Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A)
Pursuant to
division (B) of section
124.392 of the Revised Code, the
voluntary cost savings (VCS) program was created as a tool for an appointing
authority to reduce costs. A VCS program provides eligible employees with the
opportunity to reduce their schedule or be in a no pay status for a period of
time without reducing certain benefits or requiring them to exhaust paid
leave.
(B)
Approval. An appointing authority will notify the
director of administrative services of its intent to establish and implement a
VCS program and receive the director's approval before the program can become
effective. The notice is to include:
(1)
A description of the proposed VCS program indicating
which of the options outlined in paragraph (D) of this rule the appointing
authority will offer;
(2)
A description of the proposed VCS program's compliance
with paragraphs (C) to (L) of this rule;
(3)
The approximate
number of employees eligible to participate in the proposed VCS
program;
(4)
A copy of the proposed VCS program agreement to be used
by the appointing authority in compliance with paragraph (M) of this rule;
and
(5)
The anticipated duration and availability of the
proposed VCS program.
(C)
Eligibility. A
full-time or part-time permanent employee, exempt from collective bargaining,
who is paid by warrant of the director of budget and management and has
successfully completed an initial or promotional probationary period is
eligible to participate in the VCS program. The VCS program is to be
administered on a strictly voluntary basis.
(D)
An appointing
authority may propose a VCS program that includes any or all of the options
listed in this paragraph. If an appointing authority proposes all of the
options, it will also state whether an employee may utilize more than one
option during the same fiscal year.
(1)
Reduction of hours. A full-time eligible employee may
reduce the hours worked by no less than eight hours and no more than forty
hours per pay period. The maximum amount of time an employee may use this
option is for five hundred twenty hours in a fiscal year or for a total of six
months, whichever comes first.
(2)
Unpaid leave of
absence. An eligible employee may take an unpaid leave of absence for no less
than two weeks and no more than thirteen weeks during a fiscal
year.
(3)
Credit with forty or eighty voluntary cost savings
hours per fiscal year. An eligible employee may be credited with either forty
or eighty voluntary cost savings hours in a fiscal year. Employees
participating in this program will have each bi-weekly paycheck reduced over
the course of the fiscal year in an amount that equates to either forty or
eighty hours in total. An employee is entitled to use all available voluntary
cost savings hours during the fiscal year, at times mutually agreed to between
the employee and the appointing authority.
(E)
Pay status.
(1)
Leave used
pursuant to paragraphs (D)(1) and (D)(2) of this rule will not be included in
the definition of active pay status for the purpose of earning overtime or
compensatory time for employees who are eligible to earn
overtime.
(2)
Leave used pursuant to paragraphs (D)(1) and (D)(2) of
this rule will be included in the definition of active pay status for the
purpose of earning compensatory time for employees who are not eligible to earn
overtime.
(F)
Reconciliation.
(1)
Employees who are
prevented by their appointing authority from taking VCS time pursuant to
paragraph (D)(3) of this rule will have the appropriate corrections made to
their paycheck at the end of the fiscal year.
(2)
If an employee
separates or transfers from state service during the fiscal year, the employee
will receive payment for the amount of money that has been deducted less the
cost of the time used. If the employee used more time than deducted, the
employee's final paycheck will be adjusted to balance out the excess hours
taken.
(G)
Leave accrual. An employee's accruals of vacation,
sick, or personal leave will not be impacted by the employee's participation in
a VCS program.
(H)
Service credit.
(1)
An employee who
reduces hours worked pursuant to paragraphs (D)(1) and (D)(3) of this rule will
not incur a break in service.
(2)
An employee who
takes an unpaid leave of absence pursuant to paragraph (D)(2) of this rule will
not incur a break in service as long as the employee returns to
employment.
(I)
Retention points.
(1)
An employee who
reduces hours worked pursuant to paragraphs (D)(1) and (D)(3) of this rule will
be treated in accordance with the employee's regular appointment type for
purposes of calculating retention points.
(2)
An employee who
takes an unpaid leave of absence pursuant to paragraph (D)(2) of this rule will
have the employee's retention points calculated in accordance with the
employee's regular appointment type as long as the employee returns to
employment.
(J)
Health insurance.
(1)
An employee who
reduces hours worked pursuant to paragraph (D)(1) of this rule maintains
full-time status for purposes of health insurance premiums.
(2)
An employee who
takes an unpaid leave of absence pursuant to paragraph (D)(2) of this rule is
responsible for the employee's share of insurance premiums for all insurance
programs in which the employee is enrolled at the time of the leave.
(a)
It is the
employee's responsibility to make payment arrangements with the appropriate
payroll officer prior to the leave commencing.
(b)
The state
maintains the employer's share of any applicable insurance
premiums.
(3)
An employee who participates in this program pursuant
to paragraph (D)(3) of this rule maintains their appointment type, as full-time
or part-time, for the purpose of health care premiums.
(K)
Unemployment benefits. An employee participating in this
program will not be eligible for unemployment benefits.
(L)
Holiday pay. An
employee participating in a VCS program on a day contiguous to a holiday is
eligible to receive holiday pay pursuant to section
124.18 of the Revised
Code.
(M)
VCS program agreement approval process.
(1)
An employee
seeking to participate in the VCS program pursuant to paragraphs (D)(1) and
(D)(2) of this rule will complete and submit a signed VCS program agreement to
the appointing authority at least thirty days prior to commencement of the
leave of absence or implementation of a reduced schedule. An appointing
authority may waive the thirty day notice requirement and authorize a minimum
of fewer than thirty days advanced notice. An employee seeking to participate
in the VCS program pursuant to paragraph (D)(3) of this rule will complete and
submit a signed VCS program agreement to the appointing authority by June first
for the following fiscal year.
(2)
The VCS program
agreement becomes effective upon the signature of the appointing
authority.
(3)
Even after the VCS program agreement is effective, the
appointing authority retains the sole discretion to approve or deny an
employee's leave request. The appointing authority will ensure that any impact
on operations as a result of such work arrangements is minimal and additional
costs do not result.
(4)
The appointing authority will notify an employee of the
status of the request no later than seven days before the effective day of the
leave of absence or the implementation of the reduced schedule.
(N)
Termination.
(1)
Program agreements entered into pursuant to paragraphs
(D)(1) and (D)(2) of this rule may be terminated by the employee upon ten
working days notice in writing to the appointing authority unless mutually
agreed to otherwise or may be terminated by the appointing authority through
providing ten working days notice in writing to the employee.
(2)
Program
agreements entered into pursuant to paragraph (D)(3) of this rule will not be
terminated prior to the end of the fiscal year in which the agreement was
entered into.
Replaces: 123:1-34-10.
