Absences & Leaves (medium)

Accrued Time Usage

• Full-time employees must use accrued time for all absences, unless specifically permitted by department policy
• Exceptions include bereavement, jury duty, FMLA, and military leave.
• For information on vacation and sick leave, refer to SFD.039 for operations personnel and SFD.057 for administrative and support personnel.

Catastrophic Leave

• A Catastrophic Leave Pool exists to assist employees who have exhausted their PTO and sick leave.
• Employees may donate PTO or sick leave to the pool.
• Employees must have worked for at least one year to withdraw from the pool.
• Operations personnel must contribute at least 12 hours annually, while administrative personnel must contribute at least 8 hours.
• Requests for withdrawals are reviewed and authorized by the Assistant Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief of Operations, and Director of Human Resources.
• Maximum withdrawal amounts: 240 hours for Operations and 160 hours for Administration, or one-third of the pool's available hours, whichever is less.

Physician Note

• Employees calling out sick for more than 48 hours must provide a physician’s note.
• A physician's note may be requested for absences less than 48 hours due to illness or injury.

Purpose

• This policy aims to minimize unscheduled absences and ensure efficient operations.
• Unexcused absences and tardiness may result in disciplinary actions, including termination of employment or volunteer status.

Scope

• Applies to all personnel, including employees and volunteers

Responsibilities

• All personnel are responsible for knowing and following this procedure.
• The Fire Chief or designee is responsible for reviewing and ensuring the accuracy of this guideline

Definitions

• Absence: failure to report to work at scheduled time.
• Employee: hired full-time or part-time personnel.
• Excused Absence: occurs when all four conditions are met:
  • Sufficient notice to the supervisor.
  • Acceptable reason by the supervisor.
  • Approval from the supervisor.
  • Sufficient accrued time.
• Volunteer: Non-hired personnel.
• Unexcused Absence: occurs when at least one of the conditions for excused absences isn't met.

Notice Requirements

• Employees calling out sick before or after a scheduled vacation or holiday must provide a physician's note, failure to do so may result in no pay and disciplinary action.
• Employees must notify their scheduled supervisor and District Chief by phone call as soon as they realize they can't make their shift, texting or email aren't acceptable.
• For emergencies, notify the scheduled supervisor as soon as possible. If this is not possible, have someone else notify the supervisor.
• If an emergency occurs during a shift, the supervisor must be notified immediately.

Tardiness

• Personnel are expected to arrive on time.
• If an employee will be late they must immediately notify their scheduled supervisor.

Bereavement Leave

• All personnel are eligible for bereavement leave.
• Personnel must notify their supervisor immediately upon a death.
• Verification of the death (obituary, etc.) may be required.
• Full-time employees receive bereavement pay:
  • Five consecutive days for: spouse, domestic partner, child, stepchild, sibling, step-sibling, parent, step-parent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, or an adult who acted as a parent during childhood.
  • Two consecutive days for: grandparent-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt, or uncle.

Jury Duty Leave

• Full-time employees are entitled to up to five working days of paid time off for jury duty or subpoena.
• Paid time off does not apply to court appearances as a plaintiff, defendant, or for non-subpoena appearances.
• PTO or unpaid time must be used for these instances.
• Employees must report to duty upon dismissal from court if it's a scheduled workday.
• Employees must notify their supervisor and provide a copy of the jury summons or subpoena to their supervisor.
• The supervisor will verify the notification, make scheduling adjustments, and provide the court documentation to Human Resources.

Test your knowledge on the employee leave policies including accrued time, catastrophic leave, and the conditions for usage and contribution. This quiz will cover the specifics of how leave is handled in different circumstances and the responsibilities of both employees and management. Understand the nuances of vacation and sick leave as well as donation options for the Catastrophic Leave Pool.