Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a)
All local unit payments for compensated absence shall be authorized locally by
any one or combination of the following practices:
1. Any duly negotiated and approved labor
agreement between the employer and a collective bargaining organization,
executed pursuant to the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act
(N.J.S.A.
34:13A-1 et seq.);
2. A provision in a local ordinance or
enabling resolution; and/or
3. An
employment agreement with an individual employee, where the use of the benefit
therein is authorized by local ordinance or enabling
resolution.
(b) No
payments for compensated absence shall be authorized that exceed limitations
established pursuant to State law.
(c) Payment for compensated absence shall be
made upon certification by the chief financial officer of the local unit that
sufficient documentation of the amount of the accumulated absence has been
provided, and that funds are available to pay for the amount of compensated
absence due. Sufficient documentation shall include:
1. A copy of, or reference to, the agreement
authorizing compensation;
2.
Documentation of the employee's hire date and the amount of accumulated absence
time broken down by category;
3. If
the employee is subject to accumulated absence restrictions established by
P.L.
2007, c. 92, the date
the employee entered a title subject to
P.L.
2007, c. 92;
and
4. The total value of the
compensation due based on the agreement and accumulated absence
time.
(d) In the absence
of sufficient documentation, payment for compensated absence may be awarded by
resolution of the governing body, subject to the following:
1. The employee shall provide the governing
body with a certification that includes an annual itemization of each type of
accumulated absence, records maintained by the employee or employer to
substantiate the absence, and an explanation as to the reasons that sufficient
documentation, as described in (b) above, is not available. Said certification
shall be attached to the resolution and shall serve as evidence of the
accumulated absence, based on the employee's records. Where appropriate, local
government units should supplement the employees' records, when they have the
ability to do so.
2. If the
employee is unable to produce all of the documentation required in (c)1 above,
the governing body may, by resolution, approve payment for compensated absence
based upon the employee's ability to provide partial documentation, and upon
finding that there is good and reasonable cause to warrant payment in the
absence of full documentation. Such good and reasonable cause may be in
connection with the loss of relevant information due to technological changes
in recordkeeping; the loss of data caused by fire, natural disaster and the
like; the loss of dated information; or other reasonable explanation by the
employee as to why sufficient documentation is not available.
3. Upon receipt of the certification and
acceptance of the employee's records, or explanation for not providing
sufficient documentation, the governing body may then approve payment by
resolution, provided that the chief financial officer has certified that
sufficient funds are available for payment.
4. Any resolution that is approved by the
local unit in the absence of sufficient documentation shall so state that the
compensation is being approved upon finding that there is good and reasonable
cause to approve, based on the certified explanation provided by the
employee.
(e) For
officers and employees subject to
P.L.
2007, c. 92 or
P.L.
2010, c. 3, payment for
unused sick leave shall be payable only at the time of retirement from a
State-administered or locally administered retirement system based on the leave
credited on the date of retirement.
