8.5WF—CLASSIFIED EMPLOYEES SICK LEAVE

Definitions

1. “Employee” is an employee of the District working 20 or more hours per week who is not required to have a teaching license as a condition of his employment.

1. “Sick Leave” is absence from work due to illness, whether by the employee or a member of the employee’s immediate family or due to a death in the family. The supervisor shall determine whether sick leave will be approved on the basis of a death outside the immediate family of the employee.

1. “Current Sick Leave” for all full-time salaried employees means those days of sick leave for the current contract year, which leave is granted at the rate of one day of sick leave per contracted month, or major part thereof. Hourly employees are credited with sick leave on an hourly basis not to exceed 720 hours. Bus drivers receive five (5) sick leave days per year.

1. “Accumulated Sick Leave” is the total of unused sick leave, up to a maximum of ninety (90) days accrued from the previous contract, but not used. Accumulated sick leave also includes the sick leave transferred from an employee’s previous public school employment.

1. “Immediate family” means an employee’s spouse, child, parent, mother- and father-in-law, sibling, grandparent, grandchild or any other relative provided the other relative lives in the same household as the employee. The principal has the discretion to approve sick leave for an employee for a person not considered immediate family.

Sick Leave

The supervisor has the discretion to approve sick leave for an employee to attend the funeral of a person who is not related to the employee, under circumstances deemed appropriate by the principal.

Employees who are adopting or seeking to adopt a minor child or minor children may use accumulated sick leave, personal leave, or vacation days under the provisions of FMLA in any school year for absences relating to the adoption, including the time needed for travel, the time needed for home visits, the time needed for document translation, submission or preparation, time spent with legal or adoption agency representatives, time spent in court and bonding time. See also, 8.23—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE, which also applies. Except for bonding time, documentation shall be provided by the employee upon request.

Pay for sick leave shall be at the employee’s hourly rate of pay if an hourly employee or daily rate of pay, which is that employee’s hourly rate of pay times the number of hours normally worked per day. Absences for illness in excess of the employee’s accumulated and current sick leave shall result in a deduction from the employee’s pay at the daily rate as defined above. If an employee resigns or leaves his or her employment position for any reason before the end of the contract term, the school district may deduct from his or her last paycheck full compensation for any days of sick leave used in excess of the number of days earned.

At the discretion of the Superintendent, and if FMLA is applicable, subject to the certification or recertification provisions contained in policy 8.23—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE the District may require a written statement from the employee’s physician documenting the employee’s illness. Failure to provide such documentation of illness may result in sick leave not being paid, or in discipline up to and including termination.

Whenever a school employee employed by a school district in this state shall leave the school district and accept employment in another school district, the employee shall be granted credit by the new school district for up to ninety (90) days of unused sick leave accumulated by the employee in the former district.
The accumulated and unused sick leave shall be credited to the employee by the district upon receipt of written proof from the school district in which the employee was formerly employed.

If the employee’s absences are not subject to the FMLA or are in excess of what is protected under the FMLA, excessive absenteeism to the extent that the employee is not carrying out his/her assigned duties to the degree that the education of students or the efficient operation of a school or the district is substantially adversely affected (at the determination of the principal or Superintendent), may result in termination.

Sick Leave and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Leave

When an employee takes sick leave, the District shall determine if the employee is eligible for FMLA leave and if the leave qualifies for FMLA leave. The District may request additional information from the employee to help make the applicability determination. If the employee is eligible for FMLA leave and if the leave qualifies under the FMLA, the District will notify the employee in writing of the decision within five (5) workdays. If the circumstances for the leave as defined in policy 8.23—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE don’t change, the District is only required to notify the employee once of the determination regarding the applicability of sick leave and/or FMLA leave within any applicable twelve (12) month period. To the extent the employee has accumulated, any sick leave taken that qualifies for FMLA leave shall be paid leave and charged against the employee’s accrued leave including, once an employee exhausts his/her accumulated sick leave, vacation or personal leave. See 8.23—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE.

Reimbursement of Unused Sick Leave

Compensation for employees that have accumulated over 90 sick days will be payable at the end of the school year at a rate of 50% of the current non-certified substitute teacher pay for days accumulated or 50% of the current non-certified substitute teacher pay divided by 8 for hourly employees.

Sick Leave and Outside Employment

Sick leave related absence from work (e.g. sick leave for personal or family illness or accident, Workers Comp, and FMLA) inherently means the employee is also incapable of working at any source of outside employment. Except as provided in policy 8.36, if an employee who works a non-district job while taking district sick leave for personal or family illness or accident, Workers Comp, or FMLA shall be subject to discipline up to and including termination.

Retirement From West Fork School District

All unused sick leave will be paid upon a full-time employee’s retirement by the following schedule:

* Retiring employees with 1 – 50 days of unused sick leave will receive a retirement benefit equal to 50% of the current non-certified substitute teacher pay per day.
* Retiring employees with 51 or more days of unused sick leave will receive a retirement benefit equal to 60% of the current non-certified substitute teacher pay per day.
* Retiring employees with 1 – 400 hours of unused sick leave will receive a retirement benefit equal to 50% of the current non-certified substitute teacher pay per day divided by eight (8).
* Retiring employees with 401 hours or more of unused sick leave will receive a retirement benefit equal to 60% of the current non-certified substitute teacher pay per day divided by eight (8).

The last 5 years of employment must have been continuous in the district. “Retirement” as defined for this purpose shall conform to the definition provided by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System and the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System.

Cross References: 8.12—CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT