HomeMy WebLinkAboutContract 60625CSC No. 60625
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING AND AGREEMENT
This Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement (MOU) is made between the
Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association ("the Association") and the City
of Fort Worth ("the City").
The parties to this agreement agree that, pursuant to Article 5, Section 2 of the
Collective Bargaining Agreement between the parties (expires September 30,
2026), the City's Personnel Rules and Regulations ("PRRs") for Fire Fighters will
be amended, as soon as practicable, to add a new benefit for eligible fire fighters:
Maternity Leave.
The parties further agree that this new Maternity Leave benefit will be available
for use by eligible fire fighters beginning January 1, 2024.
The parties agree that the new Maternity Leave benefit will be included in the
PRRs for Fire Fighters in language substantially similar in substance to what is set
out in Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated fully, as if duplicated verbatim.
To witness their Agreement, the parties' authorized representatives have affixed
their signatures to this Agreement on the dates stated:
Agreed:
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J. Michael Glynn, Jr. (Dec 20, Y23 09:44 CST)
Michael Glynn, President Date
Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association
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Valerie Washington (Dec 20, 202311:32 CST)
David Cooke, City Manager Date
Valerie Washington, Assistant City Manager
and City Manager's Designee OFFICIAL RECORD
CITY SECRETARY
FT. WORTH, TX
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Approved as to Form and Legality:
Chrs-fovhorA-. Trouf 12/20/23
Christopher A. Troutt (Dec 20, 2023 10:47 CST)
Christopher A. Troutt Date
Sr. Assistant City Attorney
Attest:
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Jannette Goodall Date
City Secretary
Contract Compliance Manager:
By signing I acknowledge that I am the person responsible for the monitoring and
administration of this contract, including ensuring all performance and reporting
requirements.
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By: Dianna M. Giordano (Dec 20, 2023 10:44 CST)
Name: Dianna Giordano Date
Title: Human Resources Director
OFFICIAL RECORD
CITY SECRETARY
FT. WORTH, TX
2 of 2
Exhibit A
City of Fort Worth
Human Resources Department
SUBJECT: MATERNITY LEAVE POLICY
Effective Date:
January 1, 2024
Prepared By: Human Resources
Business Partners Division
Maternity Leave Policy
Purpose and Introduction
Updated:
N/A
Review Date:
Annual Review
Approved by Human Resources Director:
Flexible and family -friendly policies are essential to cultivating an atmosphere where employees
can thrive professionally without sacrificing essential family obligations. The City of Fort Worth
provides paid maternity leave to employees following the birth of an employee's child to allow
for the birthing parent to recover from the birthing process.
Eligibility:
To be eligible for Maternity Leave, an employee must be postpartum, recovering from the birth
of a child through vaginal or cesarean (c-section) delivery, and must meet the following criteria:
• Have been employed with the City for at least 12 months (the 12 months do not need to
be consecutive); and
• Have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 consecutive months immediately
preceding the date the leave would begin; and
• Be regularly scheduled to work 20 or more hours per week in a full-time or reduced -
schedule position.
Temporary or seasonal employees and interns are not eligible for Maternity Leave.
Amount, Time Frame and Duration of Paid Maternity Leave:
• The City of Fort Worth provides up to six (6) weeks of continuous paid maternity leave
for an employee postpartum to recover from a vaginal or c-section birth.
• The maximum amount of maternity leave is six (6) weeks per birthing event, regardless
of the method of giving birth.
• The six (6) weeks must be taken continuously starting with the birth date. Leave cannot
be used on an intermittent basis.
• If the employee decides to return to work prior to the end of the 6-week period, the
employee will forfeit the remaining balance of maternity leave for the birthing event.
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• In the event the employee needs additional time to recover beyond the 6-week period, the
employee may use other applicable paid leave time, including paid parental leave time, if
available.
• Each week of paid maternity leave is compensated at 100 percent of the employee's
regular base salary, straight -time weekly pay. Paid maternity leave will be paid on a
biweekly basis on regularly scheduled pay dates.
Coordination with Other Policies:
• The City of Fort Worth will maintain all existing benefits for employees during the paid
maternity leave period just as if the employee were taking any other paid leave.
• If a City holiday occurs during the paid maternity leave period, the holiday will be
charged to holiday pay; however, such holiday will not extend the total paid maternity
leave entitlement period.
• Employees are not required to exhaust any personal leave before taking paid maternity
leave.
• Should the employee elect paid parental leave following the birth of a child, maternity
leave will be exhausted first, followed by paid parental leave.
• Employees utilizing paid maternity leave are not permitted to engage in secondary
employment during their regularly scheduled work hours.
• Under no circumstances will an employee be authorized for more than 6 weeks of paid
maternity leave per birthing event.
Request for Paid Maternity Leave:
• Requests for Paid Maternity Leave shall be made in the same manner as a request for
Paid Parental Leave. The employee must submit their FMLA request to the City's FMLA
administration vendor within 30 days prior to the proposed date of leave (or as soon as
possible after the need for leave is known). The employee must complete the necessary
forms and provide all documentation as required by the City of Fort Worth or the City of
Fort Worth's FMLA vendor to substantiate the request for Paid Maternity Leave.
• Paid Maternity Leave runs concurrently with FMLA leave; however, if an employee has
exhausted all available FMLA leave prior to the birth, the employee is still eligible for six
(6) weeks of Paid Maternity Leave provided that the employee meets the above eligibility
criteria.
• The decision regarding the request for FMLA will be provided in writing by the City's
FMLA vendor within 15 days of the request.
• The City of Fort Worth has the exclusive right to interpret this policy.
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Paid Maternity Leave Processing:
• The Paid Maternity Leave will be managed internally by the City.
• Employees contact the FMLA administrator to open an FMLA case.
• Employees will not need to discuss Paid Maternity Leave with or seek approval from the
administrator. The employee will only need to open an FMLA case.
• The employee will then work with their Department's MRC on the coordination of
utilizing the Paid Maternity Leave.
• The MRC verifies if employee meets the FMLA requirement of the Maternity Leave by
verifying that the employee is approved for FMLA for a qualifying reason which is listed
in the Maternity Leave Policy.
• The MRC determines if employee meets other eligibility requirements for Paid Maternity
Leave.
• Upon verification, the MRC will work with the Department's HRC to do a person ePAR
placing the employee on paid leave of absence. The Action/Reason will be Paid Leave of
Absence/Maternity Leave (PLA/PML).
• The MRC will include the number of hours to grant the employee in the comment box.
• Following department approval, the ePAR will be routed to HR Records to process the
ePAR and request T&L to grant hours for the employee.
Questions about entering this leave may be submitted to the TLAB team at:
zz HRD TLAB Team(4fortworthtexas.�-,ov.
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