CHAPTER 6.00 PERSONNEL 6.911

Transcription

1 SICK LEAVE BANK POLICY: The School Board shall establish a voluntary Sick Leave Bank for School Board employees. Any School Board employee employed in a non-temporary position who, as of October 1 of each year, meets all of the following conditions outlined in this policy shall be eligible for participation in the Sick Leave Bank. The purpose of the Sick Leave Bank is to provide sick leave with pay for employees during periods of temporary personal serious health condition. Serious Health Condition is defined as an illness, injury, or physical condition that involves either inpatient care or continuing treatment by a Health Care Provider with a period of incapacity of no less than three days. Health Care Provider is defined as and includes doctors of medicine or osteopathy licensed under Chapters 458 or 459, F.S.; chiropractic physicians licensed under Chapter 460, F.S.; advanced registered nurse practitioners licensed under Chapter 464, F.S. and physicians assistants licensed under Chapters 458 or 459, F.S. Unless hospitalized, mental /nervous conditions are not eligible for Sick Leave Bank. Also, chemical dependency and/or alcoholism are not eligible conditions for the Sick Leave Bank. Maternity/pregnancy is not covered unless health complications occur during pregnancy. (1) Annual, Open Enrollment In order to enroll annually, the employee shall have been employed by the district for a minimum of one calendar year in a non-temporary School Board position and have a Sick Leave Balance of at least five (5) days. Sick Leave Balance is defined as the individual employee s accrued sick leave days minus used sick leave days. In order to become a participating member, the eligible employee shall contribute one (1) day of sick leave during the annual open enrollment period to the Sick Leave Bank. An employee may not contribute more than one day upon enrollment. Any sick leave day contributed pursuant to this policy shall reduce the employee s Sick Leave Balance by one day. (2) Re-enrollment Re-enrollment shall occur each time the level of hours remaining in the Sick Leave Bank falls to 25% or less of the fiscal year s open enrollment. Participating members only shall contribute one (1) additional day at reenrollment to maintain status as a participating member. A participating Page 1 of 5 Lake

2 member who chooses not to donate an additional day or does not have an additional day to donate shall forfeit all days previously donated and shall immediately cease eligibility as a participating member. In order to regain status as a participating member, the employee may enroll during annual open-enrollment as provided above, by meeting the qualifications stipulated above. (3) Participating members shall not be eligible to draw more than eighty (80) days from the Sick Leave Bank for any one illness or injury or complications thereof. After a participating member has drawn eighty (80) Sick Leave days for an illness, he or she shall not reapply using the same illness or condition for a period of ten (10) years from the date the illness first occurred. The Sick Leave Bank may be used for a maximum of two (2) different illnesses during a five (5) year period. (4) The Sick Leave Bank Administrator, who will be selected by the Superintendent, will review eligibility after the thirtieth (30 th ) continuous day of benefits has been paid to any participating member. Days shall run concurrently when more than one (1) illness, injury, or complication occurs simultaneously. As needed, participating members will be responsible for providing updates from the Health Care Provider. (5) Any sick leave days drawn from the bank by a participating member shall be used for that participating member s temporary personal serious health condition as defined in the first paragraph above. Participating members may not use the Sick Leave Bank for any medical procedure which could safely be scheduled during a non-work period, or for any cosmetic or elective surgery. Participating members drawing from the Sick Leave Bank who are also receiving reimbursement for workers compensation shall receive Sick Leave Bank compensation equal to 1/3 of a day or to the extent that the total of all compensation received does not exceed 100% of the participating member s current daily rate of pay. The 1/3 workers compensation day will be charged against the Sick Leave Bank as a whole day. No participating member shall be permitted to use the Sick Leave Bank who: (a) does not intend to return to work, (b) applies for retirement, or Page 2 of 5 Lake

3 (c) is able to perform the primary job functions with reasonable accommodation of regular position or reassigned position. (6) Participating members shall be eligible to draw from the Sick Leave Bank for approved continuous absences when: (a) Their Sick Leave Balance is zero and, (b) At least ten (10) consecutive work days in either paid or unpaid leave status have been used. (7) A participating member shall be eligible to draw from the Sick Leave Bank, after having a Sick Leave Balance of zero, for episodic or intermittent treatments, where such treatments are required for a temporary personal serious health condition. Sick Leave Bank used for intermittent treatments is drawn in hours, up to the equivalent of 80 days. Participating members who have been released to return to work part-time by a Health Care Provider are also eligible to draw from the Sick Leave Bank in hours up to the equivalent of 80 days. (8) Employees are not eligible for the Sick Leave Bank while on a year s leave of absence. (9) The district s Compensation and Employee Relations Department shall administer and determine the validity of claims against the Sick Leave Bank. The Compensation and Employee Relations Department shall prepare an annual report of usage of the Sick Leave Bank to the School Board and participating members. A Sick Leave Bank Overview Committee is comprised of the following: the Sick Leave Bank Administrator, an Administrator selected by the Superintendent, the Executive Director of Human Resources, the Risk Manager, one representative each from the SEIU and the LCEA, and a representative of the classified, non-instructional, non-bargaining employee group selected by the Superintendent. The Chair is the Executive Director of Human Resources. The purpose of the Overview Committee is to recommend settlement of any dispute arising from a claim against the Sick Leave Bank. The Overview Committee is a Superintendent Committee and shall report its recommendations directly to the Superintendent. No further review of disputes involving eligibility for Page 3 of 5 Lake

4 participation in the Sick Leave Bank is available. Alleged abuse of the Sick Leave Bank will be investigated by the Compensation and Employee Relations Department and, on a finding of a wrongdoing, the employee shall repay all of the sick leave days used from the Sick Leave Bank, shall be disqualified from future use of the Sick Leave Bank and may be subject to disciplinary action. Obtaining employment with an employer other than the School Board, while drawing from the Sick Leave Bank is considered abuse. The Sick Leave Bank Administrator reserves the right to solicit an opinion by a Health Care Provider of the Board s choice on any applicant. (10) Each request for Sick Leave Bank usage shall include the Request for Sick Leave Days from Sick Leave Bank, the Statement of Physician, the Periodic Status Report and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) forms. (11) The Sick Leave Bank membership shall indemnify and hold the School Board harmless against and from any and all claims, demands, suits, or other forms of liability that may arise out of or by reason of action taken, or not taken, by the School Board for the purpose of granting this procedure for participating members to use this Sick Leave Bank. (12) Sick and vacation leave shall not accrue while a member is drawing from the Sick Leave Bank. (13) Participants (a) (b) (c) DROP participants who elect Option 1, which is to receive one lump-sum payment for accumulated sick leave benefits earned prior to entering DROP, in the month following the last day of regular employment, will be ineligible to participate in the Sick Leave Bank. DROP participants who elected DROP Option 2 or 3 and have a positive Sick Leave Balance are eligible to participate in the Sick Leave Bank. DROP participants under Option 3 who elect to have their accumulated sick leave benefits prorated over the term of the DROP period, will have their eligibility for participation in the Sick Leave Bank decrease at the same rate as the paid out proration of their benefits. Eligible benefits from the Sick Page 4 of 5 Lake

5 Leave Bank will decrease proportionately to accumulated sick leave benefits paid out to the DROP participant. (14) In the event it becomes necessary to dissolve the Sick Leave Bank, the days remaining in the Sick Leave Bank shall be distributed equally to increase the Sick Leave Balance of each of the current participating members. (15) The maximum annual amount of sick days contributed by any participating member will be three days. STATUTORY AUTHORITY: ; ; , F.S. LAWS IMPLEMENTED: ; , F.S HISTORY: ADOPTED: REVISION DATE(S): 11/22/99, 4/11/05, 12/11/06, 4/12/10, 4/22/13 FORMERLY: GCBD; GDBD BOARD REVIEW: 10/23/06, 2/8/10, 3/11/13 WORKSHOP REVIEW: 1/28/13 Page 5 of 5 Lake