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;
(3) Short- and long-term disability insurance;
(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:
(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.