Leave is any authorized absence during regularly scheduled work
hours that is approved by proper authority. Leave may be authorized
with or without pay and shall be granted in accordance with this chapter
on the basis of the work requirements of the departments and, whenever
possible, the personal wishes of the employee. All leave will be reported
each week on a standard form and in compliance with a reporting policy
established by the Personnel Director.
For all leave other than holiday or sick leave, a written request
indicating the kind of leave, duration and dates of departure and
return must be approved by the Town Administrator or designee prior
to the taking of leave. In the case of disability, injury and emergency
leave, the request shall be submitted for approval immediately upon
the employee's return to duty. Unless an absence is substantiated
by a request approved by the Town Administrator or designee, an employee
shall not be paid for any absence from scheduled work hours, and shall
be subject to disciplinary action.
A.
The following days shall be recognized as holidays and such other
days as may be declared holidays for the conduct of public business
by the state government:
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New Year's Day
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Labor Day
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Martin Luther King
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Columbus Day
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Washington's Birthday
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Veterans Day
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One-half day Good Friday
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Thanksgiving Day
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Patriots Day
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Day after Thanksgiving
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Memorial Day
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One-half day before Christmas
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Independence Day
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Christmas Day
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B.
Saturday and Sunday holidays. Whenever any of the above named holidays
falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the preceding Friday or following Monday,
respectively, shall be a holiday, unless another day is established
by law.
C.
Work on holidays. On the designated holidays, employees not otherwise
covered by labor agreement shall be excused from all duty not required
to maintain essential services. Employees who perform work shall be
paid at double their regular rate of pay for hours actually worked
on the holiday, in addition to the amount to which they are entitled
as holiday pay. Holiday during vacation. If a designated holiday occurs
while an employee is on vacation leave, no charge for the holiday
will be made against vacation leave.
A.
Accrued basis.
(1)
Full-time employees, other than temporary or seasonal employees,
are entitled to accrue vacation each year of their employment on the
following basis, calculated as of the anniversary date of full-time
employment:
(a)
Department heads.
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Length of Service
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Vacation Leave
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|---|---|
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Initial hire
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1.00 day per month (12 days per year)
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1 to 4 years
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1.25 days per month (15 days per year)
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5 to 9 years
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1.75 days per month (21 days per year)
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10 to 20 years
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2.17 days per month (26 days per year)
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21 or more years
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1 day per year, not to exceed 5 additional days beyond the twenty-year
amount
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(b)
All other employees (nonunion).
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Length of Service
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Vacation Leave
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|---|---|
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Initial hire
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0.83 day per month (10 days per year)
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1 to 4 years
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1.00 day per month (12 days per year)
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5 to 9 years
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1.50 days per month (18 days per year)
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10 to 20 years
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1.91 days per month (23 days per year)
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21 or more years
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1 day per year, not to exceed 5 additional days beyond the twenty-year
amount
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(2)
Vacation earned will be credited to an employee's vacation account
on the last day of each complete month worked. Vacation may be used
only after accrual at rates outlined above. Vacation may be used at
any time once accrued and properly approved. Vacation may be used
in advance of accrual, up to five days, only after submitting a written
request to the department head and Town Administrator, and obtaining
approval from both individuals. Any vacation pay received in advance
of accrual shall be deducted from an employee's final paycheck,
if separation from Town service, for any reason, occurs.
B.
Carry-over; buy-back.
(1)
Vacations shall not be exchanged for cash except upon termination
of employment.
(2)
Vacation accrued in one fiscal year may be carried over to a subsequent
fiscal year up to 10 days. Any days carried over in excess of five
days must be used by Labor Day. Any accrued, unused vacation days,
beyond the aforesaid rollover allotment of 10 days shall be forfeited,
except in extenuating circumstances, which shall require the approval
of the Town Administrator.
[Amended 10-30-2018 STM by Art. 12]
C.
Buy-back at separation. The Town will buy back all accrued vacation
at time of employee separation from Town service, for any cause. Vacation
time will be bought back at the employee's then-current rate
of pay.
D.
Vacation scheduling. Vacation will be requested, in writing at least
one week prior to usage. Department heads will be responsible for
approving all requests for employees in their departments. The Town
Administrator will be responsible for approving all requests for department
heads, except that a department head may take up to two consecutive
vacation days, at any time, without further approval. To the extent
possible, department heads and the Town Administrator shall schedule
and approve vacation at such times during the year as will best serve
the public interest.
E.
Part-time employees. Permanent part-time employees shall accrue vacation
at the same rates as above, but prorated in the same ratio as their
average weekly hours in comparison to 35. Temporary and seasonal employees
shall not accrue vacation.
F.
Recruitment. The Town Administrator may grant, at the time of initial
hire, additional vacation accrual to experienced candidates for department
head positions that is commensurate with the length of direct experience
and consistent with the vacation accrual offered by the Town.
A.
Purpose. Sick leave shall not be considered as a privilege which
an employee may use at the employee's discretion, but shall be
allowed only in case of actual sickness or disability of the employee,
to meet dental appointments, to take physical examinations or for
other sickness prevention measures. Sick leave may be taken by any
eligible employee unable to work due to pregnancy and conditions relating
thereto, childbirth and recovery therefrom.
B.
Eligibility. Sick leave shall be available to all permanent full-time
and permanent part-time employees. Seasonal, temporary, provisional
and emergency employees are not eligible for sick leave.
C.
Use and amount. An employee absent on account of illness or injury
shall see to it that his or her supervisor is notified as soon as
possible before the regular starting time of the workday. Failure
to notify the supervisor may result in absence without pay or other
disciplinary action. Sick leave may be taken in increments no smaller
than one hour.
D.
Certification of illness. A request for authorization of sick leave
must be completed on the day of return to work. Department heads will
authorize sick leave use for all employees in their departments and
the Town Administrator will authorize sick leave use for all other
employees as well as department heads. For sick leave in excess of
three workdays, or if the department head suspects that the employee
may be abusing sick leave, the department head may require a certificate
from a physician appointed by the Town Administrator stating that
such illness prevented the employee from working.
E.
Sick leave allowance. A full-time employee shall accrue one day per month of sick leave. Each employee's sick leave account shall be credited on the last day of each complete month of service. Sick leave may be accrued and carried over to subsequent fiscal years without limit. Part-time employees shall accrue sick leave in the same ratio as their average weekly hours in comparison to the category of work performed as defined in § 59-18, Hours of work. Temporary and seasonal employees shall not accrue sick leave.
F.
Reporting. Each department head shall file, on forms provided for
such purpose, information regarding the accrual and taking of any
and all leave, and shall remit the same to the office of the Town
Administrator.
G.
Separation from Town service.
(1)
Upon separation from Town service for any reason except termination
for cause, an employee or his heirs is eligible to receive sick leave
buy-back pay, equal to 50% of all accrued sick leave credited to an
employee's account, up to a maximum of 80 days' pay. Those
employees whose accrued sick leave exceeds 160 days shall forfeit
any accrued leave over said 160. The buy-back rate shall be equal
to the employee's current rate of pay at separation.
H.
Annual disposition. An employee may, in June of each year, dispose
of accrued sick leave in the following manner:
(1)
Exchange for vacation. An employee may exchange his or her accrued sick leave for vacation days, at a rate of two sick days for each vacation day, up to a maximum of 20 vacation days (i.e., 40 sick days). In that event, all vacation days shall be credited to the employee's vacation account for the subsequent fiscal year, and shall be subject to the provisions of § 59-39 of this chapter. A request to exchange sick days for vacation days shall be made in writing and shall occur only after sick time is verified and the exchange noted in the employee's personnel file by the Personnel Director. In no event, however, may an employee's sick leave account be less than 40 days.
(2)
Sick leave pool. An employee may, at any time, transfer any number
of his or her sick days to another employee, not to exceed five days
per year. Said transfer shall occur only after the receiving employee
has exhausted all accrued sick leave of his or her own, and only after
a written request has been filed by the transferring employee. The
transfer request shall be verified by the Personnel Director and notation
made in both employees' personnel files.
An employee injured on the job must report the fact immediately
to his supervisor. Injury leave, as distinguished from sick leave,
shall mean paid leave given to an employee due to absence from duty
caused by an accident, injury or occupational disease that occurred
while the employee was engaged in the performance of his or her duties.
A.
Most employees are covered by workers' compensation under state
statute, and are entitled to benefits under such statute. An injured
employee may supplement payments from insurance by taking unused nonoccupational
sick leave credits so that he or she will receive full pay during
such absence.
B.
Any employee on occupational sick leave shall not work at any other
job during the period of incapacitation. Violation shall result in
discontinuance of any Town benefit and may result in dismissal.
C.
During periods of incapacity, employees shall be subject to periodic
medical examinations as a condition of continued pay, as directed
by the Town Administrator. The purpose of these examinations is to
secure periodic medical evaluations of the particular employee.
A.
The purpose of bereavement leave is to enable an employee to take
care of personal arrangements and problems caused by the death of
a member of his or her immediate family, and to relieve him or her
of the concern over loss of earnings. Full time employees shall be
entitled to such leave, without loss of earnings, as follows:
(1)
No more than five consecutive regularly scheduled workdays, commencing
with the notification of death, for the death of the employee's
spouse, child, father, mother, sister, brother, mother-in-law, father-in-law,
grandparent and grandchild, and for the death of any relative or significant
other living with the employee at the time of death.
(2)
No more than three consecutive regularly scheduled workdays, commencing
with the notification of death, for the death of the employee's
step family (mother, father, sister, brother, child) and foster parent.
(3)
No more than one regularly scheduled workday for the death of the
employee's brother-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt and uncle.
C.
Notwithstanding the limitations provided in Subsection A, above, up to two additional days of bereavement leave may be granted (for both full and part-time employees) at the discretion of the employee's department head; said additional days shall be deducted from the employee's accumulated sick leave and therefore can only be granted if sick leave is available.
D.
At the discretion of the department head, four hours of bereavement
leave may be granted to attend the funeral of an active employee who
is a co-worker (i.e. works within the same department or building).
A.
It is the employee's responsibility to notify his or her department
head of the dates he or she is leaving for military service and to
provide written proof from military or selective service officials
to the department head indicating date of departure and length of
service required. A copy of such proof will be filed with the Town
Administrator.
B.
An hourly employee in the Military Reserve or National Guard shall
be paid the difference between total compensation received while on
Reserve or Guard duty and regular compensation rates paid the employee
by the department, not to exceed 17 workdays in any given twelve-month
period.
C.
Salaried employees shall receive their regular pay, up to 17 days
per fiscal year, during Military Reserve or National Guard service.
It is expected however, that a salaried employee will make up the
necessary military leave time, during that same fiscal year.
A.
Any employee summoned to jury duty will be excused from his or her
work for the period necessary to perform jury duty. Each employee
shall be paid regular wages for the first three days, or part thereof,
of jury service.
B.
Regular employment shall include part-time, temporary and casual
employment as long as the employment hours of a juror reasonably may
be determined by a schedule or by custom and practice established
during the three-month period preceding the term of service of each
juror.
C.
A salaried employee shall receive his or her regular pay for the
entire period of jury duty.
D.
An hourly employee shall receive his or her regular pay, less any
compensation paid by the court for the period of jury duty after the
first three days.
A.
Any employee required to testify in court pursuant to the duties
of his or her job shall receive full compensation for all hours actually
worked.
B.
Any employee who is required to attend proceedings in court as a defendant, or as a witness, other than as part of their regular employment with the Town, shall do so in an unpaid status. A request for leave without pay shall first be made in accordance with § 59-48 of this chapter. An employee may also use vacation leave for this purpose.
[Amended 5-16-2016 ATM
by Art. 31]
Employees who are regularly scheduled to work 20 or more hours
per week and who have been employed on such basis for at least three
months shall be entitled to eight weeks of unpaid parental leave as
provided for in MGL c. 149, § 105D for the birth of a child
or the adoption of a child under 18 years of age (under 23 if the
child is mentally or physically disabled).
A.
The first two weeks of parental leave shall be paid at the employee's regular rate of weekly compensation. Employees may elect to use vacation and/or personal leave after they have exhausted their paid parental leave. Sick leave may be used to the extent permitted under § 59-40.
B.
If two eligible employees who work for the Town apply for such leave
for the birth or adoption of the same child, they shall only be limited
to a combined total of eight weeks of parental leave.
C.
Employees are required to provide at least two weeks' notice
of the employee's anticipated date of departure and the employee's
intended day of return; provided, however, an employee may provide
notice as soon as practicable if the delay in providing notice is
for reasons beyond the employee's control.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 59-47, Paternity leave,
was repealed 5-16-2016 ATM by Art. 31.
Upon approval of the Town Administrator or designee, an employee
may be granted leave without pay for a specified period of time. At
the expiration of a leave without pay, the employee shall return to
the position or to a similar position. Failure of the employee to
report promptly at the expiration of such leave shall be considered
a resignation. Leave without pay shall not constitute a break in service.
However, during leave without pay, vacation and sick leave shall not
accrue. Copies of any such approved leave shall be on record in the
department and in the office of the Town Administrator.
A.
An employee may be granted time off with pay to conduct personal
business provided such leave is approved in advance. All employees
shall request approval, in writing, from the department head. All
department heads shall request approval, in writing, from the Town
Administrator. A copy of the request and approval/denial shall be
forwarded to the Town Administrator's office and placed in the
employee's personnel file.
B.
Such personal leave shall not exceed three days in anyone fiscal
year and is not cumulative from year to year.
C.
Employees donating blood, with the prior approval of their respective
supervisors, may be granted leave up to three hours for this purpose.
