1204                             Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 558

ment Volume), title "Merit System," to change the provisions re-
lating to amount of vacation for classified employees.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 37(a) of Article 64A of the Annotated Code of Mary-
land (1968 Replacement Volume), title "Merit System," be and it is
hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

37.

(a) From and after January 1, [1966] 1972, every classified
employee shall receive an annual vacation in each calendar year, a
leave of absence with pay as follows:

Less than 5 years of service—10 working days
5 to less than [20] 10 years of service—15 working days
10 to less than 20 years of service—20 working days
20 years of service and more—[20] 25 working days,

provided, however, that every classified State employee on January
1, 1957 who as of that date shall have less than five (5) years of
service shall be entitled to receive, as vacation in each calendar year
until his period of service reaches 20 years, a leave of absence with
pay of fifteen (15) working days. The term "years of service," as
used herein shall include any previous continuous State service.

Any employee using less than full vacation leave allowable begin-
ning January 1, 1942, shall be entitled to have such unused leave
accumulated up to thirty working days, which shall be available to
such employee for vacation leave at any time, with the approval of
the head of the department. In addition to such annual vacation
leave, any employee shall be entitled to sick leave with pay for not in
excess of thirty working days in any calendar year; provided, how-
ever, that if any employee in any calendar year uses less than the
full amount of sick leave allowable, such unused leave shall be accu-
mulated up to one hundred working days and shall be available to
such employee for sick leave at any time. Any employee using three
or more consecutive days sick leave in any thirty-day period shall
present a certificate from a duly licensed physician before receiving
any pay for the period of such absence.

Such annual vacation leave credits shall accrue to the employee
after his first six months of State service, on a pro rata basis, and
shall be available to him for such purpose at any time thereafter, with
the approval of the head of the department. Sick leave credits shall
accrue from the beginning of the employee's State service, on a pro
rata basis, and shall be available to him for such purpose as earned,
providing that whenever the employee must be absent from work
because of a death in his immediate family, .such absence may be
charged against either earned annual vacation or earned sick leave,
at the option of the employee.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1971.

Approved May 17, 1971.