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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-199 Council Resolution• CITY OF LINO LAKES, MINNESOTA RESOLUTION NO. 05-199 RESOLUTION APPROVING LEAVE DONATION PROGRAM FOR THE CITY OF LINO LAKES WHEREAS, the City of Lino Lakes is an employer which has an organizational commitment to the care and support of its employees, and WHEREAS, a catastrophic illness or injury of an employee or immediate family member may deplete an employee's available paid leave, and WHEREAS, it would benefit the employee and the City to allow for an extended, but reasonable recovery time, and WHEREAS, a program is needed through which fellow city employees may voluntarily donate a portion of their accrued leave to another employee who has exhausted all paid leave due to the experience of a catastrophic illness or injury. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LINO LAKES, MINNESOTA that the Lino Lakes City Council hereby approves a Leave Donation Program for the City of Lino Lakes. Adopted by the Lino Lakes City Council this 12th day of December, 2005 artell, Ci y Clerk John 2tA. rgyor • • AGENDA ITEM 3B STAFF ORIGNINATOR: Gordon Heitke, City Administrator MEETING DATE: December 12, 2005 TOPIC: Resolution No. 05 -199 Approving Leave Donation Program VOTE REQUIRED: 3/5 BACKGROUND The City of Lino Lakes recognizes that a catastrophic illness or injury of an employee or immediate family member may deplete an employee's available paid leave. The City Council determined that it was in the best interest of the City and its employees to prepare a policy and program to allow for the donation of accrued leave by employees to a fellow employee who is experiencing a catastrophic illness or injury and has depleted all available paid leave. This donation of leave minimizes or alleviates additional challenges to the employee attributable to financial hardship from the loss of wages. The Council reviewed a draft policy and program for the donation of accrued leave at its November 22, 2005 work session. The program sets forth eligibility requirements, program conditions, and administrative procedures. Staff was directed to place the proposed policy on the December 12, 2005 Council agenda for action. OPTIONS 1. Approve Resolution No. 05 -199 Approving a Leave Donation Program for the City of Lino Lakes. 2. Return to staff with direction. RECOMMENDATION Option 1 ATTACHMENTS 1. Resolution No. 05 -199. 2. Leave Donation Program LEAVE DONATION PROGRAM PROGRAM RATIONALE The City of Lino Lakes is an employer which has an organizational commitment to the care dnd support of its employees. This commitment has been illustrated by the providing of accrued sick and vacation time, as well as funeral leave. Additionally, the City provides long term disability insurance to those who may require it during their tenure with the City. Even with the availability of these benefits, a situation may occur wherein an employee expends all accrued leave balances due to a catastrophic illness or injury before recovery is possible and the need for long term disability benefits does not yet exist. In these cases, it would benefit the employee and the City to have a policy that would allow for an extended but reasonable recovery time through the donation of accrued leave by fellow employees that would be transferred to the leave balance of the employee in need. This program would allow an employee in need who otherwise meets the criteria set forth in this policy to extend their leave balance and therefore have additional time for recovery, without the financial hardship of loss of wages. This program is not be designed as an indefinite extension of any person's employment with the City or as a substitute for long term disability benefits. It instead only applies in those cases where a person suffers from a catastrophic illness or injury that does not qualify the employee for worker's compensation benefits, long -term disability benefits are unavailable, and the employee's complete recovery is reasonably expected within a time frame beneficial to the City of Lino Lakes. POLICY The City of Lino Lakes recognizes that a catastrophic illness or injury of an employee or immediate family member may deplete an employee's available paid leave (sick/vacation/ compensatory time). A "catastrophic illness or injury" is one that is expected to incapacitate the employee or family member for an extended period of time and may include, but is not limited to, heart attack, stroke, organ transplant, cancer, life threatening illness or condition, etc. The determination of a catastrophic illness or injury shall be based on a physician's diagnosis and information regarding its expected duration. A death in the immediate family hall also be considered a catastrophic event and be subject to this policy. "Immediate family" is defined as the employee's spouse, domestic partner, parent, or the employee's minor children. This policy is to establish the procedure through which eligible fellow city employees may voluntarily donate a portion of their accrued vacation, sick leave, and or compensatory time balance to be used by another employee who has exhausted all forms of paid leave due to the experience of a catastrophic illness or injury. 1 an $ • PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY All exempt and non - exempt, bargaining unit and non -union employees, which are benefit- eligible regular employees may participate in the Leave Donation Program as a leave donor or recipient. Requests to receive leave through the Leave Donation Program will be accepted only for individuals who are experiencing a catastrophic illness or injury, and who are within one pay period of depleting all accrued paid leave, and are expected to be absent ;from work for more than five (5) scheduled working days after exhausting all paid leave. Employees receiving Worker's Compensation benefits from a City related injury or illness, are not eligible to receive donations. Employees shall not be eligible to participate in the Leave Donation Program while on probationary status. To be eligible to donate leave time to another employee, the donating employee shall maintain a minimum leave balance as set forth in this policy. PROGRAM CONDITIONS The terms and conditions governing the Leave Donation Program are as follows: Leave Recipient Conditions: • An employee is only eligible to receive donated leave for time lost from normal work hours and only to make them financially whole. • Recipients must provide documentation to the Director of Administrative Services from a treating physician regarding the illness or injury, inability perform work duties, and the expected duration of the condition. • Recipients of donated leave shall use leave in whole days while off work. Employees may be eligible for donated leave in full hour increments when not medically cleared to return to work on an unrestricted basis. • Donated leave will not be applied to absences before the date on which the employee is determined to be eligible to receive leave under this program. • No employee will be allowed to receive more than a total of fifty (50) work days or 400 hours, whichever is the lesser of donated leave for any single major life threatening disease or condition. This cap is pro -rated for part-time donation requesters based on full -time equivalency status. • An employee is eligible to receive donations of vacation, sick leave, and or compensatory time from other employees one time per a twelve (12) month period, upon approval by the City Administrator. • Eligible employees may receive donated leave up to five (5) days in the case of a death in the immediate family. • No employee who has historically utilized sick leave in a manner of maintaining a minimal accrual balance, or has previously been warned or received other discipline for abuse of his/her sick leave will be eligible to receive donations. • No employee will be eligible to receive donations when the illness or injury results from self - infliction or illegal drug use. • Nothing in this policy will be construed to limit or extend the maximum allowable absence under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Leave Donor Conditions: • The donation of accrued leave time must be in whole hours, with a minimum of eight (8) hours per employee donating leave hours. Contributions into the Leave Donation Program can be made only to the extent that there a minimum balance of eighty (80) hours of sick leave remaining and forty (40) hours of vacation leave remaining within the donating employee's leave account. • An employee may donate no more than ten (10) percent of accumulated sick leave per calendar year or no more than forty (40) hours of leave of sick leave per calendar year, whichever is the lesser amount. • Participation within the Leave Donation Program by employees will be completely voluntary. No City employee shall pressure or otherwise attempt to influence another City employee to donate or not donate vacation, sick leave, and or compensatory time. Persons donating leave shall adhere to the confidentiality requirement set forth within the Leave Donation Form. Donations will remain anonymous to the recipient and other employees and shall only be known to staff administering this program. No provisions of this policy, or its administration, shall be subject to review under the grievance or arbitration provisions of any collective bargaining agreement. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES 1. Any benefit- eligible regular employee may request to participate in this program. He /she should contact the Director of Administrative Services to obtain the "Donated Leave Request Form ". If the employee is physically unable to apply, a member of the applicant's family may apply on his/her behalf. 2. The application to receive donated leave shall be submitted to the Director of Administrative Services and will be reviewed for eligibility. 3. Appropriate documentation concerning the nature, severity, and anticipated duration of the medical condition is required with the Donated Leave Request Form. 4. The Director of Administrative Services will verify the eligibility of the employee requesting donated leave. a7 b 3 • 5. Upon determination that the requesting employee is eligible for donated leave, the Director of Administrative Services will notify employees only of the person's name and estimated days of leave needed. The notification shall not include confidential medical information. The notification process shall not include soliciting the donation of leave for any prospective recipient. 6. Employees wishing to donate accrued leave to an employee requesting additional leave shall submit a Leave Donation Authorization Form to the Director of Administrative Services. 7. As a recipient of the Leave Donation Program, wages shall be limited to the amount equal to that individual's regular gross earnings per pay period (i.e. his/her current hourly base pay rate multiplied by his/her regularly scheduled hours of work per pay period). 8. Transfers of leave hours will be on an hour -by -hour basis; each hour of donor leave will be credited as an hour of leave for the recipient, regardless of any differences in pay levels. 9. The Finance Department (as part of the payroll function) will subtract surrendered leave from the donor's accumulated balance and credit the donated hours to the receiving employee's sick leave balance. 10. Once donated time has been transferred to the eligible employee, neither the donor nor the eligible employee may revoke the transaction, even if it has not yet been paid. 11. Donated leave hours will be processed in the order of the date on the Leave Donation Program Authorization Form, with the earliest date processed first. Unused donated leave in excess of eight (8) hours will be returned to the donor. If there are multiple donors, the excess leave will be returned on a prorata basis according to the amounts donated. Excess hours of donated leave will be held until the following pay period(s) and processed at that time. 12. An employee may only use donated leave up to the time of eligibility for the long term disability benefit (if applicable), or for the maximum number of days allowed to be donated, whichever comes first. 13. Donation of sick leave will not be allowed once an employee is judged to be disabled by the major medical condition and will not be returning to work, as determined by the long term disability insurance provider and/or the Social Security Administration. 14. Donated leave recipients shall, while using donated leave time, accrue sick leave and vacation time. All paid leave accrued during the absence shall be utilized prior to the using donated leave. Recipients shall be entitled to retain eight (8) hours of donated leave upon return to work. All retained donated leave shall be credited to the recipient's sick leave balance. 4 15. Donated vacation, sick leave, and or compensatory time cannot be used for severance pay, deposited into a sick leave bank, paid out to an employee in the form of cash, or used in any other manner other than what is stated in this section of the policy. 16. Under a similar program, the IRS has ruled that these payments are to be considered wages, and therefore taxable income to the recipient. As a result, the payments will be included in the annual Form W -2 prepared for the recipient and State and Federal income tax and FICA/Medicare tax and Supplemental Retirement contributions, depending on the eligibility of the recipient, will be withheld by the City at the time of payment. The IRS has also ruled that the employee surrendering the leave realizes no income and incurs no tax deductible expense or loss, either upon surrender of leave or payment to the recipient. PROGRAM EXCEPTIONS Exceptions to these requirements will be approved by the City Administrator in rare and unusual circumstances. The City Administrator shall have the right to deny or limit the donation of leave or use of donated leave if it is determined to be in the best interests of the City of Lino Lakes. PROGRAM PARAMETERS As with any City policy, the City reserves the right to modify or discontinue this policy at any time, with or without notice to the employees of the City of Lino Lakes. This program will not be considered or construed as an earned benefit or right of any employee of the City and will be administered as an optional relief in circumstances clearly beneficial to the City. No employee will be guaranteed access to donated leave and any employee may be denied access based on the administrative discretion of the City of Lino Lakes. CONFIDENTIALITY All information provided in leave donation request applications, leave donation forms, verification of medical conditions, and additional related information is confidential.