Holidays & Leave Benefits

In addition to the observed County holidays, County employees receive:

Floating Holiday
The Floating Holiday is to be taken at the mutual convenience of the employee and the department. This holiday is not compensable and cannot be accrued or transferred from one fiscal year to the next. Only career employees having more than nine pay periods of County service are eligible to use this holiday. The employee earns this holiday at the beginning of each fiscal year (Oct. 1).

Birthday Holiday
The Birthday Holiday is also taken at the mutual convenience of the employee and the department and must be taken within six months of occurrence or it is forfeited.

Neither the Birthday Holiday nor the Floating Holiday is paid out at termination. Employees who are out of pay status for any portion of the day before or after a holiday will not be eligible to be paid for, or bank, the holiday.

Normally-scheduled County Metrobus, Metrorail and Metromover service is provided on all holidays except for:

• New Year's Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

Service operates on a Sunday schedule.

Paid Parental Leave provides leave with pay for the purpose of caring for a newborn, newly-adopted child, or newly-placed foster child or children. To request this leave, complete the Paid Parental Leave form.

Paid Parental Leave is available to all parents regardless of gender. For details, here is Ordinance 16-20 which amended the County Leave Manual.

An earned leave pool is an optional department benefit for employees who wish to participate in the donation and distribution of leave for assistance following a serious illness or injury according to earned leave pool guidelines.

Special leave donation pools may be established on an ad hoc basis by a department to assist an employee who has experienced a serious illness or injury and who has exhausted all appropriate leave available.

Family medical leave encompasses time off required under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and related U.S. Department of Labor rules, and the Family Leave Ordinance (FLO) as authorized by Ordinance 91-142 and 93-118 of Miami-Dade County.

If you determine that you need to take family medical leave, contact your DPR and fill out the appropriate forms.

• FMLA Request Form
• FMLA Designation Form
• FMLA Medical Certification Form Employee
• FMLA Medical Certification Form Family Member

Military Reserve Leave and Military Active Duty Leave are two distinctly different types of leave and are not interchangeable.

• Military Reserve Leave is designed to pay the employee his or her normal salary for the two weeks summer camp or other training.
• Military Active Duty Leave pays the employee for up to 30 days during a state of emergency or time of war.

For example, if you are called to Military Active Duty for six months commencing March 1, your 30 day of Military Active Duty Leave will be March 30. On March 31, Military Reserve Leave, though it may be available, may not be used. Military Reserve Leave cannot be used to cover for any of the period during which you are on military active duty. The converse also applies.

The following outlines which employee status codes are eligible:

Eligible Employees for Military Active Duty Leave

Employee Status Code/ Description/ Eligible or Ineligible

AA - Permanent - Eligible

AB - Probational - Eligible

AC - Exempt - Eligible

AD - Temporary - Ineligible

AE - Part-time - Eligible

AF - Trainee - Eligible

AG - Seasonal - Ineligible

AH - Emergency - Eligible

AI - Probation Extended - Eligible

AJ - Substitute - Eligible

AM - Part-time Temporary - Ineligible

AR - Work Experience - Ineligible

AT - Temporary Classified - Eligible

AU - Pollworker - Ineligible

AW - Farmworker Trainee - Ineligible

Eligible employees must either:

• Be a member of the Armed Forces Reserve or the National Guard and be activated or whose active duty is extended during a period when an appropriate public official declares a state of emergency during peacetime
• Enter the Armed Forces during a period of declared war between the United States and a foreign government
• Be called to active duty in the Armed Forces or National Guard during wartime
• Be ordered to duty out of the country

In addition to the 30 days of Military Reserve Leave, a maximum of 30 days of paid Military Active Duty Leave may be granted each time you are called to active duty.

To be eligible for more than one paid 30 day Military Active Duty Leave period in one fiscal year, you must have returned to work between deployments. Employees whose deployment overlaps fiscal years will be granted a maximum of 30 days of Military Active Duty Leave at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Customarily, upon expiration of the 30 days Military Active Duty Leave, if you did not return to work, you would have been placed in a Military Leave of Absence status until your return. However, on Sept. 25, 2001, the Board of County Commissioners passed Resolution R-1059-01 authorizing additional compensation to County employees on active military duty as a result of the United States' response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Once the 30 days of military active duty leave have been exhausted, you may use your accrued leave time. However, per US Code Title 38, Section 4316(d), an employee's consent must be given in order for the employee's Annual Leave to be used. Therefore, a leave request form specifying the amount, type of leave (annual, holiday or compensatory) and dates to be covered must be submitted to your supervisor for approval.

Once an employee has received their official military orders to report for military active duty, the employee must present official orders, when available, and a leave request to your supervisor.

A copy of the official orders will be sent with your Payroll and Attendance Record (PAR) form to Human Resources for processing.

An employee on Military Leave will remain in active status, earn pay periods, and accrue Sick and Annual Leave. In other words, status, anniversary, and leave conversion dates will not change.

• Longevity bonus awards will be paid when due
• Sick to Annual Leave conversion will occur
• You will be eligible for merit increases

In the event that a County observed holiday falls during the period that you are on active military duty, you will be able to accrue the Holiday Leave. However, if you exceed the maximum allowable Holiday Leave time, you will be paid for the holiday.

Military service time is considered creditable service for layoff retention purposes. Should a layoff occur, there will be no break in your seniority calculations, therefore you will be treated as if you had been physically in the workplace.

Should your Annual Leave balance exceed the maximum allowable limit on your leave anniversary date, you will not lose the excess hours. The leave hours will be preserved, and upon your return from active duty service, you will have at least one year from your return date to use the excess Annual Leave.

Upon receipt of copies of your military pay stub, the additional compensation will be paid to you. It is preferable for us to receive your military pay stubs at the end of every military pay period. We will be unable to process request for payments without these pay stubs. These should be forwarded to:

Human Resources Department
Payroll and Information Management
111 NW 1st Street, Suite 2010
Miami, Florida 33128

Alternatively, they may be faxed to 305-375-5247 or emailed to [email protected]. The calculation of the supplement is based on the difference between your net military pay, excluding allowances, and your net County pay, including any pay exceptions to which you were entitled.

Payroll Deductions
Should you have any questions or concerns about payroll deductions, call the Payroll and Information Management Division of Human Resources at 305-375-4011.

If you have questions specifically related to garnishments, call the Payroll Unit of the Finance Department at 305-375-5165.

In the event that you have an existing overpayment or are overpaid during the course of your deployment, the overpayment procedures governed by your collective bargaining unit will be followed, provided your supplemental pay is sufficient to cover the repayment installments.

Making Changes to Your Insurance or Spending Account
Employees preparing for Military Leave can make changes to their insurance benefits, spending accounts (Health Care and Dependent care), and deferred compensation contributions before leaving. If you wish to change your insurance or spending account benefits you must complete a Change in Status Form and fax it along with a copy of your military orders to the Benefits Administration Unit. You can obtain change forms by calling the Benefits Administration Unit at 305-375-5633 or 305-375-4288.

Making Changes to Your Deferred Compensation Account
If you wish to make changes to your deferred compensation contribution, you can do this by:

• Logging on to your provider's website.
• Calling your provider's customer service number.
• Submitting a change form for your applicable provider and forwarding it for processing.

If you choose to submit a change form, mail it to:

Human Resources
Benefits Administration
Unit 111 NW 1st Street, Suite 2340
Miami, Florida 33128

Any questions concerning your deferred compensation accounts can be directed to your provider by calling customer service or logging on to their website: 
NACO/Nationwide Retirement Solutions at 877-677-3678 or ICMA Retirement Corporation at 800-669-7400.

Will the County continue paying its insurance contribution if I am in a no pay status?
Yes, the County will continue paying its contribution. However, if you are enrolled for dependent insurance, the Point of Service (POS) medical plan, enriched dental plan, Optix vision, or optional life, you will need to remit the bi-weekly premium that is deducted from your paycheck to the Benefits Administration Unit in order to assure continuation of coverage.

Who will notify me of what premiums, if any, I need to pay while in a no pay status?
Your departmental personnel representative will provide you with a leave of absence benefits package and remittance form. This will identify the premiums you will need to pay in order to maintain coverage and give you the option of what benefits, if any, you wish to cancel.

May I cancel insurance coverage for my dependents while on Military Leave?
Yes, you may cancel coverage for your dependents within 45 days of being placed on military leave. You need to submit a completed Flexible Benefits Change in Status form and Insurance Status Change form to the Benefits Administration Unit. Contact your departmental personnel representative to obtain these forms.

If I request cancellation of insurance while on active duty, or if coverage is cancelled for non payment of premiums, may I request reinstatement upon returning to work?
Yes, you must request reinstatement within 45 days from return to work. There is no waiting period after the request is received.

Is life insurance payable to my beneficiaries if I die while on duty? 
Yes, group basic life insurance and optional life, if enrolled, are payable for death from any cause. Accidental death and dismemberment benefits are not payable for death or injuries due to acts of war (declared or undeclared).

An employee on active military leave will receive service credit with the Florida Retirement System (FRS).

Upon your return from military active duty, you must send a copy of your DD214 to Human Resources in order to receive service credit for the period of military active duty.

If you remained in partial pay status during your period of military active duty, you will have already received service credit for the period you were out. However, you must still send in your DD214 so that Human Resources can provide payroll information to FRS and ensure that your service is credited at your full rate of pay.

The mailing address for all DD-214 correspondence is:

Miami-Dade Human Resources Department
111 NW 1st Street, Suite 2010
Miami, FL 33128
Attention: Lynn Garcia and Rohan Robotham

Additional information concerning FRS benefits may be obtained online.

The time period for returning to work depends on the duration of your military service and receiving an honorable discharge.

• For periods of military service of one to 30 days: You must report back to work at the beginning of the first regularly scheduled work day that falls at least eight hours after the end of the employee's military service, including allowance for safe return travel.
• For periods of military service of 31 to 180 days: You must report to work within 14 days after completing your military service.
• For periods of military service of 181 days or more: You must return to work no later than 90 days after completing your military service.

All of these periods are customarily extended to two years if you are hospitalized or are slow to return to health because of an injury incurred or aggravated during your military service. Situations where the period extends beyond two years will be reviewed on a case by case basis.

Should you decide not to return to work immediately, you must notify your supervisor and submit a leave request form to authorize the use of your annual, holiday or compensatory time to cover the absence. As soon as your discharge papers become available, they should also be submitted to your supervisor.

Should you have any questions concerning this information or relating to your employment with the County, call Payroll and Information Management at 305-375-4011.