Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. Length of vacation. No vacation shall be used until the
completion of 180 days of continuous service.
(1) Full-time permanent employees. Vacations shall be granted
as indicated in the following table:
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Less than 1 year
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5/6 day
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1 year but less than 5
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10 days
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5 years but less than 10
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15 days
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10 years but less than 15
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20 days
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15 years but less than 20
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22 days
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20 or more years
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25 days
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(2) Full-time permanent employees hired after June 30, 1997.
Vacations shall be granted as indicated in the following:
[Amended 6-30-1997]
(a) For the first year of employment: one day for each thirty-day
period worked, to a maximum of 10 working days, to be credited on January
1.
(b) Two years but less than seven: 10 days.
(c) Seven years but less than 13: 15 days.
(d) Thirteen or more years: 20 days.
(3) Part-time permanent employees. For part-time permanent
employees, one day of vacation as used in the above table shall mean the number
of hours actually worked during the previous year divided by the number of
workdays in the previous year or the number of hours scheduled to work during
the previous year divided by the number of workdays in the previous year,
whichever is greater.
[Amended 11-24-1998]
(4) Additional vacation. For the purposes of recruiting experienced
staff, the Town Administrator may authorize an additional five days for a
new employee who has a minimum of four years' related experience.
(5) Crediting of vacation days. Vacation days will be credited
as of January 1 of each year.
[Added 11-24-1998]
B. Scheduling.
(1) Vacation must be taken in the calendar year in which
it was earned, except that with the advance approval of the Town Administrator,
upon request by the department head, vacation may be carried over into the
following calendar year for unusual or valid reasons provided that it does
not extend beyond the fiscal year.
(2) Vacation shall be scheduled with the prior approval of
the department head. Normally vacations shall be scheduled in one-week blocks,
but no vacation will be scheduled in blocks of time less than one hour.
(3) Employees entitled to more than two weeks' vacation
may generally take only two weeks consecutively. However, with the approval
of the department head, exceptions may be made to allow longer periods of
time.
C. Vacation pay advance. An employee who schedules vacation
of at least one week may receive advance pay for such vacation, provided that
the employee has requested, in writing to the Town Accountant's office,
such pay at least 14 days prior to the commencement of said vacation.
D. Notice to employees. Within 10 days of the end of each
month, the Town shall issue a statement of vacation earned and taken during
the preceding month.
E. Termination. Whenever employment is terminated by dismissal
through no fault or delinquency on the part of the employee, or by resignation
with reasonable notice (two weeks), retirement or death, without the employee
having been granted entitled vacation, the employee or, in the case of death,
the estate of the deceased employee shall be paid at the regular rate of compensation
at the time of termination an amount equal to vacation pay earned but not
paid to the employee at the time of his termination.
F. F Sickness while on vacation. An employee who becomes
ill while on vacation may not charge such illness to sick leave unless the
employee has a physician's certificate describing the nature of the illness
and submits it to his department head for approval within five days of returning
to work.
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. General policy.
(1) Permanent full-time employees shall earn 1 1/4 days of
sick leave with pay for each calendar month of service, not to exceed 15 days
per calendar year.
(2) For part-time permanent employees, one day of sick leave
shall mean the number of hours actually worked during the previous year divided
by the number of workdays in the previous year or the number of hours scheduled
to work during the previous year divided by the number of workdays in the
previous year, whichever is greater.
[Amended 11-24-1998]
(3) For those persons employed prior to the 16th of the month,
sick leave shall accrue from the first of the month. For those persons employed
on or after the 16th of the month, sick leave shall accrue from the first
of the succeeding month.
(4) Accruals will be earned as of the last working day of
each month and will be posted accordingly. No accrual will be recorded for
a portion of a month upon termination of employment.
(5) New employees must satisfactorily complete the probationary
period of service before qualifying for use of sick leave, but sick leave
shall accrue during the probationary period.
(6) Unused sick leave will accumulate from year to year to
a maximum of 210 days.
(7) Within 10 days of the end of each month, the Town shall
issue a statement of sick leave earned and taken during the preceding month.
B. Use of sick leave.
(1) Sick leave with pay shall be granted to employees only
when they are incapacitated for the performance of their duties by their personal
sickness, injury, disability, doctor's appointments or a quarantine by
public health authorities, but no sick leave will be granted in blocks of
time less than 1/2 hour.
(2) At the discretion of the Town Administrator, sick leave
with pay may also be granted for serious incapacitation of the employee's
spouse or serious injury or illness of a member of the employee's family,
including children, parents, brothers or sisters.
C. Notification.
(1) Sick leave will commence on the date and time that notification
of the employee's sickness, injury, disability or quarantining is given
to the department head by the employee, his family or his physician. Notification
should be given as soon as possible but in any case within one hour after
the regularly appointed starting time of the employee in order to entitle
the employee to sick leave credit for that day.
(2) Notification should include the general nature of the
illness, injury or disability, length of anticipated absence, and expected
date of return.
D. Use of vacation leave. At the discretion of the department
head, an employee's absence on account of illness, injury or disability
in excess of accrued sick leave may be charged to vacation leave. This does
not apply to illness, injury or disability for which the employee is entitled
to workers' compensation.
E. Extended sick leave. Extended sick leave with pay may
be granted by the Town Administrator after all of an employee's sick
leave and vacation leave have been used. Such advance of sick leave will only
be made when there is every expectation of return to active employment with
the opportunity of earning repayment credits.
F. Sickness while on vacation leave. See §
200-9F.
G. Evidence of illness. The department head or Town Administrator
may require medical substantiation from the employee for any sick leave. If
the cause of the sick leave is not substantiated to the satisfaction of the
Town Administrator, such absence will not be paid as sick leave and absence
will be considered unauthorized leave. Any medical confirmation of this shall
be confidential.
H. Workers' compensation. Employees injured on the
job and receiving workers' compensation shall, upon request, be granted
sick leave pay (provided they have sick leave credits available) in an amount
that, when added to the amount of workers' compensation payment, will
result in payment of their full salary. In this case, the Town Administrator
shall debit the employee's sick leave accrual by such amounts as he deems
equitable.
I. Retirement. Upon an employee's retirement in accordance
with MGL c. 32, the employee shall be paid, lump sum, for accumulated sick
leave up to 60 days or 50% of his total accumulated sick leave, whichever
is greater. The rate of compensation is the prevailing base rate of compensation
at the time of retirement. If termination is caused by death, accumulated
sick leave up to 60 days shall be paid in a lump sum to the employee's
spouse or, if there is none, his heirs. For employees hired after June 30,
1997, the employee shall be paid for accumulated sick leave up to 30 days
or 25% of his total accumulated sick leave, whichever is greater.
[Amended 6-30-1997]
J. Attendance incentive.
(1) As an incentive to minimize the impact of sick leave
usage, an employee may exchange unused sick leave earned during the calendar
year in accordance with the following schedule:
(a) If no sick time is used during a given quarter, one day
may be exchanged at the rate of $30 per day.
(b) If four days have been exchanged in a given calendar
year, the employee is entitled to exchange one additional day at the rate
of $60 per day.
(2) An employee must elect to participate by notifying the
Town, in writing, at the beginning of the calendar year. Payment will be made
by the 30th of the month following the end of each quarter.
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. Recognized holidays. The following holidays shall be
recognized by the Town on the day on which they are legally observed by the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and on these days employees shall be excused
from all duty except in cases where the department head determines that the
employee is required to maintain essential Town services:
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New Year's Day
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
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Washington's Birthday
|
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Patriots Day
|
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Memorial Day
|
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July 4
|
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Labor Day
|
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Columbus Day
|
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Veterans Day
|
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Thanksgiving Day
|
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Christmas Day
|
B. Compensation for holidays.
(1) For each holiday, full-time and part-time permanent employees
shall be compensated at a rate of the number of hours scheduled to work on
which the holiday lands times their base rate of compensation.
(2) Payment shall be withheld by the department head if the
eligible employee did not work his last regularly scheduled working day prior
to such holiday or his next regularly scheduled working day following such
holiday, unless such days were previously approved absence days in accordance
with other provisions of these rules and regulations.
C. Work on a holiday. An employee who is required to work
on a holiday shall receive, in addition to the regular holiday pay, an amount
equal to 1 1/2 times his regular rate of compensation for all hours worked.
D. Vacation or sick leave on a holiday. Any employee on
approved vacation or sick leave shall not be charged for leave time.
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. General policy.
[Amended 11-24-1998]
(1) Maternity leave without pay shall be granted to an employee
for a period not to exceed eight weeks (or, if qualified under FMLA, 12 weeks)
for the purpose of giving birth to a child or adoption of a child under 18
years of age. The employee shall notify the appointing authority at least
two weeks prior to the anticipated date of departure and of the intention
to return. The employee shall be restored to the same or similar position
with the same status, pay and seniority as of the date of the leave.
(2) Maternity leave shall be granted in accordance with MGL
c. 149, § 105D, c. 151B, § 4, and the Federal Family and
Medical Leave Act of 1993.
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. General policy. All employees will be granted leave to
fulfill required jury duty. Permanent full-time and part-time employees shall
be paid their regular rate of compensation, less the jury fees (exclusive
of travel allowances) received, during the period required for the jury service.
It is the employee's responsibility to present to his supervisors written
evidence of the fees received for jury duty. As a condition to receiving payment
from the Town, an employee must report to work if during such duty he is discharged
for the day or major portion thereof during regular work hours.
B. Jury duty on a holiday. A holiday occurring during jury
duty shall not entitle an employee to an additional day of leave or additional
compensation for the holiday.
C. Retention of jury fees. Employees may retain any jury
fees received for jury duty on nonscheduled workdays (i.e., Saturdays, Sundays
or holidays).
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. General policy. An employee shall be entitled to a leave
of absence during the time of compulsory service in the armed forces of the
commonwealth or during his annual tour of duty of not exceeding 17 days as
a member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States and
shall receive his regular compensation as an employee for the period of the
leave.
B. Notification. Each employee is responsible for notifying
his department head of the date he is leaving for military service and provide
written proof from military or selective service officials to the Town Administrator
indicating date of departure and length of service required.
C. Effect on and use of benefits.
(1) Sick and vacation leave will continue to accrue during
the period of military leave.
(2) The period of military leave shall be included in the
employee's time of continuous service.
(3) If military duty exceeds 17 days, an employee may credit
all or part of his vacation entitlement to the period of military leave.
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. General policy. Upon the request of an employee upon
the death of such employee's spouse, the Town Administrator shall grant
bereavement leave with pay for up to two weeks immediately following such
death.
(1) The department head, upon request of an employee, shall
grant up to three consecutive days of bereavement leave without loss of pay
upon the death of such employee's immediate family, which shall include
parents, parents of spouse, sisters and brothers of spouse, grandparents,
children, brothers and sisters of employee or any other person who resides
with the employee as a member of the immediate household. The Town Administrator
may limit such leave to less than three days or refuse to grant any such leave
if such employee cannot demonstrate need for as many as three days' leave.
(2) The Town Administrator may grant bereavement leave to
attend the funeral service of a close friend or other relative.
(3) At the discretion of the Town Administrator, bereavement
leave with pay may be extended to a maximum of two weeks.
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. General policy. Permanent full-time employees shall be
granted one day for each three months of employment by the Town. Personal
days shall be credited on the first day of each calendar quarter. An employee
shall accrue one personal day each quarter only if said employee has worked
at least 46 days during the preceding quarter (Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
are construed to have been worked for this section). Personal days must be
used in the calendar year in which they are granted.
(1) Personal leave is to be used for personal reasons and
cannot be used to extend vacation or holiday periods except in an emergency.
The employee's department head must be given at least 48 hours prior
to the requested personal leave day or at the discretion of the department
head.
(2) Personal leave shall be charged in one-hour increments.
Coverage: All permanent employees who work 20 hours or more per week.
A. General policy. The Town shall, pursuant to MGL c. 32B,
provide contributory group health, life and accidental death insurance to
any eligible employee, after a waiting period of 60 days, who works a regular
schedule of 20 hours or more per week. The premium cost of group insurance
is paid on a 75/25 basis by the Town and participating employees. Participation
in the group insurance plan is optional.
B. Leave of absence. Employees on an approved leave of absence in excess of 30 days (see leave of absence policy, §
200-14) may continue coverage, provided that they pay the full (100%) premium cost. Employees must give proper notice to the Treasurer's office of all approved leaves of absence so that the full premium cost can be billed directly to the employee for the period of the leave in excess of 30 days.
C. Termination. The Town's health insurance policy,
in accordance with the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA),
is discontinued on termination. However, conversion to an individual health
plan or automatic transfer to another group plan is available. The Town will
notify the health insurance carrier of the termination, and automatic billing
will be made to the terminated employee's home address.
D. Survivor coverage. Upon the death of an employee, if
there is one survivor, the person will automatically be transferred to an
individual policy. If there is more than one survivor, coverage will be provided
under a family membership. The Town does not share the cost of this coverage.
E. Retirement.
(1) Health insurance. The options of employees that are qualified
to retire are dependent on the age of the employee, his eligibility under
Social Security and the type of insurance plan the employee has upon retirement.
Employees should contact the Chairman of the Retirement Board six months before
retirement or before they or their spouse reach age 65 for an explanation
of the employee's health insurance options.
[Amended 3-29-2000]
(2) Life insurance. Upon the employee's retirement,
the accidental death and dismemberment insurance is discontinued.
F. Change in membership status.
(1) An eligible employee or retiree who is covered under
a family plan may change to an individual and/or OME plan anytime during the
year.
(2) An eligible employee who is covered under an individual
plan may change to a family plan anytime during the year only if there is
a change in the number of his dependents. If there is no change in the number
of dependents, he may change only during the open period of enrollment.
(3) An eligible employee or retiree who is covered may change
to a different carrier only during the open period of enrollment. This is
normally held during the month of May each year.
(4) An eligible employee who is not currently covered may elect to be covered by an individual plan at any time during the year. If the employee desires to be covered by a family plan, the employee shall pay the entire cost difference between the family plan and the individual plan until the employee is eligible to convert under Subsection
F(2) above.
(5) A retiree must be using Town health insurance benefits
at the time of retirement to elect to be covered under any circumstances.
[Amended 11-24-1998]
(6) A retiree who was using Town health insurance benefits
at the time of retirement may elect to be covered under that same or lesser
type of plan, but only during the open period of enrollment.
[Amended 11-24-1998]
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. General policy. The Town shall reimburse permanent full-
and part-time employees full tuition costs (including lab fees) up to a maximum
of two college level courses per fiscal year, provided that all of the following
conditions are met:
(1) The course must relate to the employee's present
job directly or must be necessary to complete a degree related to the employee's
present job;
(2) The employee has the approval of his department head
and the Town Administrator before beginning the course;
(3) The course is taken from a fully accredited institution
or trade school;
(4) Intended courses of study are unattainable from state
or federal government sponsored programs. Veterans seeking tuition reimbursement
must provide sufficient proof that alternate financing is not otherwise available.
If equivalent training is offered through state-sponsored training, the employee
will be expected to utilize that opportunity first; and
(5) The employee receives a passing grade of “C”
or 70 or “P” or better; for graduate level, a passing grade of
“B” or better will be required.
B. Reimbursement.
(1) Refunds of tuition payments will be made in the order
in which they are received.
(2) Within 30 days of completion of the course, the employee
shall furnish the Town Administrator the requisite documentation showing satisfactory
completion of the courses. This evidence shall be subject to verification
prior to reimbursement and shall include tuition receipt, a certified transcript
of grades and any other documentation as deemed appropriate by the Town Administrator.
(3) The employee shall disclose any other tuition aid received
from government or other sources prior to receiving reimbursement from the
Town.
(4) In the event the employee is discharged or resigns from
the Town before completion of the course, a refund shall not be paid.
(5) In the event the employee is laid off from Town service
prior to completing the course, the Town shall reimburse the employee, provided
that the employee's course work is in progress prior to the layoff and
the course is satisfactorily completed in accordance with the above requirements.
C. Scheduling. Employees are strongly encouraged to take
courses that will not interfere with their job responsibilities or their normal
working hours. The department head or Town Administrator may deny approval
for reimbursement of a course if time off from the employee's regular
working hours would be required.
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. General policy. The Town will provide up to $125 per
year towards each employee's voluntary participation in a year-long planned
physical fitness program to be arranged by the Town. A prerequisite to the
employee's approved participation in said activity will be a physical
examination conducted by the employee's personal physician at the expense
of the employee. Physical examination reports are to be considered confidential
and necessary to the planning of a complete and proper physical fitness program
designed to suit each individual's fitness needs.
Coverage: All permanent employees.
A. General policy. Permanent full- and part-time employees
who have depleted all of their accumulated sick leave benefits due to an extended
illness or injury may be eligible to receive sick leave days (hereinafter
referred to as “benefit days”) from the sick leave bank (hereinafter
referred to as the “bank”) under the terms and conditions of this
section.
B. Membership. Any permanent full- or part-time employee who earns sick leave under §
200-10 of these regulations may elect to be a member of the bank. Employees must make the election in writing to the Town Accountant's office within 30 days of the adoption of this section or upon initial employment. Employees who do not choose to become members during their initial eligibility period may make an election during the month of January in subsequent years but are prohibited from applying for benefit days during the first year of membership. Employees who are members of the bank may elect, during the month of January, to leave the bank but subsequently forfeit all rights to receive benefit days as well as the return of contributed sick days from the bank. Members shall contribute two sick days to the bank upon initial membership and annually on January 1 thereafter. New employees shall contribute two sick days upon successful completion of probation. Membership in the bank shall not affect the employee's eligibility for sick leave buy back or other sick leave incentive programs, exclusive of sick days previously donated to the bank.
C. Benefits. Any member who has exhausted his/her accumulated
sick leave shall be eligible to request up to 10 benefit days from the bank
on account of any one illness or injury upon submitting a written application
therefor to the Town Administrator accompanied by a statement of the applicant's
physician testifying to the illness or injury.
(1) Benefit days may be granted for any number of days, but
in no event shall the Town Administrator grant more than 10 benefit days per
application. Any addition to the number of benefit days previously granted
shall require a new application.
(2) In no case will any benefit days be granted until the
employee has been in a nonpay status for five workdays per event. An event
shall mean a different illness or the recurrence of the same illness within
a period of no less than four months apart.
(3) Unused benefit days from the bank shall be returned to
the bank upon the employee's return to work or termination of employment.
(4) Applications shall be processed and considered in the
order of receipt. In the event that the approval of one or more applications
for benefit days would result in the depletion of the bank, the Town Administrator
shall assign the benefit days remaining as equitably as possible among those
members whose applications are then pending.
D. Criteria. In determining the granting of benefit days,
the following criteria shall be applied:
(1) Employee's past usage (documentable abuse) of sick
leave.
(2) Employee must have been hospitalized as a result of current
illness or injury.
(3) Employee must be unable to perform his/her normal job,
confirmed by written doctor's statement, for a minimum of three weeks
from the initial onset of the illness or injury.
(4) Employee must use at least five days of accumulated sick
leave for each separate event.