Chapter 9-C

MONROE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

General Order

CHAPTER:		TITLE:
		Conditions and Benefits of Work
009-C		Public Emergency Policy
EFFECTIVE DATE:	NO. PAGES:	REVIEWED/REVISED:
January 5, 2010	3	August 19, 2019
REFERENCE:		RESCINDS:

Sheriff of Monroe County

I.PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to clarify the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) pay policy when emergency response work is performed during a declared public emergency.

II.POLICY: It is the policy of the Sheriff that employees be duly compensated for emergency work performed during a declared public emergency.

III. DEFINITIONS:

A.Public Emergency: Any occurrence or threat thereof whether natural, technological or manmade, in war or in peace, which results or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population or substantial damage to or loss of property. The Sheriff may declare a public emergency with or without a declaration of a State of Emergency.

B.Emergency Leave: Time off with pay will be granted to all MCSO employees once the agency ceases normal operations due to a public emergency. Emergency leave applies only to an employee’s regular work hours during the time that normal operations are interrupted. In the case of emergency leave being granted for a portion of the county, those employees whose worksite (not residence) is in the area affected will be granted emergency leave.

C.Authorized Employee: An employee approved to do emergency response work once the agency has ceased the normal operations due to a public emergency.

D.Emergency Response Work: Work performed by an authorized employee during the time that the agency ceases normal operations due to a public emergency.

IV. PROCEDURE:

A.Designation of Authorized Employees:

1.Certified law enforcement and corrections deputies, communications employees and airport security technicians are considered authorized employees under this policy.

2.All other employees questioning their designation and responsibilities during emergency leave must contact their Bureau Chief via chain-of-command to confirm their status. All approvals will be in writing and a copy of the approval will be maintained in the Finance Division.

3.The Sheriff or his designee reserves the right to designate positions required to stay during a

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public emergency on an as-needed basis.

B.Pay Policies:

1.All employees are entitled to receive full pay during the time the agency ceases normal operations and authorizes emergency leave.

2.Employees who do not work during emergency leave will receive their regular compensation.

3.If an employee, for any reason, does not report to work when MCSO resumes normal operations and emergency leave is no longer in effect, that employee will be required to utilize accrued leave. In the absence of accrued leave, the employee will take leave without pay. It is the responsibility of all employees to notify their supervisor if they are unable to report to work.

4.An authorized employee who performs emergency response work will receive additional compensation for actual hours worked.

C.Compensation for Emergency Response Work:

1.Compensation for authorized employees who perform emergency response work will be as follows:

a.Non-exempt employees will be compensated at double their regular hourly rate for all regular hours actually worked. All overtime hours worked during this time will be compensated at a rate of two and a half times the employee’s regular hourly rate. Overtime hours will be calculated based on normal procedures.

Example: Deputy A’s regular hourly rate is $10. During a declared public emergency Deputy A will be compensated at an hourly rate of $20. Once Deputy A has worked enough hours to qualify for overtime payments under existing policy he/she will be compensated at a rate of $25 per hour.

b.Exempt employees will receive their regular salary plus an hourly rate for all hours actually worked. An exempt employee’s hourly rate will be calculated by dividing an employee’s annual salary by fifty-two and then dividing by forty.

2.Work that could have been postponed until after the emergency leave will not be subject to additional compensation under this policy. Emergency leave will be granted for the remaining hours in order to make the employee whole for the normal scheduled workday.

D.Timesheets:

1.Regular working hours or hours spent on non-emergency response work will be recorded as ‘hours worked’. Only hours worked up to midnight will be recorded on the date in question.

2.Emergency leave time granted until the end of the normally scheduled workday (up to midnight of each day) must be recorded as ‘Emergency Leave’ to make the employee whole for that workday. This number of hours would be the number of hours the employee normally works on a shift less the number of hours the employee recorded for non-emergency response work.

3.Authorized employees who perform emergency response work during the time emergency leave is granted will mark the actual hours worked under ‘Emergency Response’.

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