[Adopted 5-25-1942 (Ch. 57, Art. V of the 1971 Code)]
Absence from duty by an appointive officer, department head or employee of the City of Middletown, by reason of sickness or disability of himself or herself, by reason of illness, disability or death of a member of his family or by reason of pregnancy shall be allowed in accordance with the following rules and not otherwise. Such absence from duty, if granted as hereinafter provided, shall be considered and known as "sick leave."
No appointive officer, department head or employee of the City of Middletown shall be absent from duty on account of sickness or disability except upon leave of absence granted by the Mayor or, in the case of an employee, by the department head having supervision over such employee, and any sick leave so granted shall be reported to the Common Council as hereinafter provided. No such officer, department head or employee shall receive any part of his compensation while absent from duty because of sickness or disability except as herein provided.
Any appointive officer, department head or employee of the City of Middletown may be granted sick leave with pay up to 12 working days per year because of personal sickness or personal physical disability. Such sick leave with pay shall be granted by the Mayor or, in the case of an employee under the supervision of a department head, by such head, and shall be granted only upon it appearing to the satisfaction of such Mayor or department head that the person is so sick or disabled as to render his working detrimental to his health or recovery.
The 12 working days per year to be allowed an officer, department head or employee for sick leave with pay may be accumulated at the rate of one day a month. Upon becoming sick or disabled, any such person who has accumulated sick leave time with pay as aforesaid may, during his sickness or disability, be granted sick leave with pay to the extent of the unused sick leave time so accumulated, but no sick leave with pay shall be granted to any such person in excess of 180 days in any one calendar year.
The officer, department head or employee, upon being granted sick leave with pay as aforesaid, shall receive full compensation at the regular rate for the time of such sick leave time with pay not exceeding the accumulated and unused sick leave time with pay standing to his credit.
In construing these rules, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays shall not be considered as working days. Also, allowable and allowed sick leave time shall be considered as continuous service, but in the event of resignation or discharge of an officer, department head or employee, his accumulated and unused sick leave time shall be canceled and not paid for.
Any employee who is necessarily absent from duty because of serious illness or death of a member of his immediate family may, with the approval of the Mayor or department head having immediate supervision over him, be granted leave with pay, and the time deducted from accumulated and unused sick leave time. The term "member of his immediate family" shall be interpreted to mean any person living as a member of the person's family in the same household or related by blood or marriage.
Any employee isolated or quarantined because of exposure to a communicable disease, other than in the line of duty, shall for the purpose of these regulations be considered absent because of sickness and may be granted sick leave with pay during such isolation or quarantine to the extent of his accumulated and unused sick leave time.
No officer, department head or employee shall be granted absence from duty with pay by reason of pregnancy. It is expressly provided, however, that maternity leave without pay may be granted up to one year, provided the existence of pregnancy is reported in writing to the Mayor or department head not later than the fourth month. Such leave without pay must begin when, upon certification of a doctor, further service would be detrimental to health.
Where an employee receives compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Law on account of disability, he shall elect in writing whether he desires to have sick leave with pay during the period of disability for which he receives compensation. Such writing must be filed with the Mayor or department head having immediate supervision of the employee. In the event that he elects to take sick leave with pay during such disability, he shall, for the period of his disability not exceeding his accumulated and unused sick leave time, be paid the difference between what he receives as compensation and his regular rate of pay. And the time that he is so paid shall be deducted from his accumulated sick leave time.
The department head or the Common Council may require a physician's certificate for any absence of more than one day. Where the illness or disability is of long duration, a physician's certificate will be required for each 30 days of continuous absence. In any case, the department head or Common Council may require an examination by a physician or other acceptable evidence that the illness is bona fide.
It shall be the duty of the department heads to take such steps as deemed necessary to prevent officers and employees from continuing on or returning to duty when not in proper physical or mental condition.
In order to qualify for sick leave, an officer or employee must report his illness as promptly as possible; in any case, not later than the time he is to report for duty. The heads of departments may waive this rule in case conditions prevent reporting within the time allowed.
It shall be the duty of every department head to keep a record of sick leave granted to himself and employees in his department after July 1, 1942, and the Mayor and each department head shall make a report in writing to the Common Council at the first meeting in every month, setting forth the names of employees and the sick leave granted during the preceding calendar month. Such report shall be incorporated in the permanent record of that meeting.
The provisions of this article shall apply to all appointed officers, appointed department heads and employees of the City, including provisional employees and excepting employees hired on an hourly or per diem basis or temporarily hired for not longer than one month. It shall not apply to elected officers.
This article shall take effect July 1, 1942. No officer, department head or employee then in the employ or service of the City of Middletown shall be entitled to any accumulated sick leave time for his prior period of service, with the exception that each such person shall be credited with one-day sick leave for each month they have been employed by or in the service of the City since January 1, 1942.