[Adopted 12-16-2002 by Res. No. 114]
Any police officer who wishes to engage or participate in conducting of any political or election campaign otherwise than to exercise his/her own right of suffrage shall either resign from the Penn Township Police Department or shall request a leave of absence from the Penn Township Police Department subject to the following conditions:
A. 
The police officer shall make a formal written request to the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Penn for a leave of absence. Said request shall be made at least 30 days prior to the requested leave of absence and shall set forth the beginning and ending date of said leave of absence.
B. 
The police officer shall not receive compensation in any form from the Township of Penn.
C. 
The police officer shall not be entitled to any benefits accruing to said police officer by reason of his employment with the Township of Penn or by reason of the existing labor agreement between the Township of Penn and the Police Department of the Township of Penn, including, but not limited to:
(1) 
Health and medical benefits, including dental and eye care;
(2) 
Life insurance;
(3) 
Short- and long-term disability insurance;
(4) 
Holiday or vacation pay;
(5) 
Clothing allowance;
(6) 
Ammunition allowance;
(7) 
Bereavement pay; and
(8) 
Accumulation of sick days, accrued vacation, comp time, pension contributions and longevity pay.
D. 
Within five days of the granting of the leave of absence to the member by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Penn, said member shall return to the Township his/her:
(1) 
Badge;
(2) 
Police vehicle (if provided); and
(3) 
Any other property of the Township of Penn that has been provided to said member.
During the police officer's leave of absence, seniority shall not accrue; however, upon the police officer's return to active duty, his/her seniority shall be computed from the date of original hire excluding that period that the member was on leave of absence.
Once the leave of absence terminates, sick days, clothing allowance, pension contributions and longevity payment shall be prorated to reflect the actual number of days worked.
During the course of a member of the Police Department's employment with the Township of Penn, he/she may only request one leave of absence for the purpose of engaging or participating in conducting of any political or election campaign during a primary election and one leave of absence for engaging or participating in conducting of any political or election campaign during the general election. Once the police officer has exercised his/her right to a leave of absence for these purposes, he/she shall not be entitled to request such leave of absence at any time in the future.
A police officer requesting the aforesaid leave of absence shall be required to sign an acknowledgment of his/her request for leave of absence, which said acknowledgment shall set forth that the police officer will not be entitled to any benefits under the then existing or any amended or new contract between the Township of Penn and the Police Department of the Township of Penn. Said acknowledgment shall also include a waiver in which the police officer agrees that he/she will be bound by the conditions of said leave of absence and will release the Township of Penn from any action or cause of action which may accrue now or in the future to the police officer by reason of said leave absence.