/Institutions/Vernon-College/json/2023-2024/Employee-Handbook-local.json

/Institutions/Vernon-College/json/2023-2024/Employee-Handbook.json

Appendix K: Sick Leave Bank Policy

Vernon College Sick Leave Bank Policy

Purpose

This program provides for the alleviation of the hardship caused to an employee in the event a catastrophic illness or injury forces the employee to exhaust all leave time earned by that employee and to lose all compensation benefits from the College.

Definitions

• A catastrophic illness or injury is a severe condition or combination of conditions affecting the mental or physical health of the employee or immediate family member that requires the services of a licensed physician or practitioner for a prolonged period of time. The catastrophic illness or injury forces the employee to exhaust all eligible paid leave time earned by that employee and to lose compensations from the College for the employee.
• Licensed physician or practitioner means a medical or health care provider, as defined in the Texas Insurance Code, licensed by the state of his/her residency, which is practicing within the scope of his/her license.
• Eligible employee means any benefits-eligible employee who has completed at least one year of eligible employment and has enrolled and contributed one day of sick leave from his or her own available sick leave annually for the duration of enrollment. The contribution will be prorated for an eligible employee who is not considered a 100 percent full-time employee.
• Immediate Family as defined on page D1 of the Employee Handbook.
• Sick Leave Bank means a collection of employee-donated sick leave hours available to the employee after exhausting all other sick leave, personal leave, and vacation time available to that employee. The hours that may be used from the Sick Leave Bank for each occurrence by each employee will vary depending upon and according to established Sick Leave Bank guidelines and the discretion of the President.
• The Director of Human Resources or his/her designee will serve as the Sick Leave Bank Monitor.
• Long Term Disability is a benefit paid by the college for all eligible employees. To be eligible for LTD benefits the employee must be declared totally disabled and after the employee completes the waiting period of the employee’s sick leave and extended sick leave/sick leave pool or 180 consecutive days, whichever is greater.
• Short Term Disability is a benefit available to all eligible employees at their own expense. To be eligible for STD benefits the employee must be declared totally disabled and after the employee completes the waiting period of the employee’s sick leave and extended sick leave/sick leave pool or 30 consecutive days, whichever is greater.
• Sixty (60) days is the maximum number of days available for sick leave in any fiscal year. This number includes both accrued days and days acquired from the Sick Leave Bank.
• Where applicable, Vernon College’s Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy applies to the use of Sick Leave Bank benefits. For information on FMLA, refer to Employee Handbook page D3.
• The fiscal year is September 1 through August 31.

General Provisions

• In order to be eligible to participate in the College’s Sick Leave Bank, an employee must be employed in a benefit-eligible position for at least one full year and must enroll and contribute one day of sick leave from his or her own available sick leave annually during the duration of enrollment. The contribution will be prorated for an eligible employee who is not considered a 100 percent full-time employee.
• Employees who contribute leave to the bank cannot have it returned to them unless they qualify for use under the guidelines of the Sick Leave Bank Policy.
• The maximum amount of Sick Leave Bank time available, per employee for any fiscal year in combination with the individuals accrued time, will not exceed 60 working days.
• Employees must exhaust all eligible paid leave before they are eligible to use leave from the Sick Leave Bank.
• Employees who use Sick Leave Bank leave are not required to pay back Sick Leave Bank leave.
• The benefit amount from all college plans cannot exceed 100% of the employee’s normal compensation.
• The employee must apply for either LTD or STD when he/she becomes eligible. Upon approval of LTD or STD said employee would become ineligible for Sick Leave Bank leave.

Exclusions

• The Sick Leave Bank does not cover an employee’s time-off due to a job-incurred injury covered by workers’ compensation benefits or if the employee is receiving short-term or long-term disability benefits.
• An employee with a catastrophic illness or injury lasting less than 15 calendar days is not eligible to withdraw time from the Sick Leave Bank.
• An employee on leave without pay is not eligible for the Sick Leave Bank unless the leave without pay status results from depleting accrued paid leave because of a qualifying catastrophic illness or injury. If an employee has returned from LWOP, the employee is ineligible until he or she completes a minimum of 30 active work-days.

Contributing to the Sick Leave Bank

• The Sick Leave Bank contribution form is available online on the Human Resource page.
• A benefit-eligible employee must agree to transfer, at a minimum, an amount of sick leave equal to his or her employee status. For example, 100 percent will equal one day or eight hours; 50 percent will equal one-half day or 4 hours and the like per fiscal year. An eligible employee will be covered from the date of Sick Leave Bank enrollment. An employee will remain a Sick Leave Bank member until written notification of withdrawal from the pool is received by the Sick Leave Bank administrator (the Director of Human Resources). Written forms of notification of withdrawal from the pool must be received no later than August 31st of the current academic year. However, hours contributed to the bank will not be returned to an employee under any circumstances. Members may donate additional hours at any time during the fiscal year.
• New employees must enroll within the first 30 days of employment. If a new employee does not elect to enroll in the Sick Leave Bank within this period, he or she must wait until the next open enrollment period, September 1 through September 30, in order to participate.
• New enrollees must satisfy a 90-day waiting period prior to being eligible to withdraw leave from the Sick Leave Bank.
• Existing employees not currently participating in the Sick Leave Bank may enroll only during the open enrollment period.
• Retiring/resigning employees are also permitted to contribute to the Sick Leave Bank. Upon receipt of the Sick Leave Bank Contribution Form, Human Resources will credit the College’s bank with the contribution and will deduct the corresponding amount from the contributing employee’s own accrued sick leave balance.
• Employees may not designate a specific person to receive their contributions.

Requests to Use Leave from the Sick Leave Bank

• The eligible employee submits to the Human Resource Office a Sick Leave Bank Application (Withdrawal) for Sick Leave Bank leave, with a current, dated statement from the licensed physician or practitioner attached. No incomplete applications will be accepted or considered for distribution. The form and hours requested must be filed with the Human Resource Office and must be validated prior to distribution.
• Applications to use Sick Leave Bank leave will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
• An eligible employee may not draw time from the Sick Leave Bank in an amount that exceeds a total of 60 working days, per fiscal year.
• No Sick Leave Bank time will be granted for any days not covered by a licensed practitioners’ statement.
• Guidelines to determine eligibility for Sick Leave Bank use will be the responsibility of the monitor and will be updated as deemed necessary. Each request for Sick Leave Bank days will be reviewed by a standing committee appointed annually by the College President and chaired by the Director of Human Resources.
• If it is determined that the employee is eligible to participate in the Sick Leave Bank, the monitor shall determine the exact amount of time that an employee is eligible to draw from the bank.
• All withdrawals from the Sick Leave Bank should be approved by the President within 5 days of the employee’s return to work.
• Approval/disapproval of any application shall be made within a reasonable period of time by the President.
• Any unused balance of Sick Leave Bank time granted to an employee must be returned to the Sick Leave Bank upon return to work.
• The Sick Leave monitor will prepare an annual report regarding the status of the Sick Leave Bank. Copies of the report will be forwarded to the President and all VPs for review.

Updated 4/17/17