Denton Firefighter Leave, From the City's Policies: Vacation, Holidays, Sick, Military, Mental Health and Quarantine Leave

30-second answer. Six City of Denton policies decide how much paid time a Denton firefighter earns. On the 56-hour week, vacation accrues at 15 hours a month from the first month (usable after three full months), with 6 more hours a year added after five years of service (policy 107.03). The eleven observed holidays count 12 hours each for shift firefighters, plus two personal floating days, and fire civil service employees may bank and carry up to 132 holiday hours (policy 107.02). Sick leave accrues at 15 hours a month for shift firefighters with no cap, and Chapter 143 lets accrued sick leave be paid out up to 90 working days (policy 111.01). Military leave is 15 paid days per federal fiscal year with a differential-pay provision for involuntary activation (policy 111.04). Mental health leave after a traumatic event is up to three shifts, extendable to five (policy 107.07), and quarantine leave after an on-duty exposure is paid without touching other banks (policy 107.05). Every figure here is from the policy it names; the policies apply citywide, so most of this reads across to other Texas civil service departments only in shape, not in numbers.

Vacation (policy 107.03)

• Full-time fire civil service employees working a 56-hour week accrue vacation at 15 hours a month of continuous service; those on a 40-hour week accrue 10 hours a month. The policy cites Chapter 143.046 of the Local Government Code for civil service accruals.
• Vacation is not usable until three full months of regular employment are complete, and it cannot be used ahead of accrual.
• After five years of continuous service, full-time civil service employees receive additional vacation each year: for fire, 4 hours a year on the 40-hour week and 6 hours a year on the 56-hour week, added on the anniversary date and repeated for every year after.
• There is no restriction on carrying unused vacation from year to year, though the policy asks employees to take at least five days a year. The maximum continuous vacation granted at one time is four calendar weeks unless the department head approves more.

The hub's arithmetic is worth repeating: at 15 hours a month, a first-year shift firefighter accrues 180 vacation hours in a year, which is more paid leave than a month of 48/96 tours contains.

Holidays (policy 107.02, revised January 1, 2022)

• The eleven observed holidays are New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The policy's footnote records Labor Day as the holiday observed for September 11 for firefighters.
• Two personal floating holidays per calendar year are added for regular employees.
• For firefighters who work shifts rather than a 40-hour week, a holiday is counted as 12 hours.
• Fire civil service employees may bank and carry over a maximum of 132 holiday hours each year for the eleven holidays, and up to 132 holiday hours may be paid out at termination. Personal floating holidays cannot be banked into the next year and are not paid out.
• Non-exempt employees required to work a holiday receive pay for hours worked plus holiday pay, or an alternate holiday off. The policy cites Section 142.0013(c) of the Local Government Code, which requires that a firefighter be granted the same number of vacation days and holidays as other municipal employees.

Sick leave (policy 111.01, revised March 16, 2022)

• Fire civil service employees on shifts accrue 15 hours of sick leave a month; police and 40-hour fire civil service employees accrue 10. Accrual is unlimited for civil service employees, credited on the 1st and 15th in halves.
• Civil service employees may be paid for accrued sick leave up to a maximum of 90 working days under Chapter 143. Non-civil service employees are capped at 720 hours and receive no payout.
• Sick leave may be used in 15-minute increments for personal illness, medical visits and the other reasons the policy lists, and it does not accrue during unpaid leave. Patterned use around holidays is named as a concern the city monitors.

Military service leave (policy 111.04, revised November 13, 2018)

• Up to 15 paid days of military leave per federal fiscal year, with a "day" equal to the employee's normally scheduled shift. Unused military leave is not paid out.
• Civil service employees' military leave follows Section 143.072 of the Local Government Code; written notice of active duty goes to the civil service commission, and return to full status without loss of seniority is preserved.
• Beyond the 15 days, extended military leave may be covered with accrued vacation (not sick leave) or taken unpaid; the city continues health, long-term disability and life insurance during extended leave.
• For involuntary reserve activation, the city may pay, for up to twelve consecutive months, the difference between military base pay and the employee's base salary, which for civil service employees includes certification, education and assignment pay in effect at activation.

The five-point veterans' credit on the entrance exam is a separate matter, covered in the veterans' preference guide.

Mental health leave (policy 107.07, adopted January 4, 2022, revised August 20, 2024)

• Firefighters directly involved in a traumatic event may receive paid mental health leave of up to three work shifts per occurrence, extendable to five with the fire chief's approval, paid at the straight-time rate without drawing on other leave banks.
• Requests go through the human resources director and are answered in writing before the next scheduled shift; the request and any medical information are kept apart from the general personnel file.
• The policy defines traumatic events to include multiple-casualty incidents, a line-of-duty death or suicide of a department member, and the death of a child from violence or neglect. Texas Government Code Section 614.015 requires the leave for peace officers and telecommunicators; the city extends it to firefighters by policy.

Quarantine leave (policy 107.05, effective January 4, 2022)

• Under Section 180.008 of the Local Government Code, a firefighter ordered to quarantine or isolate after a possible or known exposure to a communicable disease on duty receives paid quarantine leave at straight time, keeps all benefits and accruals, and does not use vacation, sick or holiday leave for the period.
• Reasonable quarantine costs (lodging, medical, transportation) may be reimbursed with the department head's approval, and approved secondary employment is suspended for the duration.

How to use this

The numbers above are what accrues; the pay plan guide is what is paid, and the 48/96 guide is the calendar the leave is spent against. Policies change on their own revision cycle; each one carries its revision date on the first page, and the city posts all of them on its Policies and Procedures page.