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HomeMy Public PortalAbout03 - 2020-3 - SICK LEAVE AND PERSONNEL MATTERS ORDINANCE 2020-3 AN ORDINANCE ADDRESSING SICK LEAVE,FMLA AND OTHER PERSONNEL MATTERS DURING A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY WHEREAS,the novel coronavirus 2019, (COVID-19) has quickly spread across the country, posing great risk to parts of our community and creating a Public Health Emergency; WHEREAS, the Center for Disease Control and local health officials recommend self- quarantine at home for anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 in order to slow or stop the spread of the virus; WHEREAS, City employees may earn sick leave, vacation time, personal days (Accrued Paid Leave) as a benefit to their employment with the City; WHEREAS, the City also maintains a sick bank of donated unused sick time for employees that face extraordinary and extenuating circumstances due to illness or injury or for employees who have failed to accumulate paid sick leave, vacation leave, personal leave or compensatory time off; WHEREAS, Congress passed the"Families First Coronavirus Response Act" (the Act) on March 18, 2020, amending the Family and Medical Leave Act and providing paid leave for certain employees for specified times, during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Said Act takes effect April 2, 2020; and, WHEREAS, the City wishes to provide guidance for the implementation of the Act, expand the City's personnel policies and issue additional guidance on related matters. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GREENCASTLE hereby orders that the following are in effect until further action of the Common Council: 1. Stay At Home Order. If an employee meets the conditions in one of the five classes listed below,the employee will be ordered to stay home from work: a. The United States, State of Indiana or City of Greencastle is subject to a quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19; b. The employee has been advised by a health care provider or public health official to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19; c. The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis; d. The employee has travelled to a high risk location as determined by the CDC or has been exposed to someone who either has the underlying condition or exhibits symptoms of the underlying condition but has not tested positive; e. The employee is caring for or resides with a person described in subsections b.,c., and d.,above; or f. The Mayor or Clerk-Treasurer determines that the employee should stay at home for the health or safety of the employee or the health or safety of other employees or the public. 4 An employee will not be allowed to return to work until it is determined that he/she does not present a health risk of the underlying condition of the declared pandemic or public health emergency. 2. Telework. The Mayor and the Clerk-Treasurer,may require certain employees(e.g.non- critical or non-essential)to refrain from coming to their work stations if work can be performed at home. In such case,the employee is expected to perform those job functions from home during the employee's regularly scheduled non-overtime work hours. The employee must be available by phone to respond to calls from other City officials and must be available to return to his/her work station within two(2)hours of notice from his/her supervisor,Mayor,Clerk-Treasurer,or his/her designee. The employee may not work or earn compensation from any other source during the employee's regularly scheduled non-overtime work hours. Employees shall document their time worked and work performed on forms prescribed by the Clerk-Treasurer. 3. Flex-Time and Additional Duties. In order to protect the health and safety of employees, and/or maintain operations of the City during this emergency health crisis, it may become necessary to adjust employees' schedules and assign additional job duties. a. Flex-time. The Mayor,Clerk-Treasurer and Department Heads have the authority to "flex"or change an employee's schedule in order to limit the number of employees at the workplace at any given time,or to otherwise accommodate the operations of the City. The employee is required to work the new schedule unless the employee is taking approved leave. b. Additional Duties. The Mayor,Clerk-Treasurer and Department Heads have the authority to assign additional duties to an employee which may,or may not be related to the employee's current position in order to maintain the operations of the City.The employee is required to perform the additional duties as assigned. 4. Emergency Closings. a. Emergency Building Closure. Until April 7,2020,access to all City buildings, offices and facilities by the public is restricted to only those members of the public needing to conduct services essential to public health and safety which cannot otherwise be conducted electronically,telephonically and/or delayed. The Mayor has the authority to extend this deadline. b. Emergency Stay Home Pay. The Mayor or the Clerk-Treasurer may order that certain,or all,employees shall stay at home regardless of whether there is work for them to do at home. For those who do not have jobs that can be performed at home or other duties assigned to them under subsection 3.b.,above,they will receive pay for their regularly scheduled non-overtime work-hours(Emergency Stay Home Pay). If any of the employee's job functions can be performed from home,the employee is expected to perform those job functions from home during the employee's regularly scheduled non-overtime work hours. During the employee's regularly scheduled non- overtime work hours during the emergency,the employee is considered"on-call"and, therefore,must be available by phone to respond to calls from other City officials and must be available to return to their work station within two(2)hours of notice from his/her supervisor,the Mayor,or Clerk-Treasurer or their designees. The employee may not work or earn compensation from any other source during the employee's regularly scheduled non-overtime work hours. Emergency Stay Home Pay shall not be available when an employee qualifies for other types of Leave described herein. a 5. Federal Emergency Sick Leave. a. The City shall follow the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act(EPSLA)passed by Congress,as it may be amended from time to time,which takes effect April 2,2020. If amendments occur,this Ordinance shall be amended automatically to conform to the current Act. The Act expires on December 31,2020. b. Eligibility. All employees,regardless of numbers of days worked for the City,or whether the employee is full or part-time shall be eligible for the benefits described in this Section,unless specifically excluded herein. The City shall provide sick time under the EPSLA to the extent that the employee is unable to work(or telework)due to a need for leave because: i. the employee is subject to a Federal, State,or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19; ii. the employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19; iii. the employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis; iv. the employee is caring for an individual who is subject to an order as described in subparagraph i.or ii.,above; v. the employee is caring for a son or daughter of such employee if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed,or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable,due to COVID-19 precautions; or, vi. the employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor. The employee shall receive 100%of the employee's regular rate of pay for items i.,ii., iii.,and vi.,above. The employee shall receive two-thirds(2/3)of the employee's regular rate of pay for items iv.,and v.,above. c. Duration of Federal Paid Sick Time. The amount of paid sick time to which an employee is entitled shall be as follows: i. Full-time: 1. For regular 40 hour per week employees: up to 80 hours; 2. For full-time firefighters,a number of hours equal to the number of hours that such employee works,on average,over a 2-week period, but in no case less than 80 hours; ii. Part-time: For part-time employees,a number of hours equal to the number of hours that such employee works,on average,over a 2-week period. or until the need for the paid sick time ceases. d. Accrued days. Sick days under the EPSLA are in addition to any regular sick days which the employee has accrued or may accrue under current City Employee Handbook. Beginning April 2,2020, employees shall not be required to use any accrued sick,vacation or personal days prior to taking sick leave under the EPSLA. ., e. Exclusions. All emergency responders(police officers and firefighters)are exempt from the provisions contained and coverage provided under subsections and b.iv., 11..I. above. f. Additional sick time. After an employee has used his/her allowed Sick Time under subsection c., above,but remains sick due to COVID-19,the employee may do either or the following: i. Full-time employees who have already contributed to the Shared Sick Leave Bank pursuant to the Employee Manual may first use Sick Bank hours(up to the allotted limit)until the employee is approved for short-term disability benefits. The employee may also use Shared Sick Leave Bank hours(up to the allotted limit)to make up the difference of the remaining one-third(1/3) of the employee's regular rate of pay if the employee is taking leave under subsection 5.b.iv.,or 5.b.v.,above or while the employee is on short-term disability. ii. Employees who have not contributed to the Shared Sick Leave Bank may choose to use any accumulated benefit time which the employee has in order to receive the difference in the Emergency Sick Leave Pay(2/3)and their regular rate of pay. This can be done by using accrued sick,vacation and personal days. The City provides full-time employees short-term disability,which pays employees at a rate of two-thirds(2/3)their regular rate of pay,after a thirty-day absence. 6. Federal Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion. a. The City shall follow the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA)passed by Congress,as it may be amended from time to time. The Act takes effect April 2,2020. If amendments occur,this Ordinance shall be amended automatically to conform to the current Act. The Act supplements the already existing FMLA protections. b. Eligibility. All employees,who have been employed by the City for thirty days, whether they are full-or part-time shall be eligible for the benefits described in this Section,unless specifically excluded under subsection e.,below. c. Qualifying Need. In order to claim benefits under this Section,an employee must have a qualifying need related to a public health emergency,which means"the employee is unable to work(or telework)due to a need for leave to care for the son or daughter under 18 years of age of such employee if the school or place of care has been closed,or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable,due to a public health emergency." d. Administration i. Employees shall provide FMLA paperwork as prescribed by the Office of the Clerk-Treasurer in order to request FMLA leave under the EFMLEA. Employees shall provide as much notice as is practicable. ii. The City hereby waives the optional ten(10)day waiting period set out in the EFMLEA and employees may begin taking FMLA under the EFMLEA beginning April 2, 2020. The City shall provide paid leave to employees requesting FMLA under this Section at the rate of two-thirds(2/3)the employee's regular rate of pay as defined by the EFMLEA,and payments shall not exceed$200 per day,and$10,000 total, for up to twelve weeks, or until the qualifying need ceases to exist,whichever occurs first. iii. Full-time employees who have already contributed to the Shared Sick Leave Bank pursuant to the Employee Manual may use Sick Bank hours(up to the allotted limit)to pay leave for the remaining one-third(1/3)of the employee's regular rate of pay. iv. Employees who have not contributed to the Shared Sick Leave Bank may choose to use any accumulated benefit time which the employee has in order to receive the difference in the EFMLEA pay(2/3)and their regular rate of pay. This can be done by using accrued sick,vacation and personal days v. Benefits herein shall be available to an employee until the qualifying need ceases to exist,or for up to the 12 week limit,pursuant to the EFMLEA, whichever occurs first. e. Exclusions. All emergency responders(police officers and firefighters)are exempt from the above provisions. 7. Vacation Time Accrual. Due to the dangerous nature of COVID-19,many employees have had to cancel vacations; others may have vacation requests denied due to the operational needs of the City. For those reasons, Section 303 of the City of Greencastle Employee Handbook,which requires employees to take all vacation leave within a 12-month period, and limits the number of vacation hours an employee may accumulate, is hereby waived. Employees may continue to accumulate hours in excess of the limits and shall have until June 30,2021 to use any days that exceed the hours allowed under Section 303. The City shall revert to the original language in Section 303 on July 1,2021,and any hours exceeding the amount allowed on that date shall be lost and shall not carry forward. 8. General. a. Employees shall continue to accrue sick,vacation and personal days during any leave taken described herein. b. The Mayor and the Clerk-Treasurer have the authority to administer this Ordinance and to create policies and guidelines for implementation and to otherwise create policies to address the public health emergency caused by or related to COVID-19, that are not inconsistent with this or other City Ordinances. c. The Clerk-Treasurer shall implement policies and provide employee directives for proper time-keeping to accommodate the above changes during the public health emergency. d. If any provision contained herein is,or becomes, inconsistent with Federal laws,that provision is hereby repealed, in which case,the remainder of the Ordinance shall remain if full force and effect. This Ordinance hereby amends any sections of the City of Greencastle Employee Handbook or any other City Ordinance,Resolution,policy or procedure which is in conflict with this Ordinance. All other terms and provisions within the Employee Handbook shall remain in full force and effect. PASSED AND RESOLVED by the Common Council of the City of Greencastle at its Emergency Meeting this 25 day of Mho-G4! , 2020. • COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GREENCASTLE, INDIANA 4404)6L,,...„„„( Mark Hammer • •.m Cs en Tyl r Wade cie Langdo A ' II a e Murray nica Pejril (//-4 Codyrt Approved and signed by me this-10(‘day of M M-44 , 2020 at (p'.30'clock Q .m. • ',1.4:1 rWilliam A. Dory,Jr., Mayor Attest: L :a Dunbar, -Trea • -