CRESTVIEW — City workers may begin accumulating paid time off, commonly called PTO, in lieu of set sick leave and vacation time if the City Council approves a plan presented by City Clerk Betsy Roy.
"This takes away using sick leave for time off," Roy said during an Aug. 27 workshop. "If it's, 'I need a weekend and (my supervisor’s) all right with it,' it eliminates using sick leave for something it's not intended for."
City Councilman Joe Blocker sought assurance the proposal would not cause employees to lose any sick time or vacation they’d already accumulated.
"Sick leave and annual leave are the same, the hours are the same, there's absolutely no loss," Police Chief Tony Taylor said.
In a brief presented to the council, Roy said there is “a ‘perception’ that the employee will ‘lose’ time if they don’t take it” under the current policy.
“PTO sets the maximum amount of time that can be taken off during any fiscal year,” Roy stated in the brief. “This makes it a management issue rather than a payroll issue. Managers will be responsible for insuring that employees stay within the maximum allowed for each year.”
Roy said the new policy, if approved, would still permit city employees to donate leave to one another or take emergency leave.
A consensus of department heads and city councilmen showed they generally favored the proposal, which if approved at an upcoming council meeting, would be implemented Oct.1.
PAID TIME OFF
Under the proposed paid time off, or PTO, plan, Crestview city workers would receive the same number of combined sick leave and vacation time hours as the current policy allows.
Years of service Firefighters’ hours All other workers’ hours
Up to 2 18 monthly/216 annual 11.34 hrs. monthly,136 annual
2 to 4 22 monthly/264 annual 14.67 hrs. monthly/176 annual
4 to 6 26 monthly/312 annual 18 monthly/216 annual
6 or more 32 monthly/384 annual 21.64 monthly/256 annual
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview contemplates PTO plan for employees