MWP-ISD Employee Handbook 06-07

LEAVES AND ABSENCES

The district offers employees paid and unpaid leaves of absence in times of personal need. This handbook describes the basic types of leave available and restrictions on leaves of absence. Employees who have personal needs that will require long leaves of absence should call the Superintendent, 606 South Betty, Monahans, Texas, 943-6711, for counseling about leave options, continuation of benefits, and communicating with the district.

Employees who take an unpaid leave of absence may continue their insurance benefits at their own expense. Health care benefits for employees on leave authorized under the Family and Medical Leave Act will be paid by the district as they were when they were working. Otherwise, the district does not make benefit contributions for employees who are not on active payroll status.

Employees must follow district and department or campus procedures to report or request any leave of absence and complete the appropriate leave request form. Any employee who is absent for more than five consecutive workdays because of personal illness or three consecutive workdays due to family illness must submit a medical certification from a qualified health care provider confirming the specific dates of the illness, the reason for the illness, and in the case of personal illness – the employee’s fitness to return to work.

Personal and local sick leave is earned on a one workday per month basis up to 10 days. If an employee leaves the district before the end of the work year, the cost of any unearned leave days taken shall be deducted from the employee’s final paycheck.

State law entitles all employees to five days of paid personal leave per year. Personal leave is earned at a rate of one-half workday per month. A day of earned personal leave is equivalent to an assigned workday. There is no limit on the accumulation of state personal leave, and it can be transferred to other Texas school districts and is generally transferable to education service centers. There are two types of personal leave: nondiscretionary and discretionary.

Nondiscretionary: Leave that is taken for personal or family illness, emergency, a death in the family, or active military service is considered nondiscretionary leave. This type of leave allows very little or no advance planning and will be granted to employees in the same manner as sick leave.

Leave that is taken at an employee’s discretion and that can be scheduled in advance is considered discretionary leave. An employee wishing to take discretionary personal leave must submit a notice of the request three (3) days in advance of the anticipated absence to his or her principal or supervisor. Discretionary personal leave will be granted on a first‑come, first‑served basis. The effect of the employee’s absence on the educational program or department operations, as well as the availability of substitutes, will be considered by the principal or supervisor. Additionally, the granting of discretionary leave will be decided based upon the following limitations:

¨	Discretionary leave may not be taken on the following key days:
	§	The day before a school holiday,
	§	The day after a school holiday,
	§	Days scheduled for TAKS tests,
	§	Days scheduled for end-of-semester or end-of-year exams; or
	§	Professional or staff development days

Previously accumulated state sick leave is available for use and may be transferred to other school districts in Texas. Sick leave can be used only in five (5) day increments except when coordinated with family and medical leave taken on an intermittent or reduced‑schedule basis or when coordinated with workers’ compensation benefits.

All regularly employed persons shall earn a maximum of ten (10) equivalent workdays of local sick leave per school year, at a rate of one day per month.

Local sick leave shall accumulate to a maximum of 113 equivalent workdays and shall be taken with no loss of pay.

Certified employees: Any full-time employee whose position requires certification from the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) is eligible for temporary disability leave. The purpose of temporary disability leave is to provide job protection to full‑time educators who cannot work for an extended period of time because of a mental or physical disability of a temporary nature. A full‑time educator may request to be placed on temporary disability leave or be placed on leave. Pregnancy and conditions related to pregnancy are treated the same as any other temporary disability.

Employees must request approval for temporary disability leave. The leave request must be accompanied by a physician’s statement confirming the employee’s inability to work and estimating a probable date of return. If disability leave is approved, the length of leave is no longer than 180 days. If disability leave is not approved, the employee must return to work or be subject to termination procedures.

If an employee is placed on temporary disability leave involuntarily, he or she has the right to request a hearing before the board of trustees. The employee may protest the action and present additional evidence of fitness to work.

Employees who have been employed by the district for at least 12 months, and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months immediately preceeding the need for leave are eligible for family and medical leave. Eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year between September 1 and August 31 for the following reasons:

A husband and wife who are both employed by the district are subject to limits in the amount of leave that they can take to care for a parent with a serious health condition or for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child.

Eligible employees are entitled to continue their health care benefits under the same terms and conditions as when they were on the job and are entitled to return to their previous job or an equivalent job at the end of their leave. Under some circumstances, teachers who are able to return to work at or near the conclusion of a semester may be required to continue their leave until the end of the semester.

Family and medical leave runs concurrently with accrued sick and personal leave, temporary disability leave and absences due to work-related illness or injury. The district will designate the leave as family and medical leave, if applicable, and notify the employee that accumulated leave will run concurrently.

In some circumstances, employees may take family and medical leave in blocks of time or by reducing their normal weekly or daily work schedule. Intermittent leave may be taken under the following circumstances:

When the need for family and medical leave is foreseeable, employees who want to use it must provide 30‑day advance notice of their need. When the need for leave is not foreseeable, employees must contact the campus principal as soon as possible. Employees may be required to provide the following:

Employees requiring family and medical leave should contact the Superintendent, 606 South Betty, Monahans, Texas, 943-6711, for details on eligibility, requirements, and limitations.

An employee absent from duty because of a job‑related illness or injury may be eligible for workers’ compensation weekly income benefits if the absence exceeds seven calendar days. An employee receiving workers’ compensation wage benefits for a job-related illness or injury may choose to use sick leave or any other paid leave benefits. While an employee is receiving workers’ compensation wage benefits, the district will charge available leave proportionately so that the employee receives an amount equal to the employee’s regular salary.

Assault leave provides extended job income and benefits protection to an employee who is injured as the result of a physical assault suffered during the performance of his or her job. An injury is treated as an assault if the person causing the injury could be prosecuted for assault or could not be prosecuted only because that person’s age or mental capacity renders the person not responsible for purposes of criminal liability.

An employee who is physically assaulted at work may take all the leave time medically necessary (up to two years) to recover from the physical injuries he or she sustained. At the request of an employee, the district will immediately assign the employee to assault leave. Days of leave granted under the assault leave provision will not be deducted from accrued personal leave and must be coordinated with workers’ compensation benefits. Upon investigation the district may change the assault leave status and charge leave used against the employee’s accrued paid leave. The employee’s pay will be deducted if accrued paid leave is not available.

Use of state leave and/or local sick leave for death in the immediate family shall not exceed five (5) workdays per occurrence, subject to the approval of the District.

Employees will receive leave with pay and without loss of accumulated leave for jury duty. Employees must present documentation of the service and shall be allowed to retain any compensation they receive.

Employees will be granted paid leave to comply with a valid subpoena to appear in a civil, criminal, legislative, or administrative proceeding. Other absences for court appearances related to an employee’s personal business must be taken as personal leave or leave without pay (if no personal leave is available). Employees may be required to submit documentation of their need for leave for court appearances.

Paid leave for military service: Any employee who is a member of the Texas National Guard, Texas State Guard, or reserve component of the armed forces will be granted a paid leave of absence without loss of any accumulated leave for authorized training or duty orders. Paid military leave will not exceed 15 days per year. In addition, an employee is entitled to use available state and local personal and sick leave during a time of active military service.

Reemployment after military leave: Employees who leave the district to enter into the United States uniformed services or ordered to active state military duty (Texas National Guard or Texas State Guard) may return to employment if they are honorably discharged. Employees who wish to return to the district will be reemployed in the position they would have held if employment had not been interrupted or reassigned to an equivalent or similar position provided they are still qualified to perform the required duties. To be eligible for reemployment, employees must provide notice of their obligation or intent to perform military service, provide evidence of honorable discharge or release, and submit an application for reemployment to the Superintendent.

Continuation of health insurance. Employees who perform service in the uniformed services may elect to continue their health plan coverage at their own cost for a period not to exceed 24 months. Employees should contact the Superintendent, 606 South Betty, Monahans, Texas, 943-6711, for details on eligibility, requirements, and limitations.

Any employee who does not contact the appropriate supervisor when absent from work may have wages deducted in relation to the amount of time absent from duty. Local leave will also be deducted equal to the amount of work days missed.

For purposes of personal illness, illness in the immediate family, family emergency, or death in the immediate family, available leave shall be used in the following order:

Local sick leave shall be used under the terms and conditions applicable to state sick leave accumulated prior to the 1995-96 school year, except as otherwise provided by this policy.


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