In addition to good working conditions, competitive pay and health and wellness benefits, LFUCG offers generous paid and unpaid leave benefits. Details for each leave type are provided in this chapter of the handbook.
Continuation of leave accruals and flex credits
Employees who are absent from work with or without pay may experience a change in their leave accruals and flex credits as outlined in this chapter. For information on how such absence may affect service credit for retirement purposes, see the Retirement Plans section in the Health & Wellness Benefits chapter of this handbook
Absent with pay
Leave accruals
Employees who are absent from work with pay will continue to receive sick, vacation and swing holiday accruals and holiday pay or accruals. However, employees who are on an approved disability leave are not experiencing a loss in pay, so hours for designated holidays will not be added to their leave bank (HOL). Hours for the two swing holidays will still be added to their leave bank as they are not considered to be designated holidays. An employee who is on an approved disability leave for more than 90 days will not continue to receive monthly sick and vacation accruals.
Flex credits
LFUCG will continue to apply flex credits, tobacco credits and supplements to offset the employee’s cost of LFUCG health insurance premiums. And, employees may continue to use any unused flex credits for other pre-tax benefits, including but not limited to Health Savings Accounts (HSA) or Flex Savings Accounts (FSA). Those who receive LFUCG contributions to their Health Savings Accounts will continue to receive them.
Reference
Code of Ordinances, Sec. 21-39. – Disability leave.
CAO Policy 53: Disability Leave, Workers’ Compensation Claims, and Coordination with Family Medical Leave
Absent without pay
Employees who are absent from work without pay may experience a change in their leave accruals and flex credits as shown in the table below.
Leave accruals and flex credits
| Payroll code | Description | Pay status | Sick and vacation accruals | Holiday accrual and pay | Bi-weekly flex credits applied | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Without | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | ||
| ADMIN |
Administrative Leave for less than a full pay period All leave categories will continue to accrue, and flex credits will continue to be applied.* |
X | X | X | X | |||
| CNCL |
Council Leave for less than a full pay period All leave categories will continue to accrue, and flex credits will continue to be applied.* |
X | X | X | X | |||
| CNCL |
Council Leave for a full pay period Employees will not receive sick or vacation accruals for the calendar month in which they are in a no-pay status for a full pay period. They will not continue to accrue or be paid for designated holidays that transpire while they are on leave. Any swing holidays that were not granted while the employee was on leave will be granted if/when they return to work. |
X | X | X | X*** | |||
| FMLA |
Family & Medical Leave for less than a full pay period All leave categories will continue to accrue, and flex credits will continue to be applied. Employees may be required to use their accrued leave.* |
X | X | X | X | |||
| FMLA |
Family & Medical Leave for a full pay period All leave categories will continue to accrue. Employees may be required to use their accrued leave. |
X | X | X | X*** | |||
| MILNP |
Military Leave/Reserve Training for less than a full pay period All leave categories will continue to accrue and flex credits will continue to be applied. Employees on military leave without pay may elect to use their accrued leave. |
X | X | X | X | |||
| MILNP |
Military Leave/Reserve Training for a full pay period All leave categories will continue to accrue. Employees on military leave without pay may elect to use their accrued leave. |
X | X | X | X | X*** | ||
| MILNP |
Military Leave/Regular for less than a full pay period All leave categories will continue to accrue, and flex credits will continue to be applied. Employees on military leave without pay may elect to use their accrued leave. |
X | X | X | X | |||
| MILNP |
Military Leave/Regular for a full pay period All leave categories will continue to accrue. Employees on military leave without pay may elect to use their accrued leave. |
X | X | X | X*** | |||
| AWOL |
Absent without Leave for less than four hours in one month All leave categories will continue to accrue and flex credits will continue to be applied.* |
X | X | X** | X | |||
| AWOL |
Absent without Leave for four or more hours in one month (but less than a full pay period) Neither sick leave nor vacation leave is accrued for the calendar month in which an employee is absent without leave (AWOL) for four or more hours. Employees will continue to receive holiday accruals except for any holidays that transpire while the employee is AWOL. Flex credits will continue to be applied.* An employee who is AWOL for three or more consecutive working days may be terminated for job abandonment. |
X | X | X** | X | |||
| AWOL |
Absent without Leave for a full pay period Neither sick leave nor vacation leave is accrued for the calendar month in which an employee is absent without leave (AWOL) for a full pay period. Any swing holidays that were not granted while the employee was AWOL will be granted if/when they return to work. An employee who is AWOL for three or more consecutive working days may be terminated for job abandonment. |
X | X | X** | X*** | |||
| SUSWO |
Suspension for less than four hours in one month All leave categories will continue to accrue, and flex credits will continue to be applied.* |
X | X | X** | X | |||
| SUSWO |
Suspension for four or more hours in one month (but less than a full pay period) Neither sick leave nor vacation leave is accrued for the calendar month in which an employee is suspended for four or more hours. Employees will continue to receive holiday accruals except for any holidays that transpire while the employee is serving their suspension. Flex credits will continue to be applied.* |
X | X | X** | X | |||
| SUSWO |
Suspended for a full pay period Neither sick leave nor vacation leave is accrued for the calendar month in which an employee is suspended for a full pay period. Employees will continue to receive holiday accruals except for any holidays that transpire while the employee is serving their suspension. Any swing holidays that were not granted while the employee was serving their suspension will be granted if/when they return to work. |
X | X | X** | X*** | |||
| * |
Occurs when two or more payroll codes are used in combination and result in a no-pay status for a full pay period (e.g., an employee reports Administrative Leave for the first week in a pay period and Council Leave for the second week in the same pay period). Neither sick leave nor vacation leave is accrued for the calendar month in which this occurs. Employees will continue to receive holiday accruals except for any holidays that transpire while the employee is absent without pay for a full pay period. Any swing holidays that were not granted while the employee was absent without pay will be granted if/when they return to work. |
X | X | X** | X*** | |||
** No employee shall lose any pay as a result of the advent of a designated holiday. When an employee does not work on a designated holiday, they are paid by using the designated holiday hours that were added to their leave bank (HOL) for that purpose. However, when an employee is absent without leave (AWOL) or serving a suspension (SUSWO) during the holiday period, they are not using approved leave and their loss of pay is not a result of a designated holiday. In that case, the employee’s number of hours that were added to their leave bank for an upcoming designated holiday (HOL) will be removed. On or before January 1 of each calendar year, each employee shall be granted two swing holidays which may be taken by employees at any time during the calendar year. They are not considered to be designated holidays. As such, an employee who is entitled to receive swing holidays will receive them.
***In situations where bi-weekly flex credits are not applied, they will be fully applied when the employee returns to work. That is, the first paycheck the employee receives after they return to work will show the total amount of deferred flex credits, tobacco credits and supplements as well as the total employee-cost of LFUCG-sponsored benefits that LFUCG paid for while the employee was in a no-pay status, including but not limited to health, dental and vision insurance. Employees may issue LFUCG a check or enter a payment plan by payroll deduction for any remaining balance due.
For questions or concerns about the continuation of these and other benefits while in a no-pay status, contact Human Resources, Benefits section at (859) 258-3030 or benefitssection@lexingtonky.gov. For questions or concerns about payroll processing of time off work including which payroll codes to use, contact Payroll at (859) 258-3034 or payroll@lexingtonky.gov.
NEW: Extended time allowed to use banked emergency hours (EMRG), and extended time allowed to take vacation and holiday leave. Learn more.