3.09.010 Vacation leave.
A. Length of Service Required. Vacation leave may be used as accrued.
B. Time of Vacation Set by Appointing Authority. Department heads shall have full responsibility and discretion for setting vacation periods for all employees under their supervision. In doing so, they shall be guided by the good of the county service, the wishes of the individual employee, and the orderly conduct of the work of the department.
C. Vacation Use – Permanent Part-Time Employees. For permanent part-time classified employees, vacation may only be used on those days that are specified on their work schedule on file with the Auditor.
D. Effect of Illness on Vacation Usage. In the event of illness (one requiring hospitalization in excess of 10 days) or serious injury in a job-related manner (one which renders the employee unable to work for a period in excess of 30 days) which results in the employee being unable to utilize his or her vacation time during the calendar year of the catastrophic illness or serious job-related injury, the employee may, with the consent of his or her appointing authority, carry accrued vacation time in excess of the maximum otherwise permitted by the County Code for a period not to exceed 60 days into the subsequent calendar year.
E. Accrued Vacation upon Termination with County. Any employee, after satisfactory completion of probation and upon becoming a permanent full-time or permanent part-time employee, shall be entitled upon resignation or layoff to compensation in lieu of accrued vacation, payable at the salary rate on the last day of employment. Prior to satisfactory completion of probation, upon resignation or termination, such employee shall not be entitled to compensation for accrued vacation, if any.
F. Rate of Accrual. Vacation leave for permanent full-time and permanent part-time classified employees shall accrue as follows:
1. Day one through five years of continuous service: 0.0385 hours per hour;
2. Six through 10 years of continuous service: 0.0577 hours per hour;
3. Eleven through 15 years of continuous service: 0.0770 hours per hour;
4. Sixteen or more years of continuous service: 0.0962 hours per hour.
G. Maximum Vacation Accrual. Vacation leave may be accumulated and carried over from one calendar year to another up to the following limits:
1. Up to six years of continuous service: 160 hours;
2. Six through 10 years of continuous service: 200 hours;
3. Eleven through 15 years of continuous service: 240 hours;
4. Sixteen or more years of continuous service: 320 hours.
An employee whose vacation leave balance is at the above limits at the start of a calendar year shall not accrue further vacation leave until the leave balance is reduced below the cap on leave balance for the employee based on the employee’s length of service.
H. A department head or other supervisor of an employee may order an employee to leave work if the employee reasonably appears to be ill and is displaying symptoms that could spread his or her illness to other employees or members of the public. An employee ordered to leave work shall use his or her accrued sick leave or vacation leave or compensatory time off when absent from work due to any such illness; provided, however, if the employee does not have sufficient accrued leave balances or CTO, the employee shall be allowed to accrue a negative leave balance not to exceed 16 hours. Any such negative balance shall be offset against the subsequent accrual of any such leave and/or CTO prior to the employee gaining a positive balance in any such accounts.
If the employee disputes the need to be removed from the work place due to illness the employee shall promptly see a doctor to determine if the employee is ill and potentially contagious and a report shall be provided by the doctor to the county on a form to be provided by the county. If the doctor determines that the employee is not ill and potentially contagious then the county shall be responsible for the expense of the visit to the doctor.
I. An employee shall be entitled to a cash buy-out of any accrued and unused vacation time existing on the date of separation from service, calculated at their current rate of pay and payable on the last day of service. (Ord. 1104, eff. 11/4/21; Ord. 1028, eff. 1/6/11; Ord. 771, eff. 5/7/91; Ord. 491, eff. 3/17/77; Ord. 326, eff. 11/6/68; Ord. 216, eff. 8/21/57)