Article III Leaves of Absence

Holidays.

The following are holidays for all full-time or part-time regular, probationary, project, temporary pending exam, or appointive employees of the City, except for certain employees of the Tacoma Belt Line Railway, as defined in Section 1.12.210, who are not eligible for holiday pay. Part-time employees shall receive holiday pay prorated based on the hours that he or she was hired to work. Such holidays are in conformance with the state of Washington as prescribed by RCW 1.16.050:

New Year's Day (January 1)

Martin Luther King Day (3rd Monday in January)

Presidents' Day (3rd Monday in February)

Memorial Day (last Monday in May)

Juneteenth (June 19)

Fourth of July (July 4)

Labor Day (1st Monday in September)

Veterans Day (November 11)

Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November)

The Day Immediately Following Thanksgiving Day

Christmas Day (December 25)

Employees shall receive a total of two paid floating holidays, in addition to those specified above, per calendar year, said days to be mutually agreed upon by employee and employer. To be eligible for said floating holidays, an employee must have been, or be scheduled to be, continuously employed by the City for more than four months as a full-time or part-time regular, probationary, project, temporary pending exam, or appointive employee during the calendar year of entitlement. Part-time employees shall receive floating holiday pay prorated on the hours that he or she was hired to work. Employees retiring on May 1 or thereafter of each year shall be eligible for the floating holidays. Upon separation from the City service, an employee shall not be eligible for compensation for any unused floating holidays.

In addition, employees, as specified above, shall be granted such additional holidays as may be determined by the City Council from time to time by resolution or official proclamation.

The following are holidays for temporary employees after six months of continuous City service, except for certain employees of the Tacoma Belt Line Railway, as defined in Section 1.12.210, who are not eligible for holiday pay and except for temporary hiring-hall workers for whom benefits are administered through their unions.

New Year's Day (January 1)

Martin Luther King Day (3rd Monday in January)

Presidents' Day (3rd Monday in February)

Memorial Day (last Monday in May)

Juneteenth (June 19)

Fourth of July (July 4)

Labor Day (1st Monday in September)

Veterans Day (November 11)

Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November)

The Day Immediately Following Thanksgiving Day

Christmas Day (December 25)

Temporary employees are not eligible for floating holidays.

An employee shall receive pay for the holiday provided he or she is in a paid status for the entire shift on both the regular scheduled work day immediately preceding the holiday and the regular scheduled work day immediately following the holiday; provided, however, for commissioned Police Department and Fire Department personnel who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, an employee shall receive pay for the holiday provided he or she is in a paid status for the entire shift on either the regular scheduled work day immediately preceding the holiday or the regular scheduled work day immediately following the holiday; provided, that employees hired into a part-time status after January 1, 1983, shall receive holiday pay or time off in lieu thereof prorated based on the hours the employee was hired to work.

Time off in lieu of holiday. Members of the Police Department and Fire Department services may be granted days off in lieu of holidays. Holidays or time off in lieu of holidays shall be scheduled so as to meet the operating requirements of the respective departments and, as far as practicable, the preferences of the employees. In the event time off in lieu of holidays has been scheduled for the end of the year and an employee is unable to use such days off in lieu of holidays due to continuous illness or disability, with a written request submitted to the Human Resources Department prior to the end of the calendar year in which the days off in lieu of holidays could not be used, such unused days off may be carried over for use in the following year. In order to meet necessary scheduling of personnel, the Police Department and Fire Department may permit their members to take time off in lieu of holidays in advance of the occurrence of the holiday; provided, that upon termination of the member who has been paid in advance for a holiday or holidays, such payments shall be deducted from any wages, vacation leave, or sick leave accrual payments to which the member would otherwise be entitled; or, in the event that there are no such payments due, the member shall repay the City such unearned advance holiday payments. Upon separation from the City service in good standing, a regular, probationary, project, temporary pending exam, or appointive employee shall be compensated for any unused holidays or days off in lieu thereof to which he or she is entitled as set forth in this section.

Holidays falling on Saturday and Sunday. When one of the holidays listed in this section falls on a Saturday, the day preceding will be observed as a holiday with pay and when one of the holidays listed in this section falls on Sunday, the next day following will be observed as a holiday with pay.

Overtime rate for holiday work. Employees who normally are scheduled to work on any of the above listed holidays, who are eligible for compensation for overtime work, shall, in addition to their regular holiday pay, be compensated either in compensatory time off or in cash, as the case may be, at the straight time rate for the actual hours worked, except as otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement; provided, that work in excess of the normal hours of their shift shall be compensated at their designated overtime rate. Employees whose functions do not normally require holiday work, required to work on a holiday and who are eligible for compensation for overtime work, shall, in addition to their regular holiday pay, be compensated either in compensatory time off or in cash, as the case may be, according to their designated overtime rate for the actual hours worked.

Rate of pay for holidays. Employees not required to work on holidays shall be paid for holidays at the rate he or she was receiving the day before the holiday.

Hours granted for holidays. Employees eligible for holiday pay, pursuant to this section, will receive compensation or time off for holidays based on a standard eight-hour work day or as provided in a collective bargaining agreement. Part-time employees receive time off for a holiday prorated on the number of hours that he or she was hired to work.

(Ord. 16950 § 3, 1961-12-19; Ord. 17605 § 2, 1964-05-19; Ord. 17727 § 2, 1962-12-18; Ord. 18416 § 1, 1967-10-24; Ord. 18697, 1968-12-26; Ord. 19272 § 5, 1970-12-29; Ord. 19584 § 10, 1972-05-30; Ord. 20026 § 5, 1973-12-26; Ord. 20233 § 5, 1974-10-15; Ord. 20276 § 11, 1974-12-26; Ord. 20549 § 1, 1975-09-18; Ord. 20756 § 1, 1976-05-25; Ord. 20810 § 1, 1976-07-13; Ord. 20881 § 1, 1976-10-05; Ord. 20937 § 5, 1976-12-21; Ord. 21232 § 5, 1977-12-20; Ord. 21298 § 3, 1978-03-21; Ord. 22269 § 2, 1980-12-16; Ord. 22833 § 3, 1982-12-21; Ord. 23111 § 9, 1984-02-07; Ord. 23445 § 3, 1985-08-06; Ord. 23670 § 3, 1986-07-29; Ord. 24330 § 2, 1989-04-04; Ord. 24405 § 2, 1989-08-15; Ord. 24856 § 4, 1991-03-05; Ord. 26209 § 4, 1998-04-14; Ord. 26379 § 3, 1999-03-16; Ord. 26797 § 2, 2001-04-03; Ord. 27301 § 5, 2004-12-07; Ord. 27422 § 3, 2005-10-25; Ord. 28263 Ex. A, 2014-12-09; Ord. 28282 Ex. A, 2015-02-24; Ord. 28794 Ex. A, 2021-12-07)

§ 1.12.210 Holidays – Belt Line Railway.

Employees in the classifications of Railway Conductor, Locomotive Engineer, Senior Locomotive Mechanic, Locomotive Mechanic, Railway Shop Maintenance Worker, Railway Yard Clerk, Railway Yardmaster, Railway Track Maintenance Worker, Railway Track Maintenance Supervisor, Railway Track Equipment Mechanic-Welder, and Railway Track Maintenance Inspector shall be entitled to holiday provisions as specified in this section.

Holidays. Railway Conductor, Locomotive Engineer, Senior Locomotive Mechanic, Locomotive Mechanic, Railway Shop Maintenance Worker, Railway Yard Clerk, Railway Yardmaster, Railway Track Maintenance Worker, Railway Track Maintenance Supervisor, Railway Track Equipment Mechanic-Welder, and Railway Track Maintenance Inspector.

Employees in the foregoing classifications shall be paid for the following holidays in accordance with the provisions of this section:

New Year's Day (January 1st)

Washington's Birthday (3rd Monday in February)

Memorial Day (last Monday in May)

Juneteenth (June 19th)

Fourth of July (July 4th)

Labor Day (1st Monday in September)

Veterans Day (November 11th)

Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November)

The Day Immediately Following Thanksgiving Day

Christmas Eve Day (December 24th)

Christmas Day (December 25th)

Employees as specified above shall have two paid holidays per calendar year in addition to those above specified and for which time off shall be mandatory, these days to be mutually agreed upon by both employee and employer. To be eligible for these holidays, employees must have been or be scheduled to be continuously employed by the City for more than four months as a regular, probationary or appointive full-time employee during the calendar year of entitlement.

When any of the above-listed holidays falls on Saturday or Sunday, the day observed by Class I railroads in the area shall be considered the holiday. Employees entitled to holiday pay will be paid for such holiday whether or not it falls on an assigned rest day or vacation day of the individual involved.

All regularly assigned employees shall be entitled to holiday pay and paid for holidays at the rate of their regular classification except in those instances where they are working in higher or lower positions, either on temporary appointments or by assignment to Extra Board, in which case they shall be paid at the rate appropriate to the appointment in effect at the time of the holiday. If the employee's rate of pay is different on the last day of regular work prior to the holiday and the first day of regular work after the holiday, the lower rate of the two shall apply for holiday pay. If an employee works on the holiday, the class in which he or she is working will determine the rate of holiday pay. To qualify, unless it is determined by the Belt Line Superintendent that sufficient employees are otherwise available to perform service and no additional expense will accrue to the Division, a regularly assigned employee must be in a paid status on the regular workdays immediately preceding and following such holiday, and if his or her assignment works on a holiday the employee must fulfill such assignment. A regularly assigned employee who is displaced while on vacation or paid sick leave by reason of quarterly choice of position provisions or seniority provisions of the Railway Labor Agreements will be considered an extra employee until he or she returns or exercises seniority to a regular position.

An Extra Board employee, in order to qualify for the prescribed paid holiday, must:

Be in a paid status on the regular work days immediately preceding and following the holiday, or

Be available for service on the full calendar days immediately preceding and immediately following the holiday and perform service on such holiday.

If such employee cannot qualify under (1) or (2) above, then in order to qualify, he or she must be available for service on the full calendar days immediately preceding and immediately following the holiday or perform service on any one of such days and be available on the other day or days, and, additionally, must have been in paid status on 11 or more of the 30 calendar days immediately preceding the holiday.

The rate of pay for employees qualifying under Extra Board conditions shall be the pay for the class in which they have their Extra Board appointment. In cases where an employee may have rights to more than one Extra Board class, without being regularly assigned to any class, if the rate of pay for the Extra Board class is different on the last day of regular work prior to the holiday and the first day of regular work after the holiday, the lower rate of the two shall apply for holiday pay. If an employee works on the holiday, the class in which he or she is working will determine the rate of holiday pay.

Except when exercising seniority rights from one assignment to another, all time worked on the holidays listed in this paragraph shall be paid for as overtime on a minute basis at one and one-half times the hourly rate.

(Ord. 22575 § 1, 1981-12-01; Ord. 22892 § 1, 1983-03-22; Ord. 23873 § 2, 1987-06-09; Ord. 24506 § 1, 1989-12-12; Ord. 25408 § 4, 1993-11-30; Ord. 28803 Ex. A, 2022-02-15)

§ 1.12.220 Vacation allowance with pay.

Rate of accrual of vacation leave.

Each regular, probationary, project, temporary pending exam, or appointive full-time employee shall accrue vacation leave hours for each biweekly pay period in which he or she has been in a paid status pursuant to the following schedule based on aggregate City service.

Completed Years of Aggregate Service	No. of 8-Hour Days per Year	Hours Earned per Pay Period[1]
Completion of years 0, 1, 2, 3	12	3.69
Completion of years 4, 5, 6, 7	15	4.60
Completion of years 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13	17	5.22
Completion of years 14, 15, 16, 17, 18	20	6.14
Completion of 19 years	21	6.45
Completion of 20 years	22	6.76
Completion of 21 years	23	7.07
Completion of 22 years	24	7.38
Completion of 23 years	25	7.69
Completion of 24 years	26	8.00
Completion of 25 years	27	8.31
Completion of 26 years	28	8.62
Completion of 27 years	29	8.93
Completion of 28 years or more	30	9.24

Vacation accruals based on tenure shall be credited at the first of the calendar year in which any of the above periods of aggregate City service will be completed. Eligibility for tenure-based vacation accruals shall be determined by the length of aggregate service with the City. The applicable accrual rate shall be determined as of January 1 of each calendar year and shall be based on the rate applicable to the number of years of aggregate service[2] the employee will complete within that calendar year. For example, on January 1, an employee who will complete four years of aggregate service with the City within that calendar year will begin to accrue vacation leave at a rate of 4.60 hours per pay period.

[1]

Note: The Per Pay Period figure is based on a biweekly payroll schedule.

[2]

Note: See TMC § 1.12.075 for the definition of “aggregate service.”

An eligible employee shall accrue vacation based on the above schedule beginning from the date of his or her appointment.

Vacation accrual balances shall not exceed an amount equal to two years’ accrual.

In the event an employee is unable to use his or her vacation prior to exceeding the two-year limitation because of continued illness, with a written request submitted to the Human Resources Department, such unused days may be allowed to accumulate until the employee returns to work or is separated. Vacation in excess of two years’ accrual, if not taken within 90 calendar days after an employee returns to work, shall be forfeited.

In the best interests of the City, the City Manager, for general government employees, and the Director of Utilities, for department of public utilities employees, may temporarily increase the maximum vacation accrual requirements set forth in this section.

For purposes of this section, permanent employees of the Municipal Belt Line Railway assigned to the Extra Board will be considered as full-time employees.

Permissible use of vacation accruals with pay.

Vacation leave may not be taken without the prior approval of the appointing authority and may not be taken in the pay period in which it was earned. Vacation leave shall be scheduled so as to meet the operating requirements of the City and, as far as practicable, the preferences of the employees.

Vacation may be used to allow the employee to provide care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or care for a family member who needs preventive medical care. For purposes of this section, “family member” means any of the following:

(1)

“Family member”

means a child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, or spouse of an employee, and also includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person, and that individual depends on the employee for care. “Family members” includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home, except that it does not include an individual who simply resides in the same home with no expectation that the employee care for the individual.

(2)

“Child”

means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a child’s spouse, or a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis, is a legal guardian, or is a de facto parent, regardless of age or dependency status.

(3)

“Grandchild”

means a child of the employee’s child.

(4)

“Grandparent”

means a parent of the employee’s parent.

(5)

“Parent”

means the biological, adoptive, de facto, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of an employee or the employee’s spouse, or an individual who stood in loco parentis to an employee when the employee was a child.

(6)

“Spouse”

means a husband or wife, as the case may be, or state registered domestic partner under state law or City policy.

Vacation may be used when the employee’s assigned City work location has been closed by order of a public official for any health-related reason, or when an employee’s child's school or place of care has been closed for such a health-related reason or after the declaration of an emergency by a local or state government agency, or by the federal government.

Vacation leave shall be taken in increments of one tenth (1/10) of an hour.

Payment for vacation.

An employee, when leaving the service of the City, shall be compensated for vacation leave earned and accrued to the date of separation at the rate for the classification in which he or she was working in on the date of separation.

An employee shall be paid for vacation leave at the rate of pay he or she was receiving the day before the vacation leave is taken.

(Ord. 16670 § 6, 1960-12-13; Ord. 17066, 1962-06-05; Ord. 17227 § 3, 1962-12-18; Ord. 17727, 1964-12-08; Ord. 17974 § 1, 1965-12-07; Ord. 18697, 1968-12-26; Ord. 19584 § 11, 1972-05-30; Ord. 19729 § 1, 1972-12-26; Ord. 20060 § 1, 1974-03-12; Ord. 20325 § 1, 1975-02-04; Ord. 20619 § 2, 1975-12-16; Ord. 20867 § 1, 1976-09-23; Ord. 20881 § 2, 1976-10-05; Ord. 20905 § 1, 1976-11-16; Ord. 21053 § 2, 1977-04-26; Ord. 21298 § 4, 1978-03-21; Ord. 22269 § 3, 1980-12-16; Ord. 23111 § 10, 1984-02-07; Ord. 23350 § 5, 1985-02-26; Ord. 23670 §§ 4, 5, 1986-07-29; Ord. 24405 § 3, 1989-08-15; Ord. 24550 § 1, 1989-01-23; Ord. 24641 § 1, 1990-05-15; Ord. 25233 § 2, 1992-12-22; Ord. 25645 § 9, 1994-12-13; Ord. 26209 § 5, 1998-04-14; Ord. 26553 § 1, 1999-12-14; Ord. 27033 § 3, 2002-12-17; Ord. 27148 § 1, 2003-10-07; Ord. 27170 § 4, 2003-12-09; Ord. 27301 § 6, 2004-12-07; Ord. 27315 § 2, 2005-02-15; Ord. 27349 § 1, 2005-04-26; Ord. 28263 Ex. A, 2014-12-09; Ord. 28282 Ex. A, 2015-02-24; Ord. 28673 § 1, 2020-06-09; Ord. 29018 Ex. A, 2025-02-04)

§ 1.12.229 VEBA Accounts.

The City shall deposit into a VEBA (Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association) Account a sum equivalent to 25 percent of the sick leave accruals for a nonrepresented employee; or, if provided for in a collective bargaining agreement, 25 percent of the sick leave accruals, and up to the amount provided in the specific collective bargaining agreement of Personal Time Off or vacation leave accruals for any employee who meets the following criteria:

The employee must qualify under subsection B of this section; and

The employee must be separated from the City service due to (i) retirement for disability or length of service with attendant pension payments under any City employee pension system; or (ii) death.

The sum deposited into the VEBA Account shall be calculated at the employee’s regular classification rate of pay effective at the time of retirement or death.

An employee shall qualify for a deposit into a VEBA Account pursuant to subsection A of this section if the following three criteria are met:

The employee is not a member of one of the City’s collective bargaining units at the time of retirement or death, or

If the employee is a member of a duly selected collective bargaining unit at the time of his or her retirement or death, the employee shall qualify for a deposit into a VEBA Account only if, at the time of the employee’s retirement or death, a valid collective bargaining agreement confers upon the employee the right to a VEBA account; and

The employee shall qualify for a deposit into a VEBA Account only if the VEBA Account deposit is a reasonable and equitable substitute for the cashout payment under Section 1.12.230D.1 which was in effect immediately prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified in this section; and

The total sum due to the employee is $100.00 or greater.

In addition to VEBA benefits for which an employee may be eligible under subsections A and B above, the City shall deposit $250.00 per month into an individual VEBA Account for each employee represented by the Tacoma Police Management Association, Local 26, who is also an LEOFF II pension system member, per the collective bargaining agreement; provided, however, contributions for employees who become represented by said bargaining unit after May 21, 2001, will be made beginning the first full month following an employee’s permanent appointment to a classification represented by the bargaining unit.

In addition to VEBA benefits for which an employee may be eligible under subsections A and B above, the City shall deposit $250.00 per month into an individual VEBA account for each employee represented by the Professional Public Safety Management Association, who is also a LEOFF II pension system member, per the collective bargaining agreement.

In addition to VEBA benefits for which an employee may be eligible under subsections A and B above, beginning in 2022, the City shall also deposit into a VEBA Account a sum equivalent to 50 percent of the Personal Time Off (“PTO”) accruals for a nonrepresented employee as long as the following criteria is met:

The employee must be separated from the City service due to (i) retirement for disability or length of service with attendant pension payments under any City employee pension system; or (ii) death. The sum deposited into the VEBA Account shall be calculated at the employee’s regular classification rate of pay effective at the time of retirement or death.

This subsection is in effect each year unless there is a request, by at least 20 percent of employees eligible to retire in the next calendar year, to vote to suspend the VEBA deposit for the next calendar year only, which will be determined by a majority of the returned ballots. For 2022, such vote shall occur in 2021 following City Council approval of this subsection.

(Ord. 26070 § 1, 1997-09-30; Ord. 26815 § 3, 2001-06-05; Ord. 27075 § 3, 2003-04-01; Ord. 27417 § 2, 2005-10-11; Ord. 28405 § 1, 2016-12-13; Ord. 28515 § 2, 2018-06-26; Ord. 28573 Ex. A, 2019-02-26; Ord. 28728 § 1, 2020-01-12; Ord. 28782 § 1, 2021-10-19; Ord. 28801 § 2, 2022-01-11; Ord. 28873 § 2, 2023-03-14; Ord. 28973 § 2, 2024-07-09)

§ 1.12.230 Sick allowance with pay.

Eligibility for sick leave. The following provisions, unless otherwise specified, apply to all regular, probationary, project, temporary, temporary pending exam, or appointive full-time employees except those employees of the Tacoma Municipal Belt Line Railway set forth in Section 1.12.231 and members of the Police and Fire Departments covered by RCW Chapter 41.26 (LEOFF I Pension System) set forth in Section 1.12.232.

Accrual. Regular, probationary, project, temporary, temporary pending exam, or appointive full-time employees shall accrue sick leave at the rate of 3.69 hours for each 80 hours in which he or she is in paid status. Eligible employees who are on leave of absence for active duty training or for inductive purposes shall accrue sick leave.

Sick leave earned shall be credited to an employee’s accruals after the completion of each biweekly pay period and may not be used in the pay period earned.

For purposes of this section, eligible permanent employees of the Municipal Belt Line Railway assigned to the Extra Board will be considered as full-time employees.

The Human Resources Director may authorize an adjustment to sick leave banks as provided for in a collective bargaining agreement.

Permissible use of paid sick leave.

Sick leave may be taken in tenths (0.10) of an hour increments.

Injury or illness of employee to such extent as to constitute a hazard to the safety or health of himself or herself or other employees.

Medical or dental care for the employee. Supervisors should attempt to accommodate appointments for care. Employees should attempt to schedule such appointments to minimize disruption to work.

Quarantine of employee due to exposure to a contagious disease.

On-the-job injuries during the first three days if not eligible for Workers’ Compensation and as a supplement to Workers’ Compensation after the 120-day supplementary on-the-job injury benefits provided under Section 1.12.090.

Death of a spouse, father, mother, foster parent, brother, sister, child, foster child, grandparents, or grandchildren of employee or relatives of the spouse of the employee in the same categories of relationship subject to the requirements of subsection B.5. hereinafter set forth.

Employees working shifts other than the regular Monday through Friday workweek shall be paid holiday pay plus paid sick leave when scheduled to work on a holiday and they are unable to work due to illness or injury. Such employees, when not scheduled to work on a holiday, shall not be entitled to paid sick leave therefor.

Preinduction physical for service in the Armed Forces.

Illness or disability due to pregnancy or conditions related thereto.

Sick leave may be used to allow the employee to provide care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or care for a family member who needs preventive medical care. For purposes of this section, “family member” means any of the following:

(1)

“Family member”

means a child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, or spouse of an employee, and also includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person, and that individual depends on the employee for care. “Family members includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home, except that it does not include an individual who simply resides in the same home with no expectation that the employee care for the individual.

means a child of the employee’s child.

(4)

“Grandparent”

means a parent of the employee’s parent.

means a husband or wife, as the case may be, or state registered domestic partner under state law or City policy.

Sick leave may be used when the employee’s assigned City work location has been closed by order of a public official for any health-related reason, or when an employee’s child’s school or place of care has been closed for such a health-related reason or after the declaration of an emergency by a local or state government agency, or by the federal government.

Requirements for all paid sick leave.

Every employee must report to the designated representative of his or her department head the reason for an absence prior to the beginning of his or her scheduled workday or such earlier time as required by his or her department or division head.

An employee must keep his or her department head informed of his or her condition if an absence is of more than four working days in duration.

For each absence an employee may be required to submit an explanation of the reason for such absence. A statement by the attending physician attesting to the nature and seriousness of said injury or illness shall be required if requested by the department head.

Employee must permit home visits or medical examinations at the expense and convenience of the City.

Upon approval by the department head, a maximum of four days’ sick leave may be granted for the death of spouse, father, mother, foster parent, brother, sister, child, or foster child of the employee.

For the purpose of attending the funeral, upon approval by the department head, a maximum of one day’s sick leave may be granted for the death of grandparent, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of the employee or the death of a father, mother, foster parent, brother, brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, child, foster child, grandparent, or grandchild of the spouse of the employee.

An employee shall be paid for sick leave at the rate he or she was receiving the day before the sick leave was taken.

Employees shall accrue sick leave according to the provisions of this section; provided, however, that any employee who leaves the City service during the first six months of employment shall not be compensated for any accrued sick leave.

Enforcement of sick leave provisions.

Misrepresentation of any material facts in connection with paid sick leave by any employee shall constitute grounds for suspension or discharge.

It shall be the responsibility of the department head or his or her designated representative to:

Review all applications for sick leave and approve those which are bona fide and comply with the provisions of this section. Employees still absent at the end of a pay period may be certified for payment of sick leave by the department head by his or her signing the payroll timecards, subject to department head’s approval for sick leave pay immediately upon the employee’s return to work.

Investigate any suspected abuse of sick leave.

Withhold approval of sick leave pay in the event of unauthorized use.

Initiate disciplinary action if, as a result of investigation, it is determined that an employee has been guilty of willful misrepresentation in a request for sick leave pay.

Payments for nonuse of sick leave accruals.

An employee separated from the City service due to death or retirement for disability or length of service with attendant pension payments under any City employee pension system who does not qualify for a VEBA deposit under TMC Section 1.12.229 shall be compensated at a rate for the classification in which he or she was working on the date of separation to the extent of 25 percent of accrued sick leave hours.

An employee separated from the City service due to retirement, and represented by the Tacoma Fire Fighters Union, Local 31, or the Tacoma Police Union, Local 6, IUPA, shall receive a contribution into a qualified Health Reimbursement Arrangement in the amount of the sick leave payment in lieu of a cash payment, when properly authorized annually by the applicable collective bargaining unit.

An employee separated from service due to death or retirement for disability or length of service, and represented by the Tacoma Fire Fighters Union, Local 31, or the Tacoma Police Union, Local 6, IUPA, will be compensated for nonuse of sick leave accruals per the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

An employee separated from the City service due to retirement, and represented by the Professional Public Safety Management Association, will be compensated for the nonuse of sick leave accruals per the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

A regular, project, temporary, temporary pending exam, or appointive employee separated in good standing from the City service for any other reason than death or retirement due to disability or length of service with attendant pension payments under any City employee pension system pursuant to Section 1.12.229 who has a minimum of 10 days accrual shall be compensated at a rate for the classification in which he or she was working on the date of separation to the extent of 10 percent of his or her sick leave accruals up to a maximum accrual of 120 days. An employee separated from the City service due to layoff may, upon reemployment from the eligible list or departmental reemployment list upon which placed as provided in Section 1.24.900, have his or her sick leave accrual restored upon repayment to the City of the 10 percent payment as herein provided. If appointed from other employment lists within the two-year period of eligibility, such repayment may also apply.

Authorization – Police and fire disability payments. Certification for payment for absences due to injury or illness covered by the State of Washington Police or Fire Pension Acts shall not be made by the Human Resources Director until authorization is received from the appropriate Pension Board.

(Ord. 16670 § 7, 1960-12-13; Ord. 17605 §§ 4, 5, 1964-05-19; Ord. 17727 § 7, 1964-12-08; Ord. 18319 § 1, 1967-06-06; Ord. 18439 §§ 2, 7, 1967-12-19; Ord. 18697, 1968-12-26; Ord. 19584 § 12, 1972-05-30; Ord. 19729 § 3, 1972-12-26; Ord. 20881 § 2, 1976-10-05; Ord. 20937 § 7, 1976-12-21; Ord. 20972 § 1, 1977-02-01; Ord. 21298 § 5, 1978-03-21; Ord. 21565 § 7, 1978-12-19; Ord. 21993 § 2, 1980-02-26; Ord. 22269 § 4, 1980-12-16; Ord. 22624 § 2, 1982-01-26; Ord. 22745 § 1, 1982-07-20; Ord. 22892 § 2, 1983-03-22; Ord. 23670 § 6, 1986-07-29; Ord. 23739 § 2, 1986-11-25; Ord. 24330 § 3, 1989-04-04; Ord. 24379 § 1, 1989-07-11; Ord. 25376 § 1, 1993-10-05; Ord. 25445 § 6, 1994-02-22; Ord. 25645 § 10, 1994-12-13; Ord. 26070 § 2, 1997-09-30; Ord. 26209 § 6, 1998-04-14; Ord. 27033 § 4, 2002-12-17; Ord. 27170 § 5, 2003-12-09; Ord. 27301 § 7, 2004-12-07; Ord. 27753 Ex. A, 2008-11-18; Ord. 27780 § 1, 2009-01-13; Ord. 28263 Ex. A, 2014-12-09; Ord. 28323 Ex. A, 2015-10-13; Ord. 28400 § 3, 2016-11-29; Ord. 28533 Ex. A, 2018-10-23; Ord. 28735 § 1, 2021-02-16; Ord. 28760 § 2, 2021-05-25; Ord. 28873 § 3, 2023-03-14; Ord. 28953 § 3, 2024-01-23; Ord. 28973 § 3, 2024-07-09; Ord. 29018 Ex. A, 2025-02-04; Ord. 29065, 2025-10-28)

§ 1.12.231 Sick allowance with pay – Locomotive Engineer, Railway Conductor, and Railway Yardmaster.

The following provisions apply to permanent full-time or permanent Extra Board employees of the Tacoma Municipal Belt Line Railway in the classifications of Locomotive Engineer, Railway Conductor, and Railway Yardmaster.

Each regular full-time, probationary or permanent Extra Board employee shall accrue sick leave at the rate of 3.69 hours for each biweekly pay period in which he/she has any regular time for which regular pay will be received. Eligible employees who are on a leave of absence for active duty training or for inductive purposes shall accrue sick leave. Sick leave shall be credited to an employee’s accruals after the completion of each biweekly pay period and may not be used in the pay period earned. There shall be no limit on sick leave accruals.

Sickness benefits shall be equal to 100 percent of the employee’s regular basic daily rate; provided, that if the employee has served in higher or lower positions on temporary appointments, benefits shall be computed on the pay rate appropriate to the class of position that the employee has worked on for the majority of time in the six-month period immediately prior to the effective date of the sick leave taken.

Where the benefits under this section supplement an allowance from the Railroad Retirement Board, the combined total of such supplemental benefits and the allowance received from the Railroad Retirement Board for any one day shall not exceed 100 percent of the appropriate basic daily rate. An employee who forfeits any allowance from the Railroad Retirement Board because of failure to timely file for such benefits shall also forfeit any benefits he or she would otherwise be entitled to under this section.

The City will pay the employee 100 percent of his or her basic daily rate, including benefits received from the Railroad Retirement Board and the employee upon receipt of those benefits shall endorse and turn over to the Belt Line Railway moneys received. Failure to comply with this provision shall be cause for forfeiture of all benefits under this provision, including moneys and hours. Flagrant violations of this provision could be cause for disciplinary action. Employees paid in advance, under the provisions of this section and failing in their responsibility that causes forfeiture of benefits, shall be liable to repay to the City moneys received.

A child, including a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, or a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis, is a legal guardian, or is a de facto parent, regardless of age or dependency status.

A biological, adoptive, de facto, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of an employee or the employee’s spouse or registered domestic partner, or a person who stood in loco parentis to an employee when the employee was a minor child.

A spouse.

A registered domestic partner.

A grandparent.

A grandchild.

A sibling.

An employee separated from the City service due to death or retirement for disability or length of service under Railroad Retirement Pension with attendant pension payments, who does not qualify for a VEBA deposit under Section 1.12.229, shall be compensated to the extent of 25 percent of accrued sick leave hours. A permanent employee separated in good standing from the City service for any other reason than death or retirement shall be compensated to the extent of 10 percent of accrued sick leave up to a maximum accrual of 960 hours.

Benefits under this section apply to nonoccupational injury or bona fide sickness of organic origin and of sufficient severity to disable the employee; provided, that such nonoccupational injury or sickness was not caused by the use of drugs or intoxicants, recklessness, gross negligence, or any act contrary to law.

In order to be granted benefits under this section, the employee must report to the proper authority the reason for the absence and keep the Superintendent informed of his or her condition, as appropriate. The Superintendent must be satisfied that the reason for the absence is legitimate, and satisfactory evidence, including a verifying certificate of inability to work from a reputable physician, may be required.

Bereavement leave of up to four working days will be allowed in case of employee’s spouse, father, mother, foster parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, child, or foster child, or spouse’s parent, brother, sister or grandparent. Each working day of such leave will be paid at the employee’s regular basic daily rate; provided, that if the employee has served in higher or lower positions on temporary appointments, benefits shall be computed on the pay rate appropriate to the class or position that the employee has worked on for the majority of time in the six-month period immediately prior to the effective date of the sick leave taken. Bereavement leave may be charged against the employee’s sick leave accruals, if any. Employees must notify the Superintendent prior to taking bereavement leave.

Enforcement of sick leave provisions.

Misrepresentation of any material facts in connection with paid sick leave by any employee shall constitute grounds for suspension or discharge.

It shall be the responsibility of the Superintendent or his or her designated representative to:

Review all applications for sick leave and approve those which are bona fide and comply with the provisions of this section. Employees still absent at the end of a pay period may be certified for payment of sick leave by the Superintendent by his or her signing the payroll timecards, subject to the Superintendent’s approval for sick leave pay immediately upon the employee’s return to work.

Investigate any suspected abuse of sick leave.

Withhold approval of sick leave pay in the event of unauthorized use.

Initiate disciplinary action if, as a result of investigation, it is determined that an employee has been guilty of willful misrepresentation in a request for sick leave pay.

(Ord. 21565 § 8, 1978-12-19; Ord. 21624 § 1, 1979-03-20; Ord. 21689 § 1, 1979-04-24; Ord. 21717 §§ 1, 2, 1979-05-29; Ord. 21894 § 1, 1979-11-27; Ord. 22563 § 1, 1981-11-10; Ord. 22892 § 3, 1983-03-22; Ord. 26070 § 3, 1997-09-30; Ord. 26082 § 1, 1997-06-17; Ord. 27033 § 5, 2002-12-17; Ord. 27170 § 6, 2003-12-09; Ord. 28263 Ex. A, 2014-12-09; Ord. 28533 Ex. A, 2018-10-23)

§ 1.12.232 Sick allowance with pay – LEOFF I Police and Fire personnel.

It is the policy of the City of Tacoma to pay its employees on account of sickness or accident disability in accordance with the provisions set forth herein.

Eligibility for sick leave. The following provisions shall apply to all regular, probationary, or appointive Police and Fire employees covered by RCW Chapter 41.26 (LEOFF I Pension System).

Accrual. Regular, probationary, or appointive full-time employees shall accrue sick leave at the rate of 3.69 hours for 80 hours in which he or she is in paid status. Eligible employees who are on a leave of absence for active duty training or for inductive purposes shall accrue sick leave.

Sick leave earned shall be credited to an employee’s accruals after the completion of each biweekly pay period and may not be used in the pay period earned.

Use of paid sick leave.

Sick leave may be taken in tenths (0.10) of an hour increments.

In all cases when eligible, employees shall be placed on leave pursuant to RCW Chapter 41.26 and shall not be eligible to be paid for sick leave for an absence when there is eligibility to be paid for leave under RCW Chapter 41.26; however, without regard to payment:

(1)

When such leave is determined to be not job-connected, the sick leave accruals shall be debited hour-for-hour for time absent from the scheduled shift;

(2)

When such leave is determined to be job-connected, sick leave shall be debited for the date of injury and up to three days when the disability leave is less than 15 calendar days;

(3)

If the job-connected leave exceeds 15 calendar days but less than 120 work days, sick leave shall be debited for the day of injury only. If the job-connected disability leave exceeds 120 work days, sick leave shall be debited one-half day for every work day missed in excess of 120 work days;

(4)

If the officer who is on leave is not able to return to work at the end of the disability leave pursuant to RCW Chapter 41.26, that person shall be retired and paid off for any unused sick leave as provided herein. In no such event shall an officer be placed on sick leave.

Death of a spouse, father, mother, foster parent, brother, sister, child, foster child, grandparents or grandchildren of employee or relatives of the spouse of the employee in the same categories of relationship subject to the requirements of subsection B.6. hereinafter set forth.

(1)

“Family member”

means a child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, or spouse of an employee, and also includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person, and that individual depends on the employee for care. “Family members includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home, except that it does not include an individual who simply resides in the same home with no expectation that the employee care for the individual.

means a child of the employee’s child.

(4)

“Grandparent”

means a parent of the employee’s parent.

means a husband or wife, as the case may be, or state registered domestic partner under state law or City policy.

Pre-induction physical for service in the Armed Forces.

Requirements for all paid sick leave.

An employee must keep his or her department head informed of his or her condition if an absence is of more than four working days in duration.

For each absence an employee may be required to submit upon the approved form an explanation of the reason for such absence. A statement by the attending physician attesting to the nature and seriousness of said injury or illness is required if an absence extends beyond four working days, or for each absence, if requested by the department head.

Employee must permit home visits or medical examinations at the expense and convenience of the City.

Upon approval by the department head a maximum of four days’ sick leave may be granted for the death of a spouse, father, mother, foster parent, brother, sister, child or foster child of employee.

For the purpose of attending the funeral, upon approval by the department head, a maximum of one day’s sick leave may be granted for the death of a grandparent, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of the employee or the death of father, mother, foster parent, brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, child, foster child, grandparent, or grandchild of the spouse of the employee.

An employee shall be paid for sick leave at the rate he or she was receiving the day before the sick leave was taken.

Employees shall accrue sick leave according to the provisions of this section; provided, that any employee who leaves the City service during the first six months of employment shall not be compensated for any accrued sick leave.

Enforcement of sick leave provisions.

Misrepresentation of any material facts in connection with paid sick leave by any employee shall constitute grounds for suspension or discharge.

It shall be the responsibility of the department head or his or her designated representative to:

Investigate any suspected abuse of sick leave.

Withhold approval of sick leave pay in the event of unauthorized use.

Initiate disciplinary action if, as a result of investigation, it is determined that an employee has been guilty of willful misrepresentation in a request for sick leave pay.

Payments for nonuse of sick leave accruals.

An employee separated from the City service due to death or retirement for disability or length of service with attendant pension payments under any City employee pension system, who does not qualify for a VEBA deposit under TMC Section 1.12.229, shall be compensated at the rate in effect at the time of retirement, for the classification in which he or she was working in on the date of separation to the extent of 25 percent of accrued sick leave hours.

A regular or appointive employee separated in good standing from the City service for any other reason who has a minimum of 10 days accrual shall be compensated at his or her regular classification rate of pay to the extent of 10 percent of accrued sick leave hours up to a maximum accrual of 960 hours. An employee separated from the City service due to layoff may, upon reemployment from the eligible list or departmental reemployment list upon which placed as provided in Section 1.24.900, have his or her sick leave accrual restored upon repayment to the City of the 10 percent payment as herein provided. If appointed from other employment lists within the two-year period of eligibility, such repayment may also apply.

Sick leave accruals for each Police and Fire service employee shall be redetermined as of April 30, 1989. Such accruals shall be redetermined by charging all illness and injury claims, arising after March 1, 1970, other than claims for which leave under RCW 41.26 could have been used against sick leave credits in the same manner as charged against other employees of the City. These sick leave accruals are available to be drawn on for required sick leave pursuant to this chapter and are included under the incentive payment plan referred to in D.1, above.

Such Police and Fire service employees shall have their sick leave accruals and charges against sick leave determined in the manner set forth in this chapter, irrespective of any benefits to which the Police and Fire service employees are entitled by state and federal law, as of April 30, 1989.

(Ord. 24379 § 2, 1989-07-11; Ord. 25645 § 11, 1994-12-13; Ord. 26070 § 4, 1997-09-30; Ord. 26209 § 7, 1998-04-14; Ord. 27033 § 6, 2002-12-17; Ord. 27170 § 7, 2003-12-09; Ord. 28263 Ex. A, 2014-12-09; Ord. 28533 Ex. A, 2018-10-23; Ord. 28735 § 2, 2021-02-16; Ord. 29018 Ex. A, 2025-02-04)

§ 1.12.240 Sick leave without pay.

After the exhaustion of available sick leave and upon application of an appointive, project, temporary pending exam, probationary, or permanent employee, a leave of absence without pay may be granted by an appointing authority for disability because of sickness or injury. Such leave need not be limited to one year, but the appointing authority or the Human Resources Director, from time to time, may require that the employee submit a certificate from the attending physician or from a designated physician. In event of a failure or refusal to supply such certificate or if the certificate does not clearly show sufficient disability to preclude the employee from the performance of their duties, the appointing authority, with the approval of the Human Resources Director, may cancel such sick leave and require the employee to report for duty on a specified date.

(Ord. 15751 § 4.5, 1956-12-17; Ord. 23670 § 7, 1986-07-29; Ord. 27301 § 8, 2004-12-07; Subst. Ord. 28862 Ex. A, 2022-12-13)

§ 1.12.242 (Repealed)

(Sick leave wellness incentive. Ord. 24855 § 4, 1991-03-05; Ord. 25133 § 3, 1992-06-30; Ord. 25445 § 7, 1994-02-22; Ord. 26181 § 4, 1997-12-16; repealed by Ord. 26450 § 4, 1999-06-22)

§ 1.12.245 Leave sharing.

Pursuant to § 1.12.230A.2, Permissible Use of Paid Sick Leave, and § 1.12.248B, Permissible use of Personal Time Off accruals, the City Council finds that (1) City employees historically have joined together to help their fellow employees suffering from an extraordinary or severe illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition which prevents the individual from working and causes great economic and emotional distress to the employee and his or her family; and (2) these circumstances may be exacerbated because the affected employees use all their accrued sick leave, vacation leave or Personal Time Off and are forced to take leave without pay or terminate their employment. Therefore, the City Council hereby provides for the establishment of a leave sharing program as follows:

The Human Resources Director may permit an employee to receive leave under this section if:

The employee suffers from an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition which is of an extraordinary or severe nature and which has caused, or is likely to cause, the employee to:

Go on leave without pay status; or

Terminate City employment;

The employee's absence and the use of shared leave are justified;

The employee has depleted or will shortly deplete his or her leave reserves;

The employee has abided by department rules regarding sick leave/Personal Time Off use; and

The employee has diligently pursued and been found to be ineligible for benefits under Chapter 1.12.

The Human Resources Director shall determine the amount of leave, if any, which an employee may receive under this section.

Donated leave shall be utilized in the order of receipt by the Human Resources Department (first in, first out). Such leave shall be donated in eight-hour increments.

An employee who has accrued sick leave or Personal Time Off balance of more than 80 hours may request that the Human Resources Director transfer a specified amount of leave to another employee authorized to receive leave under subsection A of this section. In no event may the employee request a transfer of an amount of leave that would result in his or her sick leave or Personal Time Off account going below 80 hours.

Transfers of leave made by the Human Resources Director under subsection D of this section shall not exceed the approved amount.

While an employee is on leave transferred under this section, he or she shall continue to be classified as a City employee and shall receive the same treatment in respect to salary, wages, and employee benefits as the employee would normally receive if using accrued leave. All such current accruals shall also be depleted prior to any continuing use of donated hours.

Leave transferred under this section shall not be used in any calculation to determine a department's allocation of full time equivalent staff positions.

The amount of any leave time transferred under this section which remains unused shall be returned at its original amount to the employee or employees who transferred the leave when the Human Resources Director finds that the leave is no longer needed or will not be needed at a future time in connection with the illness or injury for which the leave was transferred.

Employees donating leave hours will not receive payment for these hours at time of resignation or retirement.

(Ord. 24519 § 1, 1990-01-02; Ord. 26379 § 4, 1999-03-16)

§ 1.12.246 Leave–Based contribution program.

The City encourages contributions to the United Way of Pierce County (“United Way”) and wishes to make it easier for its employees to make such contributions by allowing employees to convert accrued and unused vacation and/or personal time off accruals to a donation to the United Way.

Employees who earn vacation or personal time off under TMC §§ 1.12.220 and 1.12.248, and are otherwise eligible, may voluntarily authorize a contribution of an amount equivalent to no less than 2 hour and no more than 16 hours of accumulated and unused leave in one hour increments; the cash value of such contribution will be forwarded by the City to the United Way during the pay period(s) selected by the employee on an authorization form approved by the Human Resources Director and the Finance Director.

The amount of eligible leave donated by any eligible and participating employee shall be converted to cash at the employee’s base rate of pay in effect for the employee’s regular classification at the time of contribution. Leave donated under this section is taxable to the employee as supplemental compensation.

Participating employees’ accumulated and unused leave balances shall be reduced by the number of hours designated and authorized for contribution, not to exceed a total of 16 hours.

The City will not make contributions that would result in the employee’s leave balance going below 80 hours. Partial contributions will not be made.

Employees donating leave under this section will not receive payment for these hours at time of separation or retirement.

(Ord. 27426 § 1, 2005-11-08; Ord. 28167 Ex. A, 2013-09-09)

§ 1.12.248 Personal time off plan.

Rate of accrual of personal time off.

Effective at the beginning of the first pay period starting in June 1998, each unrepresented regular, probationary, project, temporary pending exam, or appointive full-time employee hired after June 1, 1998, represented employees as provided for in a collective bargaining agreement, and unrepresented employees who elect to transfer from their present vacation and sick leave plans to the Personal Time Off (“PTO”) plan during a designated enrollment period shall accrue PTO hours for each biweekly pay period in which he or she has been in paid status, pursuant to the following schedule based on aggregate City service. The PTO plan is in lieu of vacation and sick leave plans.

Completed Years of Aggregate Service	No. of 8-Hour Days per Year	Hours per Pay Period[1]
Completion of years 0, 1, 2, 3	18	5.54
Completion of years 4, 5, 6, 7	21	6.46
Completion of years 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13	23	7.08
Completion of years 14, 15, 16, 17, 18	26	8.00
Completion 19 years	27	8.31
Completion of 20 years	28	8.62
Completion of 21 years	29	8.92
Completion of 22 years	30	9.23
Completion of 23 years	31	9.54
Completion of 24 years	32	9.85
Completion of 25 years	33	10.15
Completion of 26 years	34	10.46
Completion of 27 years	35	10.77
Completion of 28 years or more	36	11.08

[1]

Note: The Per Pay Period figure is based on a biweekly payroll schedule.

Employees shall accrue PTO prorated on the number of hours in paid status in each pay period. The appropriate biweekly accrual shall be credited for each biweekly pay period in which the employee is in paid status. PTO accruals based on tenure shall be credited at the first of the calendar year in which any of the above periods of aggregate service[2] will be completed. The applicable accrual rate shall be determined as of January 1 of each calendar year and shall be based on the rate applicable to the number of years of aggregate service the employee will complete within that calendar year. For example, on January 1, an employee who will complete four years of aggregate service with the City within that calendar year will begin to accrue Personal Time Off at a rate of 6.46 hours per pay period.

[2]

Note: See § 1.12.075 for the definition of “aggregate service.”

No employee shall earn more PTO in any one calendar year than the above stipulated days and new employees shall accrue PTO based on the above schedule beginning from the date of his or her appointment; provided, however, that an incoming City Manager may be credited with such PTO as the City Council may direct.

PTO earned shall be credited to an employee’s accruals after the completion of each biweekly pay period and may not be used in the pay period earned.

Permissible use of PTO accruals.

Use of PTO. PTO may be taken in tenths (0.10) of an hour increments.

Planned use of PTO. PTO requests may be required in writing and the appointing authority, or his or her designee, shall consider the request and shall approve or deny it.

Unplanned use of PTO.

PTO may be used without prior approval for employee or family emergencies, including when the employee’s assigned City work location has been closed by order of a public official for any health related reason, or when an employee’s child’s school or place of care has been closed for such a health-related reason or after the declaration of an emergency by a local or state government agency, or by the federal government. If an advance written request is not possible, the employee shall notify his or her supervisor of the need for and the request of the time off prior to the beginning of his or her shift. An employee must keep his or her department head informed of his or her condition if unplanned use of PTO is of more than four working days in duration. Unplanned use of PTO, which does not qualify for mandatory paid sick leave and which interferes with job performance or City operations may subject the employee to corrective action.

Unplanned PTO may be used for on-the-job injuries during the first three days if not eligible for Workers’ Compensation and after the 120-day supplementary on-the-job injury benefits provided in Section 1.12.090 of the Tacoma Municipal Code.

An employee is allowed to use any or all of the employee’s choice of paid sick leave or PTO to allow the employee to provide care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or to care for a family member who needs preventive medical care. For purposes of this section, “family member” means any of the following:

(1)

“Family member”

means a child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, or spouse of an employee, and also includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person, and that individual depends on the employee for care. “Family members includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee’s home, except that it does not include an individual who simply resides in the same home with no expectation that the employee care for the individual.

means a child of the employee’s child.

(4)

“Grandparent”

means a parent of the employee’s parent.

means a husband or wife, as the case may be, or state registered domestic partner under state law or City policy.

Permissible cash-out of accrued PTO.

A represented employee must have been enrolled in the Personal Time Off (PTO) plan for the entire calendar year (January 1 to December 31) prior to requesting a cash-out payment of PTO pursuant to sections b., c., and d. Effective January 1, 2022, only represented employees whose collective bargaining agreements permit a PTO cash out but do not expressly provide the PTO cash out process set forth in subsection e. may apply for a PTO cash out pursuant to subsections b., c., and d.; nonrepresented employees and employees whose collective bargaining agreements expressly provide may only apply for a PTO cash out pursuant to subsection e. below.

A represented employee who uses no more than the equivalent of two work days (regardless of length of scheduled shift) of unplanned PTO in any one calendar year (January 1 to December 31), but who has used less than 80 hours of planned PTO during the same calendar year, may, in January of the following year, submit in writing, on the form provided by and available in the Human Resources Department, a request for a payment equal to 90 percent of the cash value of up to 40 hours of accrued PTO.

A represented employee who uses no more than the equivalent of two work days (regardless of length of scheduled shift) of unplanned PTO in any one calendar year (January 1 to December 31) and who uses at least 80 hours of planned PTO during the same calendar year may, in January of the following year, submit in writing, on the form provided by and available in the Human Resources Department, a request for a payment equal to 90 percent of the cash value of up to 80 hours of accrued PTO.

For any request submitted pursuant to subsections b. or c. above, the cash value of the PTO shall be based on the rate for the classification in which the employee is working at the time the request is made. The 10 percent balance of the cash value not so paid under subsection b. or c. set forth above shall be paid into the Employee Benefit Trust Fund.

A nonrepresented employee, or an employee whose collective bargaining agreement expressly provides, may, no later than January 31 of each year, submit in writing, on the form provided by and available from the Human Resources Department, a commitment to cash out up to 100 hours of available accrued PTO in February of the following year. The cash value of the PTO shall be based on the rate for the classification in which the employee is working at the time the cash out payment occurs.

An employee shall be paid for PTO leave at the rate of pay they were receiving the day before the PTO leave is taken.

Maximum accrual of PTO.

Each employee may accrue a maximum of 960 hours of PTO.

If the appointing authority, or his or her designee, denies an employee's request for PTO and the denial would result in the employee's accrual exceeding the maximum allowed, the employee shall not lose the accrual at that time. The employee shall have up to 90 days to use the excess accrual.

In the best interests of the City, the City Manager, for general government employees, and the Director of Utilities, for department of public utilities employees, may temporarily increase the maximum PTO accrual requirements set forth in this section.

Compensation upon separation from City service.

An employee separated from the City service due to death or retirement based on disability or length of service with attendant pension payments under any City employee pension system, who does not qualify for a VEBA deposit under TMC Section 1.12.229, shall be compensated the full amount of the PTO accruals up to the maximum of 960 hours at the rate for the classification in which he or she was working in on the date of separation.

Upon separation from City service for any reason other than death or retirement based on disability or length of service, the City shall pay an employee the full amount of the PTO accruals up to the maximum of 960 hours at the rate for the classification in which he or she was working in on the date of separation.

Employees converting to the PTO plan who currently have vacation accruals will have those accruals converted to PTO on an hour for hour basis (1:1).

Conversion of sick leave accruals. Employees converting to the PTO plan who currently have sick leave accruals must specify one of the following options: (1) placing accruals in a sick leave bank; (2) converting accruals to PTO; or (3) a combination thereof, as set forth below.

Sick leave bank.

Accrued sick leave as of the last pay period, after a designated enrollment period, may be placed into a sick leave bank.

Use of sick leave bank. An employee may choose to use sick leave from this bank for any reason specified in Sections 1.12.230 and 1.12.232 of the Tacoma Municipal Code, after an absence of more than three consecutive days.

Depletion of sick leave bank. Employees do not accrue any additional sick leave after the conversion to the PTO plan. Once the sick leave is used from the sick leave bank, the leave used shall not be replenished.

Cash out of sick leave bank.

(i)

Separation from City service due to death or retirement for disability or retirement based on length of service shall be compensated to the extent of 25 percent of an employee's sick leave accrual in his or her sick leave bank at the rate for the classification in which he or she was working in at the date of separation subject to the provisions of Section 1.12.229 of the Tacoma Municipal Code (VEBA).

(ii)

Separation in good standing from City Service for any other reason shall be compensated to the extent of 10 percent of an employee's sick leave accruals up to a maximum of 120 days at the rate for the classification in which he or she was working in at the date of separation.

Conversion of sick leave to PTO. An employee who converts to PTO during a designated enrollment period may elect to convert sick leave accruals as of the last pay period after a designated enrollment period to PTO using a ratio of 24 hours of sick leave to 8 hours of PTO (3:1) up to a combined (current vacation accruals and converted sick leave) maximum of 720 hours of PTO.

Combination. An employee may elect to convert some, but not all, of his or her sick leave to PTO. Any sick leave not specifically converted during a designated enrollment period will be placed in a sick leave bank as set forth above.

(Ord. 26208 § 2, 1998-03-31; Ord. 26815 § 4, 2001-06-05; Ord. 26912 § 3, 2001-12-18; Ord. 26929 § 1, 2002-02-12; Ord. 27033 § 7, 2002-12-17; Ord. 27148 § 2, 2003-10-07; Ord. 27170 § 8, 2003-12-09; Ord. 27301 § 9, 2004-12-07; Ord. 27315 § 3, 2005-02-15; Ord. 27349 § 2, 2005-04-26; Ord. 27674 § 1, 2007-12-18; Ord. 27698 § 1, 2008-03-25; Ord. 27753 Ex. A, 2008-11-18; Ord. 28080 § 1, 2012-07-17; Ord. 28263 Ex. A, 2014-12-09; Ord. 28533 Ex. A, 2018-10-23; Ord. 28673 § 2, 2020-06-09; Ord. 28735 § 3, 2021-02-16; Ord. 28783 Ex. A, 2021-10-19; Ord. 28803 Ex. B, 2022-02-15; Ord. 29018 Ex. A, 2025-02-04)

§ 1.12.250 Leave with pay.

Military leave with pay. Every officer and employee of the City who is a member of the Washington National Guard or of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps Reserve of the United States, or of any organized reserve or armed forces of the United States, shall be entitled to and shall be granted military leave of absence from such employment for a period not exceeding 21 days (regardless of length of scheduled shift) during each year beginning October 1 and ending the following September 30. To determine the appropriate number of military leave days to be charged for officers and employees who work shifts that begin on one calendar day and end on another, RCW 38.04.060 applies. Such leave shall be granted in order that the person may take part in active duty or active training duty in such manner and at such time as he or she may be ordered to active duty or active training duty. Such military leave of absence shall be in addition to any vacation or sick leave to which the officer or employee might otherwise be entitled, and shall not involve any loss of efficiency rating, privileges, or pay except as provided herein. During the period of military leave, with the exception of emergency and temporary employees, the officer or employee shall receive from the City his or her normal pay.

Where the number of days of active duty or active training duty exceeds 21 work days, the period granted as leave with pay will in each case be the first 21 work days of such active duty or active training duty period. The additional time needed for completion of active duty or active training duty and for travel time must be accounted for as vacation time, compensatory time off or leave without pay.

Upon receipt of his or her written orders for active duty or active training duty, the employee must immediately submit a copy of such orders to his or her department head. A copy of said orders will then be forwarded to the Human Resources Department. The employee, upon his or her return to City employment, must submit to his or her department head a certified true copy of his or her military orders showing the date he or she reported for, and the date of his or her release from active duty or active training duty. The employee's normal regular salary as provided herein shall continue during the approved period of absence subject to receipt of this certified true copy upon his or her return.

Jury duty. A regularly employed full time employee of the City shall be granted leave of absence at his or her normal regular pay if called for jury duty. Any compensation derived from such jury duty shall be deducted from the gross pay due the employee for that period; provided however, in the event the daily payment for jury duty exceeds the amount of compensation an employee would have received from the City during his or her required absence on said day, there shall be no such deduction for compensation from jury duty and the employee shall be compensated at his or her normal hourly rate of pay for the time worked on said day.

Administrative leave.

In extraordinary circumstances, where the appointing authority finds that an employee's continued presence at the work site could have detrimental consequences or cause public harm, such employee may, at the direction of the appointing authority and with the approval of the Human Resources Director, be placed on administrative leave with his or her normal regular pay. The appointing authority shall notify the employee of the reason(s) for the administrative leave and any related restriction(s) while on leave. Additionally, the appointing authority shall follow up with a written notification to the employee within the next two business days and forward the same to the Human Resources Director.

At the discretion of a department head, the City Manager, Director of Utilities, or Public Utility Board, an employee in overtime Category D or E (overtime exempt) may be granted administrative leave in full day increments at his or her normal regular pay. An annual report showing the administrative leave granted by the City Manager, Director of Utilities, and Public Utility Board shall be submitted to the City Council no later than December 31 of each year.

In reference to subsections A and B above, an employee shall be paid at the rate for the classification in which he or she was working on the day before the leave.

Active duty differential payment. Every eligible permanent, appointive, temporary pending exam, and project officer and employee of the City who is now or may hereafter become a member of the Washington National Guard or of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps Reserves of the United States, or of any organized reserves or armed forces of the United States who receives, or as of the effective date of this subsection has received, written orders for active duty for a period exceeding 15 days in any calendar year, shall be eligible to receive a payment equal to that portion of his or her City pay for the classification held at the time such military service commenced that, in combination with such compensation he or she receives for such military service on and after January 1, 2004, will equal his or her regular duty City pay until such time as the employee returns from active military service.

To receive the active duty differential payment authorized by this subsection, the employee must immediately submit to his or her department head a copy of such orders and a certificate as to, whether subject to income tax or not, that the employee will receive from the military prior to actual deployment in a manner and form as may be prescribed by the Director of Human Resources, and monthly thereafter. A copy of said orders and certification as to compensation will then be forwarded to the Human Resources Department. If an employee is unable to submit a copy of his or her orders for military or national security purposes, evidence of all active military service compensation must be submitted as provided herein.

In addition, medical, dental, and vision coverage provided for an eligible permanent, appointive, temporary pending exam, or project officer and employee and his or her dependents shall continue, subject to the same terms and conditions applicable to such coverage, for up to 15 months following the date the eligible employee is placed on an approved military leave of absence from his or her City position when the employee is a member of the Washington National Guard or of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps Reserve of the United States, or of any organized reserve or armed forces of the United States, and is ordered to active duty by the United States government.

The military differential payment authorized by this subsection shall not grant any right, benefit or interest in employment or reemployment save that granted to employees under Chapter 43 of Title 38 of the United States Code, and subsection A of this section, nor shall it be considered compensation to which any employer or employee pension or deferred compensation rights or obligations shall attach.

2012 temporary pay reduction leave. For 2012 only, nonrepresented General Government employees subject to the 2012 pay reduction will be provided a paid leave bank of 12 days (96 hours) for use in 2012 only. This leave bank cannot be carried over at the end of the year and may not be donated or cashed out at any time.

Leave with Pay in the Event of the Death of a Family Member.

Upon approval by the department head, a nonrepresented employee, or a represented employee, if provided for in a collective bargaining agreement, may use up to five working days of accrued, paid leave upon the death of a family member, as defined in subsection G.2 of this section. Such leave shall be compensated at the employee's regular rate of pay in effect on the workday immediately preceding the commencement of the leave. Leave taken under this section must be used within one year from the date of death of the family member.

For purposes of this section, "family member" means any of the following:

A child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, or spouse of the employee;

An individual who regularly resides in the employee's household and either: (i) the relationship creates an expectation that the employee would provide care for the individual, and (ii) the individual depends on the employee for care. The term shall not include an individual who resides in the employee's household without an expectation of care;

"Child" means a biological, adopted, or foster child, stepchild, a child's spouse, or a child for whom the employee stands in loco parentis, is a legal guardian, or is a de facto parent, regardless of age or dependency status;

"Grandchild" means a child of the employee's child;

"Grandparent" means a parent of the employee's parent;

"Parent" means the biological, adoptive, de facto, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of the employee or the employee's spouse, or an individual who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a minor;

"Spouse" means a husband, wife, or state-registered domestic partner as defined under applicable Washington State law or City policy.

Where the need for leave can be reasonably anticipated, the employee shall provide the supervisor with as much advance notice as possible.

The provisions of this section shall supersede the language in Section 1.12.230.B.5 for nonrepresented employees, or, for represented employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement granting application of this section.

An employee in a classification represented by the Tacoma Firefighters Union, Local 31, will be allowed to take up to two full shifts (or four eight-hour days) of City paid leave in order to attend a funeral of a family member, as defined in subsection G.2 above.

Misrepresentation of any material facts in connection with paid leave used under this section by any employee shall constitute grounds for suspension or discharge.

(Ord. 16516 § 2, 1960-02-23; Ord. 17974 § 2, 1965-12-07; Ord. 23111 § 11, 1984-02-07; Ord. 23350 § 6, 1985-02-26; Ord. 24405 § 4, 1989-08-15; Ord. 25645 § 12, 1994-12-13; Ord. 26209 § 8, 1998-04-14; Ord. 26874 § 2, 2001-11-13; Ord. 27075 § 4, 2003-04-01; Ord. 27170 § 9, 2003-12-09; Ord. 27178 § 1, 2004-01-13; Ord. 27301 § 10, 2004-12-07; Ord. 27315 § 4, 2005-02-15; Ord. 27557 § 4, 2006-12-05; Ord. 27636 Ex. A, 2007-07-31; Ord. 27773 § 1, 2008-12-16; Ord. 28048 § 2, 2012-01-10; Ord. 28515 § 3, 2018-06-26; Ord. 29065, 2025-10-28)

§ 1.12.260 Military leave without pay.

An eligible permanent, appointive, probationary, or project employee who is a member of the Washington National Guard or of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps Reserve of the United States, or of any organized reserve or armed forces of the United States, who is ordered to active duty by the United States government thus requiring a leave of absence from his or her City position and who has exhausted annual military leave as provided by the Tacoma Municipal Code or a collective bargaining agreement, will be granted an unpaid military leave of absence from his or her City position. The cumulative length of the employee’s military leave(s) of absence may not exceed five (5) years, or such alternate maximum period as provided by law.

(Ord. 26874 § 3, 2001-11-13)

§ 1.12.265 Leave without pay.

The appointing authority, with the approval of the Human Resources Director, may mandate or allow the use of leave without pay by nonrepresented employees, or allow the use of leave without pay for represented employees, in order to address a budget crisis, retroactive to June 22, 2020. An employee who takes such leave without pay on a work day immediately preceding or immediately following one of the holidays with pay set forth in Section 1.12.200A, will remain entitled to holiday pay, notwithstanding Sections 1.12.200B, 1.12.140B, and 1.12.210B and C. Further, such leave without pay will not affect an employee’s sick leave accrual rate, notwithstanding Sections 1.12.230A.1, 1.12.140B, and 1.12.232A.1.

In accordance with City policy and RCW 1.16.050, as now stated and as hereafter amended, employees are entitled to two (2) unpaid holidays per calendar year for a reason of faith or conscience or an organized activity conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church or religious organization. Employees may select the days on which they would like to take the unpaid holiday(s), after consultation with his or her supervisor as provided by City policy. An unpaid holiday requested pursuant to City policy may be denied if the employee’s absence would unduly disrupt operations, impose an undue hardship on the City, or the employee is necessary to maintain public safety. The two unpaid holidays do not carry over from one calendar year to the next.

(Ord. 28041 § 1, 2011-12-06; Ord. 28263 Ex. A, 2014-12-09; Ord. 28681 Ex. A, 2020-07-14)

§ 1.12.270 Cancellation of leaves of absence.

All leaves of absence shall be subject to the condition that the appointing authority may cancel the leave at any time upon prior written notice to the employee and the Human Resources Director specifying a reasonable date of termination of the leave.

The Human Resources Director, upon prior notice to the employee and the appointing authority, may cancel an approved leave of absence at any time he finds that the employee is using the leave for purposes other than those specified at the time of approval.

(Ord. 15751 § 4.8, 1956-12-17; Subst. Ord. 28862 Ex. A, 2022-12-13)

§ 1.12.280 Inclement weather or conditions.

In the event of difficult commuting conditions caused by flooding, snow, ice, windstorm, or other severe weather condition which may create unsafe or hazardous commuting conditions, the City Manager, for general government departments, and Director of Utilities, for the divisions of the Department of Public Utilities, or designees, may issue a formal notice declaring an inclement weather condition to exist. Upon that declaration, an absence due to an employee’s inability to report for scheduled work because of severe inclement weather or conditions shall be charged to the following leave categories:

Any accrued compensatory time;

Any accrued personal time off;

Any accrued vacation leave;

Accrued sick leave up to a maximum of three days in any calendar year;

Leave without pay.

The City Manager and Director of Utilities, or designees, may jointly, but not separately, authorize up to two hours of paid time for tardiness and/or early departure when inclement weather conditions warrant. Inclement weather tardiness or early departure in excess of the time authorized by the City Manager and Director of Utilities, or designees, shall be charged as provided in Subsection A, above.

(Ord. 28575 Ex. A, 2019-03-05)