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091-22 - Resolution - New Leave PoliciesDocuSign Envelope ID: 256EB896-B144-4014-B402-AC457CA6C073 RESOLUTION NO. 091-22 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON, ADOPTING POLICIES FOR WASHINGTON PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE AND FOR VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY SERVICES LEAVE. WHEREAS, Washington state implemented the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program premiums in 2019, and benefits in 2020; and WHEREAS, Washington state law provides job protections for employees who also serve as a volunteer firefighter, reserve peace officer, or member of the Civil Air Patrol and are called upon to perform emergency services; and WHEREAS, the City of Port Orchard has acted in compliance with these regulations since their effective dates; and WHEREAS, in a routine review of leave policies, it was determined that these policies should be provided in writing and included in the City's personnel policy manual; now, therefore; THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORT ORCHARD, WASHINGTON, HEREBY RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS: THAT: It is the intent of the Port Orchard City Council that the recitals set forth above are hereby adopted and incorporated as findings in support of this Resolution. THAT: The Mayor is authorized to implement a Personnel Policy in substantially the form attached hereto as "Exhibit 1", and incorporate the Policy into the City's personnel policy manual. THAT: The Mayor is authorized to sign any agreement consistent with this authorization as an addendum to a collective bargaining agreement to implement this program for employees who are represented by a union without further action by the Council. THAT: The Resolution shall take full force and effect upon passage and signatures hereon. PASSED by the City Council of the City of Port Orchard, SIGNED by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk in authentication of such passage this 201" day of December 2022. ATTEST: DocuSigned byy::'11 vV'G�,o�j 1N Brandy Wallace, MMC, City Clerk EDocuSigned by: 96 P lM"aA- A SWA, Robert Putaansuu, Mayor ,,'`C: G ��G°R� ° RQrI.. a. _ SEAL �N�AJ2.___nh .:� DocuSign Envelope ID: 256EB896-B144-4014-B402-AC457CA6C073 Exhibit 1 8.14 WASHINGTON PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE The Washington State Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) law and supporting regulations establish a program administered by the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) to provide paid leave benefits and job protection to eligible employees who need leave for certain family and medical reasons. This policy provides a summary of the PFML program. Employees may obtain additional information at www.paidleave.wa.gov. To the extent an issue is not addressed in this policy, the City will administer this benefit program consistent with applicable statutes and regulations. A. Payroll Deductions. The PFML program is funded through premiums collected by ESD via payroll deductions and City contributions. The premium rate is established by law and subject to change. The City will modify payroll deductions to reflect those changes. B. Eli2ibility. Under PFML, employees may be eligible for monetary benefits and job protection when taking leave for covered reasons. Eligibility requirements are as follows: 1) Monetary Benefits: In order to be eligible for monetary benefits from ESD, an employee must have worked 820 hours in Washington (for any employer or combination of employers) during the year preceding the claim. 2) Job Protection: In order to be eligible for job protection under PFML, an employee must have worked for the City for at least 12 months and have worked 1250 hours in the last year. An employee is ineligible for PFML benefits during any period of suspension from employment or during which the employee works for remuneration or profit (e.g., outside employment or contracting). C. Leave Entitlement. Eligible employees are entitled to take up to 12 weeks of medical or family leave, or a combined total of 16 weeks of family and medical leave per claim year; an additional two weeks of leave may be available in the event the employee's leave involves incapacity due to pregnancy. The claim year begins when the employee files a claim for PFML benefits. PMFL leave may be taken for the following reasons: 1) Medical Leave: Medical leave may be taken due to the employee's own serious health condition, which is an illness, injury, impairment or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider, as those terms are defined under the FMLA and RCW 50A.05.010. In the case of PFML following the birth of a child, the first six weeks of leave taken by the birth parent following the birth shall be automatically designated as medical leave unless the birth parent chooses to use family leave. The employee is not required to provide certification of a serious health condition the medical leave designation for this postnatal period. An employee is not eligible for PFML benefits if the employee is receiving time loss benefits under the workers compensation system. Exhibit 1, Page 1 DocuSign Envelope ID: 256EB896-B144-4014-B402-AC457CA6C073 2) Family Leave: For purposes of family leave, covered family members include the employee's child, grandchild, parent (including in-laws), grandparent (including in-laws), sibling, spouse; or any individual who regularly resides in the employee's home or with whom the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person (and that person depends on the employee for care). "Family member" does not include a person who simply resides in the same home as the employee with no expectation that the employee care for that person. Family leave may be taken to care for a covered family member with a serious health condition; for bonding during the first 12 months following the birth of the employee's child or placement of a child under age 18 with the employee (through adoption or foster care); or for qualifying military exigencies as defined under the FMLA. 3) Bereavement Leave: An employee may take PFML as bereavement leave during the seven calendar days following the death of a child born to the employee or placed with the employee. PFML runs concurrently with FMLA where an absence is covered by both laws. PFML leave may be taken intermittently, provided that there is a minimum claim requirement of eight consecutive hours of leave in a week for which benefits are sought. D. PFML Application Process. An employee must submit an application to ESD in order to seek PFML benefits. For guidance on the application process, please refer to the ESD website (www.paidleave.wa.gov). Eligibility determinations will be made by ESD. If approved, the employee will need to file weekly benefit claims with ESD to continue receiving benefits. E. Notification Requirements. An employee must provide written notice to the City of the intent to take PFML leave. If the need for leave is foreseeable, notice must be given at least 30 days in advance of the leave. For unforeseeable leave, notice must be given as soon as practicable. The employee's written notice must include the type of leave taken (family or medical), as well as the anticipated timing and duration of the leave. If an employee fails to provide this required notice to the City, ESD will temporarily deny PFML benefits. After receiving the employee's notice of the need for leave, the City will advise the employee whether the employee is eligible for job protection under PFML or FMLA or both. If leave is being taken for the employee's or family member's planned medical treatment, the employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment so as not to unduly disrupt City operations. If taking leave intermittently, an employee must notify the City each time PFML leave is taken so that the City may properly track leave use. F. PFML Monetary Benefits. If ESD approves a claim for PFML benefits, partial wage replacement benefit payments will be made by ESD directly to the employee. The amount of the benefit is based on a statutory formula, which generally results in a benefit in the range of 75-90 percent of an employee's average weekly wage, subject to a weekly maximum (which is $1,427 for 2022 and thereafter subject to annual adjustments by the Exhibit 1, Page 2 DocuSign Envelope ID: 256EB896-B144-4014-B402-AC457CA6C073 State). ESD's website includes a benefits calculator to assist employees in estimating their weekly benefit amount. With the exception of leave taken in connection with the birth or placement of a child or leave taken for a qualifying military exigency, monetary PFML benefits are subject to a seven-day waiting period. The waiting period begins on the Sunday of the week in which PFML leave is first taken. The waiting period is counted for purposes of the overall duration of PFML leave, but no monetary benefits will be paid by ESD for that week. Employees may use available accrued leave to cover absences during the waiting period. Paid leave accruals (vacation, sick leave, personal holidays, compensatory time, or any other accrued leave) are not supplemental to PFML benefits, meaning that an employee cannot receive accrued leave and PFML benefits for the same absence. If an employee elects to use accrued leave during a PFML-covered absence, the receipt of accrued leave must be reported to ESD as part of the PFML claims process and will result in a pro -rated (reduced) weekly PFML benefit to reflect that the employee already received some compensation for the absence. 1) Important note: Failure to report the receipt of accrued leave may result in an overpayment by ESD, which ESD may recoup from the employee. G. Coordination with Other Benefit Programs. When an employee is on leave and only receiving PFML benefits, the employee is deemed to be in unpaid status for purposes of City policies and benefit programs. Insurance coverage will be handled in the same manner as other unpaid leaves of absence, pursuant to City policy and subject to any FMLA or other legal requirements requiring continuation of coverage. H. Job Restoration, Return to Work Recertification. An employee who is eligible for job - protected leave will be restored to the same or equivalent position at the conclusion of PFML leave, unless unusual circumstances have arisen (e.g., the employee's position or shift was eliminated for reasons unrelated to the leave). The City may require a return -to - work certification from a health care provider before restoring the employee to work following PFML leave where the employee has taken leave for the employee's own serious health condition. Under certain conditions, the City may deny job restoration to a salaried employee who is among the highest paid ten percent of City employees. If an employee taking PFML leave chooses not to return to work for any reason, the employee should notify the City as soon as possible. Exhibit 1, Page 3 DocuSign Envelope ID: 256EB896-B144-4014-B402-AC457CA6C073 5.15 VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY SERVICES LEAVE In accordance with RCW 49.12.460, an employee who is a volunteer firefighter or reserve peace officer, or member of the Civil Air Patrol, will not be subject to discipline or termination when they take leave in response to an alarm of fire or an emergency call, or in the case of Civil Air Patrol, when leave is taken related to an emergency service operation. A. For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply: "Alarm of fire or emergency call" means responding to, working at, or returning from a fire alarm or an emergency call, but not participating in training or other nonemergency activities. "Civil air patrol member" means a person who is a member of the Washington wing of the civil air patrol. "Emergency service operation" means the following operations of the civil air patrol: (i) Search and rescue missions designated by the air force rescue coordination center; (ii) Disaster relief, when requested by the federal emergency management agency or the department of homeland security; (iii) Humanitarian services, when requested by the federal emergency management agency or the department of homeland security; (iv) United States air force support designated by the first air force; and (v) Counterdrug missions. "Volunteer firefighter", means a firefighter covered under chapter 41.24 RCW, (i) who voluntarily performs, regardless of reimbursement, any assigned or authorized duties on behalf of or at the direction of a firefighting or emergency response unit of a city, county, fire district, regional fire protection district, port district, or the state, including but not limited to service pursuant to RCW 43.43.960 through 43.43.975; and A) has notified the City of their firefighter status and intent to serve as a volunteer if already at the place of employment when called to serve as a volunteer; or B) if not already at the place of employment when called to serve as a volunteer has been ordered to remain at their position by the commanding authority at the scene of the fire. "Reserve peace officer" has the meaning provided in RCW 41.24.010. B. Notice Requirements An employee shall make every reasonable attempt to give their supervisor advance notice of the need to take leave. Exhibit 1, Page 4 DocuSign Envelope ID: 256EB896-B144-4014-B402-AC457CA6C073 C. Type of Leave An employee who is absent from work pursuant to this policy may elect to use their accrued vacation leave, personal holiday, compensatory time or unpaid leave time. D. Verification The supervisor may require that the request for leave be supported by verification from the agency at which the employee volunteers. E. Time for training Training and other non -emergency activities are excluded under this policy. Exhibit 1, Page 5