Benefits for County Board Employees At A Glance

Transcription

1 Benefits for County Board Employees At A Glance STEPHEN P. POSTALAKIS Blaugrund, Herbert, Kessler, Miller, Myers & Postalakis, Incorporated spp@bhmlaw.com Ohio Association of County Boards Serving People with Developmental Disabilities June 2014 Personnel Council

2 Vacation Leave Classified Civil Servant! R.C (A) entitles full-time county employee to vacation leave:! Standard of service other than 40 hours per week and in active pay status in a biweekly pay period, accrue a number of hours of vacation during each pay period that bears the same ratio to the number of hours specified in division (A)(1) of this section as their number of hours which are accepted as full-time in active pay status, excluding overtime hours, bears to eighty hours.! In active pay status in a biweekly pay period for less than 80 hours or the number of hours of service otherwise accepted as full-time accrue a number of hours of vacation during that pay period that bears the same ratio to the number of hours specified in division (A)(1) of this section as their number of hours in active pay status, excluding overtime hours, bears to eighty or the number of hours of service accepted as full-time, whichever is applicable. 2

3 Vacation Leave Classified Civil Servant! Part-time employees are not entitled to vacation under R.C unless:! Provided as part of Ebert power under R.C (A)(7) to fix compensation, including fringe benefits;! Provided as part of an alternative schedule of vacation leave under R.C (F);! Board of County Commissioners, by resolution, grants vacation leave with full pay to part-time county employees. 3

4 Vacation Leave Management Employees! R.C does not apply to management employees.! R.C (C) entitles management employees to those benefits established by the Board.! Can be done by contract or by Board policy. 4

5 Accrual of Vacation! Employee must work one year of full-time employment to be entitled to vacation leave.! Upon attainment of one year, employee is entitled to 80 hours of vacation and begins accruing vacation leave.! If the employee has any prior public service, he/she is entitled to credit for prior public service with the State of Ohio and any political subdivision pursuant to R.C ! Intermittent and part-time service in a pay period counts (a year equals 26 biweekly pay periods). 5

6 Accrual of Vacation! Examples:! If new employee has 5 months of prior full-time service, he/she need only work 7 months for Board before entitled to vacation leave.! If new employee has 5 years of fulltime service, begins accruing vacation leave immediately and can use it as it accrues. 6

7 Accrual of Vacation! What if part-time employee earns vacation and then moves to a full-time position?! Believe the employee has to wait until he has worked one year of full-time county employment to be entitled to vacation.! R.C (A) applies to full-time county employees.! Service and employment are defined differently.! So have to work one year at full-time to be entitled to vacation.! AG Op

8 Accrual of Vacation! AG Op :! it is evident that a full-time county employee who has 8, 15, or 25 years of prior service as a part-time county employee, after completion of the first year of full-time employment, accrues vacation leave at the increased rates described in R.C (A) based upon his total service time, i.e., one year of service for his first year of full-time county employment plus service credit for his previous part-time county employment. For example, upon completion of his first year of full-time county employment, an employee who works a standard workweek of forty hours is entitled to have eighty hours of vacation leave placed to his credit, and, if he has eight years of previous part-time county service, to begin accruing vacation leave under R.C (A) at the advanced rate of four and six-tenths hours each biweekly period. Similar increases in the biweekly accrual of vacation leave are granted to a fulltime county employee who has fifteen or twenty-five years of prior service as a part-time county employee, as long as the employee has completed one year of full-time county employment. 8

9 Accrual of Vacation! AG Op ! An employee who does not complete his first year of full-time county employment until after completion of his eighth, fifteenth, or twenty-fifth years of service does not, however, receive the additional one week of vacation leave that would have been placed to his credit if he had been a full-time county employee at the time he completed those years of service, because he was not, at those times, a full-time county employee receiving vacation leave under R.C (A). Once a full-time county employee has completed one year of full-time county employment, however, R.C (A) allows him to accrue vacation leave as a full-time county employee at the rate that reflects his total years of service time, including prior service as a part-time county employee. 9

10 Accrual of Vacation! If a person gets vacation as a part-time employee at a different county, it is irrelevant and the employee must work full-time for one year before getting vacation leave.! If a person gets vacation as a part-time employee in your county, it is irrelevant and the employee must work fulltime for one year before getting vacation leave.! Don t think the employee is prohibited from using accrued but unused vacation leave that the employee earned while a part-time employee.! Once work full-time for one year, employee is entitled to credit for ALL prior service. 10

11 Vacation leave conversion! R.C authorizes payment of accrued but unused vacation leave upon separation from employment for any reason.! R.C (C) does not address this issue: management employee contract or Board policy will need to address if the Board wants to provide this benefit to management employees. 11

12 Holidays! R.C (D) provides holidays for full-time classified civil servants.! Not Superintendents and management employees.! Full-time county employee is entitled to eight (8) hours of holiday pay, each year, for:! New Year's day Martin Luther King day! Washington-Lincoln day Memorial day! Independence day Labor day! Columbus day Veterans' day! Thanksgiving day Christmas day 12

13 Holidays! Again, management employees are entitled to benefits pursuant to R.C (C).! Generally, management employee contract states that employee is entitled to holidays approved by Board. 13

14 Holidays for part-time employees! Part-time employees are not entitled to holidays under R.C ! Can get holidays if Board authorizes:! As part of Ebert power under R.C (A)(7) to fix compensation, including fringe benefits;! As part of an alternative schedule of holidays leave under R.C (F), provided: " the alternative schedule is not inconsistent with the provisions of at least one collective bargaining agreement covering other employees of the Board, if such an agreement exists, or " if no such collective bargaining agreement exists, the alternative schedule of holidays does not diminish the holiday benefits granted by R.C

15 Sick leave! R.C entitles county employees to 4.6 hours of sick leave for every 80 hours of completed service.! Not applicable to Superintendent and management employees.! Intermittent employees can earn sick leave but can only use on days when they are actually scheduled to work.! R.C (C) entitles management employees to those benefits established by the Board.! Can be done by contract or by Board policy. 15

16 Sick leave! Sick leave accumulates without limit.! Sick leave usage:! Personal illness, pregnancy, injury, exposure to contagious disease that could be communicated to other employees, and illness, injury, or death in the employee s immediate family.! Superintendent can require written signed statement to justify use of sick leave.! If medical attention is required, physician shall certify the nature of the illness to justify the use of sick leave. 16

17 Sick leave! Sick leave balance of employee who is separated for public service shall be placed to employee s credit upon reemployment provided re-employment takes place within 10 years.! Board may permit any or all of a person s accrued but unused sick leave acquired as an employee of a COG to be credited to the employee. 17

18 Sick leave conversion! R.C permits an employee, who has ten or more years of public service, to elect to cash out ¼ the value of accrued but unused sick leave, not to exceed 30 days, upon retirement from service with the Board.! Payment eliminates sick leave balance.! Board can adopt a policy that allows for payment upon separation other than retirement, more than one payment, for payment of more than 30 days of leave, or allowing years of service to be less than 10.! R.C (C) does not address this issue: management employee contract or Board policy will need to address if the Board wants to provide this benefit. 18

19 Personal Leave! R.C grants personal leave to state employees. R.C states that a political subdivision can adopt policies that are similar to R.C ! Alternatively, pursuant to the Ebert decision, Board has power to fix compensation of its employees, including fringe benefits.! Absent constricting authority, Board can provide benefits to its employees that are in excess of that required by state law. 19

20 Military Leave! USERRA and R.C provide military leave for public employees who serve in the uniformed services.! Armed Forces, Ohio organized militia, inactive duty training, full-time National Guard duty, commissioned corps of public health service, and any category designated by President in war/ emergency.! R.C allows for leave of absence without loss of pay for military service for periods of up to one month for each calendar year.! One month = 22 8-hour work days or 176 hours. 20

21 Military Leave! Once exceed the first 176 hours, if employee is required to continue military service, employee is entitled to leave of absence and the lesser of:! The difference between his/her gross monthly wage or salary as employee of the Board and the sum of his/her gross uniformed pay and allowances received that month;! $500.00! No pay is required if the military pay exceeds the employee s regular pay. 21

22 Military Leave! Employee must submit to the Superintendent the published order authorizing the call or order to the uniformed services or a written statement from the appropriate military commander authorizing the service, prior to being credited with military leave.! Employee must comply with the terms of a CBA that governs the performance of military service, provided that no CBA may afford fewer rights and benefits than authorized by R.C

23 Military Leave! USERRA provides job protection and prevents discrimination in employment based upon military service.! Initial hiring, employment, promotion, reinstatement.! Employer required to provide notice to employees of rights, benefits and obligations under USERRA: can post in conspicuous place or use other methods.! USERRA requires soldier to provide employer with advance written or verbal notice of military duty, as far in advance as is reasonable, unless impossible, unreasonable, or precluded by military necessity. 23

24 Military Leave! USERRA requires returning soldier to be reinstated to previous position, or escalator position, one the employee would have held if not for the military service, with same seniority, status, and pay.! Employer must take reasonable efforts to enable returning employee to qualify for reemployment (training or retraining). 24

25 Military Leave! USERRA protects jobs for up to 5 years, with some exceptions.! USERRA requires employers to reasonably accommodate disabled veterans and disabled veteran may have up to 2 years to recover and return to work. 25

26 Military Leave! Health and pension plans must continue:! If leave is more than 30 days, employee can elect to continue employer health care plan for up to 24 months, but employee can be required to pay as if COBRA coverage (up to 102% of full premium).! If leave is less than 31 days, health care coverage continues.! Employee must apply for reemployment with employer, and timing depends on how long the employee was absent for military duty:! < 31 days: beginning of next regularly scheduled work period, taking into account travel and 8-hour rest period;! > 31 days < 181 days, within 14 days from release of service;! > 180 days, apply within 90 days of release from service. 26

27 Other benefits! Life Insurance! Health Insurance! Compulsory participation in Ohio s retirement systems! Calamity days! Professional growth and training 27

28 Questions??? Thanks for attending! 28