Personnel and Office Policies and Procedures
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SECTION 5

FRINGE BENEFITS

Section 5.1 Leave Defined: Leave is any authorized absence during regularly scheduled work hours. Leave may be authorized with or without pay. Absence without permission is considered unauthorized absence.

Section 5.2 Types of Leave: The following types of leave, and no others, are officially established:

Holiday

Vacation

Sick

Official Representation

Leave without pay

Military

Court

Section 5.3 Holiday Leave: The following holidays, and two (2) other holidays per year to be chosen by the Executive Director, shall be observed by the staff of the NCRPC and shall be granted to all regular employees with pay, and to temporary or part-time employees at the discretion of the Executive Director:

New Year's Day (January 1)

Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)

Independence Day (July 4)

Labor Day (1st Monday in September)

Veteran's Day (November 11)

Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November)

Christmas Day (December 25)

Section 5.4 Additional Holiday: At the discretion of the Executive Director and acceptance by the Executive Committee, the NCRPC office may cease all official business during the interim period between Christmas Day and New Years Day. Employees during this period will be free to come and go as they choose.

Section 5.5 Granting Holiday Leave: Granting of holidays designated in Section 5.3 shall be subject to the following provisions:

a. In a week in which a holiday occurs the workweek shall be 32 hours and work performed beyond 32 hours shall be considered overtime except for professional and supervisory personnel. An employee who works 32 hours in a week in which a holiday occurs shall receive his regular pay as though he or she had worked 40 hours.

b. When a holiday falls on Saturday, it shall be observed on Friday. When a holiday falls on Sunday, it shall be observed on Monday.

Section 5.6 Vacation Leave: Vacation leave is discretionary leave and is to be used by an employee for personal relaxation and enjoyment or for matters of personal business. It is the only leave away from work during normal working hours afforded by the NCRPC for such purposes except as otherwise addressed in Section 4.3(a) Compensatory Time.

Section 5.7 Basis for Determining Employee Vacation Allowances:

1. All regular full-time employees shall accrue vacation leave at the rate of one (1) day per month up to a maximum of fifteen (15) days. Vacation leave the employee is otherwise entitled to thereafter shall be forfeited at the rate of one (1) day per month.

2. All part-time employees shall accrue vacation leave in a fashion parallel to that of all regular full-time employees, but at a rate proportional to the number of hours worked during each month.

3. Employees are not entitled to any vacation during the first six (6) months of employment although vacation leave shall accumulate on their behalf in the manner as stated in either "a" or "b" above.

4. Vacation should be approved by the Executive Director one (1) month in advance following written request on standard forms furnished by the agency. In considering such request, the Executive Director reserves the right to grant vacations to conform with work demands.

5. Employees resigning from the agency and providing one (1) month notice of their intention to resign and then working out this full notice period will be entitled to payment for accrued vacation.

6. Employees discharged for cause or who resign without one (1) month notice will not be entitled to payment for accrued vacation.

7. No vacation will be accrued during any period of leave without pay.

Section 5.8 Sick Leave: Sick leave shall be used only when employees are incapacitated by illness, injury or childbirth; for medical, dental, or optical diagnosis or treatment; for necessary care and attendance of death of a member of the employee's immediate family or household; as approved by the Executive Director; or exposure to a contagious disease when the attendance at duty jeopardizes the health of others, as approved by the Executive Director.

Sick leave may be taken when members of an employee's immediate family are incapacitated by illness, injury or childbirth; are scheduled for medical, dental or optical diagnosis or treatment; and the immediate presence of the employee is required in a care-giving role.

Sick leave is not discretionary leave and is to be used only for the purposes it is intended to address.

Section 5.9 Basis for Granting Sick Leave:

1. All regular, full-time employees of the NCRPC accumulate sick leave at the rate of one (1) day per month.

2. Under unusual circumstances a deserving employee may, upon the approval of the Executive Director, be advanced sick leave. Such advance shall not exceed ten (10) working days.

3. An employee who is separated for any reason shall not be paid unused sick leave.

4. A doctor's certificate will be required for sick leave in excess of three (3) working days.

5. Not more than one hundred eighty (180) days sick leave may be accumulated and held at any one time.

Section 5.10 Official Representation: Official representation shall be handled as follows:

1. A leave of absence with pay may be granted at the discretion of the Executive Director to an employee to participate in official meetings, activities, examinations and institutes directly related to his work assignment.
2. A regular employee engaged in professional or technical work may be granted a leave of absence with full or partial pay for enrollment in a special institute or course of study of direct benefit to the agency, upon recommendation of the Executive Director.

Section 5.11 Leave of Absence Without Pay: The Executive Director may grant a leave of absence without pay for a two (2) week period in appropriate circumstances. Leave of absence without pay beyond that time may be granted only upon approval of the Executive Committee.

Section 5.12 Military Leave: Any employee who is a member of the reserves of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard shall be entitled to a leave of absence during the time he is engaged in ordered annual training for a period of not to exceed fifteen (15) days in any one calendar year. In the event that the pay received from the United States Government by said employee while on active duty does not equal or exceed the agency salary of such employee, the agency will pay said employee in such an amount necessary to supplement said military pay to equal his regular salary paid by the agency. Any certified employee shall be entitled to an indefinite leave of absence without pay while serving on active duty in the military branch of the United States Government during time of war. This leave allowance also shall cover absences resulting from compulsory military training orders in peacetime but shall not exceed four (4) years. The position from which an employee is on military leave, if filled, shall be filled subject to the return of the employee from military leave providing the employee is physically fit to perform the duties of his former position.

The employee shall submit a written request for military leave to the Executive Director with a copy of the training orders.

Section 5.13 Court Leave: Any regular, full-time employee of the NCRPC shall be entitled to a leave of absence if he is called to testify in a court case or is summoned to jury duty. In the event pay received by said employee for court or jury duty does not equal or exceed the agency salary of such employee, the employee can turn over to the NCRPC the pay received and the agency will pay said employee the regular hourly rate or salary.

An employee requesting a leave of absence for court or jury duty shall submit a written request to that effect to the Executive Director along with appropriate duty verification.

Section 5.14 Medical Benefits: The agency will provide a group health and hospitalization program for the benefit of regular, full-time NCRPC employees. Participation in the program will be optional at the discretion of individual employees. For those employees participating in the program, the agency will pay the full cost of individual coverage for the employee. Costs in excess of individual program coverage, such as the additional cost for family coverage, will be borne by the participating employee.

The above benefit program will be reviewed by the Executive Director annually. If after review, it is felt changes need to be made in the coverage, by a vote of the majority of those participating, the program may be altered within budget limitations.

No substitute provisions of like cost or benefit will be made to any employee choosing not to participate in the health insurance program as outlined above.

Section 5.15 Reimbursement for Tuition: Any regular employee taking a college level course whose subject matter is directly related to the duties performed by that employee may, upon successful completion of the course be reimbursed for tuition.

1. To be eligible for such reimbursement, the employee must inform the Executive Director prior to enrollment in the course, providing the Executive Director with any course description available. The Executive Director shall at that time make a decision whether or not the course will qualify. If affirmative, a written decision shall be placed in the employee's file.

Upon completion of any acceptable course, the employee shall present course grades for verification of successful completion, along with proof of paid tuition costs. Reimbursement for these costs shall be made at that time.

If the employee leaves the NCRPC for a job elsewhere within two (2) years following completion of the last course reimbursed, the employee shall in turn repay the NCRPC for all tuition payments made by the NCRPC on the employee's behalf for the preceding five (5) year period.

Section 5.16 Specialized Training: Specific job classifications may require the employee to undertake specialized training from time-to-time to enable the NCRPC to carry out projects or perform services on behalf of members or clients. The NCRPC shall pay all costs associated with this training.

Section 5.17 Retirement Program: Participation in the NCRPC retirement program is mandatory, although employees are not permitted to enroll in the program until their first anniversary date.

The program established under the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) requires the employee to contribute 4.0% of his/her annual salary with the NCRPC contributing an additional percentage on behalf of the employee. The percentage of NCRPC contribution varies each year, with that percentage being set by KPERS and announced at staff meeting.

Annual reports are given to every employee in May of each year describing the personal investment and benefits accrued on their behalf.

Section 5.18 Health Insurance: The NCRPC will maintain a health insurance program and offer coverage to all employees who elect to participate. Payment of monthly premiums will be as follows:

1. The NCRPC will pay the full monthly premium for individual coverage on the employee unless action is otherwise taken by the Executive Committee to reduce the amount paid.

2. The employee will have the opportunity to pay the additional monthly premium for family coverage.

If the employee chooses not to participate in the NCRPC health insurance program, there will be no like-compensation awarded to that employee.

Section 5.19 General: Issues dealing with additional leave and personal employee expense that may arise from time to time and that are not otherwise addressed in any of the above may fall to the discretion of the Executive Director for final decision.