An arbitrator awarded a former Lower Makefield police officer $36,247 for vacation, holiday, and personal time during the 3.5 years that he was out on disability.
According to the ruling in favor of the Lower Makefield Police Benevolent Association, the township must pay Officer Michael Pell for this time under the labor agreement with the police. The ruling is “final and binding,” according to the decision.
Township manager David Kratzer Jr. said they’ve made changes to stop this situation from happening with most other township employees. Pell could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Pell joined the police department in 1996 and was an officer until he retired in 2023. He has since joined the Bucks County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy.
Pell was the D.A.R.E. officer who visited schools to warn students against using drugs. He also performed various administrative duties for the department.
He suffered a stroke in 2020 and remained on disability until August 2023. While he was out on disability, Pell continued to perform some administrative activities, the arbitrator said in his ruling. He noted the township paid Pell his entire salary during his “period of disability.”
In January, DVJournal reported that Pell continued to be paid his $112,000 salary as an officer while on disability. Chief Kenneth Coluzzi said at the time that was a longstanding policy.
Pell expected he would continue to accrue paid leave time while on leave.
However, the township sent Pell a letter on Aug. 11, 2023, telling him that he would not accrue personal or vacation time for the period on disability from his stroke and when he returned to work.
Pell responded by filing a grievance.
Despite being cleared to return to work, Pell did not work as a police officer again “because he did not pass his required firearm certification,” union argued.
“While the parties dispute the circumstances of (Pell’s) failure to recertify, there is no dispute that (he) was unable to perform police duties until he obtained his firearm certification,” the union said.
The collective bargaining agreement does not mention accruing vacation or personal leave during a period of disability. However, another officer, Keith Golder, went on short-term disability between June and December 2018.
After returning to work in 2019, Golder used 160 vacation hours, the full amount he would have accrued in 2018 under the contract.
Because of Golder’s precedent, the union claimed the township could not withhold Pell’s accrued vacation hours.
The township disagreed.
The township argued that because the contract had no clause adding the vacation accrual during disability leave, it should not be given.
Arbitrator Timothy J. Brown found that although the township had issued a memo saying that vacation and sick leave do not accrue while someone is on disability, this was after the fact and could not be applied retroactively.
Brown also ordered Pell’s pension be adjusted to add those days.
Kratzer said, “…action has been taken relative to non-uniform employees (union and non-union). For unionized employees, the matter is a subject of bargaining and can’t simply be unilaterally addressed by Township action.
“We were successful in bargaining with non-uniform, union employees (Public Works and Parks and Recreation Outside Labor) relating to this issue in negotiating their most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which was effective January 1, 2024. No longer will non-uniform employees (union and non-union) be paid more than the benefits provided via applicable short-term and long-term disability insurance benefits for non-work-related injuries without the employee supplementing the benefit with their accrued but unused leave time.
“This matter will be a subject of bargaining with the Police as part of the next bargaining round. The term of the current Police CBA is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2026,” Kratzer said.
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