4.1 Health Insurance
The Library will make health insurance available to full-time employees, as defined by 2.6.3 Health insurance coverage begins on the first day of the month following the date of full-time employment and ends on the last day of the month of separation. Fiscal-year 2014-2015, the Board of Directors will allow Library employees to cover adult designees, as outlined by Public Employee Health Program.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval June 16, 2014
4.1.1 Health Insurance at Retirement
An employee who has completed at least 15 years of continuous full-time benefited service before July 1, 2013 and who retires prior to July 1, 2016 will receive the benefit prior to age 65 and the benefit after age 65. An employee who has completed at least 15 years of continuous service before July 1, 2013 and who retires prior to July 1, 2018 will receive the benefit prior to age 65
Benefit prior to age 65: The retiree employee will be allowed to stay on the Library-offered medical and dental plans. The retired employee is required to pay 102% of the premium for the first 18 months of retirement. After 18 months the retired employee is required to pay 130% of the medical premium and 120% of the dental premium. The Library will pay $250 per month towards this premium. The Library pays this directly to the insurance carrier.
o The retiree will submit payment to the Library, prior to the 5th of each month. If the payment is not received by the 5th of each month, the retiree’s insurance will be cancelled, although the Executive Director could grant an exception.
o Once the retiree drops medical or dental coverage, the retiree will not be allowed to gain access to dropped insurance through the Library.
Benefit after age 65: The retiree will be allowed to obtain Medicare Part D, through the Library insurance. The Library will pay $100 per month towards this premium. The Library pays this directly to the insurance carrier.
o The retiree will submit payment to the insurance carrier.
o Once the retiree drops medical or dental coverage, the retiree will not be allowed to gain access to dropped insurance through the Library.
4.2 Employee Retirement
The Library participates in the Utah Retirement System (URS). The Library pays the contribution amounts as determined by the URS. The URS provides a number of benefits to the employee, including an employee contribution 401(k) option. Because of complexities of the plan, employees should refer to URS’ website, www.urs.org, regarding any questions concerning the plan. Part-time employees, working 1039 hours or less, who have elected to receive leave benefits are not eligible for retirement benefits.
4.2.1 Benefit Protection
Benefit protection provides for continued years of service accrual in the event an employee is on Long Term Disability, as approved by the Library’s provider. URS provides a benefit protection for Tier 1 employees (employees enrolled in URS prior to July 1, 2011).
URS does not provide a benefit protection for Tier 2 employees (employees enrolled in URS after July 1, 2011). In the event an employee is on approved Long Term Disability continuation/contribution will cease the day the employee is approved for the benefit.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval June 16, 2014
4.3 Workers’ Compensation
The Library complies with all provisions of the State of Utah Workers’ Compensation Act. Any injury occurring on the job must be reported to the supervisor, manager, or Human Resources immediately.
4.4 Long-term Disability
All full-time and grandfathered full-time employees assigned to work more than 20 hours a week are insured for long-term disabilities. Long-term disability insurance pays a portion of the employee’s salary while disabled. See Human Resources for more information.
4.5 Holidays
4.5.1 Observed Holidays
The Library observes 12 days as paid holidays:
New Year’s Day (January 1)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Third Monday in January)
President’s Day (Third Monday in February)
Memorial Day (Last Monday in May)
Juneteenth National Independence Day (observed on a Monday around June 19)
Independence Day (July 4)
Pioneer Day (July 24)
Labor Day (First Monday in September)
Thanksgiving Day (Fourth Thursday of November)
Day after Thanksgiving (Fourth Friday of November)
Christmas Eve (December 24)
Christmas Day (December 25)
When a holiday falls on the employee’s day off, another day off will be scheduled. The Library closes at 6:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve and on the last work day before New Year’s except when December 31st falls on a Sunday when the Library normally closes at 5:00 p.m. When a holiday falls on a Saturday, the Library will be closed on Saturday; when a holiday falls on a Sunday, the Library will be closed Sunday and Monday. When Christmas Eve falls on a Saturday, the Library will close at 1:00 pm on Saturday and be closed Sunday and Monday for the Christmas holiday. The Library is also closed on Easter Sunday. No compensation will be given for this holiday.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval May 23, 2022
4.5.2 Holiday Pay
All full-time and part-time employees receive holiday pay on a prorated basis according to the number of regularly scheduled work hours.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval May 19, 2014
4.5.3 Staff Development Day
The Library is closed to the public on Veterans’ Day for an annual Staff Development Day. This day provides employees an opportunity to learn and share together. All employees are required to attend Staff Development Day, except those whose school or outside work schedules do not allow attendance.
4.6 Vacation
4.6.1 Accrual
Vacation time is accrued by pay period. Employees may take vacation time with their manager’s advance approval. Employees may not use vacation time that has not been accrued. Employees begin accruing vacation time when they begin working for the Library. Vacation will accrue based on the employee’s most recent benefit-eligible hire date. Employees will accrue leave prorated based on the number of regularly scheduled work hours and continuous years of service at the following rate.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval June 28, 2021
4.6.2 Scheduling
An employee should make vacation time requests to his/her supervisor or manager with as much advance notice as possible. Supervisors/managers will accommodate requests as appropriate, while considering the staffing needs of the department.
4.6.3 Payout
When a staff member’s employment has ended, the balance of accrued, unused vacation time will be included in the employee’s final paycheck.
Upon written request from the employee vacation payout can be made on a separate payment.
4.6.4 Maximum Vacation Balance
Vacation time is intended to benefit the employee, and employees are encouraged to take vacation time in the year in which it is earned. Employees may maintain a vacation balance equal to a maximum of one and one-half years of annual vacation accrual. When the maximum accrual is reached the employee will no longer accrue until the accrued time is less than the maximum.
Sick leave conversion. If an employee has converted sick leave to vacation under 4.8.4, the converted leave will be included in the vacation balance.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval June 28, 2021
4.7 Policy Removed
Policy Removed- Library Board Approval June 28, 2021
4.8 Sick Leave
4.8.1 Accrual
Employees will accrue sick leave at the rate of 3.70 hours per pay period starting when they begin work at the Library. Employees working less than 40 hours per week will accrue sick leave at a prorated rate. There is no limit to the number of sick leave hours an employee can accumulate.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval May 19, 2014
4.8.2 Use
Sick leave is offered to prevent a loss of income should an employee be unable to perform their work because of physical or mental illness, injury, pregnancy, childbirth or adoption, or for emergency care of ill or injured immediate family members. Sick leave may also be used in the case of death in an employee’s immediate family beyond bereavement leave with manager approval. An employee who has a physical or mental illness healthcare appointment, or is injured and unable to attend work shall notify his/her supervisor/manager prior to the work shift.
Employees can only use sick leave to offset the scheduled or usual hours for the given workday. If an employee uses sick leave during a workweek, his/her combined work hours
and sick leave hours may not exceed their regular assigned hours. A doctor’s note may be required to support extended, frequent, unusual, or patterned use of
sick leave. Excessive use or abuse of sick leave may result in disciplinary action.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval June, 2022
4.8.3 Use with Workers’ Compensation
If an employee is injured at their Library job and is receiving workers’ compensation benefits, sick or vacation leave may be used to supplement the workers’ compensation amount so that their salary will be the same as when working.
4.8.4 Sick Leave Conversion
Any employee who has accumulated 55 days of sick leave and has been employed with the Library for at least five years may choose to convert a portion of the yearly sick leave to vacation under the following plan:
If the employee has not used any sick leave days during the previous fiscal year, the
employee shall be entitled to convert five days for use in the following year.
If the employee used:
o One sick leave day, he/she can convert four days
o Two sick leave days, three converted days
o Three sick leave days, two converted days
o Four sick leave days, one converted day
o Five sick leave days, no converted days will be allowed
For conversion purposes only, a fraction of a day of sick leave used will be counted as a full day of sick leave when the year’s use of sick leave is totaled.
An employee wishing to convert sick leave must do so by July 1 of each year for leave accumulated in the previous fiscal year. Election will be made to Human Resources during June of each year. Conversion will take place the first full pay period of July. Current year converted vacation will not be included in the current year carry-over.
4.8.5 Payout
An employee who has completed 15 years of continuous service before July 1, 2013 and who retires, under URS rules, or is laid-off as a result of a reduction in force prior to July 1, 2028, will be paid 25% of up to 1080 hours of accumulated sick leave.
4.9 Bereavement Leave
All benefit-eligible Library employees qualify for paid bereavement leave. In the event of the death of an immediate family or household member, employees are excused from normal work hours for up to five days. In the event of the death of an extended family member, employees are excused from normal work hours for one day. With manager approval, sick leave may be granted for extended absence in addition to bereavement leave.
For the purpose of this policy, immediate family is defined as father, mother, grandparents, sister, brother, husband, wife, children, or grandchildren. It also includes step relations, and in-laws, and domestic partners to the same degree of relationship.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval May 19, 2014
4.10 Jury and Court Leave
An employee who is summoned to serve on a jury or required by subpoena to appear as a witness on behalf of the Library will be paid for their normal working hours while serving. If the staff member collects juror fees, the fees will be remitted to the Library’s Finance department. If the employee elects to keep the juror fees, the employee will be required to use eligible leave time.
Employees subpoenaed for non-Library related cases are not eligible for jury leave.
4.11 Military Leave
The Library complies with the requirements of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).
An employee who leaves a job, voluntarily or involuntarily, to enter active duty in the United States Armed Forces, shall be granted an unpaid military leave of absence with guaranteed restoration to his/her former position, or to a position with a comparable salary (where justified by organizational changes) without loss of seniority, pay, or other employment rights that would have been accrued were it not for the military leave.
An employee who is called to serve his/her annual tour will be granted 10 working days of paid military leave, which may be extended using vacation or taking leave without pay for that period.
An employee returning from military leave will receive vacation accrual rates based on total length of service including the period of military activation. An employee's unused vacation and sick leave balances shall be restored upon returning from a military leave of absence.
Military leave time will not be considered a break in consecutive employment for seniority purposes or other considerations.
Employees on military leave of absences may continue existing Library-provided health insurance for up to 24 months, provided they pay 100% of their insurance premium. If an employee elects to discontinue his/her insurance coverage while on military leave without pay, he/she may re-enroll within 30 days upon return to employment without a waiting period.
Employees ordered to active duty will continue to accrue years of service credit with the URS.
If, due to a service-connected disability or for some other reason, an employee is not qualified to perform all the duties of their former position, the employee will be placed in the closest comparable position for which he/she is qualified.
4.12 Unpaid Leave of Absence
A leave of absence without pay may be granted for a period not to exceed six months for regular employees. Requests for extended leaves of absence without pay should be made to
the employee’s supervisor/manager, with approval from the respective ELT Member and Executive Director. Unpaid leaves of absence do not constitute a break in service; however, benefits do not accrue during such leave. Employees must use eligible leave prior to going on unpaid leave of absence.
Part-time employees may request an unpaid leave of absence for schooling, for extended vacation purposes, for medical necessity, or caring for a family member. Unpaid leave of absences must be approved by the respective ELT Member.
Full-time employees who have utilized all eligible vacation and sick time are not allowed to use unpaid leaves of absence without approval from the respective ELT Member unless the leave qualifies under FMLA leave, Section 4.13.
Employees must take unpaid leave to fulfill political offices.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval March 23, 2015
4.13 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to take job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave. The leave may be paid, unpaid or a combination of both. Employees who have worked for the Library for at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months are entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave for any of the following reasons:
For incapacity due to pregnancy, prenatal medical care, or child birth;
To care for the employee’s child after birth, or placement for adoption or foster care;
To care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;
For a serious health condition that renders the employee unable to perform his or her job;
Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty.”
Employees may be eligible for 26 workweeks of leave during a 12-month period for caregiver leave when an eligible employee’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin is a wounded service member.
Employees must request FMLA leave at least 30 days in advance of a foreseeable event or as soon as practical if unforeseeable. Employees are required to provide medical certification to
the Human Resources Department to support the leave request. FMLA leave may be taken intermittently. The Library will require an employee to use any accumulated paid leave prior to taking unpaid leave. For the purposes of FMLA, a year begins on the date of the qualifying event. While on FMLA the employee may maintain their existing Library-sponsored health
insurance plan provided he/she pays 100% of the employee’s portion of the premium.
Upon returning to work, most employees will (but are not guaranteed to) be restored to their original or equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms of employment. While on paid leave, the employee will continue to accrue vacation, sick, and holiday time. When an employee is on unpaid leave for more than 15 consecutive days, he/she will not accrue vacation, sick, or holiday time.
Policy Amended- Library Board Approval March 23, 2015
4.14 Other Employee Benefits
4.14.1 Parking
Parking proximity cards are needed to access the parking garage at the Main Library. Human Resources arranges for the initial parking cards for staff. The Library is not responsible for any damage to, or theft of staff member’s vehicles while parked in any Library parking area, or of any belongings inside or around vehicles. Employees are not allowed to store any vehicle in any Library parking area for an extended period of time. If an employee’s vehicle receives a ticket, the employee is responsible for paying the fine. The employee is also responsible for any damage or towing fees. Privileges can be revoked from employees who violate these policies or posted rules. Cards that are damaged or lost should be reported to Human Resources as soon as possible. Employees must pay for the cost of lost or damaged cards. Employees who leave the Library’s employment must return the card to Human Resources.
4.14.2 Public Transportation Reimbursement
Library employees can be reimbursed up to $62 per month for a Utah Transit Authority (UTA) pass. Employees must have worked at least 19 hours in the given month to be eligible for reimbursement. Employees wishing to be reimbursed should submit a copy of the pass and receipt to the Finance department. Reimbursement, if applicable, will be processed with payroll.
4.15 Travel
4.15.1 Authorization and Payment of Travel Related Expenses
This policy applies to all Library employees, Library Board Members, and any other persons designated by the Board.
4.15.2 Definitions
Library: Salt Lake City Public Library
Library Travel Coordinator: An employee designated by the Finance Manager to assist Library employees with Library related travel arrangements.
Travel Day: A day of travel is defined as 24 hours at the approved destination. Travelers who do not stay overnight will be granted one-half day per diem. For calculating per diem, the first day of travel is counted as a full day. The day of return travel from the destination is counted as one-half day.
4.15.3 Travel Policy
The Salt Lake City Public Library will pay a per diem allowance and travel-related expenses incurred for the purpose of conducting Library business. Travel must have a Library
purpose. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) per diem rates will serve as the basis by which the Library will pay for expenses related to travel. GSA per diem rates vary based on the destination. Per diem shall be limited to meals, mileage, and certain other travel-related expenses.
An employee who is authorized to travel on Library business should communicate with the Library travel coordinator at least 30 days prior to travel. The Finance department will make travel arrangements on the employee’s behalf and provide a check for the allowed per diem.
4.15.4 Mileage Reimbursement
Employees who use their own vehicle for approved, official Library business should track mileage to request reimbursement. Mileage reimbursement rates are established by the GSA.
Requests must be submitted to the Finance Department using the mileage payment request form found on the staff intranet and be signed by the appropriate manager. Reimbursement requests must be received in the fiscal year in which the mileage occurred.
Parking fees may be reimbursed with approval from the employee’s manager.
Employees driving on Library business must have a valid driver’s license. If a personal vehicle is used for Library business, the vehicle must be insured. Costs incurred as a result of a traffic accident or other damages are the responsibility of the employee. Parking and traffic tickets will not be reimbursed by the Library.