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CITY OF SALEM VACATION LEAVE POLICY Employees accrue vacation leave based on their hire date, also referred to as an employee’s accrual date. Such hire date may be adjusted for prior municipal or like service with approval of the Human Resources Director. Employees receive a pro-rata share of vacation leave in the year they are hired, based on their date of hire, whether the date is adjusted for prior service or not. Vacation leave is accrued as follows: 1-5 years of service: 2 weeks per year 35 hour week employee: 5.8333 hours per month. 40 hour week employee: 6.6666 hours per month 5 years of service: 3 weeks per year. 35 hour week employee: 8.75 hours per month. 40 hour week employee: 10 hours per month 10 years of service: 4 weeks per year. 35 hour week employee: 11.6666 hours per month 40 hour week employee: 13.3333 hours per month 20 years of service: 5 weeks per year 35 hour week employee: 14.5833 hours per month 40 hour week employee: 16.6666 hours per month. Vacation accrual hours are added at the end of every month, and the accrual is reflected in the employee’s master payroll file and the employee’s Employee Self Service (ESS) portal. December vacation accrual hours are added prior to the end of December to reflect an employee’s full accrual prior to the end of the calendar year. Vacation leave may not be used during the employee’s first twenty-six (26) weeks of employment. This requirement may be waived at the Department Head’s discretion after consultation with the Human Resources Director. Upon termination of employment the employee shall receive payment equal to the amount of vacation leave they have earned up to that date. If termination is caused by death, such payment shall be made to the member's legal beneficiary. At the end of the calendar year, employees are allowed to carry over no more than two weeks of vacation leave into the next calendar year. ---PAGE BREAK--- Employees shall request the use of vacation leave from their Department Head with a month’s notice, unless an emergency prevents such a request. The Department Head may waive this notice requirement if the request will not result in a negative impact on departmental functions. For scheduling purposes, a Department Head may require all employees within the department to request use of vacation leave at date certain for peak vacation times recognized as the following: • February school vacation weeks; • April school vacation weeks; • July 1 through August 31; and • December holidays Approval of such requested leave for peak times must be provided to the employee withing ten (10) days of the close of the request period. A Department Head’s determined unique “peak” times (other than those listed above) must be approved by the Human Resources Director prior to requiring more than a month’s notice. Employees can use vacation leave in increments no less than quarter hour (15 minute) increments. Employees are allowed to negatively accrue vacation leave for not more than ten (10) days, provided their vacation accrual is at zero or greater by December 31 of the same year. If an employee leaves employment for any reason while maintaining a negative vacation leave balance, the City shall deduct the monetary value of any advanced vacation leave from the employee’s final payroll check. If an employee has a negative balance of vacation leave and will not earn enough vacation leave to be at zero or greater by December 31 of the calendar year, the City will deduct the monetary value of the advanced vacation leave from the employee in their final payroll check of the calendar year. The employee may, with the approval of their Department Head and the Human Resources Director, forfeit hourly wages to recoup the hours of vacation leave owed to the City. This forfeiture of hourly wages is implemented on a case-by-case basis, and it is not to be considered the usual and customary process. This process, if permitted, is for the City to recoup no more than two months’ worth of the employee’s vacation leave accrual and may not be combined with a monetary recoupment for a negative vacation leave balance. HR 8.2023