A. Leave of Absence

Hayes v. Cleveland Pneumatic Company (1993), 92 Ohio App.3d 36; cert denied 69 Ohio St.3d 1415. Supervisor's statement to employee to "do what you have to do" was not a clear and unambiguous promise upon which employee could reasonably and foreseeably rely with respect to retaining his job notwithstanding absences while he sought treatment, but the employer's referral of the employee for treatment and action in permitting him to return to work after he was discharged could reasonably cause the employee to believe that he had been granted leave of absence.

Rowe v. Gray (Sept. 14, 1977), Richland App. No. CA-1634, unreported. A state employee placed on a medical leave of absence remains an employee of the state and is entitled to a termination of the medical leave upon demonstrating that he is medically fit to resume employment; since the leave of absence is not a removal, the state personnel board of review has no jurisdiction over the matter.

Wright v. Montgomery County Board of Commissioners (July 20, 1994), Montgomery Co., No. 94-0395, unreported. Where the appointing authority's leave policy specifically notes that a leave, if granted, must be used for the purpose requested and that use for a different purpose is considered unauthorized leave, an employee's failure to timely notify the appointing authority's personnel office of his changed circumstances resulted in an unauthorized leave and the employee was properly removed. View Common Pleas Decision | View SPBR Order

Lowry v. Ohio Civil Rights Commission (July 17, 1991), PBR 91-RED-02-0110; aff'd (Sept. 17, 1991), Full Board. Denial of retroactively-requested leave or sick time does not constitute a reduction in pay. View SPBR Order

    B. Maternity Leave

Frank v. Toledo Hospital (1992), 84 Ohio App.3d 610. Hospital employee who was unable to receive required rubella vaccination because she was pregnant was not victim of sex discrimination when she was discharged, rather than offered maternity leave, absent evidence that hospital's rubella policy applied only to pregnant employees, required that pregnant employees be discharged, or had disparate impact upon pregnant employees.

Frank v. Toledo Hospital (1992), 84 Ohio App.3d 610. Failure to make leave available to pregnant employee in lieu of terminating her is not discriminatory unless it is shown that such employee was terminated because of, or on basis of, sex, including pregnancy.

    C. Military Leave

Snide v. Columbus Board of Education (1993), 66 Ohio St.3d 626. Employee is entitled to receive thirty-one days of compensation for the calendar year in which he or she takes a military leave of absence to go on active duty, but not for subsequent calendar years of a multi-year leave of absence.

    D. Sick Leave

State, ex rel. Reuss v. Cincinnati (1995) 102 Ohio App.3d 521. Public employee's right to transfer unused sick leave credits accumulated from his prior job was vested right which city could not circumvent pursuant to its authority under Home Rule Amendment to adopt and enforce local regulations, since transfer of sick leave credit was integral part of state's general concern of providing for general welfare of public employees.

State, ex rel. Crockett v. Robinson (1981), 67 Ohio St.2d 363. Pursuant to a writ of mandamus, a reinstated public employee is entitled to compensation due him for the period of time during which he was wrongfully excluded from his employement, provided the amount recoverable is established with certainty and the employee has no adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law to secure such payment; the employee may not recover interest or receive credit for vacation, holiday or sick leave hours which he would have received but might not have used during the period of his discharge.

Civil Service Personnel Association v. City of Akron (1984), 20 Ohio App.3d 282. The provision of R.C. 124.38, providing that an employee who transfers from one public agency to another shall be credited with the unused balance of his accumulated sick leave up to the maximum of the sick leave accumulation permitted in the public agency to which the employee transfers, concerns a matter of fiscal policy which is well within the realm of local self-government, i.e. it is not a matter of statewide concern and a charter city need not grant such "transfer" credit.

South Euclid Fraternal Order of Police v. D'Amico (1983), 13 Ohio App.3d 46. R.C. 124.38 does not give the employing unit the right to grant sick leave, or to deny it, but only the power to see that sick leave is used for the limited purposes stated in the statute.

Adkins v. City of Portsmouth (Mar. 20, 1986), Scioto App. No. 1549, unreported. A municipal civil service commission has no power pursuant to R.C. 124.34 to hear appeals by classified civil service employees who are suspended, demoted, or removed; the administrative denial of sick leave benefits does not constitute a suspension as that word is generally used. View Court of Appeals Decision

Rowe v. Gray (Sept. 14, 1977), Richland App. No. CA-1634, unreported. A state employee placed on a medical leave of absence remains an employee of the state and is entitled to a termination of the medical leave upon demonstrating that he is medically fit to resume employment; since the leave of absence is not a removal, the state personnel board of review has no jurisdiction over the matter.

Traub v. Warren County Board of Commissioners (Jan. 23, 1996), Franklin Co., No. 95CVF05-3556, unreported. An appointing authority's failure to provide an employee with a copy of county policy regarding the use of sick leave does not result in a lack of notice to the employee that his conduct was improper where the applicable section of the Revised Code is not materially different from county policy and clearly does not cover the employee's misuse of sick leave; the employee is presumed to know the statute. View Common Pleas Decision | View SPBR Order

Communications Workers of America v. Rodgers (Feb. 27, 1986), Franklin Co., No. 85CV-03-1666, unreported. Unless it is clearly mandated by statute that a physician's statement is necessary when sick leave has been exhausted, there is no administrative authority to require such a statement. View Common Pleas Decision

Ogletree v. Neihan (Mar. 17, 1982), Montgomery Co., No. 81-1226, unreported. O.A.C. 123:1-33-06 requires an employee to furnish his or her employer with a satisfactory written, signed statement to justify the use of sick leave. View Common Pleas Decision

Lowry v. Ohio Civil Rights Commission (July 17, 1991), PBR 91-RED-02-0110; aff'd (Sept. 17, 1991), Full Board. Denial of retroactively-requested leave or sick time does not constitute a reduction in pay. View SPBR Order

1981 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 062. R.C. 124.38, concerning the accrual and transfer of sick leave benefits, has no application to employees of community college districts, established and organized under R.C. Ch. 3354, or to employees of technical college districts, established and organized under R.C. Ch. 3357.

    E. Vacation Leave

Melchi v. Burns International Security Services (1984), 597 F.Supp. 575. Appropriate damages to employee who established that he was discharged in violation of whistleblower's protection act were award of back pay, including vacation benefits, but not reinstatement or actual damages, in view of evidence that employee may have acted in part with improper motives in reporting employer's falsification of records to NLRB.

State, ex rel. North Olmsted Fire Fighters Association v. North Olmstead (1992), 64 Ohio St.3d 530. National Guard service qualifies as prior state service under R.C. 9.44; R.C. 9.44 requires a current public employer to treat qualifying prior state service as if it were service with that employer, such that the value of the service, if any, is determined by the current employer's vacation leave policy.

State, ex rel. Clark v. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (1990), 48 Ohio St.3d 19. R.C. 9.44 imposes a mandatory duty on any political subdivision of the state of Ohio to credit employees with prior service vacation credit, absent a collective bargaining agreement entered into pursuant to R.C. Ch. 4117. which specifically excludes rights accrued under R.C. 9.44.

State, ex rel. Crockett v. Robinson (1981), 67 Ohio St.2d 363. Pursuant to a writ of mandamus, a reinstated public employee is entitled to compensation due him for the period of time during which he was wrongfully excluded from his employement, provided the amount recoverable is established with certainty and the employee has no adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law to secure such payment; the employee may not recover interest or receive credit for vacation, holiday or sick leave hours which he would have received but might not have used during the period of his discharge.

Fraternal Order of Police v. Columbus (1990), 70 Ohio App.3d 436. City police officers were entitled to have their vacation benefits calculated not only on service with city but, also, on previous service with other units of state government absent any collective bargaining agreement which specifically excluded such rights.

Bates v. Noble County Commissioners (Nov. 8, 1990), PBR 89-INV-10-0555. Pursuant to R.C. 325.19(C), where an employee is not expressly permitted by the appointing authority to carry over unused vacation leave, he may be compensated only for accrued leave for the current year and is not eligible to be compensated for unused vacation time from previous years. View SPBR Order

1981 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 066. A full-time state employee who was a member of the Ohio National Guard serving on duty one weekend per month and two weeks out of every year is entitled to one year prior service credit for each year of service with the Ohio National Guard for the purpose of computing the amount of his vacation leave pursuant to R.C. 121.161.