[Amended 5-7-2022 SATM by Art. 16]
Proposed changes in existing fringe benefits, such as vacations, holidays, premium pay, etc., and/or proposals for any additional fringe benefits shall be submitted by the Town Administrator to the Select Board for its recommendations prior to inclusion in proposed departmental budgets.
A. 
Regular employees shall be paid for each of the following holidays:
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King Day
President's Day
Patriot's Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Columbus Day
Veteran's Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day
B. 
Employee shall be granted the above holidays provided the employee worked the regularly scheduled hours the day before and the day after the holiday. The employer reserves the right to waive the above requirement. All regular employees who are normally scheduled to work on the day in which a holiday falls shall be paid for 20% of their weekly authorized hours. Any above holiday will be observed on the day established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. When any of the 11 holidays fall within a sick leave period, it shall be granted as a holiday and no charge made to the employee's sick leave credits. When any of the 11 holidays fall within a vacation period it shall be granted as a holiday and no charge made to the employee's vacation time credit. If an employee must work on the holiday due to an emergency situation, as determined by the Town Administrator, then the employee may take another day off within 30 days of that holiday. Employees required to work on this day at management's discretion shall receive the holiday at a future time of their choice prior to the end of the fiscal year.
A. 
Effective July 1, 2005, the following longevity policy shall be in effect:
(1) 
After five years service: $350.
(2) 
After 10 years service: $450.
(3) 
After 15 years service: $550.
(4) 
After 20 years service: $650.
B. 
Longevity payments are to be made annually the first pay period following an employee's anniversary date. (See Article III for benefit on part-time employees who work 20+ hours per week.)
C. 
For the purposes of longevity the "anniversary date" for employee whose status changes from ineligible to eligible for benefits shall be the date of the change in status, i.e., the date the employee's authorized hours change from less than 20 per week to more than 20 per week.
A. 
All eligible employees shall be entitled to take personal leave each fiscal year equal to 60% of the weekly authorized hours.
B. 
No personal leave with pay shall be granted during the first three months of employment.
C. 
Requests for personal leave shall be submitted 24 hours in advance and shall be subject to the approval of the employee's Department Head.
A. 
An employee who serves in a temporary capacity that converts to a permanent position without a break in service may request prior service credit for the purpose of sick time accrual only.
B. 
Sick days:
(1) 
Employees who work 20 or more hours will accrue sick leave at the rate of 25% of the weekly authorized hours for each month of service.
(2) 
Sick leave not used in the year in which it accrues, together with any accumulated sick leave not used in the current year may accrue to a maximum of 40 times the weekly authorized hours (200 days).
(3) 
Absence from duty shall be charged against sick time accrued for the following reasons:
(a) 
When an employee is required to undergo medical, optical or dental treatment when such treatment cannot be accomplished on off-duty hours.
(b) 
When a serious illness of an employee's parent, spouse or child, who is a resident of the household, requires the employee's personal attention.
(c) 
Personal illness.
(4) 
An employee who is absent on sick leave for five or more scheduled workdays is required to submit a written statement to Town Administration from his/her personal physician indicating the duration of illness and expected date of return.
All employees with 10 years of service at the time of retirement or death will be entitled to compensation for 25% of their unused, accrued sick time. Payment under this provision is computed at the current rate of pay and shall not be included in or considered to be base pay for retirement or pension purposes. Said benefit shall not exceed $3,500 and will be paid to the employee or the designated beneficiary. Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement should refer to their agreement. (See Article III for benefit on part-time employees who work 20+ hours per week.)
The purpose of the Town of Walpole (the "Town") Employee Sick Leave Bank (the "Sick Leave Bank" or the "Bank") is to make available additional sick leave to nonunion, salaried and hourly Town employees who have suffered an unplanned personnel illness, injury, disability or quarantine and whose personal sick leave has been exhausted.
A. 
Administration. The Sick Leave Bank shall be administered by the Sick Leave Bank Committee (the "Committee"), which shall consist of the Town Administrator, or designee, one member selected by the Town's salaried employees, and one member selected by the Town's hourly employees. Members of the Committee shall serve for a term of three years, but may serve more than one term in succession.
[Amended 5-7-2022 SATM by Art. 16]
B. 
Employee eligibility and participation.
(1) 
Any nonunion, salaried and hourly Town employee may participate in the Sick Leave Bank if they have an accrual balance of at least 25 days' sick leave as of August 1 of any year. Members enrolled in the Sick Leave Bank shall be re-enrolled automatically each year (unless the member withdraws in writing) as long as they have maintained an accrual balance of at least 25 days. Only employees who elect to participate in the Bank prior to first suffering an unplanned personnel illness, injury, disability or quarantine for which he or she submits an application for Sick Leave Bank benefits, however, shall be eligible to receive such benefits.
(2) 
An employee may elect to participate in the Sick Leave Bank by agreeing to donate to the Bank, during the thirty-day enrollment period ending on August 1 of each year, an amount of sick leave hours equal to 20% of such employee's weekly-authorized sick leave hours. New Town employees shall be eligible to participate in the Sick Leave Bank during the open enrollment period after they have an accrual balance of at least 25 days' sick leave. The Sick Leave Bank Committee has the ability to waive the twenty-five-day clause. All donations of sick leave hours to the Bank are non refundable.
(3) 
The aggregate number of sick leave hours maintained in the Sick Leave Bank shall be limited to a maximum of 5,000 hours. If, in any year, the aggregate number of unused sick leave hours that have been contributed to the Sick Leave Bank equals or exceeds the permitted maximum limit as of August 1, then the number of accrued hours in Bank automatically shall be reduced to 4,500 on such date in order to accommodate new contributions by Town employees over the subsequent twelve-month period. Absent unusual circumstances, a minimum of 1,000 sick leave hours shall remain in the Sick Leave Bank at all times.
(4) 
No employee shall be eligible to receive benefits from the Sick Leave Bank until after he/she has exhausted all of his/her accumulated sick leave, personal leave and vacation leave.
(5) 
No employee shall be eligible to receive benefits from the Sick Leave Bank on account of any elective surgery or an illness, injury, disability or quarantine of a family member.
(6) 
An employee shall become ineligible to receive benefits from the Sick Leave Bank upon his/her:
(a) 
Resignation or termination of employment with the Town;
(b) 
Retirement;
(c) 
Voluntary withdrawal from participation in the Bank; or
(d) 
Going on an approved leave of absence for reasons other than an unplanned personal illness, injury, disability or quarantine.
(7) 
An employee voluntarily may withdraw from participation in the Sick Leave Bank at any time by providing written notice of withdrawal to the Committee. An employee who withdraws from the Sick Leave Bank, or retires, resigns or otherwise terminates his or her employment with the Town, shall forfeit all days contributed by such employee to the Bank.
(8) 
Criteria that may be considered by the Committee in evaluating an employee's request for benefits from the Sick Leave Bank shall include, but not be limited to:
(a) 
The seriousness of the employee's illness, injury, disability or quarantine;
(b) 
The anticipated duration of the employee's illness, injury, disability or quarantine;
(c) 
The employee's length of service with the Town;
(d) 
The number of hours typically worked each week by the employee in normal circumstances;
(e) 
Other sources of income or benefits that the employee receives, or is eligible to receive, during the period of his/her illness, injury, disability or quarantine;
(f) 
The propriety of the employee's prior use of sick leave; and
(g) 
The aggregate number of hours currently available in the Sick Leave Bank.
C. 
Procedure for seeking benefits.
(1) 
An eligible employee who has suffered an unplanned personnel illness, injury, disability or quarantine may request benefits from the Sick Leave Bank by completing and submitting an approved Sick Leave Bank Request Form to the Committee no later than 30 calendar days prior to the first date for which additional sick leave benefits are requested. Exceptions to the foregoing thirty-day requirement may be granted by the Committee in unusual circumstances.
(2) 
In the event an employee is physically or mentally unable to complete and submit a Sick Leave Bank Request Form, a spouse, family member or guardian may complete and submit a Request Form on the employee's behalf.
(3) 
Each employee requesting benefits from the Sick Leave Bank shall be required to certify in writing his or her intention to return to work for the Town promptly following the cessation of the unplanned personnel illness, injury, disability or quarantine. Failure to do so for reasons other than the death or permanent disability of the employee shall constitute grounds for the Committee, at its sole discretion, to direct the employee to refund to the Town the reasonable monetary value of some or all of the benefits received by the employee from the Sick Leave Bank.
(4) 
All requests for benefits from the Sick Leave Bank shall be accompanied by a written statement confirming the existence and cause of illness, injury, disability or quarantine signed by a qualified physician. An employee seeking benefits from the Sick Leave Bank may be required by the Committee, at its sole discretion, to undergo an independent medical examination by a physician selected by the Committee.
(5) 
All requests for benefits from the Sick Leave Bank shall state the specific number of additional sick leave days requested. No single request for benefits in excess of nine weeks of the employee's weekly authorized hours shall be submitted to, or approved by, the Committee.
(6) 
An eligible employee may submit more than one request for benefits from the Sick Leave Bank, although no more than one request may be pending from a single employee at any point in time. The maximum number of additional sick leave that an employee may receive from the Sick Leave Bank on account of any one episode of illness, injury, disability or quarantine is 26 weeks of his/her weekly-authorized hours.
(7) 
The Committee shall act on all completed Sick Leave Bank Request Forms within 14 days of submission to the Committee. Notification of the Committee's decision thereafter shall be provided promptly to the requesting party.
(8) 
The decision to deny or grant, in whole or in part, an employee's request for benefits from the Sick Leave Bank shall be left to the sole discretion of the Committee, as determined by a majority vote of the Committee members. The decision of the Committee in each instance shall be final.
(9) 
Questions regarding the interpretation or application of this bylaw shall be resolved by the Committee, with the input and guidance of the Town Administrator.
[Amended 5-7-2022 SATM by Art. 16]
A. 
Vacations will be credited on the employee's service anniversary date.
(1) 
On the first anniversary date, two times weekly authorized hours.
(2) 
On the fifth anniversary date, three times weekly authorized hours;
(3) 
On the 10th anniversary date, four times weekly authorized hours.
(4) 
On the 20th anniversary date, five times weekly authorized hours.
(5) 
The service anniversary date, for employees whose status changes from ineligible to eligible for benefits shall be the date of the change in status, i.e., the date the employee's authorized hours change from less than 20 per week to more than 20 per week.
B. 
Vacations should be used within 12 months of the date they are credited; however, subject to the Department Head's approval, two times weekly authorized hours may be carried over into the new year.
C. 
Any employee whose employment is terminated by dismissal with just cause, or by resignation, or in case of death, designated beneficiary shall be paid in lieu of such vacations an amount equal to one hour's pay at the employee's regular rate for each hour of unused vacation.
D. 
Newly hired employees who have attained a minimum of two years' relevant experience may be granted credit for this service. Up to a maximum of five years toward the amount of vacation leave granted the employee at their time of hire. In no case shall any newly hired employee be initially granted more than three times weekly authorized hours of vacation. And in all cases this bridging must receive prior approval of the Town Administrator. Any increases in vacation leave time granted above the amount of time initially credited shall be granted according to the schedule listed in the first subsection of this section. No employee shall receive more than five times weekly authorized hours of accrued vacation time.
[Amended 5-7-2022 SATM by Art. 16]
E. 
Newly hired employees may use one times weekly authorized hours of vacation time after six months of service. Any time used will be deducted from the vacation hours credited on the employee's first anniversary.
F. 
Employees may request from the Town Administrator to take up to one week of weekly authorized hours of their vacation allotment within 90 days of date credited. Said "negative" vacation time to be deducted from the employee's allotment on date credited. If an employee resigns, retires or terminates employment prior to date credited, the employee must pay back the Town for negative vacation time.
[Amended 5-7-2022 SATM by Art. 16]
An employee who had attained a minimum of one year of full-time service during a former work period is entitled to credit for their prior service when one year of new full-time service is completed. At the one-year anniversary of the new hire date, a "bridged" service date is assigned which recognizes the addition of the prior service to the present service. This bridged service date then serves as the basis for benefit accruals. Until this bridged service date is put into effect, the employee is considered to have no prior service in areas governed by ERISA law, such law takes precedence.
The Town will treat the nonunion sworn personnel in parity to the union contract for purposes of MGL c. 41, § 108L.
Any full-time employee of the Town may participate in this program if the course(s) taken is job related and is approved by the Department Head and the Town Administrator, subject to sufficient funding. An employee should receive approval prior to registering for the course and after satisfactory completion, Grade C or better, will receive reimbursement from the Town upon receipt of course credit and submission of expense voucher for tuition, laboratory costs, and books. The maximum allowable education aid for each school year shall be $600 per employee. There is no reimbursement for the time spent during the course, mileage, or any other expenses.
An employee called for jury duty shall be paid by the Town an amount equal to the difference between the compensation paid for a normal working period and the amount paid by the Court excluding allowance for travel.
A. 
The decision to close Town Hall offices due to emergency situations (storm, power failure, snow, etc.) is to be made by the Office of Town Administration. This decision will govern all offices within the Town Hall. Should a shutdown of Town Hall Offices be required the following pay policy will apply:
(1) 
When Town Hall Offices are shut down for the entire day before the start of the normal workday, nonunion, nonsalaried employees scheduled to work on the specific day will receive pay for the regularly scheduled hours of work between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
(2) 
When Town Hall Offices has a delay opening at the start of the normal workday, nonunion, nonsalaried employees scheduled to work on the specific day will receive pay for the regularly scheduled hours of work between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. only if they report to work at the designated opening time. However, if the employee does not report to work they can apply any unused personal days or vacation days for the entire scheduled workday.
B. 
If the Town Hall Offices are shut down during the workday the following pay policy will apply:
(1) 
Those nonunion, nonsalaried employees at work at the time of the shutdown will be paid for their entire scheduled day between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
(2) 
Those nonunion, nonsalaried employees not at work at the time of the shutdown will be paid for actual hours worked that day.
(3) 
If Town Hall Offices are not closed by the Office of the Town Administrator, absent nonunion, nonsalaried employees will receive no pay. Employees may, however, apply any unused personal days or vacation days.
C. 
Town Hall Offices include all functional offices within the Town Hall Facility.