Borough of Baldwin, PA Personnel Policies

No employee shall be required to contribute to any political fund, be required to contribute financially to a campaign for an elective municipal office or be required to take part in any such campaign.

§ 33-2 Sick leave, emergency leave and annual leave.

No employee shall be entitled to sick leave, emergency leave or annual leave until said employee shall have completed at least 12 months full-time or regularly scheduled part-time employment; however, all other benefits shall accrue as of the date any such employee enters the service of the Borough.

Any regularly scheduled part-time employee, except school guard, may be entitled, at the discretion of Council, to annual leave without diminution in compensation, sick leave and emergency leave. The period of time of such annual leave, sick leave and emergency leave shall be determined by Council and shall be computed on the basis of one working day or portion thereof annual leave, sick leave or emergency leave for a designated number of hours or days or major portions thereof actually worked by said employee for the Borough during the prior twelve-month period. No such regularly scheduled part-time employee shall be permitted to accumulate annual leave for the purpose of receiving extra or overtime compensation. The schedule of holidays and holiday pay rates provided for herein shall apply to any regularly scheduled part-time or casual employees.

Time lost by any employee by reason of leave without pay or time otherwise not worked or paid for will not be counted in computing sick leave or annual leave to which such employee is entitled.

§ 33-3 Overtime; compensatory time off.

Work in excess of established schedules shall be permitted only when necessary to meet operating requirements and only when authorized in advance of the performance of such work by a designated officer. Overtime work so authorized for salaried employees shall be compensated for by allowing said employee a like amount of time off within 90 days after the end of the month in which such authorized overtime work was performed; provided, however, that such time off must first be approved by a designated officer, provided further that, if Council determines that the granting of such time off after performance of authorized overtime work would be disruptive of the orderly operation and administration of the Borough, Council may, at its discretion, authorize, in lieu of like compensatory time off, payment for such authorized overtime work by salaried employees in excess of established schedules.

Employees who are compensated at an hourly wage rate shall receive compensation for similarly authorized overtime work at the rate of time and 1/2 for every hour worked in excess of 40 hours in any working week.

§ 33-4 Sick leave.

Sick leave with full pay shall be granted at the rate of 10 working days per year. Sick leave may be granted only for personal illness and may be accumulated for a period of three years. Earned sick leave shall be considered as working time in computing the annual leave to which the employee may be entitled.

Sick leave in excess of three consecutive days shall be granted an employee only upon presentation to the Secretary of a signed certification from the attending physician or practitioner. The Secretary must be contacted on the first day of absence in order for the employee to claim sick leave benefits. False claims for sick leave or emergency leave benefits will be considered cause of disciplinary action, including suspension, demotion or dismissal.

Emergency leave of not more than three days for death or serious illness of the spouse, parent, child, brother or sister of any full-time or regularly scheduled part-time employee may be granted without diminution in compensation; provided, however, that approval of the Secretary shall be secured in advance.

§ 33-5 Annual leave.

Annual leave without diminution in compensation shall be granted to all eligible full-time employees in accordance with the following schedule: five working days per year after 12 consecutive months of full-time employment with the Borough; 10 working days per year after 36 consecutive months of full-time employment with the Borough; and 15 working days per year after 60 consecutive months of full-time employment with the Borough; provided, however, that all eligible full-time employees who, at the effective date of this chapter have worked at least 12 but less than 36 consecutive months for the Borough shall be entitled to annual leave, without diminution of compensation, of 10 working days per year. No employee shall be permitted to accumulate annual leave time for more than one year or to waive annual leave for the purpose of receiving overtime compensation.

§ 33-6 Holidays.

[Amended 9-27-1965 by Ord. No. 305]

All employees shall be entitled to the following seven legal holidays at full pay: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. When one of the aforesaid holidays falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be observed as a holiday. All employees shall be entitled to a one-half-day holiday on Good Friday at full pay; provided, however, that no employee shall be entitled to be compensated for any of the aforesaid holidays upon which an employee does not actually work if such employee fails to work on the working day before and the working day after said designated holiday.

Any holiday work by a salaried employee shall be compensated for by allowing such employee time off within 90 days of the time earned at the rate of 1 1/2 hours for each hour or major fraction thereof, provided that such compensatory time off may be taken only with the prior approval of the Secretary. Holiday work by hourly rate employees shall be compensated at double the regular time.

§ 33-7 Compensation for jury duty.

Any employee called for jury duty shall be compensated in an amount equal to the difference between the employee's regular compensation and his compensation as a juror.

§ 33-8 Leaves of absence.

Where the good of the service is involved, a leave of absence granted by Council to any employee to attend a recognized official meeting shall be considered as time on duty.

Any employees called into the active service of any branch of the armed forces of the United States shall be granted leave of absence for the period of such service without loss of status, provided that the employee applies for reinstatement to the Secretary within 90 days after honorable discharge.

Any employee may be granted a leave of absence without pay for a period not to exceed 60 days in any one calendar year for sickness, disability or other good and sufficient reasons which are considered by the Council to be in the best interests of the Borough.

§ 33-9 Resignations; unauthorized absences.

Any employee wishing to leave the service of the Borough in good standing shall file with the Secretary, at least 14 days before leaving, a written resignation stating the effective date of resignation and the reasons for leaving. Failure to comply with the provisions of this section may be considered cause for denying such employee future employment and for denying him such benefits as have been made available. Unauthorized absence from work for a period of three days may be considered as a resignation disclaiming benefits.

§ 33-10 Benefits for disabled police officers.

From and after the effective date of this section, the Council of the Borough of Baldwin shall constitute and be the forum for the hearing and determination of Heart and Lung Act benefits under the provisions of the Heart and Lung Act, the Act of May 31, 1974, P.L. 309, No. 99, as amended, 53 P.S. § 637, and all claims authorized under the provisions of the Act shall be administered and determined by the Council of the Borough of Baldwin, except that, in the event that a determination shall be made by the Council of the Borough of Baldwin that a police officer should be terminated or dismissed because of his inability to perform his duties in accordance with the civil service provisions of the Borough Code,[1] and such officer has appealed the termination to the Civil Service Commission and such officer has made claims under the Heart and Lung Act because of his disability, then the Civil Service Commission of the Borough shall be authorized and empowered to hear such Heart and Lung Act claim, but only in that case. Nothing contained herein shall be construed so as to authorize or impose any responsibility for the determination or administration of workers' compensation claims upon the Council.

[1]

Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 45101 et seq.

For the purposes of the administration of this section, a quorum of the Council of the Borough of Baldwin shall be considered a sufficient forum for the determination of whether or not benefits should be payable under the Heart and Lung Act, and the vote of the majority of the quorum present shall be sufficient to render a decision. A stenographic record of the proceedings shall be kept at the expense of the Borough, which record is to be sealed and shall not be released to any member of the public or to any persons other than the Councilpersons of the Borough of Baldwin, the Secretary of the Borough, the Solicitor of the Borough, or such persons acting in the capacities of Borough Secretary or Solicitor, unless the police officer shall, in writing, authorize the release of such transcript to any other persons; provided further, however, that nothing contained herein shall restrict the right of the Borough to use such records in any court proceedings and appeals, or to provide them to the workers' compensation carrier responsible for the payment of workers' compensation benefits to employees of the Borough.

The hearing regarding any claim by a police officer under the Heart and Lung Act shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Local Agency Law, the Act of April 28, 1978, P.L. 202, No. 53, as amended,[2] and all provisions stated therein shall be observed, unless the same shall be in direct conflict with the provisions of this section insofar as the same relates to the confidentiality of the stenographic record. Following the hearing, the Council shall make its decision in writing, which shall briefly describe its reasons for the adjudication, its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The decision shall be rendered no later than 90 days from the date of the hearing and shall be forwarded by first-class mail to the police officer making any such claims. Prior to any such hearing, and upon the presentation of a claim or demand by a police officer, such police officer shall submit in writing a concise statement of all facts or circumstances which the police officer deems to be relevant to his or her claim, and shall submit any medical documentation of any physicians attending such police officer which shall detail the nature of the injury and whether or not the same is causally connected to the claimed disability of the police officer, and shall specifically indicate that the disability is job related or was incurred while on duty. To the extent that the disabilities of any police officers have been the basis of a claim for workers' compensation benefits, the standards of proof requiring causal connection between the employment and the injury which have been developed through workers' compensation cases shall apply to the Heart and Lung Act cases where the issue of whether disability is work related is involved. The Borough may seek further evidence of the claimant's disability and may require the claimant to appear before a physician of the Borough's choice for examination. The failure or refusal of the police officer or claimant to submit such documentation or yield to such examinations in a timely manner shall be the basis for dismissal of all such claims. Witnesses may be subpoenaed pursuant to the subpoena power contained in the Borough Code.

[2]

Editor's Note: See 2 Pa.C.S.A. § 105.

This section shall take effect immediately; further, any cases decided prior to the enactment of this section and pursuant to and in reliance upon the determination of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania in the case of Sidlow v. Township of Nether Providence, 621 A.2nd 1105 (1993), shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this section pending its adoption by the Borough Council.

Any provisions of this section which shall be declared unconstitutional shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of the section, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect unless amended or repealed by the Council of the Borough of Baldwin.