to regular full-time employees up to a
maximum of three (3) calendar days for the purpose of arranging for or attending the funeral of
a member of their family, provided employees makes arrangements with their department. The
days of absence shall be no earlier than the day of the death and no later than the day of such
funeral except where substantial travel time is required. The employee shall, when requested,
furnish proof satisfactory to the City of the death, the employee's relationship to the deceased,
the date of the funeral and the employee's actual attendance at such funeral.
Member of the family shall be defined as the employee's spouse, child, grandchild, mother,
father, sister, brother, mother-in-law, father-in-law and employee's and spouse's grandparents.
Pallbearer Leave — All regular full-time employees shall be entitled to receive up to four (4)
hours of paid leave to serve as a pallbearer at a funeral scheduled during employee's regular
shift for which paid leave is not available as per the terms above. Eight (8) hours of paid leave
shall be granted for funerals thirty (30) or more miles from Austin. This paid leave shall not be
available for serving as an honorary pallbearer.
JURY DUTY/COURT LEAVE
When an employee performs jury duty or is subpoenaed as a witness in court, he or she is
entitled to compensation equal to the difference between his or her regular pay and the amount
received as juror or witness fees. Such time off shall be considered time on duty.
MILITARY LEAVE
According to state statute, municipal employees who are members of the National Guard or any
other state militia are entitled to a leave of absence with pay for a period not exceeding a total
of 15 days in any calendar year.
Employees ordered by proper authority to National Guard or reserve military service in time of
war or other properly declared emergency shall be entitled to leave of absence without pay
6-5
during such service. Upon completion of such service employees shall be entitled to the same
or similar employment of like seniority, status, and pay as if such leave had not been taken,
subject to the specific provisions of chapter 192, of the Minnesota Statutes.
FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT POLICY
The Family Medical Leave Act is intended to balance the demands of the workplace with the
needs of families, to promote the stability and economic security of families and to promote
national interests in preserving family integrity. It is intended to benefit employees as well as
employers by providing up to 12 weeks or up to 26 weeks for the care of a covered service
member as identified below, of unpaid, job protected leave for the birth of a child, adoption,
foster care and certain family and medical reasons.
Eligible Employees — Those employees who have been employed by the City of Austin for at
least one year (not necessarily consecutive) and have worked a minimum of 1250 hours within
the previous twelve month period.
Circumstances Covered by Family Leave
FMLA leave will be granted to an eligible employee for any of the following reasons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
For incapacity due to pregnancy, prenatal medical care or child birth;
To care for the employee's child after birth, or placement for adoption or foster care;
To care for their spouse, son or daughter, or parent, who has a serious health condition;
For a serious health condition that makes an employee unable to perform their job duties;
Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee's spouse, son, daughter
or parent is a military member on covered active duty.
6. To care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the employee is
the spouse, son, daughter, parent or next of kin of the service member (military caregiver
leave).
A serious health condition is an illness or injury that involves:
1. An overnight stay in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility;
2. Any period of incapacity that involves continuing treatment or supervision by a health
care provider and that requires absence from work, school or other regular daily activities
for more than three days;
3. Continuing treatment or supervision by a health care provider for a chronic or long-term
health condition that is incurable or so serious that, if not treated, would likely result in a
period of incapacity of more than three days; or
4. Prenatal care.
Qualifying exigencies may include attending certain military events, arranging for alternative
childcare, addressing certain financial and legal arrangements, attending certain counseling
sessions and attending post-deployment reintegration briefings.
Length of Leave — The length of FMLA leave is not to exceed twelve weeks in any twelvemonth period except for the care of a covered service member where the length of the leave is
not to exceed twenty-six weeks in any twelve month period. The entitlement to FMLA leave for
the birth or placement of a child expires twelve months after the birth or placement of the child.
"Any twelve month period" means a time period measured forward from the first date the
employee is absent from work on FMLA leave. The next twelve-month period would begin the
first time FMLA leave is taken after completion of any previous twelve-month period.
Written Request — An employee who is eligible to take FMLA leave must specifically request
the use of FMLA leave in writing to the Human Resources Director. The employee must give
the City at least thirty days advance notice if leave is foreseeable. If leave must be taken in
less than 30 days, the employee should give as much notice as is practicable. The City
reserves the right to place eligible employees on FMLA leave and will do so in writing.
Medical Certification — The employee must provide a medical certification if the leave is for
the serious health condition of a child, spouse, parent or the employee. A "Certification of
Physician or Practitioner" form can be obtained from the Human Resources Director. It is to be
completed by the attending physician or practitioner.
The City may require a second or third medical opinion at the City's expense.
Use of Sick Leave, Compensatory Time and Vacation — The employee must use any
accrued compensatory time before using unpaid leave while on FMLA leave.
The employee may choose to use accrued sick leave for the employee's own serious health
condition (including the period of disability after giving birth) or that of a child's while on any
FMLA leave, but will not be required to do so by the City. Up to 160 hours of sick leave may be
used for the care of a spouse or parent as provided for in the City's sick leave policy and per
Minn. Stat. §181.9413 or as provided for in the employee's bargaining unit contract.
The employee may choose to substitute accrued vacation for all or part of the (otherwise)
unpaid twelve weeks of FMLA leave (or 26 weeks for covered service member's serious
illness/injury), but will not be required to do so by the City.
The use of vacation, compensatory time and/or sick leave occurs simultaneously with FMLA
leave and does not extend the length of FMLA leave.
Maternity Leave — Use of sick leave for the period of disability following the birth of a child shall
occur simultaneously with FMLA leave.
Intermittent Leave — Leave may be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule if medically
necessary. If not medically necessary, department head and Human Resources Director
approval is required. The City may require the employee to transfer to an alternative position of
like status and pay while on intermittent leave. If leave is taken intermittently, it will not affect
the status of an exempt employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act. All requests for
intermittent leave will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
Continuation of Insurance and Payment of Premiums — During the unpaid portion of the 12
week (or 26 week) FMLA leave, the City of Austin will maintain existing group health insurance
coverage under the same conditions that apply to coverage for active employees. These
benefits will be maintained under the same conditions, at the same level of City contribution, as
before the employee goes on leave. If there are changes to the City's contribution levels and/or
premium rates while the employee is on leave, those changes will take place as if the employee
were still on the job. The employee will be required to continue payment of the employee
portion of the health care coverage.
Premium Reimbursement — The employee will be required to reimburse the City for any
premiums paid during the leave if the employee does not return to work, unless the employee
cannot return to work due to the continuation of a serious health condition of the child, spouse,
parent or employee, or due to other circumstances beyond the control of the employee.
Other Insurance — The employee is responsible for the full payment of premiums for any life,
AD&D and disability insurance for which the employee is eligible and enrolled before going on
FMLA leave.
Effect on Benefit Accrual — The employee will not accrue benefits such as vacation and sick
leave while on unpaid FMLA leave. Use of approved family leave - whether paid or unpaid - will
not constitute a break in service for purposes of computing years of service.
Return from FMLA Leave — Upon returning from FMLA leave, the employee will be restored to
the same or an equivalent position. However, restoration to employment following FMLA leave
may be denied to salaried employees who are among the highest paid 10% of the employees of
the City of Austin if restoration would cause the City "substantial and grievous economic injury."
When Policies or Agreements Conflict — Where provisions of the City personnel policies
and/or contracts and agreements are in conflict with the FMLA, those regulations which are
most beneficial to the employee shall apply.
TIME OFF TO VOTE
The City of Austin encourages employees to fulfill their civic responsibilities by voting.
Employees who are eligible to vote will be allowed paid time off to vote in the following
elections:
• Regularly scheduled state primary or general election;
• An election to fill a vacancy in the office of United States senator or United States
representative;
• An election to fill a vacancy in the office of the state senator or state representative
Employees should provide notification to their department head or supervisor as to when they
would like to go. Department personnel may need to be coordinated to minimize the impact to
the regular operations of the department.
SCHOOL CONFERENCES AND ACTIVITIES LEAVE
Employees with children will be allowed to take unpaid leave to attend school conferences and
activities. These can be for either pre-school aged children or elementary/secondary aged
children.
Each employee shall be granted up to sixteen (16) hours per year of unpaid leave to attend
school conferences or classroom activities related to the employee's child, provided the
conferences or classroom activities cannot be scheduled during non-work hours.
Employees should notify their supervisor at least two (2) days prior to the scheduled conference
or activity. Employees may substitute vacation, holiday or comp time for this unpaid leave as
per departmental policy.
BONE MARROW AND ORGAN DONATION LEAVE
The City of Austin, in accordance with state law, will provide eligible employees paid time off for
the purpose of bone marrow and organ donation.
Employees who are eligible for this leave are regular full and part-time employees who work a
minimum of twenty (20) hours per week.
Eligible employees will be allowed to request and take no more than forty (40) hours of leave.
This leave shall be paid and the employee will retain all benefits provided by the City while on
leave.
Employees wishing to take leave for the purpose of bone marrow or organ donation must
request the leave from their department head or Human Resources Director. All requests must
be accompanied by a written verification from a physician stating the purpose of the leave and
the length of the leave.
If an employee is granted leave and is subsequently found not to qualify as a bone marrow or
organ donor, the paid leave will not be forfeited.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE WITHOUT PAY
The City may allow an employee a leave of absence for a period of up to one (1) year at the
City's discretion.
If an unpaid leave is approved, the following conditions apply:
1. With the return from unpaid leaves, employees shall be entitled to all sick leave and
vacation leave accrued prior to the leave which was not used during their absence
2. Failure of an employee to request an extension before the expiration of leave shall be
considered a voluntary resignation.
3. An employee granted unpaid leave of absence shall have the right to return to employment
in the original job or position of like status and pay unless the employee's position has been
discontinued or the employee would have been laid off if such employee had not been on
leave. The City Council shall have the right to place an employee in a position which most
efficiently promotes the City welfare.
4. An employee returning from a leave is entitled to retain all unused accrued preleave benefits of employment and seniority as if there had been no interruption in
service.
5. An employee, by agreement with the City Council, may return to work part time during the
leave period without forfeiting the right to return to employment at the end of the leave
period.
DONATED SICK LEAVE
With approval of the City Council, City employees having accrued sick leave will be allowed to
donate a portion of such accrued sick leave to fellow employees experiencing a major life
threatening disease or condition suffered by the employee, their spouse or minor children. The
donation shall be on an hour for hour basis. A major life threatening disease or condition shall
include, but not necessarily be limited to, heart attack, stroke, organ transplant, cancer or life
threatening illness or condition as defined by a physician's diagnosis.
The donation of sick leave from one employee to another shall be subject to the following terms
and conditions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
An employee is only eligible to receive donated sick leave for time lost from work due to a
major life threatening disease or condition as described above, equal to the number of
hours of time which the employee would lose from his or her job due to the major life
threatening disease or condition.
An employee will be eligible to receive donated sick leave only after the employee's
accrued sick leave, compensatory time and vacation have been used by the employee.
No employee will be allowed to receive more than 160 hours of donated sick leave for any
single major life threatening disease or condition without additional express approval by
the Finance/Personnel Committee of the City Council.
An employee may donate no more than sixteen (16) hours per calendar year to a single
fellow employee out of current year's bank. This shall not be construed to prohibit
donating sixteen (16) hours each per year to additional fellow employees.
A written request to donate sick leave must be made to the City Administrator.
The Finance/Personnel Committee will consider each request and authorize such a
request when it's apparent the employee will be returning to work following the illness.
The Finance/Personnel Committee shall have the right to deny use of donated sick leave
or limit its use as shall be determined necessary to the best interests of the City.