Sec. 40-331. - Eligibility—Elected, appointed and classified.

For purposes of this division, "eligible employees" shall be those elective, appointed and classified service employees that are eligible for city benefits as provided in this chapter and who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

(Ord. No. 04-010(sub 1), § 1, 4-15-04)

Sec. 40-332. - Holidays with pay.

(a)

The following and such other days as the mayor may designate shall be holidays with pay for eligible employees: New Year's Day; the third Monday in January, known as Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday; the third Monday in February, known as Presidents' Day; the last Monday in May, known as Memorial Day; the fourth day of July, known as Independence Day; the first Monday in September, known as Labor Day; the fourth Monday in October, known as Veterans' Day; Thanksgiving Day, whenever proclaimed, and the Friday after Thanksgiving; Christmas Day; and the day of general election as it biennially occurs.

(b)

Any eligible employee whose regularly scheduled day off falls on a holiday shall be entitled to eight hours of straight time holiday pay.

(c)

Any eligible employee who is required to work on a holiday listed in subsection (a) of this section shall be compensated at double his/her regular rate for time actually worked on the holiday. In addition, such employees shall receive eight hours of straight time holiday pay.

(d)

If any holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be the legal holiday. If any holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be the legal holiday.

(e)

If any of the legal holidays fall within an employee's scheduled vacation period, the employee shall receive holiday pay and the holiday shall not be counted as vacation time.

(f)

Any eligible employee absent from work without excuse on either of his/her last scheduled work day before any holiday, the holiday if scheduled to work the holiday, or his/her first scheduled work day after any holiday shall forfeit any holiday pay otherwise due.

(Ord. No. 04-010(sub 1), § 1, 4-15-04; Ord. No. 11-045, § 1, 10-6-11)

Sec. 40-332.1. - Floating day.

(a)

All regular employees currently employed with the City of Wilmington shall be entitled to two floating days annually which will be credited on January 1st.

(b)

Employees hired on or after January 1st will receive the following number of floating days (which will be prorated) based on their hire date:

(c)

These days must be used in the year accumulated and cannot be carried over into any subsequent year. Also, floating days cannot be donated to other employees.

(d)

Floating days shall be granted in accordance with departmental operational needs and should be requested in advance following the same process used to request vacation time. The employee can only use the floating day as a whole day off. Under exigent circumstances, the city shall have the right to cancel or reschedule any approved floating days. Any approved floating day which is cancelled by a supervisor and/or department head shall immediately be restored to the employee. The usage of unplanned/unscheduled floating days is not permitted.

(e)

Floating day pay shall be at the employee's base rate of pay and cannot be paid in advance of the employee taking the scheduled day off or being paid prior to the accumulation of the floating day. If a holiday falls within an employee's scheduled usage of floating days, the employee shall receive holiday pay.

(f)

Employees are not permitted to work when scheduled off for usage of a floating day. However, in the event that an employee is called in to work due to an emergency situation, the employee will be paid at straight time and the time for the floating day will be restored to the employee.

(g)

An eligible employee who leaves employment with the city shall not be paid for any unused floating days. Any employee who is recalled, rehired or reinstated to city employment shall be entitled to the restoration of any unused floating days that were available prior to their leaving employment with the City of Wilmington.

(h)

Floating days can be used while an employee is on an approved leave of absence. However, employees who are utilizing their available sick time while on leave must use a minimum of ten sick days prior to utilizing floating days.

(Ord. No. 11-045, § 1, 10-6-11)

Sec. 40-333. - Vacation.

(a)

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, all paid vacation shall be earned, taken and paid as follows:

(1)

One working day per month during the first six months of continuous employment; however, no vacation may be taken until the employee has worked at least six months, except as otherwise provided for elective and appointed service in this chapter.

(2)

One working day per month after the completion of the first six months of continuous employment until the next January 1st. Each January 1st thereafter, s/he will be credited with 12 days of vacation for the calendar year, until the completion of five years of continuous service (i.e., the day beginning the employee's sixth year of employment), at which time the employee will be credited with an additional three days of vacation for a total of 15 days for the year.

(3)

Each January 1st thereafter, s/he will be credited with 15 days of vacation for the calendar year, until the completion of nine years of service (i.e., the day beginning the employee's tenth year of employment), at which time the employee will be credited with an additional five days of vacation for a total of 20 days for the year.

(4)

Each January 1st thereafter, s/he will be credited with 20 days of vacation for the calendar year, until the completion of 12 years of service (i.e., the day beginning the employee's thirteenth year of employment), at which time the employee will be credited with an additional two days of vacation for a total of 22 days for the year.

(5)

Each January 1st thereafter, s/he will be credited with 22 days of vacation for the calendar year, until the completion of 15 years of service (i.e., the day beginning the employee's sixteenth year of employment), at which time the employee will be credited with an additional three days of vacation for a total of 25 days for the year.

(6)

Any employee who is recalled, rehired, or reinstated to city employment shall earn vacation time on a pro-rata basis in the first calendar year of such employment. However, if the employee was paid out for vacation in the year in which the employee is reemployed, s/he shall accrue no vacation time in the first year of reemployment.

(7)

Accumulation of vacation time or service credit shall be based upon service with the city only; any time or service in the employ of any other political subdivision of the state shall not apply.

(8)

Employees rehired or reinstated to city employment who had five or more years of continuous service in a regular position(s) shall receive credit for all prior employment for purposes of vacation accrual. Rehired or reinstated employees with less than five years of service in a regular position(s) shall not receive credit for prior service.

(b)

Vacation shall not be accumulated from year to year, but must be taken in the calendar year in which it is earned, except that a maximum of ten days of vacation may be carried over into the following calendar year. In extenuating circumstances and with the approval of the director of personnel, more than ten vacation days may be carried over, provided the request is made before the end of the calendar year from which the days are carried over and the vacation days are used in the year into which they are carried.

(c)

Upon ten working days written notice by an eligible employee, and approval of the employee's immediate supervisor and the director of personnel or designee, the city will provide vacation pay in advance to the employee.

(d)

If a holiday falls within an employee's scheduled vacation period, the employee shall receive holiday pay and the holiday shall not be counted as vacation time.

(e)

Vacation preferences shall be granted on the basis of departmental seniority and in accordance with operational requirements. Under exigent circumstances, the city shall have the right to cancel or reschedule any vacation granted.

(f)

Vacation pay shall be at the employee's base rate of pay.

(Ord. No. 04-010(sub 1), § 1, 4-15-04)

Sec. 40-334. - Combined leave.

(a)

For the purpose of benefit accumulation and accrual, sick and family leave shall be combined and shall be called combined leave. For reporting purposes, however, sick leave and family leave shall be separate and distinct.

(b)

Paid combined leave shall be earned by all regular employees from the commencement of regular employment, but may not be used or paid until an employee has completed three months of continuous regular employment. Upon the recommendation of the commissioner or the department head and with the approval of the director of personnel, combined leave may be credited for time worked as a limited service employee up to a maximum of 90 calendar days, if followed immediately by employment in the classified service.

(c)

Eligible employees shall earn paid combined leave at the rate of one day for each calendar month of continuous service, provided that the employee has worked and/or been on paid vacation and/or combined leave for at least 13 working days of the month. The leave shall be credited on the 13th working day of each month and may be accumulated up to a maximum of 240 days. Combined leave shall be earned based on the employee's regular work schedule; no additional combined leave shall be earned through performance of overtime work. The accumulation schedule for all eligible employees is as follows:

(d)

Combined leave shall not be taken in advance of being earned. If an employee does not have sufficient combined leave credits to cover a period of absence, payroll deduction for the time lost shall be made for the period of absence in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act; provided, however, that earned vacation time may be used for this purpose if the employee so elects.

(e)

Sick leave and family leave shall be granted under the following conditions to eligible employees:

(1)

Sick leave shall be granted to employees who are incapacitated from the performance of their duties by non work-related sickness or injury; or a serious medical condition as defined by the Family and Medical Leave Act or for medical, dental or optical examination or treatment; or when, due to exposure to contagious disease, the presence of the employee at the workplace would jeopardize the health of others.

(2)

Family leave shall be granted to employees who have an immediate family member who is afflicted with a serious medical condition as defined in Family and Medical Leave Act that requires the care and attendance of the employee. For purposes of family leave, "immediate family" shall mean the employee's mother, father, spouse, son, daughter, including sons or daughters by birth, lawful adoption, stepchildren, foster children, and those minor children for whom the city employee is acting in loco parentis.

(f)

In order to receive paid combined leave, eligible employees must comply with the following conditions. Employees who take time off, but do not comply with following conditions will not be paid for time off:

(1)

Employees must report off by notifying their immediate supervisor(s) prior to their regularly scheduled starting time on each day they are absent or as otherwise required by department policy.

(2)

A physician's statement certifying the medical justification for an employee's absence will not regularly be required, but will be required for absences of three or more consecutive working days, upon the employee's return to work.

(3)

If an employee is absent from work due to personal illness or the illness of an immediate family member and expects to be away from work more than nine consecutive working days, no later than the tenth day of such absence the employee must submit a doctor's certificate to his or her immediate supervisor, together with a written indication of the anticipated length of absence. All doctor's certificates shall be forwarded to the medical dispensary and will become a part of the employee's medical record.

(g)

Approved sick leave and/or family leave shall be documented by the responsible commissioner or the department head upon forms prescribed by the director of personnel, which shall be forwarded to the personnel department for the employee's personnel file or confidential medical file, as appropriate. The commissioner or department head shall maintain complete and accurate leave records. Records of combined leave accumulated and taken shall be available to the employee.

(h)

Any eligible employee who exhausts his/her accumulated combined leave and who is suffering from an extended illness, is required to use all of his or her accrued vacation time, with the exception of one week which may be retained at the employee's discretion.

(i)

If the employee exhausts his/her accrued sick and vacation time (with the exception of one week, as provided above) and remains absent from work because of illness, the director of personnel may grant additional combined leave upon the employee's request with good cause and the recommendation of the department head/commissioner. Any single extension shall be limited to two work weeks at one-half pay.

(j)

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, an eligible employee who leaves employment with the city, or the estate of an employee who dies while employed by the city, and who has accumulated between 60 and 100 days of combined leave, will be eligible to receive $25.00 per day for each day of accumulated combined leave. Eligible employees who have accumulated between 101 and 240 days of combined leave will be eligible to receive $30.00 per day for each day of accumulated combined leave. For the purpose of this subsection, no employee who has been terminated from employment for gross misconduct shall be eligible or have a claim for accumulated combined leave.

(Ord. No. 04-010(sub 1), § 1, 4-15-04)

Sec. 40-335. - Administrative leave.

At the discretion of the director of personnel, administrative leave with or without pay may be granted when circumstances warrant the removal of an employee from the workplace during the course of an on-going investigation by the city of alleged work-related misconduct. Administrative leave may be granted to an employee who is alleged to have engaged in work-related misconduct or, if it would be prudent for reasons of security or safety to grant such leave, to any other employee.

(Ord. No. 04-010(sub 1), § 1, 4-15-04)

Sec. 40-336. - Bereavement leave.

(a)

All regular city employees shall be granted up to four working days paid leave for a death in the employee's extended family. This leave shall commence when requested by the employee, but in no event later than one week after the death. In exceptional circumstances the director of personnel may grant the leave request at a later date. One additional day of paid leave may be granted at management's discretion for necessary travel to distant states for funeral services. The time off allowed in the case of a death in the employee's immediate family shall not be charged either as combined leave or vacation time.

(b)

For purposes of this section, the employee's extended family includes husband, wife, child, grandchild, parent, brother, sister, grandparent, great-grandparent, step-parent, spouses' parent and grandparent, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and any person for whom the employee acts in loco parentis.

(c)

Upon the death of a near relative not listed above, eligible employees may take up to three days vacation time with departmental approval.

(Ord. No. 04-010(sub 1), § 1, 4-15-04)

Sec. 40-337. - Jury and court leave.

In recognition that every citizen is obligated to serve as a juror when called upon to do so, any regular employee called for jury service or subpoenaed as a witness will be granted leave with full pay, less any jury pay or witness fee received. To receive such pay, the employee must file a copy of his/her jury summons or subpoena with the personnel department prior to commencement of the leave; upon the employee's return, s/he must provide the personnel department with documentation of service and payment of any fees received as a juror or witness as provided in the summons or subpoena.

(Ord. No. 04-010(sub 1), § 1, 4-15-04)

Sec. 40-338. - Military leave, military differential pay and mobilization pay.

(a)

For purposes of this section "armed forces" is defined to include the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. "Reserve components" is defined to include the federally recognized National Guard and Air National Guard of the United States, the Officers' Reserve Corps, the Regular Army Reserve, the Air Reserve, the Enlisted Reserve Corps, the Naval Reserve, the Marine Corps Reserve and the Coast Guard.

(b)

Any employee of the city who is a member of the National Guard or any reserve component of the armed forces of the United States will be entitled to a leave of absence during any period in which s/he is engaged in the performance of official duty or training, under competent orders.

(c)

Full service credit with the city shall be allowed all employees for time spent in military service, provided the employee goes directly from city employment into military service and makes application for reemployment as provided by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ("USERRA"), 38 U.S.C. § 4301 et seq.

(d)

Employees on military leave for required annual training shall be eligible for a salary differential equivalent to their regular base pay less military pay for a period not to exceed a total of 15 working days in the calendar year.

(e)

To receive payment of the salary differential, an employee must file with the personnel department a copy of his/her official orders prior to commencement of the leave; upon the employee's return, s/he must provide the personnel department with a certification from his/her commanding officer of the performance of duty in accordance with terms of the orders.

(f)

Any city employee who enters active duty or is called to active duty, other than for voluntary training, as a result of a reserve or national guard obligation shall receive the difference between his or her city base salary and his or her military pay, provided that the employee's city base pay is greater. This differential shall be paid for a time period up to one year from the date the employee reports to active military service duty and shall cease upon termination of the active duty assignment.

(g)

Other benefits. Eligible city employees shall receive uninterrupted health insurance benefits at the same level as before the employee was called to active duty for a period of up to one year from the date the employee actually reports to active military service. The employee shall also be allowed to continue pension contributions based on his or her normal base pay, and vacation and sick leave shall continue to accrue.

(h)

The employee must notify the director of personnel immediately upon receiving notification of his or her orders to report to active military duty, and provide a hard copy of those orders as soon as they become available.

(i)

The employee must provide the director of personnel with a copy of his or her military pay stub and/or his or her leave earnings statement. Military pay shall be defined as the employee's military base pay plus any additional payments, including, but not limited to, hazardous, flight, combat and temporary assignment pay, but excluding any military housing allowance. Under no circumstances shall the supplemental benefit paid by the city, combined with the employee's military pay, exceed the amount the employee would have received as his or her city base salary.

(j)

An employee shall not be eligible to receive mobilization pay or his/her salary during that period of time after leaving active military duty and before his/her actual resumption of city employment.

(k)

This section shall be reviewed by the administrative board prior to September 11, 2004. Any employee called to active duty up to September 10, 2004, shall be eligible for this benefit.

(Ord. No. 04-010(sub 1), § 1, 4-15-04)

Related laws reference—Military leave of absence, § 2-151.

Sec. 40-339. - Authorized absence.

(a)

Upon the request of the employee and the recommendation of the commissioner or department head, the director of personnel may grant an unpaid leave of absence to an employee who, immediately preceding the effective date of such leave, has completed at least one year of continuous service. An employee shall not be entitled to a leave of absence as a matter of right, but only upon good and sufficient reason.

(b)

Requests for leave of absence shall be made on forms as prescribed by the director of personnel and shall state specifically the reason for the request, the date when the employee desires to begin his leave, and the probable date of return. The director of personnel shall then make his or her recommendation and transmit his reply to the commissioner or department head.

(c)

Any leave of absence granted by the director of personnel may not exceed the period of one year. Upon the request of employee, in exigent circumstances, the director of personnel may grant additional leave.

(d)

Failure of the employee to return to his or her employment upon the termination of any authorized leave of absence shall constitute a separation from service.

(e)

The director of personnel shall have the right to revoke or cancel any authorized leave for reasons that he or she finds to be sufficient.

(f)

Nothing contained in this section shall limit or prevent the director of personnel from granting an unpaid leave of absence even though the employee does not meet the one year of continuous service requirement specified above when good and sufficient reason is demonstrated.

(g)

Leaves of absence granted by the director of personnel shall not be construed as a break in service or employment, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. However, an employee who returns after an unpaid leave of absence shall receive the same step in the salary range he or she received when he began his or her leave of absence. Time spent on such leave shall not count toward service for increases within the salary range, and the employee's salary anniversary date shall be set forward one month for each 30 consecutive calendar days taken. However, service and other credits for any military leave, whether paid or unpaid, shall be treated in accordance with state and federal law.

(Ord. No. 04-010(sub 1), § 1, 4-15-04)

Sec. 40-340. - Donated leave.

(a)

Donated leave. Regular employees who have completed at least one year of continuous employment may be eligible to donate up to 20 days of accumulated leave (sick or vacation) to the donated leave bank per calendar year. Employees shall donate in equal amounts accrued sick and vacation leave to the donated leave bank. Donations to the leave pool shall be accounted for on the basis of the dollar values of the days donated based on the donor's then-current salary. Leave shall be donated only in increments of full days. Employees must retain a minimum of ten sick days for personal use.

(b)

Granting of donated leave. Regular employees who have completed one year of continuous employment may be eligible to receive up to ten days of donated leave per request, up to 30 days within a 12-month period if:

(1)

All of their available sick leave (including extended sick leave), vacation leave and compensatory leave have been exhausted; and

(2)

They are not eligible for paid leave from any other source (e.g., long-term disability, workers' compensation or a claim against a third party).

(c)

Medical emergency. Donated leave shall only be granted for use by employees during a medical emergency or critical illness/injury.

(d)

The director of personnel shall promulgate the rules and regulation necessary to implement the donated leave program.

(Ord. No. 06-014, § 1, 4-6-06)

Secs. 40-341—40-350. - Reserved.