SEPARATION FROM SERVICE
Furlough of Personnel
The Library may place employees into temporary, non-duty, non-pay status due to budget issues, lack of work, or other non-disciplinary reasons. Furloughs may be instituted on a daily or weekly basis. Furloughs will be scheduled by the Operations and Personnel Manager and employees will not be paid or permitted to use any accumulated leaves during furlough periods. Employees are not permitted to perform any work whatsoever during assigned furlough leave, including, but not limited to, taking or receiving telephone calls, checking or responding to voicemail or email messages. Furloughed employees remain employees of the Library. Employees do not accrue benefits (sick leave, vacation leave, etc.) during periods of furlough. Employees may be recalled to full duty at any point. Except in emergency situations where an immediate recall is necessary, employees will be given five (5) days after being notified of their recall to return to duty. Employees so recalled will be restored to full duty status with pay. Employment with the Library is at-will, and the Library understands that employees may choose to separate from the Library as a result of their furlough.
Resignation
Employees may resign their employment at any time by providing written notification of their resignation, including the reason for their separation from service and the date of their last day of work. After written notification is received, the Operations and Personnel Manager will respond with a written acceptance of the resignation. A two-week written notice is standard. Longer notice periods may be appropriate for key positions and alternative notice arrangements may be negotiated with the employee. Employees are expected to work through their notice period and may not use leave time to extend the notice period. The Library reserves the right to provide an employee with two weeks’ pay in lieu of notice in situations where job or business needs to warrant such action. Such a decision should not be perceived as reflecting negatively on the employee since it may be due to a variety of reasons not known to the individual or other employees. Employees who do not provide the required two-week notice prior to leaving employment with the Library may be ineligible for rehire, and the fact that the employee failed to provide the required notice will be stated in any references provided by the Library for that employee. Exit interviews will be conducted to the extent possible for all employees terminating their employment. The Director with the Operations and Personnel Manager will contact the employee to schedule the confidential exit interview, and every effort will be made to encourage the employee to discuss all aspects of employment with the Library. Pension details, leave time accruals, and related matters will be discussed. Information derived from the exit interview is used by the Library in recommending improvements to its policies and programs. Employee benefits cease on the last day the employee is scheduled to work and actually provides services to the Library. Employees who have completed at least one year’s employment will receive payment for all of their unused (earned but not taken) vacation leave. Employees do not receive payments for unused sick leave. Employees must return all Library property – such as electronics, credit cards, keys, equipment, etc. on or before their last workday. Employees who fail to return Library property will, to the extent permitted by law, have the value of the property deducted from their final paycheck and/or vacation pay-out and may be subject to civil and criminal proceedings for the return of the property. Employees may not discard or destroy library work product, to include, but not limited to e-mails, computer files, and physical files. Deletion and/or destruction could result in criminal prosecution for tampering with records. Additionally, deletion/destruction could result in civil penalties including fines and damages for violations of Ohio’s public records law.
Retirement
Library employees contribute to the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS). The age of retirement and years of service credit required for retirement benefits are determined by the Ohio Legislature. To determine eligibility for retirement and to determine the best means to maximize benefits, employees approaching retirement should contact OPERS directly for information on retirement options. There is no mandatory retirement age, and employees who have retired may be considered for reemployment in compliance with OPERS rules. Exit interviews will be conducted to the extent possible for all employees retiring from employment. The Director with the Operations and Personnel Manager will contact the employee to schedule the confidential exit interview, and every effort will be made to encourage the employee to discuss all aspects of employment with the Library. Pension details, leave time accruals, and related matters will be discussed. Information derived from the exit interview is used by the Library in recommending improvements to its policies and programs. Employee benefits cease on the last day the employee is scheduled to work and actually provides services to the Library. Employees who have completed at least one year’s employment will receive payment for all of their unused (earned but not taken) vacation leave. In addition, employees who retire from the Library under the OPERS plan after 10 or more years of public service will receive severance pay for 25% of the employee’s accrued, but unused sick leave at the time of retirement, not to exceed 240 hours, paid at their current rate. Retiring employees must return all Library property – such as electronics, credit cards, keys, equipment, etc. on or before their last workday. Employees who fail to return Library property will, to the extent permitted by law, have the value of the property deducted from their final paycheck and/or vacation/sick leave pay-out and may be subject to civil and criminal proceedings for the return of the property.
Abandonment
Barring extenuating circumstances where an employee cannot physically notify the Library of the need for leave, any employee who fails to report for work, without first requesting and being approved for one of the available types of leave, for three (3) consecutive workdays will be considered to have voluntarily resigned due to job abandonment. Upon acceptance of this resignation, the employee’s employment with the Library will cease and the employee will be subject to the same requirements if the employee resigned.
Death
In the event of the death of an employee, final wage payment shall be made to the estate of the deceased. Payment of accrued and unused vacation and sick leave and compensatory time, if any, shall be made to the estate of the deceased.
Termination
All employees of the Library serve at-will, which means that the employment relationship may be terminated at any time with or without notice or cause by either the employee or the Library. Employee benefits cease on the last day the employee is scheduled to work and actually provides services to the Library. Employees who have completed at least one year’s employment will receive payment for all of their unused (earned but not taken) vacation leave. Terminated employees do not receive any payment for unused sick leave. Terminated employees must return all Library property – such as electronics, credit cards, keys, equipment, etc. on or before their last workday. Employees who fail to return Library property will, to the extent permitted by law, have the value of the property deducted from their final paycheck and/or vacation pay-out and may be subject to civil and criminal proceedings for the return of the property.
WPL Approved 4/9/2024, Amended 12/9/25
