The purpose of this chapter is to establish a policy and guidelines
for the use of family or medical leave for Village of Great Neck Estates
employees, consistent with the rules and regulations adopted by the
United States Department of Labor.
An employee shall be entitled to family leave when he/she meets
the following criteria:
A. The employee has worked for at least 12 months for the Village. The
12 months need not have been consecutive. (If the employee was on
the payroll for part of a week, the Village will count the entire
week. The Village considers 52 weeks to be equal to 12 months).
B. The employee has to have worked for the Village for at least 1,250
hours over the 12 months before the leave begins.
C. When both spouses are employed by the Village, they are jointly entitled
to a combined total of 12 workweeks of family leave during any rolling
twelve-month period for the birth and care of a newborn child or placement
of a child for adoption or foster care, and to care for a parent who
has a serious health condition, and for military qualifying exigency
leave. For military caregiver leave, spouses both employed by the
Village are jointly entitled to a combined total of 26 workweeks of
leave.
Eligible employees can use up to 12 weeks of leave during any
twelve-month period. The Village will use a rolling twelve-month period
measured backward from the date an employee first uses FMLA leave.
(It will not be measured backward before August 5, 1993.) Each time
an employee uses leave, the Village computes the amount of leave the
employee has taken under this policy and subtracts it from the 12
weeks, and the balance remaining is the amount the employee is entitled
to take at that time. For example, if an employee has taken five weeks
of leave in the past 12 months, he/she could take an additional seven
weeks under this policy. Eligibility for unpaid leave for the birth
and care of a newborn child or for the placement with the employee
of a child for adoption or foster care expires at the end of the twelve-month
period beginning on the date of the birth, adoption or placement.
Any such leave must be concluded within this twelve-month period.
If an employee has accrued paid leave of less than 12 weeks,
the employee will use paid leave first and take the remainder of the
12 weeks as unpaid leave.
A. If an employee uses leave because of the serious health condition
of an immediate family member, the employee will first use all paid
leave and then will be eligible for unpaid leave.
B. An employee using leave for the birth of a child will use paid sick
leave for physical recovery after childbirth. The employee then may
use all paid vacation or personal leave for the care of the newborn
child and then will be eligible for unpaid leave for the remainder
of the 12 weeks.
C. An employee using leave for the adoption or foster care of a child
will use all paid vacation or personal leave first and then will be
eligible for unpaid leave for the remainder of the 12 weeks.
In certain cases, intermittent use of the 12 weeks of family
or medical leave or as part of a reduced workweek may be allowed by
the Village.
A. Employees wishing to use leave intermittently or to utilize a reduced
workweek for birth or adoption purposes will need to discuss and gain
approval for such use from the employee's department head and
the Village Administrator.
B. Employees may also use family or medical leave intermittently or
as part of a reduced workweek whenever it is medically necessary.
If the need to use leave is foreseeable and based on preplanned and
prescheduled medical treatment, then the employee is responsible to
schedule the treatment in a manner that does not unduly disrupt the
Village's operations. This provision is subject to the approval
of the health-care provider.
C. In some cases, the Village may temporarily transfer an employee using
intermittent or a reduced workweek to a different job with equivalent
pay and benefits if another position would better accommodate the
intermittent or reduced schedule.