PURPOSE:   To provide an official policy relating to the usage, carryover and payoff of accumulated vacation for support staff employees (both classified and unclassified) and executives.

Effective this date, this Administrative Policy supersedes all previous directives on this subject.

The Policy will be as Follows:

I             SCHEDULING

Vacation will be scheduled with the employee’s supervisor or with the Department Director.  Whenever possible, vacation should be taken as a single unit of one, two, three or four weeks.  Provided that the absence of a vacationing employee does not interfere with the efficient operation of City business, vacation shall be scheduled at a mutually convenient time of the year.  In the case of Department Directors, Assistant City Managers and City Manager’s key staff, the City Manager or his designee will be the person responsible for approving vacations.  Requests for vacation time shall be in writing to the appropriate approving authority stating the dates requested off for purposes of vacation.  Vacation is credited in January of each year to each employee’s individual leave bank consistent with the appropriate vacation schedule the employee is eligible for.

II         USAGE/CARRYOVER/PAYOFF

A             All employees appointed to the executive service and all support staff positions shall use accrued vacation in the following manner:

1.                 Support staff employees and executives shall carryover no more than   500  vacation  hours in  addition to any   grandfathered   vacation hours.  Any vacation time exceeding the 500 hour limit, excluding grandfathered hours, must be used or will be forfeited.

2.                 Support staff employees and executives must satisfy vacation usage and carryover requirements by the last payroll period of the payroll year in which the vacation was credited.

3.                 Requirements to take a minimum amount of vacation per year depending on the employee’s accrual rate are as follows:

                                                    Minimum Vacation

Support Staff                                                                    Required to Take

Accrual rate of 80 hours but less                                          40 Hours

than 120 hours

Accrual rate of 120 hours or more                                       80 Hours

                                        Minimum Vacation

Executives                                                                        Required to Take

Accrual rate of 120 hours but less                                       80 Hours

than 160 hours

Accrual rate of 160 hours or more                                    120 Hours

B             Executives and support staff who are approved to donate vacation to City employees shall be allowed to have said donated time counted towards their vacation usage requirement.

B             Employees covered by this directive whose scheduled vacation is canceled by the City Manager shall be entitled to receive payment for that portion of his or her unused vacation lost by being recalled to City service.

C             While being cognizant of vacation usage requirements, payment of up to a maximum of 200 hours unused vacation may be granted to an employee with the approval from the Labor Relations Officer.  Payment of vacation time does not substitute for an employee’s usage requirement.  Exceptions to the above payment of vacation shall be granted only on an emergency basis as approved by the Labor Relations Officer.  Forms for requesting payment of vacation are available through Central Stores.