Township of Union, NJ Police and Fire Personnel Benefits

Editor's Note: Original § 61-27, Holidays, of the 1986 Code, which previously followed this section, was repealed 10-26-2004 by Ord. No. 4842.

§ 127-24 Uniforms.

Each employee shall maintain his or her work uniform in a clean and presentable condition at all times. If any part of an employee's uniform is damaged or destroyed in the line of duty, the Township shall pay for the replacement or repair thereof upon voucher submitted therefor and approved by the Chief of Police or the Fire Chief. If an employee's personal property, other than his or her uniform, is damaged or destroyed in the line of duty, the Township, subject to the approval of the Chief of Police, or the Fire Chief, shall pay for the replacement or repair thereof upon voucher submitted therefor, upon recommendation of the Chief of Police or the Fire Chief and approval of the Township Administrator.

Uniform incidents involving the Chief of Police and the Fire Chief will require the approval of the Township Administrator.

The Township shall supply police or fire-fighting equipment as is appropriate to employees and will repair or replace such equipment when necessary.

Uniforms shall be worn during official duty hours, or while on official department business, except that civilian attire may be worn when practical to perform certain functions of the office, all at the discretion of the Chief of Police or the Fire Chief.

§ 127-25 Legal representation.

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:14-28 or 40A:14-155, whichever is applicable, whenever an employee is a defendant in any action or legal proceeding arising out of or incidental to the performance of his or her duties, the governing body of the municipality shall provide said employee with necessary means for the defense of such action or proceeding, but not for his or her defense in a disciplinary proceeding instituted as a result of a complaint on behalf of the municipality. If any such disciplinary or criminal proceeding instituted by or on complaint of the municipality shall be dismissed or finally determined in favor of the employee, he or she shall be reimbursed for the expense of his or her defense.

§ 127-26 Medical benefits package plan; insurance. [1]

Employees shall be entitled to the medical benefits package plan offering the greatest benefits in effect for all other Township employees during any year.

The Township agrees to pay the premium for the continuance of all medical plans in existence at the date of voluntary termination for all employees, including recognized dependents, terminating said employment with the Township. Such coverage shall not be afforded to any official otherwise covered by any medical plan, and each such official terminating employment with the Township shall annually certify to the Treasurer of the Township of Union that as of the date of said certification said official is not covered by any other medical plan level offering the greatest benefits to any employee group presently employed by the Township.

The Township agrees to pay the premium for the continuance of all medical plans in existence on the date of death of all employees with 20 years of credited employment for recognized dependents.

The Township shall pay an additional death benefit of $10,000 to the named beneficiary of the deceased employee of his or her estate for accidental death, which said benefit is exclusive of any workers' compensation award or judgments resulting from a civil action or pension benefits. Said payment shall be funded by a group insurance policy to be maintained by the Township, and payment therefrom shall be made by said insurance carrier upon the proper application being made thereto. The aforesaid death benefits shall only be afforded to employees while they continue to be employees of the Township. It shall not continue in force upon the resignation, dismissal or retirement of the employee.

Editor’s Note: See also Art. VIII, adopted 5-10-2011 by Ord. No. 5190, which ordinance clarified the health benefit policy of the Township and, in § 127-53, provided for the repeal of §§ 102-20 and 102-26 as to any inconsistencies with the ordinance and modification of the two sections to reflect the requirements of the ordinance.

§ 127-27 Hours of work.

The workday and workweek shall be established for their respective departments by the Chief of Police and the Fire Chief, predicated on the needs of the departments and the subdivisions therein.

The workday and workweek for the Chief of Police and for the Fire Chief shall be established by the Municipal Administrator.

§ 127-28 Vacation leave.

The vacation schedule shall be as follows:

One year to four years: 15 working days.

Beginning fifth year to nine years: 20 working days.

Beginning 10th year to 14 years: 25 working days.

Beginning 15th year to 19 years: 30 working days.

(5)

Beginning 20th year to 24 years: 35 working days.

(6)

Beginning 25th year and thereafter: 42 working days.

The Chief of Police and the Fire Chief shall allot vacation periods in order to assure orderly operation and adequate continuous service, but will grant vacations so far as possible in accordance with the desires of employees in order of their seniority in rank.

In the event that the selected period of time is not available, then it is agreed that employees should take their vacations in broken periods mutually acceptable to the Chief and the employee.

Each employee will receive his or her vacation pay in full prior to the commencement of each vacation period.

In the event that an employee is out of work on sick leave or injury leave at the time when said leave falls within his or her vacation period, said vacation, or that part of it which the employee had not yet taken, will be postponed until the employee returns from sick leave or injury leave.

The Municipal Administrator shall be advised as to the vacations of the Chief of Police and the Fire Chief.

Vacation leave may be accumulated from year to year upon written request to the Municipal Administrator up to a limit of 150 days. Employees who currently have accumulated more than 150 vacation days may retain such accumulated vacation leave. However, such employees may not accumulate any additional vacation leave.

An employee may surrender and receive payment at the current rate of pay of up to 1/2 of his or her allotted vacation leave. The surrender and payment option must be implemented prior to January 31 of the current year, by written request and approval of the Municipal Administrator. The employee's remaining allotment of vacation leave must be utilized in the current year or forfeit the remaining allotted vacation.

§ 127-29 Sick leave.

All employees shall be entitled to sick leave with pay based on their aggregate years of service.

Sick leave may be utilized by employees when they are unable to perform their work by reason of personal illness, accident or exposure to contagious disease or illness, accident or exposure to contagious disease on the part of the employee's spouse, children, parents or any other person who is a member of the family of the employee, actually residing therewith.

Sick leave days shall accrue and accumulate as follows:

First year of service: one day per month.

Second through fifth year: 15 days per year.

Sixth through 10th year: 16 days per year.

Eleventh through 15th year: 17 days per year.

(5)

Sixteenth through 20th year: 18 days per year.

(6)

Twenty-first through 25th year: 19 days per year.

(7)

Twenty-sixth year plus: 20 days per year.

Any employee shall not be reimbursed for accrued sick leave at the time of termination of his or her employment for cause or resignation under less than honorable circumstances. Upon termination, the Township shall certify to the Department of Civil Service the employee's accumulated sick leave, which shall be made part of the employee's permanent record.

If an employee is absent for reasons that entitled him or her to sick leave, his or her supervisor shall be notified promptly as of the employee's usual reporting time, except in those work situations where notice must be made prior to the employee's starting time.

Failure to so notify his or her supervisor may be cause of denial of the use of sick leave for that absence and constitute cause for disciplinary action.

Absence without notice for five consecutive days shall constitute a resignation.

Service-connected sickness, injury or disability leave.

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:9-7, employees covered under this agreement will be paid their regular straight time rate of pay for a period not in excess of 52 weeks for each new and separate service-connected sickness, injury or disability, commencing on the first day of any such service-connected injury or disability. Temporary disability benefits paid by workers' compensation insurance to the employee will be paid over to the Township.

Intentional self-inflicted injuries or those service-connected injuries or disabilities resulting from gross negligence shall not be covered by the provisions of this section.

Any employee who accepts outside employment whose physical demands are equal to or greater than his or her normal duties during the periods of service-connected sickness, injury or disability leave shall be deemed physically fit to return to duty and shall be subject to loss of service-connected sickness, injury or disability pay.

When such sickness, injury or disability leave is granted, the employee shall not be charged with any sick leave time for such time lost due to such sickness, injury or disability.

Verification of sick leave.

An employee who shall be absent on sick leave may be required to submit acceptable medical evidence substantiating the illness. Abuse of sick leave shall be cause for disciplinary action.

(a)

If the Township is not satisfied with the medical evidence supplied by the employee, the Township may require the employee to be examined by a Township physician at Township expense.

(b)

In the case of an employee utilizing sick leave to attend to a sick or injured relative, the employee must supply acceptable medical evidence that:

The relative was sick or injured.

[2]

The employee's presence was required.

In case of leave of absence due to exposure to contagious disease, a certificate from the Department of Health shall be required.

The Township may require an employee who has been absent because of personal illness, as a condition of his or her return to duty, to be examined, at the expense of the Township, by a physician chosen by the employee from a panel of physicians designated by the Township. Such examination shall establish whether the employee is capable of performing his or her normal duties and that his or her return will not jeopardize the health of the employee or other employees.

§ 127-30 Funeral leave.

In the event of a death in the immediate family of the employee or his or her spouse, employees in the Police Department will be allowed necessary time off with pay to make funeral arrangements and attend funeral services for a period not to exceed four working days. Employees in the Fire Department shall be granted leave necessary to make funeral arrangements and attend funeral services from the time of death until 48 hours after the funeral for personnel assigned to the twenty-four-hour shift and for a period not to exceed four working days for employees on the 40 hours per week work schedule.

For the purpose of this section, "immediate family" means father, mother, spouse, child, stepchild, sister, brother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandchild, grandparent or any other relative who is a member of the household actually residing with the employee.

In the event of a death in the family other than herein defined, an employee shall be excused from duty on the day of burial without loss of pay.

§ 127-31 Other leave.

With the prior approval of the Chief of Police or the Fire Chief, each employee shall receive three personal days annually at eight hours straight time on December 1. Employees shall receive three administrative days to be used within the calendar year. Administrative days may not be converted to pay.

[Amended 10-26-2004 by Ord. No. 4842]

Employees shall be entitled to military and National Guard leave in accordance with existing law.

§ 127-32 Longevity pay.

In addition to his or her annual salary, each employee shall receive longevity pay in equal biweekly installments according to the following schedule:

[Amended 7-9-1996 by Ord. No. 4467]

Years of Service Completed	Percent of Base Pay
5	2%
10	4%
15	6%
20	8%
24	12%

Longevity payments shall commence with the first pay period immediately following the employee's anniversary date, as indicated above, and shall be paid in equal installments thereafter.

For any person hired after July 1, 1996, who is not already employed by the Township of Union, longevity shall be:

[Added 7-9-1996 by Ord. No. 4467]

Years of Service Completed	Percent of Base Pay
10	2%
15	4%
20	6%

§ 127-33 Meals; mileage.

Meals.

Whenever an employee is out of town on official police and fire business, whether for attendance at public schools, training sessions, court appearances or other assignments, he or she shall receive a meal allowance of $9 where the time involved extends through a meal period.

[Amended 10-26-2004 by Ord. No. 4842]

In the case of a snow emergency or other natural disaster which precludes employees from leaving headquarters for meals, the Township shall provide meals at its own cost and expense.

Mileage.

Employees shall be reimbursed for required or authorized use of personal vehicles at the established rate of $0.23 per mile, to be applied only when it is not practical to use the department assigned vehicle. Mileage shall be computed from police or fire headquarters as applicable to the point of destination. Whenever possible, employees traveling to the same destination at the same time shall travel in one vehicle.

All tolls and parking expenses incurred on official business or in connection with authorized or required travel shall be reimbursed upon presentation of valid receipts therefor.

§ 127-34 Personnel files.

One master personnel file on each employee shall be maintained in the Human Resources Office.

[Amended 10-26-2004 by Ord. No. 4842]

In the event that charges are preferred against an employee, such employee, or his or her counsel, may have access to the contents of said file in order that said employee may properly prepare his or her defense to such charges.

§ 127-35 Termination of service.

Except as otherwise provided herein:

Upon the retirement, death or other termination of service of an employee after 25 years of service, he or she shall be entitled to the following:

(a)

Money value of such vacation as may have been earned by him or her in the year prior to his or her retirement not taken by him or her, and the money value of the full term of vacation to which he or she would be entitled in the year of retirement, resignation or death.[1]

Editor's Note: Original § 61-39A(1)(b), regarding the money value of holidays, of the 1986 Code, which previously followed this subsection, was repealed 10-26-2004 by Ord. No. 4842.

(b)

The money value of the unused sick leave days based upon the salary in the year of the retirement in accordance with the following:

Employees shall be entitled to an honorable termination incentive bonus whereby any employee terminating his or her service with the Township after 15 years of honorable service will be entitled to 40% of the monetary value at the time of termination of the accumulated unused sick days in the account of each of said employees.

[2]

Such payment shall be made at the time any such employee so terminating his or her service enters on to terminal leave.

[3]

In the instance of the death of any employee entitled to the payment herein authorized after the same has accrued, such payment shall be made to the estate of such decedent or to such person as may be designated by him or her, in writing, during his or her lifetime.

(c)

Salary to date of retirement.

(d)

Reimbursement for unused compensatory time.

(e)

Payment for unused personal days.

Employees terminating their employment within the meaning of Subsection A(1) prior to July 1 shall receive 1/2 of the benefits listed in Subsection A(1)(a) through (d). Employees terminating their employment within the meaning of Subsection A after July 1 shall receive the full benefits listed in Subsection A(1)(a) through (d). This provision shall be effective January 1, 1987.

Except as provided in Subsection D hereof, any employee of the Township retiring or dying or otherwise terminating his or her service with the Township prior to 25 years of service will be entitled to the following:

Money value of such vacation as may have been earned by him or her in the year prior to his or her retirement not taken by him or her and the money value of that part of the vacation earned by him or her in the year of his or her retirement.[2]

[2]

Editor's Note: Original § 61-39C(2), regarding the money value of holidays, of the 1986 Code, which previously followed this subsection, was repealed 10-26-2004 by Ord. No. 4842.

The money value of the unused sick leave days based upon the salary in the year of the retirement in accordance with Subsection A(1)(b) above.

Salary to date of termination.

Reimbursement of unused compensatory time.

Any employee resigning prior of 15 years of service therewith will be entitled to the following:

Money value of such vacation as may have been earned by him or her in the year prior to his or her resignation and not taken by him or her and the money value of the full term of vacation to which he or she would be entitled in the year of his or her resignation in accordance with past practice.