General.
Annual leave shall mean paid leave granted to employees for their personal use. Annual leave shall be requested by the employee and approved by the employee's appointing authority. To minimize the possibility of an employee losing earned annual leave, the appointing authority shall establish a mutually agreeable alternative leave period if the employee's original leave request has been denied by the appointing authority.
Annual leave for family and medical leave purposes as established in Section 16-225.01 shall be approved by an employee's appointing authority pursuant to Section 16-225.01.
Annual Leave Year.
The annual leave year for employees shall be the twelve (12) month period beginning on the first day of January and ending on the last day of December of the calendar year.
Annual Leave Accrual.
All full-time employees, as defined in Section 16-181(a), and except as set forth in subparagraph (c)(5), below, shall earn annual leave in accordance with the following schedule:
| YEARS OF SERVICE |
DAYS EARNED PER PAY PERIOD |
HOURS EARNED PER PAY PERIOD |
| 0 through 3 |
.50 |
4 |
| 4 through 15 |
.75 |
6 |
| 16 or more |
1.00 |
8 |
All part-time employees, as defined in Section 16-181(b), with the exception of those part-time employees allocated to the class of School Crossing Guard, and except as set forth in subparagraph (c)(5), below, shall earn annual leave during any pay period provided that any such employee shall have worked a minimum of forty (40) hours in such pay period in accordance with the following schedule:
| HOURS EARNED PER PAY PERIOD |
| HOURS WORKED PER PAY PERIOD |
YEARS 1 THRU 3 |
YEARS 4 THRU 15 |
YEARS 16 AND OVER |
| 40 thru 49 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
4.0 |
| 50 thru 59 |
2.5 |
3.8 |
5.0 |
| 60 thru 69 |
3.0 |
4.5 |
6.0 |
| 70 thru 79 |
3.5 |
5.3 |
7.0 |
| 80 |
4.0 |
6.0 |
8.0 |
Those part-time employees allocated to the class of School Crossing Guard shall earn one (1) hour of annual leave for each twenty (20) hours reported.
An employee shall not earn annual leave for any pay period during which the employee is on authorized leave without pay for more than two (2) working days during such pay period.
All full-time employees with between four (4) and fifteen (15) years of service, inclusive, shall earn six (6) hours of annual leave per pay period, as specified in subparagraph (c)(1), above, with a periodic adjustment to insure that each such employee earns twenty (20) days of annual leave per leave year.
For purposes of computing years of service in subparagraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2), above, credit shall not be given for any month of service in a classified service position for which an employee receives a retirement payment.
Maximum Accumulation of Annual Leave.
A maximum of 360 hours of accumulated annual leave earned beginning with the first pay period in Fiscal Year 1996, or such other amount established in an approved Salary Plan may be carried over from one (1) leave year to the next by an employee.
An employee shall be allowed to carry over annual leave earned as of the last full pay period in Fiscal Year 1995, even if such accumulated amount is in excess of the maximum allowed in Subsection (d)(1), above.
Annual leave hours in excess of the maximum allowed to be carried over to the next leave year shall be converted to sick leave.
Annual Leave Day.
An annual leave day shall mean a day when an employee would otherwise be required to work and receive pay, including regular and special holidays, sick leave days, and other nonwork days.
Charge Against Annual Leave.
Charges against an employee's annual leave account shall be in even increments of one-quarter (1/4) hour for periods of time the employee is absent on approved annual leave.
Advancement of Annual Leave.
Annual leave may be used by an employee only as earned, except that advance leave may be granted to an employee up to a maximum of ten (10) working days of leave at the discretion of the employee's appointing authority; provided however, that the combined total advance of annual and sick leave in any one (1) leave year shall not exceed ten (10) working days. If an employee is terminated from County service with a minus leave balance, the employee shall be indebted to the County for the monetary value of the leave advance.
Forfeiture of Accrued Annual Leave as a Disciplinary Action.
Pursuant to the provisions of Sections 16-193 and 16-194, an employee may be required to forfeit from one (1) to twenty (20) days of accrued annual leave as a disciplinary action.
Payment for Accumulated Annual Leave Upon Separation from County Service. Provisions are set forth in Section 16-221.02 of this Code.
Credit for Previous County Employment or Employment in Other County Funded Activities.
An employee's previous employment service with the County, or employment service with an activity funded in whole or in part with County funds, shall be, upon the written request of the employee and verification thereof by the Director of Human Resources Management, considered as County service time for the purpose of establishing the employee's annual leave earning rate under the earning schedule established in Subsection (c), above.