Employee Handbook

Section 6 — Time Away from Work

Eligibility/Duration

A personal leave of absence for a period not to exceed one year may be granted to regular full-time or part-time employees, intermittent employees, and police reserves for extenuating personal circumstances.   

Employees eligible for Family Medical Leave are to file under the FMLA before filing for an extension under this section.  See also Section 6.10, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Request for Leave

Employees must complete a Leave Request Form attaching a written statement regarding the circumstances that warrant the leave and submit it to their department directors. Thirty days advanced notice is required when the leave is foreseeable. In the case of a medical emergency, the employee or a family member should contact the employee’s supervisor as soon as possible.

Each request will be reviewed by the City Manager on its own merits after consideration of the reasons for the request and the effect on the City and department operations.

The City reserves the right to request appropriate documentation to substantiate the leave (such as medical certification), which may include periodic updates. The City reserves the right to approve a length of leave, which is less than what the employee requests or to deny the leave request.

Intermittent Leave

Employees may be granted personal leaves of absence on an intermittent basis when medically necessary to care for a seriously ill family member, or because of an employee’s serious health condition. In these cases, employees must work with their supervisors to schedule the leave so as not to unduly disrupt the City’s operations. In such cases, the City may Transfer the employee temporarily to an alternative position with equivalent pay and benefits that accommodate recurring periods of leave better than the employee’s regular job.

Use of Paid and Unpaid Leave

If an employee has accrued paid leave (such as sick days, vacation, or personal days) the employee must use paid leave first and take the remainder of the 12 weeks as unpaid leave, as stipulated below. The substitution of paid leave for unpaid leave does not extend the leave period.

An employee taking leave because of the employee’s serious health condition may use sick leave, and then paid vacation, personal days and/or Compensatory Time (Comp Time).

An employee taking leave because of a serious health condition of a child, spouse or parent may use sick leave (as designated in the appropriate union contract), paid vacation, personal days and/or Compensatory Time (Comp Time). See also Section 6.4, Paid Sick Leave.

An employee taking leave for pregnancy or childbirth may use paid parental leave or paid sick leave for the physical recovery following the child’s birth (typically six weeks), and then may take paid vacation, personal days and/or Compensatory Time (Comp Time).

An employee taking childcare leave for the birth, adoption or foster care of a child may use paid parental leave, then may use paid sick time accrual, vacation, personal days and/or Compensatory Time (Comp Time).

See also Section 6.4, Paid Sick Leave.

See also Section 6.13, Paid Parental Leave.

Certification Requirements

Written certification from a health care provider must be supplied by the employee as soon as possible, but no later than 15 calendar days following the request for leave or when the City has designated the employee’s absence as qualifying under the leave policy.  

An employee may be required to submit subsequent certifications no more frequently than every 30 calendar days, unless an extension or modification of leave is required; changed circumstances occur regarding the conditions of the leave; or information arises that questions the validity of the earlier certification.

In the case of the employee’s own serious health condition, the employee may be required, on or before the date the employee returns to work, to provide a certification from a health care provider confirming that the employee is able to return to work and perform the essential functions of the position.

Effects on Benefits - Insurance

As long as the employee is receiving a paycheck from the City, which is sufficient to cover the employee’s obligations for payment of insurance premiums, the City will continue the employee’s insurance coverage at the same level prior to the leave of absence. When an employee is on an unpaid leave from the City, the employee will be offered COBRA, if applicable.

Return from Leave

While on leave, employees are required to report to their respective department directors should their status change.  

An employee who returns from a personal leave will return to the same job or a job with equivalent status, pay, benefits and other employment terms. The position will be the same or one that entails substantially equivalent skills, effort, responsibility and authority. An employee is entitled to reinstatement only if he or she would have continued to be employed had the personal leave not been taken.  

If the employee does not return to work following the conclusion of the personal leave, the employee will be considered to have voluntarily resigned.