§ 14-172. Leave without pay; voluntary leave without pay program.

(a)

Department directors may grant, upon good reason, leaves of absence without pay for as many as 14 consecutive calendar days for full-time employees in the classified or unclassified service. All leaves in excess of 14 calendar days shall be reported promptly to the commission on forms prescribed by the commission. Commission approval of leaves without pay extending for more than 14 calendar days shall be required before such leaves shall be authorized. The commission, with the exception of those leaves known as military leave, shall not approve of more than 90 consecutive calendar days of leave at any one time, but the commission may subsequently approve extensions of a leave as long as a total of 180 calendar days of leave without pay in one 12-month period is not exceeded. Leaves without pay extending for more than 180 calendar days shall be authorized only after the request for the same is approved by the council. A leave for less than 180 days and more than 14 calendar days may be cancelled by the commission upon reasonable notice to the employee.

(b)

Employees who begin a leave on Monday shall be paid for the preceding Saturday and Sunday. Employees who begin a leave on Tuesday or other weekday which immediately follows a council-approved holiday, or who return from a leave on the day immediately following such a holiday, shall not be paid for that holiday. Saturdays, Sundays, off-days and holidays which come during a leave without pay shall be without pay, as also shall Saturdays, Sundays and off-days which terminate a leave.

(c)

If an employee returns to work before his leave expires, the employee's department director shall notify promptly the human resources department in writing, and, furthermore, the employee's department director will notify the human resources department in writing if an employee fails to return on the working day next following the end of this leave. Failure to return within three days from a leave shall be taken as evidence of job abandonment.

(d)

In time of war or emergency, an employee who serves in the Uniformed Military Forces of the United States shall be granted a military leave without pay but shall be eligible for reinstatement to his former position and all other entitlements consistent with the requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, as amended.

(e)

When budgetary constraints require a reduction in expenditures, the mayor is authorized to implement, as needed, a program of voluntary and/or involuntary leaves of absence without pay (furloughs) whereby employees will not come to work and will not be paid on a regular work day. The mayor must designate and approve the parameters of such a program (the Furlough Plan) in advance. The Furlough Plan must specify: (1) whether furloughs will be voluntary, involuntary, or both, (2) the limited duration of time either or both shall be in effect, (3) whether furloughs will be citywide or department specific, (4) the date(s) either or both programs will be activated and implemented, (5) the civil service systems and respective employee groups, pay grades or classifications affected, (6) the minimum and maximum number of days or hours to be taken as furlough, and (7) the time period during which furloughs must be taken. Furloughs must affect all designated employee group members consistently (i.e. all employees in each affected group will be treated the same as all other members of that group) and (8) all Federal and State laws concerning labor standards and pay will be followed.

(f)

At the direction of the mayor, the director will promulgate procedures for each type of furlough authorized consistent with sections 14-172(a) through 14-172(e) of this Code and the parameters specified in the Furlough Plan. During the course of a furlough, whether voluntary or involuntary, the mayor may alter or revise specific components of the program to respond to changes in the city's financial condition and the director will modify procedures accordingly. Any furlough taken will be appropriately noted on each affected employee's attendance records and will in no way be regarded as an unauthorized absence, a permanent reduction in pay, a reduction in force or contribute toward disciplinary action. A furlough shall not affect the employee's accrual of sick and vacation leave or eligibility for health insurance or other benefits, subject, however, to any relevant provisions in an applicable pension agreement.

( Ord. No. 2015-1300, § 2(Exh. A), 12-16-2015 )