OAG 1994-008.

• Case Date: March 18, 1994
• Court: Ohio

Ohio Attorney General Opinions 1994. OAG 1994-008. March 18, 1994OPINION NO. 1994-008The Honorable Steven C. LaTourette Lake County Prosecuting AttorneyCourthouseP.O. Box 490Painesville, Ohio 44077Dear Prosecutor LaTourette: You have asked for an opinion concerning the operation of R.C. 325.19 and its application to a full-time county employee who has previously been employed by the county in a part-time capacity. You specifically ask:

1. Does R.C. 325.19(A) require that a full-time employee, who becomes full-time only after accruing one or more years of service time as a part-time employee, be credited with eighty hours of vacation leave immediately upon becoming a full-time employee?

2. Does R.C. 325.19(A) require that a full-time employee, who becomes full-time just one pay period shy of completing one year of service as a part-time employee, be credited with eighty hours of vacation leave immediately upon completing one pay period of service as a full-time employee?

3. Does R.C. 325.19(A) require that a full-time employee, who becomes full-time only after accruing at least eight, fifteen, or twenty-five years of service as a part-time employee, be credited with one hundred twenty, one hundred sixty, or two hundred hours, respectively, of vacation leave immediately upon becoming a full-time employee?

4. Does R.C. 325.19(A) require that a full-time employee, who becomes full-time just one pay period shy of completing eight, fifteen, or twenty-five years of service as a part-time employee, be credited with one hundred twenty, one hundred sixty, or two hundred hours, respectively, of vacation leave immediately upon completing one pay period of service as a full-time employee?

Your letter states that the Lake County Board of Commissioners has not passed a resolution under R.C. 325.19(B) granting vacation benefits to part-time county employees. This opinion will, therefore, be limited to a discussion of the vacation benefits to which a full-time county employee is entitled by R.C. 325.19(A). It also will not address possible alternative vacation leave benefits to which various county employees may be entitled either under an applicable collective bargaining agreement or through an individual county appointing authority's adoption of a vacation leave benefit plan that exceeds the minimums established by R.C. 325.19.

Operation of R.C. 325.19

R.C. 325.19 states, in pertinent part:

(A)(1) The granting of vacation leave under division (A)(1) of this section is subject to divisions (A)(2) and (3) of this section. Each full-time employee in the several offices and departments of the county service, including full-time hourly rate employees, after service of one year with the county or any political subdivision of the state, shall have earned and will be due upon the attainment of the first year of employment, and annually thereafter, eighty hours of vacation leave with full pay. One year of service shall be computed on the basis of twenty-six biweekly pay periods. A full-time county employee with eight or more years of service with the county or any political subdivision of the state shall have earned and is entitled to one hundred twenty hours of vacation leave with full pay. A full-time county employee with fifteen or more years of service with the county or any political subdivision of the state shall have earned and is entitled to one hundred sixty hours of vacation leave with full pay. A full-time county employee with twenty-five years of service with the county or any political subdivision of the state shall have earned and is entitled to two hundred hours of vacation leave with full pay. Such vacation leave shall accrue to the employee at the rate of three and one-tenth hours each biweekly period for those entitled to eighty hours per year; four and six-tenths hours each biweekly period for those entitled to one hundred twenty hours per year; six and two-tenths hours each biweekly period for those entitled to one hundred sixty hours per year; and seven and seven-tenths hours each biweekly period for those entitled to two hundred hours per year.

(2) Full-time employees granted vacation leave under division (A)(1) of this section who render any standard of service other than forty hours per week as described in division (I) of this section and who are in active pay status in a biweekly pay period, shall accrue a number of hours of vacation leave during each such pay period that bears the same ratio to the number of hours specified in division (A)(1) of this section as their number of hours which are accepted as full-time in active pay status, excluding overtime hours, bears to eighty hours.

(3) Full-time employees granted vacation leave under division (A)(1) of this section who are in active pay status in a biweekly pay period for less than eighty hours or the number of hours of service otherwise accepted as full-time by their employing office or department shall accrue a number of hours of vacation leave during that pay

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