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Officer Time-off: General Guidelines
Vacation
Full-time officers accrue vacation on a fiscal year basis; that is from July 1 through June 30. Vacation earned in one fiscal year must be scheduled, approved and used by the end of the following fiscal year. Vacation is earned at the rate of 2 days per completed calendar month of employment up to a maximum of 23 days per fiscal year. The 23rd day is earned at the end of the fiscal year; that is, June 30th. After 20 or more years, full-time officers earn vacation at the rate of 2 1/3rd days per completed calendar month up to a maximum of 28 days per fiscal year. Vacation, personal days, and sick leave must be taken in whole or half days only.
Personal Days
Officers earn personal days (or "floating holidays") at intervals throughout the year and must use them within 12 months of earning them. Morningside officers earn three personal days a year, one for every four months they work from their date of employment.
Sick Leave
Full-time officers are entitled to salary continuation of up to a combined maximum of six (6) months pay during any 12 month period when extended absence is caused by medically documented illness or injury. Upon exhaustion of six (6) months pay, an officer must be back at work for at least 12 months before becoming eligible for additional salary continuation.
Notes
An officer forfeits any vacation days not used by the end of the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which they were accrued. This means that an officer cannot carry more than 23 vacation days (28 vacations days after 20 years) over into a new fiscal year.
Officers do not accrue vacation or personal days during a leave of absence, paid or unpaid. For vacation, if the leave covers one or more whole calendar months, the accrual is not earned during those months. If a leave overlaps two calendar months and is at least 30 days in length, the vacation accrual is not earned in the second month (e.g., if an officer is on leave from mid-January to mid-February, they don't accrue their February vacation days). For Personal Days, a reduction of the accrual occurs only if the officer is on leave for the equivalent of four consecutive whole months, resulting in the loss of the one personal day normally accrued during that period.
The salary continuation period for an officer on a documented disability leave of absence includes any paid holiday that may occur during the period of disability. An officer is not paid for holidays that occur during an unpaid leave of absence.
Example
FY 2002 (7/1/01-6/30/02)
JB begins FY 2002 with a balance of zero vacation days. In the course of the year, she schedules and uses 5 vacation days out of the 23 she accrues, leaving a balance of 18.
FY 2003 (7/1/02-6/30/03)
JB begins FY 2003 with a balance of 18 vacation days. In the course of the year, she schedules and uses 5 vacation days, reducing the balance carried over from FY 2002 to 13. She accrues 23 additional vacation days in FY 2003.
FY 2004 (7/1/03-6/30/04)
As of 7/1/03, JB forfeits the 13 remaining vacation days earned in FY 2002. She begins FY 2004 with only the balance of 23 days.
