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DEFINITIONS
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The term "immediate family" shall include:
- Spouse.
- Son or daughter, including a biological, adopted, or foster child, a son- or daughter-in-law, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child for whom the employee stands in loco parentis.
- Parent, stepparent, parent-in-law, or other individual who stands in loco parentis to the employee.
- Sibling, stepsibling, sibling-in-law.
- Grandparent and grandchild.
- Any person who may be residing in the employee's household at the time of illness or death.
For purposes of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the definition of "family" includes only spouse, parent, and child.
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The term "family emergency" shall be limited to disasters and life-threatening situations involving the employee or a member of the employee's immediate family.
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A "workday" for purposes of accumulation, use, or recording shall mean the number of hours per day associated with the employee's usual work assignment, whether full-time or part-time.
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STATE PERSONAL LEAVE - RATE OF ACCRUAL
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Each employee shall earn state personal leave at the rate of one-half workday for each 18 workdays of employment, up to the statutory maximum of five workdays annually.
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TYPES OF STATE PERSONAL LEAVE
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The Board requires employees to differentiate between uses of personal leave:
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- To be used for the same reasons and in the same manner as state sick leave accumulated prior to May 30, 1995. [See DEC(LEGAL)]
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- To be taken at the individual employee's discretion, subject to limitations set out below.
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USE OF DISCRETIONARY LEAVE
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A written request for use of discretionary personal leave shall be submitted to the immediate supervisor or designee three days in advance. The reasons for which personal leave may be used shall not be limited by the District. In deciding to approve personal leave, however, the supervisor or designee shall consider the effect of the employee's absence on the educational program, as well as the availability of substitutes. [See DEC(LEGAL)]
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LOCAL LEAVE
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All employees in positions normally requiring 10, 11, or 12 months of service shall earn three, four, or five workdays of local sick leave per school year, respectively, concurrently with state personal leave.
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Local sick leave shall accumulate without limit and shall be taken with no loss of pay.
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Local leave shall be used under the terms and conditions applicable to state sick leave accumulated prior to the 1995-96 school year. [See DEC(LEGAL)]
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In addition, an employee shall be permitted to donate local leave to a sick leave pool, in accordance with this policy.
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USE AND RECORDING
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Available leave shall be used in the following order, as applicable:
- Local sick leave.
- State sick leave accumulated prior to the 1995-96 school year.
- State personal leave.
- Leave donated through a sick leave pool.
Leave used shall be recorded in increments of half workdays and whole workdays. Employees shall be charged leave as used even if a substitute is not employed.
Any leave taken for which leave balances are insufficient shall result in a deduction from the employee's paycheck commensurate with the amount of leave taken.
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AVAILABILITY
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Paid leave for the current year shall be available for use at the beginning of the school year. Paid leave shall not be approved for more workdays than have been accumulated in prior years plus those to be earned during the current year.
When an employee who has used more leave than he or she has accumulated ceases to be employed by the District, the cost of the unearned leave days shall be deducted from the employee's final paycheck.
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MEDICAL CERTIFICATION
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An employee absent more than five consecutive workdays because of personal illness or illness in the immediate family shall submit medical certification of the illness.
Medical certification shall be made by a health care provider as defined by the Family and Medical Leave Act. [See DEC(LEGAL)]
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TEMPORARY DISABILITY
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Any employee whose position requires certification, either by the District or by the State Board for Educator Certification, shall be eligible for temporary disability leave. The maximum length of temporary disability leave shall be 180 calendar days.
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COURT APPEARANCES
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Absences for court appearances related to an employee's personal business shall be deducted from the employee's leave or shall be taken as leave without pay if no applicable leave is available.
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FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE
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For purposes of an employee's entitlement to family and medical leave, the 12-month period shall be measured backward from the date an employee uses family and medical leave.
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The District shall require employees to use family and medical leave concurrently with paid leave and with temporary disability leave if applicable.
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COMBINED LEAVE FOR SPOUSES
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If both spouses are employed by the District, family and medical leave for the birth, adoption, or placement of a child, or to care for a parent with a serious health condition may be limited to a combined total of 12 weeks as determined by the needs of the District.
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Use of intermittent family and medical leave shall be permitted for the care of a newborn child or upon the adoption or placement of a child with the employee.
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Upon request for family and medical leave for the employee's serious health condition or that of a spouse, parent, or child, the employee shall provide medical certification of the illness or disability.
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The employee's request for reinstatement shall be accompanied by medical certification of the employee's ability to perform essential job functions.
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A teacher desiring to return to work at or near the conclusion of a semester shall be reinstated in accordance with the END-OF-TERM LEAVE section in DEC(LEGAL).
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If, at the expiration of the family and medical leave, the employee is able to return to work but chooses not to do so, the District shall require reimbursement of the employee benefits contribution made by the District during the period in which such leave was taken as unpaid leave.
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WORKERS' COMPENSATION
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An employee absent because of a job-related injury or illness shall be assigned to family and medical leave, if applicable.
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An employee eligible for workers' compensation wage benefits shall indicate whether he or she chooses to:
- Receive workers' compensation wage benefits; or
- Use available paid leave. Workers' compensation wage benefits shall begin when:
- Paid leave is exhausted; or
- The employee elects to discontinue use of paid leave; or
- Leave payments are less than the employee's pre-injury average weekly wage.
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REIMBURSEMENT UPON RETIREMENT
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Upon retirement of a professional or paraprofessional employee, the District shall buy from the employee any unused local sick leave days at the following rates:
- The daily rate of pay of a substitute for each of the first 30 days, and
- Twenty dollars for each additional day, with the reimbursement not to exceed a total of 60 days.
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Local leave days bought from an employee under this program shall be deducted from the employee's service record.
To be eligible for these funds, an employee must be resigning from the District and be requesting TRS retirement benefits. Proof of the employee's TRS retirement request shall be furnished to the District before reimbursement is made.
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SICK LEAVE POOL
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A District sick leave pool shall be established from voluntary donations of local leave by individual District employees to assist a fellow employee suffering from personal illness or disability, including pregnancy-related disability, or an employee absent because of the illness or disability of a member of the employee's immediate family.
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An employee may receive a maximum of 25 leave days from a pool in a school year. An employee may request that a sick leave pool be established only after he or she has exhausted all other available paid leave.
The employee or a member of the employee's family shall address any request for the establishment of a sick leave pool in writing to the Superintendent. The Superintendent or designee shall then initiate the sick leave pool for the employee and notify District staff.
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The sick leave pool shall be composed of voluntary contributions for a specific individual, and donated days shall be designated to a specific pool. No staff member shall be allowed to contribute more than three of his or her local leave days to sick leave pools in a school year.
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All contributions to sick leave pools shall be voluntary and confidential donations. Employees violating this provision shall be considered in violation of District policy and the standards of ethics outlined at DH(EXHIBIT) and shall be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with DH(LOCAL).
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The sick leave pool ceases to exist when the employee returns to work or when each voluntary donation reaches the maximum contribution and the sick leave pool is exhausted. Unused sick leave pool days shall revert to the donors in increments of no less than one-half days. No general pool shall remain in existence.
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