The purpose of these regulations is to establish
uniform provisions for vacations, sick leaves and leaves of absence,
applicable alike to those employees of the Town of Kent who are not
included under a contract with either the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association
(PBA) or the Civil Service Employees' Association (CSEA).
For the purposes of this chapter, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated unless the context clearly
indicates a different meaning:
EMPLOYEE
Includes all employees of the Town not included under a contract with one or the other of the organizations indicated in §
14-1 above, except elected officials, department heads, members of boards and commissions, part-time and temporary employees.
Each Town employee shall receive a vacation
as follows:
A. One week's vacation during the first calendar year
of employment, provided that six months of continuous service have
been completed.
B. Two weeks' vacation after completion of one year of
continuous service.
[Amended 11-7-1988 by L.L. No. 9-1988]
C. Three weeks' vacation after completion of eight calendar
years of continuous service.
[Amended 7-11-1988 by L.L. No. 2-1988]
D. Four weeks' vacation after completion of 10 calendar
years of continuous service.
[Amended 12-4-1989 by L.L. No. 9-1989]
E. Vacations shall be taken only at a time approved by
the department head under whom such employee works. All vacations
shall be taken in the year during which the employee becomes entitled
thereto, and no part of such vacation shall be carried over from one
year to another unless the pressures of work in a particular department
make it impossible for the department head to grant a vacation period
for that year, in which case the vacation period for that year, or
any unused portion thereof, may be added to the vacation to which
the employee is entitled during the following year.
F. In calculating the time allowed for vacations, intervening
holidays will not be counted as vacation days.
Absence from duty of an employee by reason of
sickness or disability of himself or herself shall be allowed as provided
in this section and not otherwise. Absence from duty for such reasons,
if duly granted by the department head, shall be considered and known
as "sick leave." The following regulations shall govern such absence
from duty:
A. An employee may be absent from duty on account of
sickness or disability or death in his immediate family. Every leave
for such absence is granted by the department head. Any such leave
so granted shall be reported to the Town Board as hereinafter provided.
B. Absence from duty of an employee by reason of death
of a member of his or her immediate family, or of a legitimate member
of the household, shall be allowed without loss of pay for a period
not to exceed four days. Absence for such reason beyond the four-day
limit shall be considered and counted as sick leave. "Immediate family"
is defined as wife, husband, child, mother, mother-in-law, father,
father-in-law, brother, sister, grandchild, grandparent, aunt, uncle,
brother-in-law or sister-in-law.
C. No employee shall receive any part of his compensation
while absent from duty because of sickness or disability or death
in his immediate family except as herein provided.
D. An employee shall be granted sick leave with pay of
1 1/4 working days a month, or 15 working days a year. Such sick
leave with pay shall be granted to the employee by the department
head.
E. Each employee who meets the requirements of these
regulations relative to sick leave and vacation time shall receive
accumulated sick leave at the rate of 15 working days per year up
to a maximum of 180 working days minus the number of days of sick
leave taken during such period of employment. It shall be the duty
of the department head to so certify to the Town Board of the Town
of Kent the amount of accumulated sick leave time which shall be credited
to each employee as of the effective date of these regulations.
F. Any employee who is unable to report for duty because
of illness or physical disability shall immediately notify his department
head of that fact and shall state the nature of his illness or disability
and the name of the attending physician, if any; when the officer
or employee is unable so to report, a responsible person may make
the report in his behalf. In the absence of such report, unless waived
by the department head for good cause, time lost shall not be considered
sick leave and such employee shall receive no compensation therefor.
G. The 15 working days a year to be allowed an employee
for sick leave with pay may hereafter be accumulated at the rate of
1 1/4 working days a month until a total of 180 working days
is reached, and may be kept to his credit for future sick leave with
pay.
H. Upon becoming sick or disabled, an employee by virtue
of employment or service before the effective date of this regulation
may, during his sickness or disability, be granted sick leave with
pay to the extent of the unused sick time which he has accumulated,
but no sick leave with pay shall be granted to any such person in
excess of 180 working days in any one year.
I. Where an employee, because of sickness or disability,
is required to remain away from his department beyond his sick leave
allowance, the department head, in his judgment, may propose to the
Town Board that additional sick leave with pay be granted, due consideration
being given to the employee's service prior to the effective date
of this regulation.
J. An employee isolated or quarantined because of exposure
to a communicable disease, other than in the line of duty, shall,
for the purpose of this regulation, be considered absent because of
sickness and may be granted sick leave with pay during such isolation
or quarantine to the extent of his accumulated and unused sick leave
time.
K. Any false representation made by an officer or employee
in connection with a claim for sick leave benefits shall be deemed
a just cause for disciplinary proceedings under the Civil Service
Law and Rules, and in addition to other penalties a portion of his
accumulated sick leave benefits may be canceled.
L. Where an employee receives compensation under the
Workmen's Compensation Law on account of disability, he shall elect
in writing whether he desires to have sick leave with pay during the
period of his disability for which he receives compensation. Such
writing must be filed with the department head. In the event that
he elects to take sick leave with pay during such disability, he shall,
for the period of his disability, not exceeding his accumulated and
unused sick leave time, be paid the difference between what he receives
as compensation and his regular rate of pay. If the employee elects
to use his accumulated sick leave time while drawing workmen's compensation,
the number of his accumulated sick leave days to be deducted shall
be determined by taking his average weekly wage, exclusive of overtime,
less the amount of workmen's compensation paid, and dividing the result
by the employee's daily rate of pay.
M. No continuous sick leave exceeding three working days
shall be allowed except upon the certification of a physician to be
filed with the department head not later than the fourth working day,
stating the nature of the illness and the probable time of disability.
The department head may require such certification in any other case.
N. No employee shall be granted absence from duty with
pay by reason of pregnancy. It is expressly provided, however, that
maternity leave without pay may be granted up to one year, provided
the existence of pregnancy is reported in writing to the department
head not later than the fourth month. Such leave without pay must
begin when, upon certification of a doctor, further service would
be detrimental to health, and may begin earlier in the discretion
of the department head.
O. It shall be the duty of the administrative head of
each department to keep an accurate record of all sick leave and sick
leave accumulations in such form as the Town Board may prescribe,
so that a written report of the same can be readily furnished upon
request of such Board.
Department heads may grant leaves of absence
without pay, but if such leave is to extend for more than 12 working
days, the approval of the Town Board shall be required.
When an employee is absent without leave and
without an explanation therefor for a period of 10 working days, such
absence shall be deemed to constitute a resignation effective on the
date of the commencement of such absence. The failure of an employee
to return to his position within 10 working days following the expiration
of a leave of absence or extension thereof, without submitting an
explanation therefor within such ten-day period, shall constitute
a resignation which, for purposes of determining eligibility for reinstatement,
shall be deemed effective as of the date of the commencement of such
leave of absence. Nothing herein shall be deemed to excuse the unauthorized
absence of an employee or his failure to return to his position upon
the expiration of an authorized leave of absence, and any such failure
may be regarded as misconduct in an appropriate disciplinary proceeding.
It shall be mandatory for each employee to retire
upon the last day of the month in which he reaches his seventieth
birthday, based upon the records of the Town personnel file.
[Added 9-14-1992 by L.L. No. 14-1992; amended 4-3-1995 by L.L. No. 1-1995; 5-13-1996 by L.L. No. 4-1996; 6-23-1997 by L.L. No.
5-1997; 8-30-1999 by L.L. No. 4-1999; 6-3-2002 by L.L. No. 6-2002]
A. The Town of Kent hereby elects to provide all of its
eligible employees with a retirement incentive program authorized
by the New York State Legislature by Chapter 69 of the Laws of 2002.
B. The commencement date of the retirement incentive
program shall be October 3, 2002.
C. The open period during which eligible employees may
retire and receive additional retirement benefit shall be 90 days
in length.
D. The actuarial present value of the additional retirement
benefits payable pursuant to the provisions of this section shall
be paid in five annual installments. The Local Employees' Retirement
System, and it shall be paid by the Town of Kent for each employee
who receives the retirement benefits payable under this section.
E. This section shall take effect September 3, 2002.
[Added 4-18-1994 by L.L. No. 4-1994;
amended 12-1-2015 by L.L. No. 3-2015]
A. Commencing
with the election of newly elected part-time officials for the 2016
term, only full-time Town employees and full-time elected officials,
specifically the Town Supervisor, the Highway Superintendent and the
Town Clerk, are eligible for health insurance coverage paid for, in
part, by the Town. Any such eligible employee or elected official
shall have the option of either receiving Town-paid health insurance
or money in lieu of health insurance coverage, which compensation
shall be paid as follows: An employee or elected official who qualifies
for family coverage shall be entitled to receive payment of $2,400
per year; an employee or elected official who qualifies for single
coverage shall be entitled to receive payment of $1,200 per year.
B. The decision
of whether or not an eligible employee or eligible elected official
chooses to be paid money in lieu of health insurance must be communicated
to the Town Supervisor, in writing, no later than December 15 of the
year prior to the year such choice is to take effect. Payment of such
money in lieu of health insurance shall be made at the end of each
quarter.
C. Any eligible
employee or eligible elected official having chosen to opt out of
the Town health insurance plan shall also have the right to be reinstated
in the plan, upon 30 days' prior written notice to the Town Supervisor,
and a prorated settlement of that quarter shall be made. Such reinstatement
will take effect on the first day of the month following the date
that written notice is approved and accepted by the Town Board.