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13-R-28 - Employee Policy - Attendance - Time RecordingRESOLUTION NO. 13-R-28 A RESOLUTION BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS AUTHORIZING CHANGES IN THE EMPLOYEE ATTENDANCE AND TIME RECORDING POLICIES AS CONTAINED IN THE CITY OF SCHERTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK, AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH WHEREAS, the City staff of the City of Schertz (the "City") has recommended that the City review and approve the amendments to the proposed policies presented by city staff in accordance with the City of Schertz Charter ;and WHEREAS, the City Staff has identified areas of innprovement within the current city policies for the puzpose of correction, compliance, and communication. THAT: BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SCHERTZ, TEXAS Section 1. The City Council hereby authorizes the approval of staff recommendations to amend the current attendance and time recording policies within the City of Schertz Employee Policy Handbook. Section 2. The recitals contained in the preamble hereof are hereby found to be tzue, and such recitals are hereby made a part of this Resolution for all purposes and are adopted as a part of the judgment and findings of the City Council. Section 3. All resolutions, or parts thereof, which are in conflict or inconsistent with any provision of this Resolution are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict, and the provisions of this Resolution shall be and rernain controlling as to the matters resolved herein. Section 4. This Resolution shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas and the United States of America. Section S. If any provision of this Resolution or the application thereof to any person or circumstance shall be held to be invalid, the remainder of this Resolution and the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall nevertheless be valid, and the City Council hereby declares that this Resolution would have been enacted without such invalid provision. Section b. It is officially found, determined, and declared that the meeting at which this Resolution is adopted was open to the public and public notice of the time, place, and subject matter of the public business to be considered at such meeting, including this Resolution, was given, all as required by Chapter 551, Texas Government Code, as amended. Section 7. This Resolution shall be in force and effect fiom and after its final passage, and it is so resolved. PASSED AND ADOPTED, this 26th day of March, 2013. ATTEST: City Secretary, Brenda Dennis (CITY SEAL} CITY OF ERAS Mayor, Michael R. Carpenter 50506221.1 - 2 SSCC~H~ICI~`]C'7L I CITY OF SCAERTZ ElyIPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK Attendance PREPARED BY: Human Resources APPROVED BY: City Council DATE APPROVED: 3/26/2013 EFFECTIVE DATE: 3/27/201.3 REPLACES VERSION: 2.3.2-2.3.3 Purpose• This policy is written to provide employees with general guidelines about reporting when they expect to be late for work or absent. Each department director may specify additional. reporting requirements specific to his/her department. Policy Employees will report for work at the time and place specified by the employee's supervisor. Unnecessary absenteeism and lateness are expensive and disruptive and place an unfair burden on the organization, including co-workers and customers. Each employee will be properly prepared so that the employee may immediately assume his/her job duties. Failure to adhere to the attendance policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination. Applicability: This policy applies to all city employees. Punctuality City employees are expected to be at their jobs during the hours established by their Department head. If the employee must be tardy or absent from duty, he or she must let the Department head or supervisor know as soon as possible and always within the time period required by the employee's Department. Failure to Report to Work Failure to report within the required period can be considered justification for disallowing paid sick leave for an absence. Unless otherwise approved by the supervisor, employees are expected to call their supervisor on each day of absence at least one hour prior to the start of their scheduled shift for that day. If an employee is absent for medical reasons, please refer to the city's FMLA and Sick Leave Policies. Where the nature of the absence necessitates an extended period of time off, longer reporting intervals may be approved by the supervisor, unless the leave qualifies for Family Medical Leave as that term is defined in the Family and Medical Leave Act Policy and the employee was unable to give appropriate notice. Frequent tardiness or un- excused absence is not permissible and is grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including termination. SS~c~H~~~~~i~r~c ~ CITY OF S CHERTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY FIANDBOOK Any employee absent from hislher job for three (3) consecutive work days/shifts without an authorized leave of absence shall be considered to have abandoned his/her employment. Regortin~ Absences It is the responsibility of an employee who cannot report for work to notify hislher immediate supervisor or designee as soon as possible or at least one hour prior to the time the employee is scheduled to be at work unless directed otherwise and notified in writing by the Department Head. Police and fire department employees and other employees in safety sensitive positions may be required to give at least four {4) hours prior notice. The employee must explain the reason for the absence and when he/she expects to return to work. NOTE: It is the employee's responsibility to ensure that proper notification is given, Asking another employee, friend, or relative to give this notification is not considered proper, except under emergency conditions. Tardiness It is each employee's responsibility to call hislher supervisor at least one hour prior to the start of hislher scheduled shift to inform the supervisor that he/she will be late. The employee should specify a time helshe expects to arrive at work. The supervisor has the discretion to approve the make-up of any time missed by the late ernpioyee. Repeated incidents of tardiness may subject the employee to discipline, up to and including termination. If however, if the employee is late due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g. vehicle accident impeding traffic) and cannot provide at least one hour notice, it is incumbent upon the employee to notify the employer that he/she will be tardy and explain the reasons for being tardy. Use of Authorized Absences An employee will not perform work for another employer or himself/herself, engage in extra duty employment, or engage in any other actions which would be inconsistent with the stated reason for taking paid or unpaid leave on the same calendar day that the employee fails to report for work due to illness, injury or emergency. Violation of this prohibition will be grounds for discipline, up to and including termination. Illness-related absences Employees should refer to the city's sick leave policy Use of Paid Leave - An employee may be eligible for paid leave for absences as determined by the guidelines of the applicable policies. SSCCIH~JC]R~~I~~ f CITY OF SCHERTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK Time Reporting PREPARED BY: Human Resources APPROVED BY: City Council DATE APPROVED: 3/x6/2013 EFFECTIVE DATE:. 3/27/2013 REPLACES VERSION: 2.2; 4.1.7; 4.3.10 Purpose To comply with federal, state, and local laws, and provide employees with specific policies and procedures regarding time and attendance reporting. Policy All city employees are expected to report punctually for duty at the beginning of their assigned workdays and to work the full workdays established. Hours worked can be defned as tune that an employee performs principal activities related to the job on the employer's premises or at the prescribed workplace whether suffered or permitted by the employer. All employees ace required to report hours worked and leave taken accurately and to abide by the city's time reporting and leave policies. Failure to adhere to the Time Reporting Policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination. Applicability This policy applies to all city employees. Procedures Employees shall keep records of all hours actually worked and leave time taken and, where appropriate, hours credited to particular projects. Each employee shall be responsible for the accuracy of his/her own time sheet. Each supervisor is required to approve their employees' time sheets, verifying the timesheet accurately reflects the time worked and leave taken by the employee. Approved time sheets must be received in payroll no later than Noon on each Monday following the end of the pay period unless prior arrangements have been made with payroll. ~Scc~~~~~~R~~r ~ a CITY OF SCxEItTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK If a supervisor makes an adjustment to a time sheet and the employee is not available to sign, the supervisor must inform payroll of the change in writing, including a statement that the employee was unavailable, and forward the time sheet to payroll. Supervisors shall notify employees of any changes to the time sheet. In general, time worked includes ail the time an employee is: Required to be on duty; Required to be on the work premises or at a prescribed workplace; or Permitted to work for the city Meal Perin~l With few exceptions, meal periods spent away from the employee's work station are not considered time worked. Non-exempt employees (regardless of status as foil-time, part- time, or temporary employees), who work more than five (5) consecutive hours shall be allowed a meal period of at least thirty (30) minutes beginning no less than two (2} hours or more than five (5) hours from beginning of shift. Employees who work more than three (3) hours of overtime are required to have an additional thirty (30}-minute meal period prior to or during the overtime period. Neither state nor federal law requires an employer pays for these meal periods if the employee is completely relieved from duty during the break. Rest Periods Coffee breaks and other brief rest periods of 15 minutes or less are considered time worked. Stand-bv Pa'y City Council has authorized some Departments to pay stand-by pay (also known as on- call pay) to designated employees, who are on call at designated times. Stand-by time is defined as time worked if employees are required to be available by phone or at certain locations such that they cannot use the time for their own purposes. Qualification for stand-by pay is coordinated with and must be approved by the employee's Department Head and is available only when the needs of the City and its customers require it. Whether time spent on stand-by is considered time worked is a question of fact to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Generally, stand-by time is considered time worked for the amount of time spent: Performing work-related activities, such as phone calls; Driving to and from the location of an emergency situation; and Responding to an emergency situation SSCC]H~]C]R~`~~'7L 1 CITY Off' SCxERTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK Stand-by time is not considered time worked if the employee can leave word as to where they can be reached, or if the employee carries a pager or phone and does not have to stay at a certain location as defined above. If stand-by time is considered time worked, the employee(s) on stand-by shall receive their regular hourly rate until they work over forty (4U) hours within a given workweek, which would then place the employee(s) in an overtime status. Repartina Leave Time It is the responsibility of the Department Head to submit all leave information to the Finance Department with timesheets so leave information can be properly recorded on each employee's personnel record. A deliberate misrepresentation of time worked or leaves taken, or unauthorized absence may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, hourly, non-exempt employees must be paid overtime at time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours actuall worked over forty (40) in a single workweek. Thus, in calculating how many hours anon-exempt employee actually works in a week, the city will not taunt paid vacation, holiday, comp time, or sick time towards the forty (44)-hour workweek. For example, an employee who normally works ~llonday through Friday, eight (8) hours a day, as off on a ~Llonday hecatrse it is a paid holiday. The employee then works Tuesday through Friday, eight hours a day, and is asked to work four (~) additional hours on Saturday. The employee's pay for the week would reflect a total of forty four (~~J paid hours. However; since the employee actually worked only thirty-six (36) hours, he/she would not receive awn ~ overtime pay. Leave Substitution The city's policy requires all applicable paid leave to be used concurrently with a qualifying leave of absence with the exception of an employee, who is serving suspension. In accordance with this policy, other leaves will be automatically substituted when there is an insufficient balance of a requested leave or substitution type (e.g. If ten (10} days of leave are requested to take care of an ill child, but the employee only have five {S) days of sick Ieave, then any vacation balance followed by any comp time balance will automatically be substituted, if available. However, if an employee is out for an illness for themselves or qualifying family members, they must declare the sick leave on their time sheet. Employees may not use comp time or any other leave in place of sick time unless the employee has exhausted hislher sick leave. It is important to refer to the city policies on the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) POLICY and Leave of Absence POLICY for clarification. 55CC1H[~C~R~~I~7L f m CITY OF SCHERTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK Work "saffered or permitted" The FLSA clearly states that it is the employer's responsibility to enforce the overtime rules, not the employees." Overtime must 6e paid if the employer "knows or has reason to know" that the employee is working. The location of the work {e.g., at the job site or away from it) is immaterial if the employer knows or has reason to know of the employee's work. Supervisor's Nate: To prevent incurring wage liability for work time not requested or desired, supervisors should instruct r~on-exempt employees that any overtime must be approved by them in advance and in writing. Good hva-way communication about this is very important. Training Time Time spent studying and attending classes for courses which are required by the supervisor for an employee's current job is considered time worked. Time spent in training, lectures and meetings need not be considered time worked if all the four of the following conditions are met: • Attendance occurs outside of regular work hours. • Attendance is totally and completelX voluntary. To meet this criterion, the employer cannot require employee attendance; and the employee must not be led to believe that non-attendance would adversely affect their employment. • The employee does no productive work related to the employee's job responsibilities while attending training; and • The training is not directly related to the employee's present job o Training is "directly related" to the employee's job when it is designed to make the employee more effective at his or her present job. o Training is not "directly related" to the employee's job when it prepares the employee for a different job, including a promotion, or teaches the employee a new or additional skill. When training is attended for the bona fide purpose of preparing for advancement through upgrading the employee to a higher skill, and is not intended to make the employee more efficient in his/her present job, the training is not considered directly related to the employee's job even though the course incidentally improved his/her skill in doing his/her regular work. Time spent by an employee on his/her own initiative attending an independent school, college or independent trade school after hours is not considered as time worked for the city even if the courses are related to the job. S~CC]H[]E]RZ~]f 7L f „~, CITY DE SCxERTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK For the benefit of its employees, the city may establish a program of instruction, which corresponds to the courses offered by independent bona fide institutions of learning. Voluntary attendance by an employee at such courses outside of working hours would not be considered hours worked even if the instruction is directly related to the job, or paid for by the city. Travel Time The principles that apply in determining whether time spent in travel is time worked depend upon the kind of travel involved. When travel time is integral to perfoi-~ning the employee's job, the time must be treated as work time. When travel time is merely a normal incident of employment, it need not be treated as such. Time spent traveling during normal work hours is considered hours worked. Time spent in home-to-work travel by an employee in an employer-provided vehicle, or in activities performed by an employee that are incidental to the use of the vehicle for commuting, generally is not "hours worked" and, therefore, is unpaid. Medical Attention Time spent by an employee waiting for and receiving medical attention at the work place or at the direction of the supervisor is considered time worked if it occurs during the employee's normal working hours. Time spent waiting for and receiving medical attention as a result of a workplace injury is considered time worked. Volunteer Work FLSA covered employees may not volunteer to work in excess of 40 hours in a workweek without compensation. All time worked must be properly recorded. Voluntary work by an employee for the city shall not be reported as time worked and shall not be compensable as long as the voluntary work is totally and completely voluntary. In order to classify an employee as a volunteer and not an employee under the FLSA, all of the following requirements must be met: • The services must be offered freely by the employee without pressure or coercion (direct or implied) from the employer. Therefore, reduests from the employer to participate in "voluntold" activities are not permissible. The activities are predominately for the employee's own benefit. ~SCCIH[]C~R~`IC7 ~ ~, CITY OF' SCHERTZ EMIPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK The volunteer must not receive or expect to receive any compensation for work performed. The services must be different from any service that the individual is employed to perform far the employer. SSCC]H[lC]RZ`~C'7G I `~~ CITY OF SCHERTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK Work Hours & Scheduling PREPARED BY: Human Resources APPROVED BY: City Council DATE APPROVED: 3/26/2013 EFFECTIVE DATE: 3/27/2013 REPLACES VERSION: 2.2 Purpose To establish policies and procedures regarding the workweek, work hours and office hours to maximize the city's capabilities to provide services to citizens. Po_ r,cy Employees are expected to report to work and observe their approved work schedule. Applicability This policy applies to all city employees Standard Work Hours: Standard Workweek: The standard workweek for most employees (except as explained for commissioned police and uniformed fire personnel, and EMS personnel) is 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Although a normal workweek for many regular, full-time employees is forty (~0) working hours per week, the workweek may vary by department and operational necessity. Standard Work Day: The standard work day for regular, full-time employees is eight (8) hours. Meal time during a work shift is not considered compensable time unless the employee is required to work during the meal time. Employees may be granted a 15 minute rest period with pay during the first and second halves of the work day; however, this privilege is not guaranteed. Individual Work Schedules: An employee's work schedule is determined by the department's operating requirements and subject to change at any time by the Department Head or designee. An employee's work schedule may be adjusted within the standard workweek {or other designated work period as allowed by FLSA) to avoid the payment of overtime or accrual of compensatory time. Required Work Time: All city employees may be required to work hours in excess of their normal work hours when necessary as determined by the supervisor. An employee is expected to respond to a reasonable request to work extra hours. and may be subject to discipline for failure to work such hours. SSCC]HI]CI~~~C'7L CITY OF SCxERTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK Department Head Responsibilities: Each Department Head is responsible for ensuring that supervisors and employees are complying with established work schedules and that unscheduled work is performed only in bona fide emergencies. The mere establishment of schedules (written or verbal) does not relieve the Department Head of his/her responsibility for controlling work time. It is advised that supervisors and managers limit the use of extended shifts and increase the number of days employees work. Working long shifts will generally result in reduced productivity and alertness. When shifts are extended past normal work periods, additional break periods and meals should be provided Unauthorized Working Time: Unless approved in advance by the employee's supervisor, non-exempt employees performing work at any time other than authorized working time is prohibited. Such time would include, but is not limited to, work performed before or after regular work hours or work taken home. Except for Police, Fire, and EMS, any hours to be worked in excess of forty (40) hours in a week, except in the case of emergencies, require the advance approval of the Department Head or the designated representative. Hours Worked: Only hours actually worked count as hours worked for the purpose of overtime. Vacation, sick, and compensatory time (comp time) do not count as hours worked (Refer to the overtime rules under the FLSA policy). Duai< Employment: Dual employment within the City is allowed only where the combined standard work hours for both positions is less than or equal to forty (40) hours per week and when no conflicts exist with work schedules (including overtime) between the two positions. Exceptions are only allowed upon express written approval of the City Manager. Lunch Periods Regular, full-time employees generally have one hour off for lunch. Department Heads will arrange lunch schedules so that his/her Department can provide uninterrupted service to the public. This policy does not apply to shift workers, except at the discretion of the Department Head based on scheduling and the availability of personnel for relief purposes. Employees shall not work through their designated lunch periods unless authorized by their direct supervisors as this has implications on productivity and overtime costs. Rest Periods Regular full-time city employees generally have two fifteen-minute rest breaks during the day, one in the middle of the morning and the other in the middle of the afternoon. Employees who are not full-time should generally have one 15-minute break after four (4) consecutive hours of work. Employees with varying schedules should adjust their SSCC]H[~C]RZ~~~ ! CITY OF SCHERTZ EMPLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK break periods accordingly through consultation with their supervisor. Time allotted for rest periods may not be applied to any other time, absence, leave, or time off, In all events, Department Heads have the authority to schedule rest periods so that necessary work can be accomplished. This policy does not apply to shift workers except at the discretion of the Department Head, based upon scheduling and the availability of personnel for relief purposes. Employees should recognize that breaks provided outside lunch periods are a privilege and not an entitlement. Police Department Work Schedule The term "tour of duty" - is a unique concept applicable only to Section 207(x) employees. This term refers to periods of time when a patrol officer is considered to be on duty for purposes of determining compensable hours. The time may be scheduled or unscheduled. Scheduled time includes "shifts" and is the time the employee is regularly assigned. Unscheduled time is spent in work outside the "shift". Even though the specific work performed may not have been assigned or scheduled in advance, the time must be included in the compensable tour of duty. Police Department Shift-Work The standard work shift of the Police Department may consist of the following schedules: • Eight (8} hours per day; Ten (10) hours [forty (40) hours per workweek]; • Twelve {12) hours; • Twelve (12) hours and fifteen (15) minutes per day (Sb hours per pay period} For more specific information regarding shift assignments and duties .for the Police Department, employees should refer to the Police Department Standard Operating Procedures (SDP's) Each officer works a total of forty {40) scheduled hours per work period. Fire Departme~rt Work Schedule The Fire Department sets work schedules for their personnel and notifies employees in writing of their work schedule assignments. Fire Department Shift-Work The standard work shift of the Fire Department may consist of'the following schedules: • Eight {$)- hour shifts • Twenty-four (24)-hour shifts {168 hours per 21 consecutive days); • Twenty-four (24)- hour shifts {212 hours per 28 consecutive days). SSCC]Hf]C]RZ~~7L I CITY OF SCPIERTZ EMrLOYEE POLICY HANDBOOK For more specific information regarding shift assignments and duties for the Fire Department, employees should refer to the Fire Department SOP's. EMS Department Work Schedule EMS sets work schedules for their personnel and notifies employees in writing of their work schedule assignments. Fire Department Shift-Work The standard work shift of the EMS may consist of the following schedules: • Eight (8)-hour shifts • Ten (10)-hour shifts • Eleven (11)-hour shifts + Twelve (12)-hour shifts • Twenty-Four (24)-hour shifts For more specific information regarding shift assignments and duties for the EMS Department, employees should refer to the EMS SOl?'s.