FOP Contract Test Questions PDF

ARTICLE 9: PROMOTIONAL PROCEDURES 9.1. Employees seeking promotional positions within the Bargaining Unit shall be examined and appointed in accordance with the Civil Service System of the City. 9.2. Procedures for the administration of exams: a. Promotional examinati...

ARTICLE 9: PROMOTIONAL PROCEDURES 9.1. Employees seeking promotional positions within the Bargaining Unit shall be examined and appointed in accordance with the Civil Service System of the City. 9.2. Procedures for the administration of exams: a. Promotional examinations will be administered once every two years in September, on the Friday following Labor Day; b. Announcements of the examinations will be posted by May 1st of the calendar year of the examination; c. Cut-off date to meet minimum eligibility requirements will be September 1st immediately preceding the test date; d. The effective date of the eligibility list resulting from the examination will be October 1st immediately following the test administration; e. The eligibility list will expire on the last day in September, two years following the test administration. 9.3. Education and seniority bonus points as outlined below will remain in effect for the duration of this Agreement: a. Sergeant qualification requirements will include five years of continuous service with the City or three years of continuous service with the City and three years of prior continuous law enforcement experience as a Sworn Officer to be eligible to take the Sergeant examination. Seniority points will begin accumulating from the City of Hollywood date of hire with the City, and will be capped at 20 years of service for a total accumulation of five points (one-quarter point for each year b. Lieutenant qualification requirements will include 18 months of continuous service with the City as a Sergeant plus an associate degree or 60 semester hours of college credit to be eligible to take the Lieutenant’s exam. Seniority will begin accumulating from the date of promotion to Sergeant and will be capped at 20 years of rank of service as Sergeant, for a total accumulation of five points (one-quarter point per year). c. Education points will be calculated at one-half point per 15 credit hours earned. Credits will be capped at 120 credit hours for four points. An additional one point will be given for a master’s degree and one point for a doctorate degree or Ph.D. Total education points will be capped at six.  d. Veteran preference points in accordance with FS 295.07 and FS 295.11. e. After the final score and any applicable educational points, veteran preference points and all applicable seniority points have been added to establish a final combined score, the Chief of Police shall select a candidate from the highest three different scores. Same scores, or “ties,” are considered one score. 9.4. Vacancies in approved, budgeted positions shall be filled within 30 calendar days from the date of the vacation of the position. Failure to fill vacancies based on budgetary considerations or in exceptional circumstances occasioned by a vacancy resulting from disciplinary procedures, exhaustion of a civil service list, or less than three candidates on a list shall not be considered a violation of this section. 9.5. Candidates will remain on the eligibility list for its duration, without regard to the number of times the candidate is considered. 9.6. Any appeals to the promotional process must be presented to the Civil Service Board within ten days of the candidate’s notification of the final test scoring results. 9.7. By mutual agreement the City and the FOP may open this article up for re- negotiation providing 30 days’ notice.  ARTICLE 10: MANAGEMENT SECURITY 10.1. The City and the Union recognize the mutually beneficial effects of a harmonious and cooperative relationship between the parties and agree to comply diligently and fully with the requirements of the Florida Public Employee Relations Act. 10.2. There will be no strikes, work stoppages, slowdowns, boycotts, job actions or other concerted failure or refusal to perform assigned work by the employees covered by this Agreement. 10.3. Recognizing that Florida law prohibits the activities enumerated in Section 2 above, the parties agree that any such employee who participates in or promotes a strike, work stoppage, job action, or failure or refusal to perform assigned work, may be discharged or otherwise disciplined by the City, subject to the appellate procedures as outlined in the Grievance and Arbitration Article. 10.4. It is recognized by the parties that activities enumerated in Sections 2 and 3 are contrary to the ideals of professional Public service and to the City's overall community responsibility, and that any violation of this Article would give rise to irreparable damage to the City and to the public at large. Accordingly, it is understood and agreed that in the event of any violation of this Article, the City shall be entitled to seek and obtain immediate injunctive or other legal and/or equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction. 10.5. For the purpose of this Article, it is agreed that the Employee Organization shall be responsible and liable for any act committed by its elected officers or agents.  ARTICLE 11: MANAGEMENT RIGHTS 11.1. The Union and its members recognize that the City has the exclusive right to manage and direct all of its operations. Accordingly, the City specifically, except as otherwise limited by this Agreement, reserves the exclusive right to: a. Decide the scope of service to be performed and the method of service; b. Hire, fire, demote, suspend or otherwise discipline for just and proper cause, promote, layoff, and determine the qualifications of employees; the option of forfeiting annual leave in lieu of serving an unpaid suspension shall be at the sole discretion of the City Manager or designee; c. Transfer employees from location to location and from time to time; d. Rehire employees; e. Determine the starting and ending time and the number of hours and shifts to be worked, subject to Article 12, Work Week and Overtime; f. Merge, consolidate, expand or curtail or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, in whole or in part, operations whenever in the sole discretion of the City, good business judgment makes such curtailment or discontinuance advisable; g. Control the use of equipment and property of the City; h. Schedule and assign work to the employees and determine the size and composition of the work force; i. Determine the services to be provided to the public, and the maintenance procedures, materials, facilities and equipment to be used and to introduce new or improved maintenance procedures, materials, and facilities and equipment to be used; j. Formulate and revise rules and regulations, provided same are not inconsistent with this Agreement and do not impact on mandatory subjects of bargaining; and k. Have complete authority to exercise those rights and powers that are incidental to the rights and powers enumerated above, including the right to make unilateral changes. 11.2. It is agreed and understood that the City has the right to determine the nature and to what extent the work required in its operation shall be performed by employees  covered by this Agreement and shall have the right to contract and/or subcontract any existing or future work. The City will notify the Union as early as practicable of the City's intent to contract and/or subcontract any existing or future work where such action would directly affect and result in layoff of employees covered by this Agreement. The foregoing does not imply any limitation on the City's right to contract and/or subcontract such work. If a decision is made to contract out or subcontract work, any reduction in force will be handled insofar as practicable through attrition and/or transfer to other positions, and/or hiring of employees affected by the successor agency in comparable jobs. 11.3. The above rights of the City are not all-inclusive but indicate the type of matters or rights that belong to and are inherent in the City in its capacity as management. Any of the rights, powers, and authority the City had prior to entering into this CBA are retained by the City except as specifically abridged, delegated, granted or modified by this Agreement. 11.4. If the City fails to exercise any one or more of the above functions from time to time, this will not be deemed a waiver of the City's right to exercise any or all of such functions.  ARTICLE 12: WORK WEEK AND OVERTIME 12.1. A normal pay period shall constitute 80 hours. Under all circumstances, when organizationally feasible, members of this Bargaining Unit shall be entitled to a minimum of two consecutive days off after each 40 hours of service. 12.2. Schedules shall consist of: a. Road Patrol Day shift: 5/8 schedule with rotating days off; b. Road Patrol Afternoon shift: 4/10 schedule with rotating days off; c. Road Patrol Midnight shift: 4/10 schedule with rotating days off; d. Personnel assigned to the Street Crimes Unit, Downtown Unit, Beach Unit, Marine Patrol, Motors, Traffic Unit, Neighborhood Team Leader (NTL), Special Events, Internal Affairs, and Personnel and Training, shall not be bound to the above schedules, and their schedules may be adjusted as required by the Department. e. A 4/10 work schedule will be made available to the following specialty units, provided, however, that these employees may be returned to a 5/8 work schedule for up to a 30-day period when deemed operationally necessary as determined by the Chief of Police: CID Investigative Services (Detective Bureau), to exclude any employee assigned to any federal, state or local task force. f. School Resource Officers: 5/8 schedule, Monday through Friday. 12.3. Shift Selection: It is agreed that the Chief of Police has the right to determine the amount of personnel on each shift within the Patrol Division. The Chief of Police will fill at least 75% of the vacancies for a given shift for Officers who have completed the probationary period and at least 50% of vacancies for a given shift for Sergeants and Lieutenants who have completed the probationary period by seniority, subject to the following conditions: a. Shift picks will commence in October of each year. A designated window period will be formally announced in order to allow members to bid for the three different patrol shifts. It is the sole responsibility of each Officer to be available for the bidding period. Officers who miss the bidding period will be subject to being placed on a shift without consideration of seniority. b. After shifts are chosen, the initiation of the new schedule will be effective on the 1st day of the second pay period in January.  c. Those members coming into the Patrol Division from an outside Unit or Division can choose a shift. No "bumping" will be allowed. However, an adjustment period will occur every July in order to facilitate the request of those members coming into the Patrol Division. Members within the Patrol Division cannot re-bid for a new shift until October, which will be effective as of January of the following year. Exceptions can only be granted by the Chief of Police or designee. d. The Chief of Police shall reserve the right to alter the provisions of this article when situations arise that could create a negative impact within the organization, such as conflicts of interest, workplace diversity, nepotism, or other serious personnel issues. The Chief of Police or designee shall meet and confer with the President of the FOP or designee should any member of the Department directly affected by any alteration of this provision request such a meeting. It is agreed that with regard to members who are negatively affected due to the above (conflicts, nepotism, etc.), the member with the least seniority, when appropriate, should be considered first for the involuntary transfer. 12.4. Nothing herein shall guarantee any member payment for an 80 hour pay period unless the member actually works 80 hours, or the actual hours worked and any authorized compensated leave total 80 hours. Authorized compensated leave excluding sick leave shall mean leave compensated under the provisions of this Agreement or under existing City policy. 12.5. Hours actually worked in excess of the regular 80 hour pay period shall be compensated at the rate of time-and-one-half the member's regular straight-time rate or, if appropriate, the equivalent in compensatory time, provided that no member shall receive straight time, overtime or compensatory time for time spent in correcting work, which had been assigned and was improperly performed during the member's normal work day. Further, nothing herein shall require the payment of time-and-one-half or the equivalent in compensatory time when an insubstantial amount of time, defined as 15 minutes or less, is worked in excess of the normal workday. Overtime opportunities will be distributed among employees in the same rank and work assignment in a manner that is fair and equitable within the requirements of operational needs, except that this provision regarding the distribution of overtime opportunities shall not apply to or include employees who are serving in a probationary period as defined in Article 33. Any grievance filed regarding the distribution of overtime may be taken only to the City Manager or designee level of the grievance procedure for a final and binding decision, and no such grievance shall be subject to the arbitration provisions of the grievance procedure. 12.6. If a member of this Bargaining Unit is called out to work at a time outside of that member’s normal working hours, the member shall receive a minimum of three hours pay at the rate of time-and-one-half the member’s regular rate of pay, and  time-and-one-half the member’s regular straight time rate for each additional hour beyond the initial three hours or, if appropriate, the equivalent in compensatory time. Call-out rates shall apply to each successive incident whereupon a member is called to duty outside of the member’s normal working hours. Called out to work means that the officer must actually appear at the member’s regular or assigned duty station in proper uniform/apparel for such assignment. Mere. response to a telephone call or conversation by phone does not substitute for actual appearance at duty station. 12.7. Where the member is required to appear, while off-duty, as a subpoenaed witness in federal, circuit or county court, or at depositions or statement sessions where such proceedings involve pending criminal or civil cases, the minimum call-out rate of three hours at time-and-one-half shall apply, provided, however, that no member shall be compensated more than once for appearances occurring within the same minimum three hour period. Officers who are required to appear while off-duty, as a subpoenaed witness in a federal, circuit or county courts, or at depositions or statement sessions where such proceedings involve pending criminal or civil cases within one hour of the beginning of their regularly scheduled shift will not receive the three-hour minimum compensation referred to above. Rather, these Officers will be entitled to a minimum of one hour of compensation at time-and-one-half for such court appearance. Officers on extended standby shall be paid as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In the event that the provisions of the FLSA do not require Officers to be paid for "extended standby," Officers shall receive pay or compensatory time at straight time rates. The decision to provide pay or compensatory time shall be within the discretion of the Chief of Police or his designee and shall not be subject to the grievance or arbitration procedures. 12.8. No supervisory official shall take action to cause the non-payment of straight time, time-and-one half, or compensatory time in circumstances wherein a member covered by this Agreement has performed work that entitled the member to such payment. However, nothing herein shall restrict the City or the Department from altering work schedules with five working days’ notice, whenever practical, excluding emergencies, or taking any other action to reduce the number of overtime, court time, or call-out hours worked by the members covered by this Agreement. 12.9. Compensatory Time a) The allocation of compensatory time will be exclusively determined by the City to a maximum accrued balance of 80 hours per employee. b) Compensatory time shall be utilized at the request of the employee upon five working days’ notice, subject to the approval of the Chief of Police or designee, whose approval shall be final, provided that the use of compensatory time does not mitigate minimum staffing requirements beyond a reduction of two Officers, and the use of the compensatory time  does not unduly disrupt the operations of the Police Department or impose an unreasonable burden on the Department's ability to provide Police services of acceptable quality and quantity to the public. c) Upon termination for any reason including retirement, all unused compensatory time shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of the FLSA. 12.10. The City and the FOP recognize the FLSA. The parties are desirous of maintaining the provisions of compensatory time as negotiated in the labor contract. However, if the FLSA mandates regulations contrary to the contract and no discretion is available in its implementation, the parties will recognize the provisions of the FLSA. 12.11. Effective October 1, 2009, the blood time credit benefit shall be discontinued, and no additional blood time may be accrued as of that date. Any member who has accrued blood time as of October 1, 2009, shall be entitled to maintain that accrued time and thereafter use it consistent with the current approval requirements or be paid for that accrued blood time upon termination or entry into Deferred Retirement Option Plan (“DROP”) at the member's current rate of pay. 12.12. By mutual agreement, the City and the FOP may open this article up for re- negotiation providing 30 days’ notice.  ARTICLE 15: GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES AND ARBITRATION 15.1. The parties recognize that state law, court decisions, and Attorney General opinions favor collective bargaining relative to the general scope of wages, hours, and working conditions. In a mutual effort to provide a harmonious working relationship between the parties to this Agreement, it is further agreed and understood by the parties that there shall be a procedure for the resolution of grievances between the parties and that such procedure shall cover both grievances involving the application or interpretation of this Agreement and grievances involving discharge, suspension, demotion, unsatisfactory observed behavior report, or any other adverse personnel action against a member covered by this Agreement. 15.2. Every effort will be made by the parties to settle any grievance as expeditiously as possible. Should either party fail to observe the time limits as set out in the steps of this Article, the grievance will automatically be processed to the next step of the procedure. Written responses for each of the steps detailed below may be sent to the appropriate party via-email. 15.3. Grievances shall be presented in the following manner and every effort shall be made by the parties to secure the prompt disposition of such grievances: Step 1: The member shall first take up his grievance with his immediate Supervisor within l0 days of the occurrence of the event(s) that gave rise to the grievance. Such meeting between the member and the member’s immediate Supervisor shall be on an informal and oral basis and, within five days thereafter, the immediate Supervisor shall respond in writing to the member presenting the grievance. Step 2: Any grievance that cannot be satisfactorily settled with the immediate Supervisor shall be reduced to writing by the member and presented to the Chief of Police or designee within 10 days after the immediate Supervisor's response is due. This shall be done either through a representative of the Employee Organization or by the member at the member's option. The grievance shall be discussed in a meeting by and between the member (or a representative of the Employee Organization) and the Chief of Police or designee within five days from submission of the written grievance. The Chief of Police or designee shall, within 10 days after this meeting, render aa decision, in writing, with a copy to the Employee Organization. Step 3: In the event the member is not satisfied with the disposition of the grievance in Step 2, the member shall have the right to appeal the Chief of Police's decision to the City Manager or designee within five days of the date of issuance of the Chief of Police's decision. Such appeal must be accompanied by the filing of a copy of  the original written grievance together with a letter signed by the member, or at the member's option, a representative of the Employee Organization, requesting that the Chief of Police's decision be reversed. The City Manager or designee shall, within 10 days of the filing of the appeal (or some longer period of time as is mutually agreed upon), render a decision, in writing, with a copy to the Employee Organization. 15.4. Where a grievance is general in nature, in that it applies to a number of members rather than a single member, or if the grievance is directly between the Employee Organization and the Department or the City, such grievance shall be presented in writing directly to the Chief of Police within the time limits provided for the submission of a grievance in Step 1. The grievance shall be signed by the aggrieved members or a representative of the Employee Organization. Thereafter, the Chief of Police shall forward the grievance to the City Manager or designee, and it shall be processed in accordance with the procedures set forth in Step 3. 15.5. The parties, recognizing that the public policy and prevailing law permit certain provisions of this CBA (i.e., the Grievance Procedure) to supersede general legislation, special legislation, and local ordinances, and desiring to give this CBA the maximum force and effect, agree that this grievance procedure shall be the sole and exclusive method of resolving any dispute concerning interpretation or application of any provision of this Agreement or any matter involving discharge, suspension or demotion against any member covered by this Agreement. A grievance over discharge, suspension or demotion, shall be filed directly with the Chief of Police at Step 2 of the grievance procedure, within the same time limits as for the initial filing of a grievance at Step 1. The arbitration procedure set forth below shall also apply. Probationary employees shall not have the right to utilize the grievance procedure. Employees may not file for arbitration for grievances related to contract interpretation. 15.6. In the event a grievance processed through the grievance procedure set forth above has not been resolved, either party shall file simultaneously, within 15 days after the City Manager or designee renders a written decision on the grievance, a demand for arbitration upon the City Manager or designee and a request to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to furnish a panel of seven names from which each party shall have the option of striking three names, thus leaving the seventh names, which will give a neutral or impartial arbitrator. 15.7. The City and the member (or the Employee Organization) shall mutually agree in writing as to the statement of the grievance to be arbitrated prior to the arbitration hearing, and the arbitrator, therefore, shall confine his decision to the particular grievance thus specified. In the event the parties fail to agree on the statement of the grievance to be submitted to the arbitrator, the arbitrator will confine his consideration and determination to the written statement of the grievance presented in Step 2 of the grievance procedure. The arbitrator shall have no authority to change, amend, add to, subtract from or otherwise alter or supplement  this Agreement or any part thereof or amendment thereto. The arbitrator shall have no authority to consider or rule upon any matter stated in this Agreement not to be subject to arbitration or which is not a grievance as defined in this Agreement; nor shall this CBA be construed by the arbitrator to supersede applicable laws in existence at the time of signing this Agreement, except to the extent as specifically provided herein. 15.8. The parties shall make their choice of the arbitrator within five days after receipt of the panel from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Copies of the arbitrator's award made in accordance with the jurisdiction and authority under this Agreement shall be furnished to both parties within 30 days of the closing of the arbitration hearing. The Arbitrator's award is both final and binding on all parties. 15.9. Each party shall bear the expense of its own witnesses and its own representatives. The arbitrator's bill shall be paid by the party that does not prevail, except that in disciplinary appeals, if the arbitrator modifies the penalty, then the arbitrator's bill shall be equally shared by the parties. Expense of obtaining a hearing room, if any, shall be equally divided between the parties. Any party desiring a transcript shall bear the cost of such transcript unless both parties mutually agree to share the cost. 15.10. These grievance and arbitration procedures shall have no application to the resolution of disputes between the parties concerning the terms of a new CBA to replace this Agreement. Disputes or grievances concerning shift transfers shall not be subject to the grievance procedure or arbitration. 15.11. All reference to "days" stated in this Article shall mean business days. 15.12. Grievances for unsatisfactory observed behavior reports shall be presented in the following manner and every effort shall be made by the parties to secure the prompt disposition of such grievance. Members (Officers/Sergeants): The member shall take up the grievance with their Division Major within 10 days of the member receiving the unsatisfactory observed behavior report, which gave rise to the grievance. Such meeting between the member and their Division Major shall be on an informal and oral basis and, within 10 days thereafter, their Division Major shall respond in writing to the member presenting the grievance. The Division Major shall have final authority in the unsatisfactory observed behavior grievance process. Members (Lieutenants): The member shall take up the grievance with their Assistant Chief of Police within 10 days of the member receiving the unsatisfactory observed behavior report, which gave rise to the grievance. Such meeting between the member and their Assistant Chief of Police shall be on an informal and oral basis and, within 10 days thereafter, their Assistant Chief of Police shall respond in writing to the member presenting the grievance. The Assistant Chief of Police shall have final authority in the unsatisfactory observed behavior grievance process. ARTICLE 18: FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE 18.1. As provided for in more detail in HR-050 “Family Leave,”” a member who has worked with the City at least 12 months and who has worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months immediately prior to the beginning date of the leave may be entitled to 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave during a 12 month period for specified family and medical reasons, as defined and controlled by the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) of 1993 and U.S. Department of Labor FMLA Regulations, as amended. a. Eligible Reasons for FMLA Leave: i. birth and care of a newborn child of the employee; ii. placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care; iii. care for an employee’s spouse (or registered domestic partner), parent, or child with a serious health condition; iv. serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of the employee’s job; v. exigency related to active-duty military service by the employee’s immediate family member; vi. up to 26 weeks of leave may be taken to care for a spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin who is a member of the Armed Forces and who is undergoing medical treatment or who is medically unfit to perform military duties due to an injury or illness incurred while on active duty. b. The conditions under which FMLA leave may be requested, the procedures to request FMLA leave, and the terms of such leave are set forth in detail in HR-050 “Family Leave.” 18.2. A leave of absence may be granted to maintain continuity of service in instances where the circumstances listed above require an employee's absence from work. Employees requesting a leave must provide the City with appropriate documentation. For female employees, a maternity leave of absence may be granted for a period of four months. ARTICLE 24: LEAVES OF ABSENCE 24.1. An employee member of this Bargaining Unit may request a leave of absence without pay: a. For personal sickness or disability; or  b. To engage in a full-time course of study; or c. For other good and sufficient reasons that are considered to be in the best interest of the City of Hollywood service. 24.2. Leave of Absence Without Pay (supra, Sec.1) may be granted by the Chief of Police, in his sole discretion, for a period not to exceed 120 days. Leave may be extended beyond the initial period at the sole discretion of the Chief of Police. 24.3. The employee will be responsible for any payroll benefits/pension contributions for benefits when and if the payroll distribution is insufficient to cover these contributions. Termination of benefits may occur if payment is not received within 31 days of the due date.  ARTICLE 28: BEREAVEMENT LEAVE 28.1. In the event of a death in the immediate family, an employee will be granted 40 hours with pay. Such leave shall not be charged to sick leave or vacation leave, or any other earned leave, but shall be in addition thereto. The City reserves the right to request proof of death upon the employee's return to duty. 28.2. Immediate family is defined as a spouse, child, step-child, foster child or child obtained through legal guardianship, mother, father, brother, sister, mother-in- law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, grandparents, grandparents in- law, step-mother, step-father, and domestic partners as defined by Broward County’s registration of domestic partners or any other county/state registration of domestic partners, legally appointed guardians or, with the City’s approval, any person who has acted in such a capacity relative to the employee.  ARTICLE 31: SENIORITY 31.1. The term "rank" when used in this Article shall mean Police Officer, Police Sergeant, and Police Lieutenant, Rank seniority shall be determined by date of appointment to respective ranks. If two or more employees attain rank seniority on the same date, seniority standing shall be determined by the test score used to establish their present rank. If the test score is the same, the date of application for employment with the Police Department will determine seniority status. 31.2. In the event of a layoff for any reason, employees shall be laid off in the inverse order of rank seniority in the affected rank(s). Employees who are to be laid off who have advanced to their present rank from a lower rank in which they held a permanent appointment, shall be offered a position in a lower rank for which the Employee is qualified. Seniority in the lower rank shall be established according to the date of the employee's permanent appointment to that rank. Employees who do not accept a lower rank shall be terminated. Employees shall be reinstated according to seniority in the rank from which the employee was laid off. Employees who do not accept reinstatement shall be terminated. 31.3. Vacations shall be chosen by rank seniority among members of each rank in each Section, Unit, or Division of the Police Department according to total accumulated time in rank within the Department. The Chief of Police shall have the sole right to determine how many members of each rank can be on vacation at any one time within each Section, Unit, or Division of the Police Department. Nothing contained herein shall be interpreted as restricting the Department's right to cancel all vacations during any event of disaster or emergency. 31.4. Seniority shall continue to accrue during all paid absences or leaves. Leave of absence without pay, for any reason, shall cause this date to be adjusted for an equivalent amount of time. 31.5. Transfers shall not be used for disciplinary purposes. 31.6. a. In the event of any permanent break in service occasioned by resignation, retirement, termination, or layoff, seniority credits shall cease, except that in the case of layoff only, if the employee is recalled, all such seniority credits shall be restored as adjusted by the period of absence caused by the layoff. b. If the former employee was a Police Officer, the officer’s salary shall be one pay step lower than that on the date of severance. c. If the former employee was a Sergeant or Lieutenant, the position on rehire shall be as a Police Officer at Step G of the Police Officer paygrade. d. The former employee, on re-hire in accordance with the above, shall be required to serve the standard one-year probationary period.  ARTICLE 33: PROBATIONARY PERIOD 33.1. The standard probationary period for all employees shall be one year from either of the following, whichever is later: a. The date of hire or promotion; or b. The date the employee achieves required education, certification, or specialized training; or c. The date the Chief of Police extends the probation not to exceed six months due to unique, exceptional, or extenuating circumstances. 33.2. Shifts spent as an acting sergeant or acting lieutenant (as established in Article 21) shall be counted towards the member’s promotional probationary time provided the member is promoted into the rank within six months of holding the acting rank. Shifts worked at a higher rank will be compiled in minimum increments of 40-hour blocks (4/10-hour shifts or 5/8-hour shifts) consisting of full shifts. The compiling of the qualifying days worked at a higher rank shall be the responsibility of the individual member. The maximum amount of acting time that shall be counted towards the member’s promotional probationary period shall be six months. 33.3. Upon expiration of the time period as outlined above (Section 1), the Department Head will make a positive or negative recommendation for retention of the employee in the regular service, only at which time the employee shall be granted regular status, or terminated, or in the case of promotion, the employee is returned to the employee’s former status. 33.4. In the event the Department Head shall inadvertently fail to make such recommendation, the employee's status shall not change, pending that action, not to exceed five working days from the date the action was due. 33.5. Failure to pass or complete probation cannot be appealed and is not subject to grievance or arbitration. 33.6. In cases where an employee is on probation or promotional probation and is on light duty, limited duty, administrative, relieved or extended leave of duty 30 days or longer, the standard probationary period will be extended by the amount of time an employee is absent or unable to fully perform the job. 33.7. The City, through the discretionary authority of the Chief of Police and the Director of Human Resources, has the right to place newly hired Police Officers within the C/starting step and the G/4 step of the pay scale range for Police Officers, based on the newly hired officer’s previous law enforcement experience.  ARTICLE 34: PERFORMANCE SERVICE RATING 34.1. A permanent employee who has successfully completed probation and who has received an overall performance service rating evaluation of unacceptable, may request an appeal within 10 calendar days of the receipt of the evaluation by making a request in writing to the next higher authority over the rater. Further appeals may be taken through the chain of command up to the Chief of Police. The Chief of Police will hear the appeal and render a decision in writing, which shall be final and binding. 34.2. The purpose of any appeal is to: a. Determine compliance with Performance Service Rating procedures; b. Determine whether the evaluation should be upheld or not and the reasons for the recommendation. 34.3. There shall be no Performance Service Rating evaluation placed in an employee's personnel folder unless the employee has been first given a copy.  ARTICLE 39: EDUCATION AND INCENTIVE PAY PROGRAM 39.1. It is the policy of the Police Department to assist permanent full-time Officers covered by this Agreement, where practical and feasible, to participate in training or educational programs designed to strengthen their abilities, which in turn directly benefits the Department by assisting them in performing their duties. In furtherance of this policy, the City shall provide employees certain terms and conditions as follows: a. To be eligible to participate in the Educational and Incentive Pay Program, a newly hired member must have achieved permanent status by successfully completing the probationary period. Effective October 1, 2009, employees who are participating in the DROP shall not be eligible for tuition reimbursement. b. Members must receive "satisfactory" or better Employee Performance Evaluations prior to the beginning of the course work. c. Employees shall only be reimbursed for one job related degree at each level (e.g., one Associates or one Bachelor's or one Master's level degree). d. Employees shall be limited each fiscal year to a maximum total of $3,000.00 annually for tuition reimbursement costs. e. Employees who receive benefits under this program who voluntarily leave the City’s employment within two years of receiving such benefit, shall be responsible for reimbursing the City for the entire cost of the benefit. f. The City Manager retains the discretionary authority to further limit or discontinue the tuition reimbursement program at any time in a fiscal year based on the availability of funds. 39.2. Members will be eligible for City reimbursement for the costs of books and tuition in the following manner: a. In order to be considered for the Educational and Incentive Pay Program, all course work must be properly approved prior to the beginning of the class by the Chief of Police. b. Members desiring reimbursement must submit a written request for approval from the Chief of Police. c. Reimbursement will be for courses leading to college or post graduate degrees. Reimbursement may be provided for on-line coursework for core courses required by a residential degree program. Tuition will not be  reimbursed for total on-line degree programs and/or on-line degree program electives. d. The refund amount payable shall be based upon the fee schedule of a State of Florida's public university or college at the time the course is completed, regardless of the fact that the member may be attending a private educational institution. e. When a member completes the approved course work, it is their responsibility to submit copies of the grades and tuition receipts to the Chief of Police. The reimbursement procedure for law enforcement related courses will consist of the following: 1. 100% reimbursement when a grade of "A" or B" is earned. 2. 100% reimbursement for successfully completing pass/fail courses. 3. 50% reimbursement when a grade of "C" is earned. 4. If the accredited institution only gives credit or no credit, a credit grade will be accepted as satisfactory completion and equal to a grade of "C." 5. Employees receiving aid or who have scholarship as well as employees qualifying for benefits under the G.I. Bill or other state or federal programs are eligible for reimbursement under this policy. However, financial assistance from other sources will offset any reimbursements payable by the City. The Program covers tuition costs and books. 39.3. There shall be no incentive payments by the City for achieving educational levels above the minimums required to hold any position in the Bargaining Unit. Education incentive payments as mandated by Florida State Statutes shall be made in accordance with those applicable statutes. 39.4. In the event the State of Florida should discontinue the mandate on Education and Incentive pay during the term of this Agreement, the parties agree to immediately commence negotiations, on this one issue only, on demand of the Union. Results of such negotiations shall be for the balance of the term of this Agreement and shall be incorporated herein. 39.5: If a member proposes to attend local schools to further his education, the City agrees that they will make reasonable efforts to accommodate scheduling to permit school attendance. It is understood that requests will be handled on a first come, first served basis and will not interfere with the effective operation of the Department.  ARTICLE 40: VEHICLE TAKE HOME 40.1. The purpose of this Article is to provide the appearance of additional police presence. To this end, there shall be a vehicle take-home policy, subject to the following: Members who have passed probation and who reside within the Tri-County area (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties) using a direct line radius measured from Police Headquarters shall: a) Have assigned take-home vehicles. b) Those members living outside the City limits of Hollywood but within the above noted boundaries will reimburse the City for the use of a take-home vehicle on a monthly basis according to the following mileage schedule, which shall be measured from Police Headquarters to each Officer’s residence: Up to 10 miles: $50 10.1 to 20 miles: $55 20.1 to 30 miles $60 30.1 to 45 miles: $70 45.1 or more miles $100 c) A policy will be established by the Chief of Police for the use of vehicles. However, any such policy will not abridge the current Department Policy, which allows the Chief of Police to approve the utilization of vehicles for authorized extra duty employment. d) Upon the sole discretion of the Chief of Police, those members on probation who have successfully completed the FTO program may have an assigned vehicle, contingent upon availability. 40.2. Vehicles that by the nature of their assignment require security and/or maintenance of equipment and/or rapid response to their specialized duty assignments, may be authorized by the Chief of Police or designee, in his sole discretion, for take-home use upon the completion of a member's tour of duty, and will not be subject to Section 40.1(b). 40.3. In order to be allowed route deviation from more than 5 miles from the route from the Bargaining Unit member’s assigned station to their home, Bargaining Unit members using a City take-home vehicle must purchase, at the Bargaining Unit member’s sole expense, an insurance rider for personal use of the City’s vehicle. Under no circumstances are personal passengers allowed in a City vehicle being used as a take-home vehicle. Specific procedures, requirements and regulations will be in accordance with SOP # 215.1 Police Vehicles. This is not subject to the  grievance and arbitration procedures as the Chief of Police has the sole discretion to authorize route deviation. 40.4. No Bargaining Unit member will be denied the use of a City take-home vehicle except in those instances wherein a member has been found to have violated the take-home vehicle policy or the accident vehicle policy. Therefore, at the member's option, appeals may be made to the Chief of Police. The Chief of Police’s determination shall be final and binding on the Bargaining Unit member. The suspension of the use of a take-home vehicle cannot be appealed through the grievance and arbitration procedure. 40.5. Any Bargaining Unit member who is assigned to light or limited duty status due to a medical and/or psychological condition, as well as any Bargaining Unit member who is relieved of duty based on a pending internal affairs investigation shall not be entitled to the take-home vehicle benefit (or the equipment described in Article 29). Any Bargaining Unit member who is assigned to light or limited duty status for any reason other than those stated in the prior sentence and who would otherwise be entitled to a take- home vehicle under this Article, but whose assigned duties do not require the use of a City vehicle, will receive, in the Chief of Police’s sole discretion, either a take-home vehicle or a vehicle allowance not to exceed $200.00 per month.  ARTICLE 44: EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 44.1. The City cares about the well-being of all employees on and off the job and provides a comprehensive Employee Assistance Program (“EAP”). An EAP offers covered employees and family members free and convenient access to a range of confidential and professional services to help address a variety of problems that may negatively affect employee or family member’s well-being. For this Agreement, coverage includes 10 free face-to-face or telephonic visits with a specialist, per person, per issue, per year, including online material/tools and webinars. The program is available to all employees and family members and employee participation in the EAP shall be voluntary, confidential and not used for, or considered in matters relating to performance evaluation, discipline, transfers or promotions. An employee’s participation in the EAP may not mitigate and/or avoid disciplinary action, unless otherwise determined by the Chief of Police or designee. 44.2. The City will exclusively determine the EAP provider and the level of service provided.