Editor's Note: Personnel policies stated in this chapter are effective unless otherwise covered by any other law, agreement or contract.
[Ord. No. 76-3; New]
Borough employees shall be classified in the following categories:
a. 
Full-Time Employees. A full-time employee is defined as one who is assigned to a regular position and is paid on the basis of a forty (40) hour workweek.
b. 
Part-Time Employees. A part-time employee is defined as one who is either not assigned to a regular position or one who is paid for less than a forty (40) hour workweek.
c. 
Seasonal Employees. A seasonal employee is one employed during any particular season of the year, as required by the exigencies of the situation.
[Ord. No. 76-3; Ord. No. 79-9 § 1; Ord. No. 87-11 § 1; New]
a. 
The employer has designated the following days as holidays:
New Year's Day
Columbus Day
Lincoln's Birthday
General Election Day
Washington's Birthday
Veteran's Day
Good Friday
Thanksgiving Day
Memorial Day
Friday following Thanksgiving day
Independence Day
Christmas Day
Labor Day
 
 
Employees are entitled to three (3) days leave with pay for personal business. Leave days shall not be accumulated from year to year.
b. 
If any of the aforementioned holidays occur on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be observed as the official date of the holiday. Holidays which occur on a Saturday shall be celebrated on the preceding Friday. In order to be eligible for payment for the aforementioned holidays, the employee must have worked on the regular workday immediately preceding and immediately following the date of the holiday.
[Ord. No. 76-3; Ord. No. 87-11 § 1]
a. 
All full-time employees shall be entitled to annual vacations computed from the anniversary date of employment as follows:
1. 
One (1) year but less than five (5) years: Two (2) weeks.
2. 
Five (5) years but less than ten (10) years: Three (3) weeks.
3. 
Ten (10) years but less than fifteen(15) years: Four (4) weeks.
4. 
Fifteen (15) years but less than twenty-five (25) years: Five (5) weeks.
b. 
If a regular holiday, as hereinafter defined, falls within an employee's vacation period, the employee shall be entitled to one (1) additional day of vacation, which must be celebrated either immediately before or immediately following the vacation period.
c. 
Vacations shall be taken within the calendar year, and periods selected shall be subject to approval by the department head. Vacation days cannot accrue or be carried forward into any successive year.
d. 
Vacations shall coincide with the commencement and ending of the calendar workweek unless specific written authorization is otherwise received from the department head.
e. 
Employees with the greater length of service to the Borough will be given preference in relation to the choice of vacation dates.
f. 
Employees who are dismissed or who retire or die while employed by the Borough shall receive payment for all earned vacation days during the calendar year when the employee is no longer employed by the Borough.
g. 
All vacation schedules shall be filed by the department head with the Borough Clerk not later than May 1 of each calendar year.
[Ord. No. 76-3; Ord. No. 79-9 § 2; Ord. No. 87-11 § 1]
All permanent full-time employees shall be granted sick leave with pay of one (1) working day for every month of service during the first year of employment and fifteen (15) working days annually thereafter. The amount of such leave not taken shall accumulate from year to year, and such employee shall be entitled to such accumulated sick leave if and when needed, provided that upon retirement or expiration of employment of such employee, any sick leave so accumulated shall not be cancelled and such employee shall be entitled to be remunerated on the basis of his or her most recent salary or wage scale at full pay for the first ninety (90) days, one-half (1/2) pay for the next ensuing forty-five (45) days and one-fourth (1/4) for the final twenty-three (23) thereof. Employees shall not accumulate days in the excess of one hundred fifty-eight (158) sick leave days.
[Ord. No. 76-3; New]
a. 
Established. The following absences by full-time employees are hereby recognized as authorized:
1. 
Reserve military duty.
2. 
National Guard duty.
3. 
Jury duty.
4. 
Maternity leave.
5. 
Bereavement leave.
b. 
Reserve Military or National Guard Duty. Such duty is defined as one which is required by the military unit to which the employee is assigned. Employees serving such duty shall be entitled to the difference in pay between his or her regular military pay and his or her regular pay received from the Borough. Suitable documentation of the amount of the regular military pay must be presented by the employee to the Borough Clerk.
c. 
Jury Duty. An employee serving on jury duty will be paid the difference between his regular pay received by the Borough and the remuneration for jury duty. Suitable documentation of the remuneration received for jury duty shall be presented to the Borough Clerk.
d. 
Maternity Leave. Maternity leave for full-time or part-time employees, without pay, may be granted upon request of the employee after the end of the sixth month of pregnancy. Maternity leave may continue until the ninetieth day following the end of the pregnancy.
e. 
Bereavement Leave.
1. 
Bereavement leave with pay for full-time employees will be granted for not more than five (5) days because of the death of an employee's husband, wife, child, parent, brother, sister or a relative residing permanently in the employee's household.
2. 
Bereavement leave, for employees, must have approval of Department Head and will be granted for not more than one (1) day per year because of the death of a full-time employee's grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, mother-in-law or father-in-law.
f. 
Notice of Absence. It shall be the employee's responsibility to furnish the Borough Clerk with a notice of intention to take such authorized absence heretofore enumerated within a reasonable time prior to the initial date of such authorized absence.
g. 
Personal Business. Employees are entitled to three (3) days leave with pay for personal business.
h. 
Time Limited to Use Sick Days. Leave days must be used within the one (1) year period and shall not be cumulative from year to year.
[Ord. No. 76-3; New]
Any absence not heretofore defined will be considered to be an unauthorized absence. Any unauthorized absence for more than three (3) days shall require a doctor's certificate. Any unauthorized absence having a duration of five (5) consecutive days or more will be considered as a voluntary resignation. Habitual absenteeism having a duration of less than five (5) consecutive days or habitual tardiness shall be cause for dismissal.
[Ord. No. 83-7 § 1]
Employees of the Borough shall severally hold their respective offices and continue in their respective employment during good behavior and efficiency, and no person shall be removed from office or employment while an employee of the Borough for political reasons or for any other cause other than incapacity, misconduct or disobedience of just rules, regulations, orders and resolutions established or which may be established for Borough employees by the Mayor and Council.
[Ord. No. 83-7 § 2]
Borough employees shall be entitled to file a grievance with their respective department head/liaison. A Grievance Committee consisting of three (3) members of Council not directly involved with the grievance shall be appointed by the Mayor to determine if the grievance has any merit and look for a possible solution of the grievance.
[Ord. No. 83-7 § 3]
Any employee against whom charges are brought in violation of any regulations or valid reasons stated in subsection 3-7.1 of this section or any applicable rules and regulations governing the operation of the Borough, said charges shall be thoroughly examined by the Mayor and Council and if the charges are found to be valid a hearing will be scheduled within but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of the alleged offense.
[Ord. No. 81-5 § 1]
a. 
Appointment and Term. Whenever the Mayor and Governing Body deem it necessary to appoint an independent Hearing Officer to hear and determine any charges brought against a Borough employee, the Hearing Officer shall be appointed by the Mayor with the consent of the Borough Council. The Hearing Officer shall serve in his or her capacity for the time necessary to hear and determine the charges against the employee.
b. 
Qualifications and Compensation. The Hearing Officer shall be a minimum of twenty-one (21) years of age and shall possess a high school diploma or its equivalent. The Hearing Officer shall be appointed by resolution, which resolution shall state the consideration the Hearing Officer is to receive in discharging his duties.
[Ord. No. 81-5 § 1]
Once appointed, the Hearing Officer shall proceed to hear and determine the charges against the employee. The Hearing Officer shall allow the employee and the complainant to present their respective cases concerning the matter before the Hearing Officer. Both the employee and the complainant shall have the right to be represented by counsel at the hearing. The actual hearing itself shall be recorded so that a record will be available in case of any appeal to the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey.
[Ord. No. 97-06 § 1]
The purpose of the within section is to officially set forth the position of the Governing Body concerning its policies of indemnifying and defending its officials and employees.
[Ord. No. 97-06 § 2]
Pursuant to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 59:10-4, the Borough of Island Heights hereby authorizes the indemnification of each Borough official, employee or appointee who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that he or she is or was an officer, appointee or employee of the Borough of Island Heights, against any claims, losses, expenses (including attorney's fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with such action, suit or proceeding to the full extent permitted under the laws of the State of New Jersey. In the event of criminal charges against an officer, appointee or employee, the individual shall only be reimbursed for the above-referenced expenses upon a determination of innocence or the dropping of the charges. Expenses incurred in defending a civil action, suit or proceeding shall be paid by the Borough in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding to the extent authorized by the Borough in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey. Nothing herein shall authorize the Borough to pay for punitive or exemplary damages or damages resulting from the commission of a crime. In such case, the officer, appointee or employee of the Borough shall be required to establish that the act or omission upon which the claim or judgment is based occurred within the scope of his or her official action or employment as an official or employee of the Borough of Island Heights and that it was not the result of an act or a failure to act because of actual fraud, actual malice or willful misconduct. Nothing herein shall effect or limit the rights of certain Police Department employees under N.J.S.A. 40A:14-155.