PAID TIME OFF (PTO) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Updated 11/20/12 1. Starting January 1, 2013, what can paid time off (PTO) be used for? PTO is one bank of paid time that employees can use for any purpose, subject to the necessary request and approval process established by their department. PTO can be used for sick, vacation, personal and family member s doctor s appointments, personal time, and funeral leave for extended family members. 2. What family members are included under extended family for funeral leave? Extended family means the employee s or the employee s spouse s brother-in-law, sister-in-law, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or grandparents. Currently, there is a separate one day allowable for funeral leave for any of the above. Beginning January 1, 2013, funeral leave for extended family will be included in the PTO bank of time. 3. What is NOT covered under PTO? Employees will continue to have separate paid holidays, up to three days of funeral leave for immediate family members, paid time for jury/witness duty, and for military leave. 4. What family members are included under immediate family for funeral leave? Immediate family includes the employee s: spouse, children, daughter-in-law, son-inlaw, grandchildren, parents, brother, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law or any person who has resided with the employee immediately preceding the person s death. The definition of immediate family includes step-relatives in the categories listed above. 5. Will the County have the same paid holidays in 2013 as we have now in 2012? Yes, the paid holiday schedule will be the same in 2013 for most employees. For departments which have operational issues with certain designated County holidays, their employees may receive floating holidays in lieu of an observed holiday in order to receive a total of nine paid holidays. New Year s Day Labor Day Christmas Eve Memorial Day Thanksgiving Christmas Day July 4 th Day After Thanksgiving New Years Eve For employees whose classification is required to work 24/7, the observed holiday shall be the actual day (date) the holiday falls. However, any classification working regular Monday through Friday schedule will follow the observed County holidays. 6. When will I stop receiving vacation and sick leave biweekly accruals? You will still receive vacation and sick leave accruals for the first work week in January (end of pay period 1/5/12). After that payroll, you will no longer receive any additional vacation and sick leave accruals including the annual vacation adjustment. 7. When will I start earning PTO? As of 1/1/13, the County will credit you 80 hours of PTO (pro-rated for eligible part time). This will show-up on your paystub and be available for use. You will not accrue additional PTO time until the credited PTO hours have been earned. Page 1
Starting with the second payroll of January, 1/6/13, you will earn PTO at the end of each payroll period based upon the length of service and based upon your standard biweekly work hours or full-time equivalent (FTE) as illustrated on the accrual charts listed below. Years of Continuous Service Biweekly Accrual Hours Annual Hours Based on Biweekly Accrual Approximate Annual Accrual Hours Days Maximum Accumulation Hours Allowed 0 thru 4 6.1538 159.9988 160 20 200 5 thru 9 7.0769 183.9994 184 23 224 10 thru 14 8.0000 208.0000 208 26 248 15 thru 19 8.9230 231.9980 232 29 272 20 + 9.8461 255.9986 256 32 296 8. Can I carry-over unused PTO? Yes, you may carry over unused PTO up to the maximum accumulation based on your years of service (see chart in Question 7). 9. How will I know how much PTO time I will have? What will show up on my paystub? Your accrued hours will show-up on each paystub. Earning codes will be 600 for PTO Scheduled, 601 for PTO Unscheduled and 560 for FMLA PTO. 10. What happens if I terminate prior to paying back the 80 hours of PTO Credit provided on 1/1/13? The County will deduct any used PTO that has not been paid back from your final check. If you are retiring and you do not have enough paid time on your final check to cover used PTO that has not been paid back, the County will deduct outstanding amount from your PEHP conversion and/or you will be required to send payment to the County for outstanding amount within 30 days from invoice date. If you are not retiring and you do not have enough paid time on your final check to cover any used PTO that has not been paid back, the County will send you an invoice for outstanding amount. You will have 30 days from invoice date to send payment. You will also not be entitled to any unused PTO hours which have not been paid back prior to termination. 11. What about the overtime and compensatory time system that was implemented in 2012? Will that change for 2013? No, the system for overtime and compensatory time will not change as a result of the PTO Plan. 12. What happens to my PTO if I leave employment? If you leave employment and give required notice, your PTO hours will be paid on your final payroll. If you retire with a Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) annuity, 100% of your PTO bank will be converted to your PEHP (Post Employment Health Plan) account. Required Notice: Exempt Employees: Minimum of twenty eight (28) calendar day written notice. Non-Exempt Employees: Minimum of fourteen (14) calendar day written notice. Page 2
13. What happens to my current vacation and perfect attendance leave (PAL) that I have accrued? The number of hours of vacation and PAL that you have accrued thru 1/5/13 will be set aside in a separate bank. Vacation and PAL can be used at any time for requested time off and paid at the rate of pay at the time of use. The employee can choose to use either the PTO bank of time or the banked vacation and PAL. 14. What about Personal Time accrued in 2012? Consistent with current policy, all personal time accrued during 2012 has to be used by 12/31/12. 15. If I don t use the banked vacation time or PAL time, will I lose it? No, the vacation and PAL time that you accrued up to 1/5/13 will always be available for use as long as you are an employee. You can choose when to use it. 16. What happens to the banked vacation and PAL if I leave employment? If you leave employment and give required notice, any vacation and PAL banked hours will be paid out on your final payroll. The payout will be at your 12/31/12 hourly rate; the amount paid will be the number of hours times your 12/31/12 hourly pay rate. If you retire, give required notice, and apply for WRS benefits at least 30 days before the last day of work, your vacation and PAL will be deposited into your PEHP (Post Employment Health Plan) account based on your 12/31/12 rate of pay. 17. How will I know how much banked vacation and PAL time I have? Your hours will show-up as separate banks on your paystub. 18. What happens to my current sick leave bank that I have accrued? The number of sick leave hours that you have accrued as of 1/5/13 will be set aside in a separate bank. You will be able to use these sick leave hours only for an eligible and/or approved Federal/Wisconsin Family Medical Leave (FMLA) event. As long as it is for an FMLA event, there is no minimum numbers of days the employee needs to be absent to use these hours. Employees will need to contact Sharon Hernandez, Employee Resources Department to process FMLA Leave. 19. What qualifies as a Federal/Wisconsin Family Medical Leave event? Serious health conditions that make you unable to perform your job; To care for your child after birth, or placement for adoption or foster care with you; To care for your spouse, son, daughter, or parent who has a serious health condition. To address qualifying exigencies as defined by Federal law. These qualifying exigencies must result from a covered regular Armed Forces or National Guard/Reserve service member s active duty, call/order to federal active duty, or recalled to duty after retirement in support of a contingency operation. Page 3
20. What qualifies as a serious health condition under Federal/Wisconsin Family Medical Leave event? Serious Health Condition is a disability physical or mental illness, injury, impairment, or condition involving any of the following: a. Inpatient care in a hospital, nursing home, hospice, or residential medical facility or any subsequent treatment in connection with inpatient care. b. Outpatient care that results in a period of incapacity of more than three full consecutive calendar days that require in-person treatment by a health care provider at least once within seven (7) days of the first day of incapacity and requires either continuing treatment initiated by the health care provider or a second in-person visit to health care provider for treatment within thirty (30) days of the first day of incapacity. c. Period of incapacity due to pregnancy, or for prenatal care. d. Chronic condition (e.g., asthma, diabetes, epilepsy) that requires two or more medical visits/treatments each calendar year, continues over an extended period of time, and may cause episodes of incapacity. e. Permanent/long-term condition that requires continuing supervision but not necessarily active treatment by a health care provider (e.g., Alzheimer's, severe stroke, terminal stages of a disease). f. Multiple treatments (e.g., chemotherapy, radiation, dialyses, physical therapy, and restorative surgery after an accident or injury) by health care provider for condition which would likely result in incapacity for three consecutive calendar days in absence of medical intervention. g. Injury or illness incurred by a covered military service member in the line of duty on active duty that results in the service member being medically unfit to perform the duties of his/her office, grade, rank, or rating. Medical problems such as a common cold, flu, earaches, upset stomach, minor ulcers, non-migraine headaches, and routine dental or orthodontia problems are not ordinarily considered serious health conditions unless complications arise. 21. What is the maximum amount of sick leave that I can use for qualifying FMLA Leave? For employee s own illness = maximum of 12 calendar weeks; per calendar year For maternity & child rearing leave = maximum of 12 weeks for birth For child rearing leave = maximum of 6 weeks for birth For qualifying family member = maximum of two calendar weeks or 80 hours which can only be used during the first 80 hours of leave; per calendar year If you take a leave for your own illness and also need a leave for a qualifying member, the maximum of sick leave you may use is still 12 calendar weeks (i.e. 10 weeks for own illness and 2 weeks for qualify family member). Page 4
22. What happens to my sick leave bank when I retire or die? When you retire, a maximum of 50% of your sick leave remaining in the sick leave bank will be converted to its monetary value based upon your 12/31/12 hourly rate and deposited into your PEHP account. If you die while employed, 50% of your sick leave remaining in your account will be converted to its monetary value based upon your 12/31/12 hourly rate and deposited into your PEHP, which has a death benefit. Employee's sick leave conversion benefit is based on the following formula: Years of continued uninterrupted service + age = credits Example: 20 years of continuous service + 55 = 75 credits 75 credits = 50 percent conversion 74 credits = 45 percent conversion 73 credits = 40 percent conversion 72 credits = 35 percent conversion 71 credits = 30 percent conversion 70 credits = 25 percent conversion 69 credits = 20 percent conversion 68 credits = 15 percent conversion 67 credits = 10 percent conversion 66 credits = 5 percent conversion 65 credits = 0 percent conversion 23. Will I accrue Perfect Attendance Leave (PAL) if I don t use any sick leave during the last 6 months of 2012? Yes, if you do not use any sick leave between 7/1/12 and 12/31/12, you will accrue 6 or 8 hours (pro-rated for part-time employees). We will add these hours to your PAL bank (up to the 40 hours maximum) and will be available for your use after 1/1/13. 24. Will I accrue PEHP Incentive, if I m at my sick leave maximum on 12/31/12 and don t use any sick leave during the last 6 months of 2012? Yes, if you are at your sick leave maximum as of 12/31/12 and do not use any sick leave between 7/1/12 and 12/31/12, the PAL incentive of 12 hours at 12/31/12 hourly rate will be added to your PEHP account. 25. What is the minimum amount of time I can use after 1/1/13? You can use any type of paid time off (PTO, Banked Vacation, Banked PAL, Banked Sick Leave, and Comp time) in no less than 15 minute increments, unless departmental policy requires greater minimum usage. 26. Will I be allowed to use paid time off to exceed my normal scheduled work hours? No, unless your department head, based on operational necessity, budget allocation, and grant funding (if applicable) decides to allow an employee to combine paid time off hours (PTO, vacation or PAL) with time actually worked to exceed the employee s normally scheduled hours. 27. Can I preschedule all of my PTO hours? Yes, you can schedule PTO as you choose, with prior supervisory approval. Employees should bear in mind that illnesses and emergencies can occur. You may wish to save some of your PTO hours to cover illnesses or emergencies. PTO carry over is allowed to the maximum accumulation allowed based on your years of service (see chart in Question 7). Page 5
28. My department requires that I submit our paid time off request at least two weeks in advance. What if I have an emergency and can t submit an advance request? You should request and receive approval for paid time off as far in advance as possible to allow for adequate planning and coverage within the department. Your department may have their own specific requirements for requesting paid time off that should be followed. In situations where an emergency occurs, your supervisor has the discretion to grant paid time off, if time is available. Your supervisor will identify scheduled or unscheduled PTO at time of request. 29. When can I take unpaid leave? The County allows an employee to start using unpaid leave when they have 40 or fewer hours in their eligible leave banks, with department head approval. Departments may approve up to 30 calendars days of leave without pay. The Human Resources Committee or appropriate Board needs to approve unpaid leave beyond 30-calendar days. Additional questions can be directed to: Frank Matel, Employee Resources Director frank.matel@co.marathon.wi.us 715-261-1454 Page 6