ODG/VSEA AGREEMENT, ARTICLE 23, SICK LEAVE
1. PURPOSE
To establish ODG policies and practices which provide for a unit employee to be absent from duty with pay in the event of illness or injury.
2. POLICY
It is the policy of the ODG to help protect the income of a unit employee who cannot work due to illness or injury or for emergency periods when the employee must be absent from duty due to death or illness in his or her immediate family. Sick leave shall be administered in accordance with the following provisions:
(a) Accrual
(1) An employee shall receive sick leave benefits as follows:
(i) Upon appointment (original or restoration), the employee shall be credited with a bank of 48 hours of sick leave on which he or she may draw during the first six months of service.
(ii) At the end of the first full payroll period following completion of six months of service and at the end of every full payroll period thereafter, the employee shall be credited with sick leave for that payroll period, as follows:
YEARS OF SERVICE ACCRUAL RATE
- 0-5 years of service provides 3.69 hours per pay period
- 5-10 years of service provides 4.62 hours per pay period
- 10-20 years of service provides 5.54 hours per pay period
- 20+ years of service provides 6.46 hours per pay period
Accrual rate is the number of hours an employee shall accrue per payroll period of service.
(iii) There shall be no limit placed on the total accumulation of earned sick leave hours.
(2) A permanent part-time employee earns leave on a pro-rated basis. For example, an employee who works a half-time schedule earns one-half of the regular accrual per pay period of sick leave; if he or she worked four days a week, he or she would earn four-fifths of the regular pay period accrual, etc.
(3) Sick leave benefits shall accrue to an employee with a provisional appointment, limited appointment, or in an original probationary period as well as to a permanent status or limited status employee.
(4) When an employee separates from ODG service, the entire amount of unused sick leave shall lapse. An employee rehired by the ODG shall not receive credit for prior ODG service in establishing his or her rate of sick leave accrual, except in the instance of separation due to reduction in force, or when temporary service or reemployment credit is granted under the applicable Articles. An employee re-employed after separation due to
reduction in force shall receive credit for prior ODG service in establishing his or her rate of sick leave accrual and shall be credited with the amount of unused sick leave held at the time of layoff. The employee shall not, however, accrue sick leave credits for the period during which he or she was separated from ODG service.
(5) An employee who is granted a leave of absence from an ODG position to enter the Armed Forces of the United States, serves honorably therein, and applies for return to his or her position in ODG employment within ninety (90) days before or after termination from active duty for training, shall receive credit for such time in computing total years of full-time employment for the purposes of determining the rate of sick leave accrual. The employee shall not, however, actually accrue sick leave credits while on military leave.
(6) Sick leave benefits may not be used by an employee prior to being credited to his or her account.
(7) Upon satisfactory completion of the first six months of employment in the ODG service, such leave shall be granted on the basis of completed pay periods of service. An employee shall not be penalized his or her sick leave credit for any pay period during which the employee is off payroll for fewer than 20 hours. However, an employee who is off payroll for 20 hours or more during a payroll period shall not accrue sick leave for that pay period. This 20 hour test shall be prorated accordingly for part-time employees.
(b) Use of sick leave
(1) The use of earned sick leave credits shall be authorized by the DG for an employee who is absent from work and unable to perform his or her duties because of illness, injury, or quarantine for contagious disease. The use of such credits shall also be authorized for employee medical and dental appointments which cannot reasonably be made outside the employee’s normal working hours.
(2) The use of sick leave credits may be authorized by the DG to permit an employee to be absent from duty due to death or illness in his or her immediate family. Such absences shall be authorized normally up to ten workdays which should be sufficient time in which to make funeral arrangements and to attend to family matters, or in instances of family illness, to arrange for continued care of the ill family member. Such authorization shall not be unreasonably withheld. In extremely unusual circumstances, the DG may authorize use of additional sick leave credits.
(3) An employee who has an accumulated sick leave balance shall be authorized its use although recovery and return to duty is impossible. However, periodically, at the request of the DG or representative, the disability or illness and inability to perform position requirements, must be certified to by a licensed physician or osteopath.
(4) If a woman is unable to work because of pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, or illness resulting therefrom, she may use accumulated sick leave credits under the same conditions which apply to other illnesses and
disabilities, and as provided for in the Parental Leave Article. If the employee wishes to extend her period of absence beyond the time when she is physically unable to work, she may use accumulated annual leave or compensatory time off, and/or she may request a leave of absence without pay under the Parental Leave Article.
(5) Unless physically unable to do so, an employee shall notify his or her supervisor or DG no later than one hour after the beginning of the scheduled workday, of his or her inability to report to work and the nature of the illness.
(6) The DG may require, when there is sufficient reason, the submission of a certificate from a physician or other evidence to:
(1) justify the approval of sick leave;
(2) furnish evidence of good health and ability to perform work without risk to self, co-workers, or the public as a condition of returning to work. Whenever a doctor’s certificate is required, as a condition of approval of sick leave usage, the time period for such requirement shall not normally exceed six months (unless specifically imposed for a lesser period of time), and may be extended for up to an additional six month period of time.
The DG may require an employee to be examined by a physician designated by the employer, at ODG expense, for the purpose of determining the employee’s fitness for duty.
(7) An employee who misrepresents his or her claim for sick leave may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.
(8) An employee shall not be charged sick leave for absence on a day observed as a legal holiday or an administrative holiday.
(9) Sick leave may not be deducted in increments of less than one-half hour.
(10) If, during a scheduled vacation, an employee becomes ill to the extent that hospitalization is required, the employee’s absence from date of hospitalization may be charged to sick leave rather than annual leave. An employee who during a vacation becomes ill and is confined to his or her home or temporary residence for three or more days pursuant to a doctor’s order as evidenced by a doctor’s certificate may be treated as if hospitalized under this section.
(11) When an employee is awarded a weekly compensation under the provisions of Workers’ Compensation Act, he or she may be granted sick leave, or annual leave when sick leave credits are exhausted, to the extent of the difference between such compensation and his or her weekly rate.
3. RESPONSIBILITIES
(a) The employee shall:
(1) Give his or her supervisor advance notice of absence due to illness if the employee has advance knowledge of required treatment.
(2) In other instances, notify his or her supervisor no later than the first hour of the beginning of the scheduled workday, if possible, of his or her inability to report to work, and the nature of the illness.
(3) Notify his or her supervisor as soon as possible when time off from work is necessitated by a family emergency or illness.
(4) Obtain a doctor’s certificate if requested by the supervisor.
(b) The supervisor or DG shall:
(1) Advise new employees of the sick leave provisions.
(2) In the instance of extended illness, keep informed as to the employee’s physical condition and anticipated date of return to work.
(3) Ensure that sick leave is not misused, and if necessary, require submission of evidence as to necessity for the leave.
(4) Ensure that the provisions of this Article are observed in the ODG.
(5) Report use of sick leave in accordance with the provisions of this Article and the instructions on the payroll time report.