Sick leave- general health district employee 

2-389 1994 Opinions OAG 94-078 OPINION NO. 94-078 Syllabus: R.e. 124.38(C) does not entitle a person who becomes employed by a general health district to receive credit for unused sick leave accumulated under that statute during prior employment in the "public service." Deccmbcr I t)')4 2-390 OAG 94-()7~ Attorney General To: Kevin J. Baxter, Erie County Pro~ecuting Attorney, Sandusky, Ohio By: Lee Fisher, Attorney General, November 29,1994 You have requested an opinion on the following question: "Whether a general health district must permit a part-time employee who does not receive sick leave benefits to utilize prior accrued sick leave under a different appointing authority under [R.C. 124.38(C)]?" Sick Leave Benefits Granted by R.C. 124.38 R C. 124.38 provides minimum sick leave benefits for" Le Jmployees in the various offices of the county, municipal, and civil service township service, other than superintendents and management employees, as defined in [R.C. 5126.20], of county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities," RC. 124.38(A), "[e]mployees of any state college or university," RC. 124.38(B), and "[e]mployees of any board of education for whom sick leave is not provided by [RC. 3319.141]," RC. 124.38(C). See Eben v. Stark COU.1ty Board of Mental Retarootion, 63 Ohio St. 2d 31, 406 N.E.2d 1098 (1980). A general health district, however, is a political subdivision separate from the entities named in R.C. 124.38. See 1983 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 83-060. Because a general health district is not named in RC. 124.38, its employees are not entitled to receive sick leave benefits under that statute. Op. No. 83-060; 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-087. Transfer of Sick Leave Benefits Accumulated under R.C. 124.38 You ask whether the provisions of R.c. 124.38(C) require a general health district to grant one of its employees the right to use, during his employment with the general health district, sick leave benefits that were accumulated, but unused, while that person was employed by an entity covered by RC. 124.38. The transfer of sick leave benefits accumulated under RC. 124.38 is governed by R.C. 124.38(C), which states in pertinent patt: "An employee who transfers from one public agency to another shall be credited with the unused balance of his accumulated sick leave up to the maximum of the sick leave accumulation permitted in the public agency to which the employee transfers." (Emphasis added). The meaning of the term "public agency," as used in RC. 124.38, was addressed in 1981 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 81-062 and 1954 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 3643, p. 128, both of which concluded that the tenn was limited to those public agencies named in the statute. The meaning of "public agency" was again considered in 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 85­ 075. As noted in that opinion, the General Assembly amended RC. 124.38 in 1981-1982 Ohio Laws, Part II, 3460 (Am. Sub. H.B. 694, eff., in part, Nov. 15, 1981). Op. No. 85-075 at 2­ 294 addressed the effect of this amendment, as follows: In this amendment the legislature, in describing the types of employees entitled to sick leave benefits under RC. 124.38, removed the language an "employee, whose salary or wage is paid in whole or in part by the state," and added "each employee of any state college or university." At the same time, the legislature enacted R.c. 124.382, providing sick leave benefits for "all employees whose salary or wage is paid directly by warrant of the auditor of state." Thus, upon the enactment of Am. Sub. H.B. 694, each "employee in the various offices of the county, municipal, and civil service township service, each employee of any state coUege or university, and each employee of any board of education for whom sick leave is not provided by [R.C. 3319.141]" accrued sick leave under 2-391 1994 Opinions OAG 94-078 RC. 124.38; all "employees whose salary or wage is paid directly by warrant of the auditor of state" accrued sick leave under RC. 124.382 . .... Since the legislature amended RC. 124.38 in the same Act in which it enacted RC. 124.382, and used identical language in both statutes concerning the transfer of unused sick leave from one public agency to another, it appears . that the tenn "public agency" has the same meaning in both statutes. I conclude, therefore, that the tenn "public agency," as used in RC. 124.382, refers to agencies of the state, the counties, municipalities, civil service townships, and boards of education. (Citation omitted.) Based upon the legislative history of RC. 124.38, as discussed in Op. No. 85-075, it is clear that "public agency," as used in RC. 124.38, refers to those agencies named in R.C. 124.38 or RC. 124.382, i.e., agencies of the state, counties, municipalities, civil service townships, and boards of education. Because a general health district is not named in either RC. 124.38 or RC. 124.382, its employees do not accrue sick leave benefits under either statute. A general health district is not, thereiore, a "public agency" for purposes of RC. 124.38. Accordingly, RC. 124.38(C) does not entitle a person to have sick leave benefits previously accrued under RC. 124.38 placed to his credit upon his transfer to employment with a general health district. Credit for Previously Accumulated Sick Leave RC. 124.38(C) also addresses the crediting of previously accumulated sick leave, as follows: "The previously accumulated sick leave of an employee who has been separated from the public service shall be placed to his credit upon his re-employment in the public service, provided that such re-employment takes place within ten years of the date on which the employee was last tenninated from public service." (Emphasis added.) In order to detennine whether a person who has separated from public service with a balance of unused sick leave accumulated under RC. 124.38 is entitled to receive credit for such unused sick leave upon subsequent employment by a public employ~r, it is necessary to detennine the meaning of the tenn "public service," as used in that statute. It is a fundamental rule of statutory consu.uction that "a word repeatedly used in [a] statute will be presumed to bear the same merulling throughout the statute unless there is something to show that another meaning is intended." Schuholz v. Walker, 111 Ohi0. S1. 308, 325, 145 N.E. 537, 542 (1924). Thus, the references in RC. 124.38(C) to separation from, and reemployment in, the "public service" clearly refer to service with those entities that constitute "public agencies" for purposes of that statute. Included within the meaning of "public service," as that tenn is used in RC. 124.38(C), therefore, is service with the state, counties, municipalities, civil service townships, or boards of education. Because a general health district is not a "public agency," as that tenn is used in RC. 124.38(C), employment with a general health district does not constitute "public selvice" for purposes of RC. 124.38(C). Therefore, RC. 124.38(C) does not entitle a person who becomes December I ()<)4 1 2-392 OAG 94-079 Attorney General employed by a general health district to receive credit for unused sick leave accumulated under that statute during prior employment in the "public service. "1 Conclusion Based on the foregoing, it is my opmlOn, and you are hereby advised that RC. 124.38(C) does not entitle a person who becomes employed by a general health district to receive credit for unused sick leave accumulated under that statute during prior employment in the "public service." RC. 124.39(C) pennits political subdivisions that are subject to that section to adopt sick leave payment policies, including, among other things, a "policy permitting an employee to r~.ceive payment upon a tennination of employment other than retirement." RC. 124.39(C) also permits county appointing authorities to adopt sick leave payment policies in certain circumstances. Thus, the employee about whom you ask may have been entitled to receive payment for the sick leave accumulated in her previous employment, if such a policy had been adopted under R.C. 124.39(C). See generally 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 90-074 (payment for unused sick leave under R.C. 124.39(C) or in accordance with applicable collective bargaining agreement).