Columbus ISD
045902

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
LEAVES AND ABSENCES


DEC
(LEGAL)


This introductory page outlines the contents of the leaves and absences policy. See the following sections for statutory provisions on:
SECTION I Sick/Personal Leave
  1. State Personal Leave; Accumulated Sick Leave page 2
  2. Assault Leave page 2
  3. Temporary Disability Leave page 3
  4. Family and Medical Leave (FML) pages 4-11
    1. Eligibility, Notice to Employees
    2. Definitions of "Serious Health Condition," "Health Care Provider"
    3. Maintenance of Health Benefits
    4. Duration of Leave: Intermittent and End-of-Term Leaves; Combined Leave for Spouses
    5. Notice by Employees, Foreseen and Unforeseen Leave
    6. Medical Certification, Recertification
    7. Concurrent Use of FML with Paid/Unpaid Leave
    8. Reinstatement
    9. Denial of Restoration to Key Employees
SECTION II Military Leave
  1. Federal page 12
  2. State: Short- and Long-Term page 13
SECTION III Miscellaneous
  1. Religious Observances page 14
  2. Compliance with a Subpoena page 15
  3. Jury Duty page 15
  4. Developmental Leave page 15
  5. Absence Control page 15
STATE PERSONAL LEAVE A state minimum personal leave program consisting of five days per year of personal leave, with no limit on accumulation and no restrictions on transfer among districts, shall be provided for District employees. The District may provide additional personal leave beyond this minimum. The Board may adopt a policy governing an employee's use of personal leave granted under this subsection, except that the policy may not restrict the purposes for which the leave may be used. Education Code 22.003(a)
STATE SICK LEAVE ACCUMULATION
District employees retain any sick leave accumulated as state minimum sick leave under former Section 13.904(a) of the Education Code. Former Section 13.904(c), Education Code, continues to govern the use of that sick leave. Sick leave shall be used only for the following:
  1. Illness of the employee.
  2. Illness of a member of the employee's immediate family.
  3. Family emergency.
  4. Death in the employee's immediate family.

Acts of the 74th Legislative Session, Senate Bill 1, Sec. 66

FORMER EDUCATION SERVICE CENTER (ESC) EMPLOYEES The District shall accept the sick leave accrued by an employee who was formerly employed by a regional education service center (ESC), not to exceed five days per year for each year of employment. Education Code 8.007
ASSAULT LEAVE In addition to all other days of leave, a District employee who is physically assaulted during the performance of regular duties is entitled to the number of days of leave necessary to recuperate from physical injuries sustained as a result of the assault. At the request of an employee, the District must immediately assign the employee to assault leave. Days of assault leave may not be deducted from accrued personal leave. Assault leave may not extend more than two years beyond the date of the assault. Following an investigation of the claim, the District may change the assault leave status and charge the leave against the employee's accrued personal leave or against the employee's pay if insufficient accrued personal leave is available.

Notwithstanding any other law, assault leave benefits due to an employee shall be coordinated with temporary income benefits due from workers' compensation so the employee's total compensation from temporary income benefits and assault leave policy benefits will equal 100 percent of the employee's weekly rate of pay.

A District employee is physically assaulted if the person engaging in the conduct causing injury to the employee:
  1. Could be prosecuted for assault; or
  2. Could not be prosecuted for assault only because the person's age or mental capacity makes the person a nonresponsible person for purposes of criminal liability.

Education Code 22.003(b), (c)

SICK LEAVE DIFFERENT FROM TEMPORARY DISABILITY LEAVE An employee's entitlement to sick leave is unaffected by any concurrent eligibility for a leave of absence for temporary disability. The two types of leave are different, and each must be granted by its own terms. Atty. Gen. Op. H-352 (1974)
PREGNANCY Disabilities caused or contributed to by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, for all job-related purposes, shall be treated the same as disabilities caused or contributed to by other medical conditions, under any health or disability insurance or sick leave plan available in connection with employment. 29 CFR 1604.10(b)
TEMPORARY DISABILITY Each full-time educator shall be given a leave of absence for temporary disability at any time the educator's condition interferes with the performance of regular duties. The contract or employment of the educator may not be terminated while the educator is on a leave of absence for temporary disability. For purposes of temporary disability leave, pregnancy is considered a temporary disability.
AT EMPLOYEE'S REQUEST
A request for a leave of absence for temporary disability must be made to the Superintendent. The request must:
  1. Be accompanied by a physician's statement confirming inability to work;
  2. State the date requested by the educator for the leave to begin; and
  3. State the probable date of return as certified by the physician.
BY BOARD AUTHORITY
The Board may adopt a policy providing for placing an educator on leave of absence for temporary disability if, in the Board's judgment in consultation with a physician who has performed a thorough medical examination of the educator, the educator's condition interferes with the performance of regular duties. The educator shall have the right to present to the Board testimony or other information relevant to the educator's fitness to continue in the performance of regular duties.
RETURN TO ACTIVE DUTY
NOTICE
The educator shall notify the Superintendent of a desire to return to active duty no later than the 30th day before the expected date of return. The notice must be accompanied by a physician's statement indicating the educator's physical fitness for the resumption of regular duties.
PLACEMENT
An educator returning to active duty after a leave of absence for temporary disability is entitled to an assignment at the school where the educator formerly taught, subject to the availability of an appropriate teaching position. In any event, the educator shall be placed on active duty no later than the beginning of the next school year. A principal at another campus voluntarily may approve the appointment of an employee who wishes to return from leave of absence. However, if no other principal approves the assignment by the beginning of the next school year, the District must place the employee at the school at which the employee formerly taught or was assigned. Atty. Gen. Op. DM-177 (1992)
LENGTH OF ABSENCE
The Superintendent shall grant the length of leave of absence for temporary disability as required by the individual educator. The Board may establish a maximum length for a leave of absence for temporary disability, but the maximum length may not be less than 180 calendar days. Atty. Gen. Op. H-352 (1974)

Education Code 21.409

FEDERAL FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA) An employee of a district having 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the worksite who has been employed by the District for at least 12 months and for 1,250 hours during the previous 12-month period shall be entitled to a total of 12 workweeks of leave, without loss of any employment benefit accrued prior to the beginning of the leave, during any 12-month period for one or more of the following reasons:
  1. Because of the birth or adoption, including placement for foster care, of the employee's child and in order to care for the child, provided the leave is taken within 12 months of the birth, adoption, or placement of the child. By agreement between the employee and the District, this leave may be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule.
  2. To care for the employee's spouse, child, or parent if the spouse, child, or parent has a serious health condition.
  3. Because of the employee's serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform functions of his or her position.

29 U.S.C. 2611(2), 2612(a)

METHODS FOR DETERMINING ENTITLEMENT PERIOD The District is permitted to choose any one of the following methods for determining the 12-month period for which the 12-week leave entitlement occurs:
  1. The calendar year;
  2. Any fixed 12-month "leave year," such as a fiscal year, a year required by state law, or a year starting on an employee's "anniversary" date;
  3. The 12-month period measured forward from the date any employee's FML begins; or
  4. A "rolling" 12-month period measured backward from the date an employee uses any FML (except that such measure may not extend back before August 5, 1993).

29 CFR 825.200(b)(1)-(4)

NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES The District shall post and keep posted in conspicuous places on each campus where notices to employees are usually posted, a notice approved by the Secretary of Labor that sets out excerpts from or summaries of the Family and Medical Leave Act and information pertaining to the filing of a charge. 29 U.S.C. 2619

If the District's workforce is comprised of a significant portion of workers who are not literate in English, the District shall be responsible for providing the information required by the notice in a language in which the employees are literate. 29 CFR 825.300(c)

SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITION A "serious health condition" that entitles an employee to FMLA leave means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves:
  1. Inpatient care (i.e., an overnight stay) in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility, including any period of incapacity (inability to work, attend school, or perform other regular daily activities due to the serious health condition, treatment therefor or recovery therefrom) or any subsequent treatment in connection with such inpatient care; or
  2. Continuing treatment by a health care provider for a period of incapacity (as described above) for:
    1. More than three consecutive calendar days, and any subsequent treatment or period of incapacity relating to the same condition.
    2. Pregnancy, in