Page 28 - CZS Employee Handbook

An employee on leave is expected to notify the Human to sincerely undertake this responsibility and to respect the
Resources Department at least two weeks in advance of
the employee’s return to work whenever possible. For med-
ical leaves, an employee must provide a written statement
from a licensed physician releasing him/her to return to
work before he/she will be allowed to return to work.
The Society, at its sole discretion, may approve a
non-FMLA medical or child care leave request to allow
an employee to take medical leave for their own serious
health condition, for a covered family member, or for child
care purposes. Please review the full policy or consult with days or off-schedule work.
Human Resources staff for more details, requirements,
and provisions.
Jury Duty Jury service is an obligation and a privilege
of citizenship. The Chicago Zoological Society recognizes
the importance of civic responsibility and urges employees
to serve on city, state, or federal juries when summoned.
The Society practices both the moral and financial sharing
of this civic obligation. In return, we expect our employees
26 SECTION 6: Leave of Absence
operating needs of the institution.
Employees summoned for jury duty are granted excused
absences with pay for the duration of jury service not to
exceed two weeks. The time will be paid as straight time
hours for days the employee is otherwise scheduled to work
for up to two weeks (10 days). Employees have the option
of using vacation time or personal time if jury duty or court
service extends beyond two weeks. The time of such service
is not to be counted as time worked in calculating overtime,
and such payments are not subject to premium pay for holi-
It is your responsibility to notify your management
supervisor upon receipt of a jury duty summons. You are
expected to report to work on scheduled work days when
the jury is not in session or when the jury is dismissed.
Employees may keep the full amount of jury duty
compensation provided by the courts for jury service.
Leaves of Absence Without Pay A leave of
absence without pay may be requested for time off
exceeding 10 working days. During an approved leave
of absence without pay, there is no accumulation of sick
time or vacation, and holidays that fall during the absence
are forfeited. An unpaid absence may or may not impact
employee benefits depending on the type of leave. Please
consult Human Resources for more information.
Personal Leave An extended absence of 11 consecutive
work days or more for any personal reason not covered
by other Society policies may be requested for up to six
months, with the exception that the Society does not
grant personal leave to pursue other employment opportu-
nities. Employees must use vacation and personal time,
if available, or the leave is unpaid, except that employees
may reserve one week of vacation to use upon their return
from personal leave.
School Visitation Eligible employees can take up to four
hours unpaid per day and up to eight hours maximum per
calendar year for school conferences or classroom activities
related to the employee’s child if the conference or activity
cannot be scheduled during nonwork hours. Employees
must first exhaust all vacation, personal, and compensato-
ry time to be eligible for school visitation leave.
Time Off for Voting An employee may, with the permis-
sion of the employee’s management supervisor, arrive late
or leave early to vote in state or national elections. This
time is considered excused time without pay. With the
permission of your management supervisor, the work day
schedule, lunch, or break periods may be adjusted for time
otherwise lost due to time off for voting.