[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Garfield 6-15-2021 by Ord. No. 2882. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The City of Garfield ("City") finds it to be in its best financial interests and the best interests of its employees to enact an employment separation program and make same available to qualified City employees pursuant to the framework set forth in this chapter. Therefore, the City hereby establishes the Employment Separation Program of 2021 ("program"). It is the intent of the City in passing this chapter to establish a fair and equitable system under which qualified employees may choose to separate from service with the City and, in so choosing, receive additional payment according to a schedule established herein.
A. 
Qualified employees choosing to participate in the program shall be entitled to receive payment upon their separation from employment according to the following schedule, unless an employee is disqualified from or ineligible to receive such payment by virtue of other law, rule, regulation, or collective bargaining agreement provision.
B. 
Eligibility:
(1) 
Less than one year of service: not eligible.
(2) 
One to nine years of service: $5,000.
(3) 
Ten plus years of service: $25,000.
C. 
For purposes of this section, years of service shall be determined using the employee's date of hire in the records of the City up until the employee's last day of employment, as set forth in a written request by the employee to participate in the program.
D. 
For purposes of this section, "qualified employee" means a full-time employee of the City who has been employed for no less than one year, and excludes a part-time employee of the City.
A. 
Employees wishing to participate in the program shall submit a written request to the City Manager and shall provide a copy of the request to both the employee's supervisor and the City Finance Department. The request shall set forth, at a minimum, the employee's intended effective date of separation from employment with the City.
B. 
Employees may only submit requests to participate in the program according to the following schedule.
(1) 
Department heads and statutory employees.
(a) 
Requests to participate must be submitted as set forth above no later than October 1, 2021.
(b) 
Sixty-day notice requirement: Requests to participate must set forth an intended last day of employment that is no less than 60 days from the date of the request.
(2) 
All other employees.
(a) 
Requests to participate must be submitted as set forth above no later than November 1, 2021.
(b) 
Thirty-day notice requirement: Requests to participate must set forth an intended last day of employment that is no less than 30 days from the date of the request.
C. 
No employee seeking to participate in the program shall set forth an intended last day of employment that is later than December 31, 2021.
A. 
Upon receiving a request to participate in the program, the City shall review same promptly. The City shall, upon its initial review, inform the employee of the need for any additional information or of any deficiency with the request submitted.
B. 
Upon determining that the request received meets the requirements set forth herein, the City shall inform the employee of the payment to which the employee is entitled pursuant to § 19-2.
C. 
Upon receiving the information set forth in § 90-4B above, the employee shall have seven days in which to respond to the City, in writing, setting forth either:
(1) 
The employee's acceptance of the program; or
(2) 
The employee's rejection of the program.
D. 
Upon either an employee's written acceptance as set forth in § 19-4C(1) above or the failure of an employee to reject the program as set forth in § 19-4C(2) above, the employee's request to participate in the program shall be deemed irrevocable and final.
It is the intent of the City that the payment conferred by this chapter shall be in addition to any other payment or benefit provided by other ordinance or collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in this chapter shall operate to amend, deny, or alter any provision of an applicable collective bargaining agreement.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this chapter is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court or federal or state agency of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision, and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof.