Kirkland amends management leave benefits for non-represented staff.

ORDINANCE O-4928
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF KIRKLAND RELATING TO MANAGEMENT LEAVE BENEFITS FOR NON-REPRESENTED STAFF THROUGH AN AMENDMENT TO KIRKLAND MUNICIPAL CODE 3.80.115 AND ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, recent recruitments of non-represented staff have highlighted the importance of leave benefits for attracting and retaining highly qualified staff; and
WHEREAS, management leave is provided by the City of Kirkland for most, but not all, eligible, non-represented positions in recognition that these salaried/exempt positions are not eligible for overtime and often work more than 40 hours per week; and
WHEREAS, the City currently limits management leave to certain employment positions within the City's Management and Confidential (“MAC”) employee group, excluding some exempt, non-represented positions in Finance, Human Resources, and certain administrative roles; and
WHEREAS, as a standard practice in local government, management leave is one way of recognizing the additional, non-overtime-eligible hours invested by MAC employees while also remaining competitive with the benefits and leave offerings of comparable local jurisdictions; and
WHEREAS, other comparable local jurisdictions offer management leave to all exempt, non-represented staff and offer higher rates of management leave; and
WHEREAS, remaining competitive in leave benefits supports timely recruitment and helps ensure a strong and diverse candidate pool for critical leadership positions; and
WHEREAS, remaining competitive in leave benefits supports retention of highly qualified personnel in critical leadership positions; and
WHEREAS, in a regular public meeting on February 3, 2026, the City Council received a report and recommendation from Human Resources staff relating to vacation and management leave for non-represented staff.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Kirkland do ordain as follows:
Section 1: Section 3.80.115 of the Kirkland Municipal Code is amended to read as follows, with new text shown in underline and deleted text shown in strikethrough:
3.80.115 Management leave for eligible employees.
(a) Purpose. The city recognizes that employees who are exempt for purposes of overtime pay often put in hours that extend beyond the standard work week, without additional compensation or compensatory time off, to meet the demands of their position. While some extra work time is an expected component of these positions, the city wishes to provide a benefit in recognition of this service. This section provides for management leave, which is a paid leave for a group of overtime-exempt employees.
(b) Management Leave Program. The management leave program is a benefit attached to specific employee positions that are part of the city's MAC group. The MAC group includes designated management and confidential employees. Management leave is made available to certain employees in the MAC group whose positions are exempt from the overtime pay requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). “Management leave” means time off with pay granted to eligible employees and shall be in addition to earned vacation benefits. Management leave is granted in recognition of extraordinary work time required in overtime-exempt positions. Management leave is not intended to be balanced hour for hour with extra time worked.
(c) Eligibility to Receive Management Leave. For purposes of this section, “eligible employee” means an employee who:
(1) Is part of the city's MAC group;
(2) Is overtime exempt under FLSA as a regular, salaried professional, administrative or executive employee; and
(3) Does not receive overtime pay or compensatory time off and is not covered by an agreement for the city to pay overtime or provide compensatory time off.; and
(4) Is in a position covered by the management leave program.
(d)Management Leave Schedule. The human resources division shall maintain a list of positions that are eligible for management leave and showing the amount of leave granted. Eligible employees shall be granted management leave according to the following schedule:
(1) Fifty Eighty hours annually—Executive management group (consisting of the city manager, assistant city manager, and department directors);
(2) Forty Sixty hours annually—Managers (consisting of positions designated as managers in the MAC group); and
(3) Thirty Fifty hours annually—Supervisors (consisting of positions designated as overtime-exempt supervisors in the MAC group); and .
(4) Forty hours annually—Non-supervisors (consisting of positions designated as overtime-exempt in the MAC group).
(e) Management leave shall be prorated for eligible employees who work part-time and for eligible employees who start midyear.
(f) Procedure for Use. The applicable amount of management leave shall be granted annually at the start of each calendar year. Eligible employees must notify supervisors in advance of the time management leave is to be used and are expected to schedule such absence in a manner which will cause the least impact upon work within their department.
(g) Payment for Unused Management Leave. Management leave must be used in the year for which it is given. Any employee with management leave hours remaining unused as of November 30th, and who has not by that date received supervisory approval to use such remaining leave during the month of December, shall receive monetary payment in lieu thereof. Such payment will be calculated on the basis of the employee's regular rate of pay as of November 30th. The city will make such payment by the end of December of that year.
(h) Payments under this section shall not be included in any calculation of the employee's average final compensation used to determine the employee's pension benefit amount or eligibility.
(i) Upon termination or resignation, an employee shall receive monetary payment in lieu of unused management leave hours.
Section 2. If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the ordinance or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
Section 3. This ordinance shall be in force and effect five days from and after its passage by the Kirkland City Council and publication, as required by law, and shall apply retroactively to January 1, 2026.
Passed by majority vote of the Kirkland City Council in open meeting this 3rd day of March, 2026.
/s/Kelli Curtis, Mayor
/s/Anastasiya Warhol, City Clerk
/s/Darcey Eilers, City Attorney