[1]
Editor's Note: Ordinance No. 2023-12-01, adopted 12-19-2023, provided that "Pursuant to Section 15(p) of the Act [i.e., the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (820 ILCS 192/1 et seq.)], the Village of Brownstown hereby adopts its current paid leave policy for all Village of Brownstown employees as set forth in the Village of Brownstown's Code of Ordinances, Employees Handbook/Policy, Annual Salary Ordinances any collective bargaining agreements to which the Village of Brownstown is a party and all other binding legislative actions governing paid leave adopted by the President and Village Council, as the same may be amended from time to time. However, in no event shall the Village of Brownstown, as an employer, provide less than one day of paid leave per year to any Village employee."
(A) 
Full-Time Employees. The following shall be the vacation benefits for full-time employees:
Two weeks' vacation for employees for service of one year of continuous work.
The remaining vacation schedule will run on a calendar year (January through December).
Three weeks' vacation for employees with five or more years of service.
Four weeks' vacation for employees with 10 or more years of service.
Five weeks' vacation for employees with 15 or more years of service.
Earned vacations must be taken during each calendar year. Unused vacation days will be forfeited. Vacation time may be used in one-half-day or full-day increments only.
[Amended 2-18-2014 by Ord. No. 14-02-01]
(B) 
Part-Time Employees. The following shall be the vacation benefits for part-time employees:
One week vacation for employees after one year of continuous service.
The remaining vacation schedule will run on a calendar year (January through December).
Two weeks' vacation for employees with five or more years of service.
Three weeks' vacation for employees with 10 or more years of service.
Earned vacations must be taken during each calendar year. Unused vacation days will be forfeited. Vacation time may be used in one-half-day or full-day increments only.
[Amended 2-18-2014 by Ord. No. 14-02-01]
(C) 
Full-time employees returning to work for an emergency situation while on vacation or while taking a personal day will cause the vacation day or personal day to cease. Vacation day hours or personal day hours remaining in that situation will be rescheduled at the discretion of the board.
[Added 4-16-2019 by Ord. No. 19-04-02; amended 3-19-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03-01]
[Amended 3-21-2017 by Ord. No. 17-03-02; 2-21-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-02-01]
(A) 
Each employee will be allowed three days off with pay when a death occurs to a member of their immediate family. These members include the employee's spouse, mother, father, sister, brother, children, grandparents, half-sister, half-brother, or mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepchildren, stepbrother, or stepsister. These days must be workdays and they end at the day of the funeral, unless other arrangements are approved in advance. The paid leave provisions of this section are separate and independent of any unpaid leave requirements found in 820 ILCS 154/10.
(B) 
Nothing in this article shall impact an employee's rights pursuant to 820 ILCS 154/10, entitled "Bereavement Leave," and providing for up to two weeks or 10 workdays of unpaid leave pursuant to that section, and nothing in 820 ILCS 154/10 shall expand any obligation for paid leave provided by the Village.
[Amended 3-20-2012 by Ord. No. 12-03-01; 12-20-2016 by Ord. No. 16-12-03; 4-16-2019 by Ord. No. 19-04-02; 3-19-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-03-01]
(A) 
Sick Time Leave. Each full-time employee will be allowed to take off 12 days each calendar year for sick time days and the employee will be paid their regular pay for these days. For unused sick days not used by the employee during the calendar year in which they were earned, the employee can be paid at the regular rate of compensation. At the employee's election, the sick days may be accumulated and rolled over from one calendar year to the next, in lieu of being compensated at the employee's regular rate of pay, or used as accumulated time for retirement, up to 240 days. An employee may use personal sick leave benefits due to an illness, injury or medical appointment of the employee, the employee's spouse/significant other, the employee's child, stepchild, sibling, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, grandchild, grandparent or stepparent.
(B) 
Personal Time Leave. Each full-time employee will be allowed to take off two days each calendar year for personal reasons. Personal days, if not used within the calendar year, will be forfeited.
[Amended 4-16-2019 by Ord. No. 19-04-02]
An additional sick leave policy is available for full-time Village employees who have been absent from work for seven regular work days, exhausted all regular vacation, personal, and sick time and have a doctor's excuse. This policy shall be as follows:
(A) 
Schedule.
Employment up to 5 years or less
20 days of 1/2 pay
5 to 10 years employment
40 days of 1/2 pay
10 to 20 years employment
10 days of full pay; 50 days of 1/2 pay
20 plus years employment
20 days of full pay; 100 days of 1/2 pay
(B) 
Notification. The Village Board shall establish the notification requirement for taking sick leave. The employee shall state the nature of the illness or injury, location of confinement and the telephone number where they may be reached. The employee must also state whether the absence is claimed to be from a previous injury sustained while on duty. Supervisors are to be kept informed daily, whenever possible, of the employee's condition. Upon return to work, the employee will inform their supervisor as to the cause of the illness or injury and indicate whether a continuing impairment might have occurred.
(C) 
Resumption of Work. In order to continue active work assignments after an illness, injury or disability lasting seven consecutive work days or more, the employee must provide the Village Clerk with a written physician's statement releasing the employee to assume activities within their position responsibility.
Any employee who is ill or injured on the job shall immediately notify the Superintendent who may require the employee to be transported to a hospital for examination by a physician or surgeon. For employees on a seven-hour work schedule, if an employee becomes ill while at work after the first two hours of work, the employee shall lose 1/2 day of accumulated sick time. For employees on a twelve-hour work schedule, if an employee becomes ill at work after the first three hours of work, the employee shall lose one-half day of accumulated sick time.
Pregnancy shall be considered the same as any short-term disability, and request for pregnancy leave shall be made through the disability leave clause. Request for parental leave following childbirth shall be made through the Leave of Absence clause, § 12-6-8(G), Family and Medical Leave Act.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, Administration, Art. I, General Code Provisions, Div. I)]
No employee on leave of absence may earn vacation, or sick leave, except when the leave was for the purpose of accepting a temporary work assignment in another office. While the employee is on leave of absence, the length of service still continues to accumulate except for special leave situations under Subsection (A), Special Leave, and for Subsection (G), Family and Medical Leave Act, situations. Length of service is specifically prohibited from accumulating on special leave cases and on Family and Medical Leave Act situations. The prohibition on length of service accumulation is not contained in any other type of leave of absence situation. Therefore, the code should be construed to allow accumulation of length of services while on leave of absence other than special leave and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Employee shall be granted an excused leave of absence for the following:
(A) 
Special Leave. All full-time and salary exempt employees who have completed one full year of continuous service may request a special leave. Special leave will only be granted for personal reasons, and must be approved by employee's Superintendent. Special leave shall be granted without pay. The period for special leave shall not exceed six months. An extension may be granted up to a maximum of six months for a total of one year. In order to continue to receive medical and insurance benefits during a special leave, the employee shall contribute both the employee and the employer's share of IMRF and insurance costs. Length of service or benefits shall not accrue or accumulate during a special leave. A person either hired or promoted to fill the position vacated by the person on leave shall be considered in that position temporarily and shall relinquish it upon the employee's return.
(B) 
Military. Any full-time or part-time employee who is a member of a reserve component of the armed services, the Illinois National Guard or the Illinois Naval Militia shall be allowed leave. Such leave will be granted without loss of length of service or other accrued benefits.
[Amended 2-18-2014 by Ord. No. 14-02-01]
In case of an emergency call-up (or order to state active duty) by the Governor, the leave shall be granted for the duration of said emergency with pay and without loss of length of service or other accrued benefits.
Military earnings during the military reserve obligation or for the emergency call shall be submitted and assigned to the Village, and the Village shall return it to the payroll fund from which the employee's payroll check was drawn. If military pay exceeds the employee's earning for the period, the Village Board shall return the difference to the employee.
To be eligible for military reserve leave or emergency call up pay, the employee shall provide the Village with a certificate from the commanding officer of the employee's unit that the leave taken was for either such purpose.
Full-time employees entering into military service as a result of voluntary enlistment, induction into the service by draft, or conscription will be afforded all of the privileges provided by the Illinois Compiled Statutes, Chapter 330, § 60/1 et seq.
(C) 
Jury Duty. An employee shall be excused from work for days in which the employee serves on jury duty. The employee shall receive his regular pay for jury service. The employee shall present proof of jury service and the amount of pay received shall be turned over to the Village Treasurer. The employee shall also turn over to the Village any expense allowances paid by the court if the jury duty is located at the County Courthouse. If an employee is given an early release from jury duty, the employee shall then report to his or her regular work assignment.
(D) 
Witness. An employee shall be excused from work when lawfully subpoenaed to serve as a witness. The employee must present written proof of the summons to testify to qualify for an excused absence. Notice to employee's supervisor should be made in advance of appearing in court. An employee's excused absence from work shall be on an unpaid basis, unless the employee's witness activity is work related and the witness activity is requested by the Village. The employee shall turn over to the Village any witness fee when the employee's witness activity is work related.
(E) 
Village Disability Leave. To be eligible for Village disability leave, the employee must submit to the Village Board a medical opinion that the employee cannot work in his normal job position, and a medical opinion that the employee may possibly be able to return to work within the next six months. Employees are not eligible for disability benefits until they have been employed at least one year. Employees may be required to use their accrued sick or vacation time to continue regular wages. Employees must submit a letter requesting disability leave to their superintendent within a reasonable amount of time before disability leave is taken. Upon return to work, employees must submit a release statement from their physician to the superintendent. If the superintendent has reason to believe that the employee is unable to perform the normal duties or the employee is able to perform duties and is still absent, they may seek and rely upon the decision of an impartial physician. The Village Board will select a physician who is not a Village employee to act as an impartial physician.
(F) 
Educational Leave. The Village Board may grant an employee an educational leave of absence for the purpose of engaging in a training course. No educational leave may be granted unless in the judgment of the Village Board the training course would benefit the Village by improving the employee's qualifications to perform the duties of the employee's position or by qualifying the employee for advancement in rank or grade to another position in the Village service. Employee shall receive his regular pay during an education leave of absence for training courses when so authorized by the Village Board. Employees may request an educational leave without pay to seek further professional training in specialty fields. Such leave may be up to 10 months in duration and requires the approval of the Village Board. An employee on education leave without pay does not accrue vacation or sick leave credit for the period of leave. When ready to return to work, the employee will be offered the first available full-time position at the same job level the employee held prior to departing on educational leave without pay.
(G) 
Family and Medical Leave Act. An employee is eligible for a leave of absence through the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. In order to be eligible for leave, an employee must have worked for the employer at least 12 months and must have worked at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months prior to the leave. Eligible female and male employees are allowed up to, 12 weeks of leave per twelve-month period following the birth of a child, the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, or the serious health condition of the employee or an immediate family member (defined for purposes of this Family and Medical Leave Act situation as including the employee's child, spouse or parent). The leave for birth or placement must take place within 12 months of the birth or placement of the child. The employee's leave shall be unpaid. The employee may, upon approval of the Village Board, use accumulated sick leave and/or vacation leave. During the leave, the Village shall continue to provide coverage under its group health plan. Following return upon leave, the employee shall be returned to a position with equivalent pay, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment. In order to utilize leave of absence pursuant to the Family Medical Leave Act, the employee should give thirty-day notice. For leave based upon serious health conditions, the employer may require certification from the employee's health care provider for leave. Employer reserves the right to require a second medical opinion at the employee's own expense.
(H) 
Expiration of Leave. When an employee returns from a leave of six months or less, the superintendent shall return the employee to the same or similar position in the same class in which the employee was incumbent prior to commencement of such leave. An employee's same or similar position will not be protected for reductions in force or where the position has been eliminated. Employees are subject to termination if they are absent from work for more than six months. No employee may be absent without permission of the supervisor to which assigned. In the absence of extenuating circumstances, an employee who is absent from work for any reason and fails to notify his or her supervisor within two working days will be considered to have resigned. No employee on leave of absence may earn vacation or sick leave.
[Amended 2-18-2014 by Ord. No. 14-02-01]