GCBDA: Professional Staff Short-term Leaves

Consistent contact with students and staff is important to the learning environment and district operation and therefore is an essential duty of a professional staff member's position. However, the Board recognizes that there are circumstances that require an employee to miss work, and the purpose of this policy is to identify situations where paid and unpaid leave from work are appropriate.

The district may require an employee to provide the district verification of illness from a healthcare provider or supply other documentation verifying the absence before the district applies sick leave or other applicable paid leave to the absence. In accordance with law, the district may require an employee to present a certification of fitness to return to work whenever the employee is absent from work due to the employee's health.

The following leaves with pay will be provided to full-time professional staff employees. Regular part-time professional staff employees will receive these leaves on a pro rata basis. This policy does not apply to temporary or substitute staff members unless otherwise noted.

Sick Leave – Professional staff employees whose assignments call for 12 months of full-time employment will receive 12 days of sick leave. Professional staff employees whose assignments call for full-time employment only during the regular school term will receive ten days of sick leave. Those employees who are on duty for 11 months per year will receive 11 days of sick leave per year. Unused sick leave will be cumulative to 180 sick leave days. An absence of over one through four hours shall be counted as a half-day of sick leave.

Absences may be charged against sick leave for the following reasons:

Illness, injury or incapacity of the employee. The Board reserves the right to require a healthcare provider's certification attesting to the illness or incapacity of the claimant and/or inclusive dates of the employee's incapacitation. FMLA health certification procedures apply to FMLA-qualifying absences, even if such absences are paid sick leave.

Illness, injury or incapacity of a member of the immediate family. The Board defines “immediate family” to include: The employee's spouse

The following relatives of the employee or the employee's spouse: parents, children, children's spouses, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and any other family member residing with the employee.

Any other person over whom the employee has legal guardianship or for whom the employee has power of attorney and is the primary caregiver. (Note: “Family” for FMLA purposes is more limited.) Illness, injury or incapacity of other relatives, with permission granted by the superintendent.

Pregnancy, childbirth and adoption leave in accordance with this policy. Staff members who are ill are encouraged to stay home to promote healing and reduce the risk of infecting others, especially during a pandemic or other significant health event. In the event of a pandemic or other significant health event, schools may be closed to all staff and students or just students. If schools are closed only to students, staff members are expected to work regular schedules or use appropriate leave.

A district employee may not use sick leave during the period the employee receives Workers' Compensation for time lost to work-related incidents.

Any certificated employee who is a member of a retirement system shall remain a member during any period of leave under sick leave provisions of the district or under Workers' Compensation. The employee shall also receive creditable service credit for such leave time if the employee makes contributions to the system equal to the amount of contributions that he or she would have made had he or she been on active service status.

Attendance Incentive

Employees who have perfect attendance for the duration of an annual school year will receive a $600 stipend the July following the completion of the year's duties. Individuals employed less than full time will qualify for a stipend on a pro-rated basis.

Employees who are absent:

0 days will receive $700 1 day will receive $650 2 days will receive $600 3 days will receive $550 4 days will receive $500 5 days will receive $450 6 days will receive $400 7 days will receive $350 8 days will receive $300 9 days will receive $250 10 days will receive $200 11 days will receive $150 12 days will receive $100 13 days will receive $50 14 days will receive $0

Days absent from work will be determined by the number of sick and personal leave days taken during an employee's annual scheduled work year. Unused days will accumulate as sick leave. Stipends under this section are in addition to the sick leave reimbursement section mentioned below.

Pay for Accumulated Sick Leave

The school district shall pay the employees for accumulated sick leave upon leaving or retiring from the system. The basis for this remuneration shall be as follows: If an employee leaves the district he or she may be paid $50 per year of service up to a maximum of $1,000, provided enough sick leave days have been accumulated to qualify. For example, $50 x 20 years=$1,000, provided 50 days of sick leave days have been accumulated ($20 x 50=$1,000). If, for example, an employee has rendered 16 tears of service he or she would qualify for $800 ($50 x 16 years) if he or she had 40 days of sick leave ($20 x 40=$800). If the employee had five (5) years of service and 20 days of sick leave, he or she would receive $250 (He or she had enough days to qualify for $400 but only five years of service ($50 x 5=$250).

Employees retiring from the system shall be paid $20 per day for all accumulated sick leave with the maximum payment of $1,000 providing the employee qualifies for an immediate monthly benefit through the Public School Retirement System of Missouri (PSRS) or Social Security.

Employees must be in the system a minimum of three complete years before being eligible for accumulated sick leave pay.

Any employee resigning his or her employment after it has been accepted or during the course of a work year will not be entitled to accumulated sick leave except in case of ill health, subject to Board approval.

Personal Leave – A maximum of two days of personal leave will be available per school year. Unused personal leave days may accumulate as sick leave.

Personal leave is provided for absences due to compelling reasons over which the employee has little or no control. It is intended for the transaction of personal business which cannot be otherwise handled outside the school day, including parent-teacher conferences.

Absences may be charged against personal leave for court appearances, unless applicable law or policy provides for paid leave.

Personal leave days shall be with full pay if such leave is taken as provided for in this policy. No reason shall be required as to why a personal leave day may be needed.

Personal leave days may not be taken on the day immediately preceding or following a scheduled school holiday, or Board-ordered workshop, or immediately prior to the beginning or ending of school except for the purpose of attending a funeral. If it should be necessary for any employee to be absent from work during these times, said employees shall be docked fully for the day of the absence. No more than three teachers from each building and no more than three individuals from any other department (food service, transportation, etc.) may use a personal day on the same day. Any exception to this may be approved by the superintendent.

When an employee makes application for Personal Leave, the following process must be followed: Complete the Personal Leave section of the Employee Absentee Form.

The form should be completed at least two days before the day of the leave is to occur except in the cases of an emergency.

In case of any emergency the employee's immediate supervisor shall be notified and advised of the need to be absent. Immediately upon return to school the employee shall complete the Personal Leave Form (absence form) and give it to the principal for his or her signature. The principal's office will forward the form to the office of the superintendent.

If a Personal Leave Form is not completed the employee will be docked for the day's absence. Whenever possible, it is expected that requests for leave will be made in writing to the designated administrator at least 48 hours in advance of the time leave is requested. However, 30 days' notice is required by law if the leave qualifies as FMLA leave and such notice is practical. The administrator will respond promptly to the employee's written request.

A district employee may not use personal leave days during the period the employee receives Workers' Compensation for time lost to work-related incidents. Vacation – Superintendent, assistant superintendent, director of special services and principals will receive one calendar month of vacation each year. An employee must submit a written request for vacation to the superintendent or designee and receive written authorization before taking vacation days. If the employee's absence may disrupt district operations, the superintendent or designee has the discretion to deny a request for vacation or to limit the time of year the employee may take his or her vacation. Unused vacation may not accumulate from one year to the next.

A district employee may not use vacation days during the period the employee receives Workers' Compensation for time lost to work-related incidents.

Bereavement Leave – When a death occurs in an employee’s immediate family, employees may take up to five days off with pay to attend the funeral or make funeral arrangements. The district may require verification of the need for the leave. The Board defines “immediate family” to include: The employee's spouse

The following relatives of the employee or the employee's spouse: parents, children, children's spouses, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and any other family member residing with the employee.

Any other person over whom the employee has legal guardianship or for whom the employee has power of attorney and is the primary caregiver. After the exhaustion of the five days of bereavement leave, the employee may use personal leave.

Unless otherwise provided, the following leaves will be provided to full-time and part-time professional employees.

Holidays – Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, Presidents’ Day (if school is in session). Holidays may be modified or eliminated as needed when the academic calendar is changed due to inclement weather or for other reasons. Holidays may change from year to year.

Professional Leave – Employees may be granted professional leave to attend classes or conferences, meet with mentors or participate in other approved professional growth activities. Guidelines detailing the procedures for reimbursable expenses are available in staff handbooks. Professional leave must be approved by the superintendent or designee, arranged well in advance and is not considered personal leave.

Military Leave – The Board shall grant military leave as required by law. Members of the National Guard or any reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces who are engaged in the performance of duty or training will be entitled to a leave of absence of 120 hours in any federal fiscal year (October 1 – September 30) without impairment of efficiency rating or loss of time, pay, regular leave or any other rights or benefits. Employees shall provide the district an official order verifying that they are required to report to duty.

Election Leave – Any employee who is appointed as an election judge pursuant to state law may be absent on any election day for the period of time required by the election authority. The employee must notify the district at least seven days prior to any election in which the employee will serve as an election judge. No employee will be terminated, disciplined, threatened or otherwise subjected to adverse action based on the employee's service as an election judge.

Leave to Vote – Employees who do not have three successive hours free from work while the polls are open will be granted a leave period of up to three hours to permit the employees three successive hours while the polls are open for the purpose of voting. Requests for such leave must be made prior to election day, and the employee's supervisors will designate when during the workday the leave should be taken. Any employee who properly requests leave to vote and uses the leave for that purpose will not be subject to discipline, termination or loss of wages or salary.

Jury Duty Leave – An employee will be granted paid leave for time spent responding to a summons for jury duty, time spent participating in the jury selection process or time spent actually serving on a jury. An employee will not be terminated, disciplined, threatened or otherwise subjected to adverse action because of the employee's receipt of or response to a jury summons.

Leave for Court Subpoena – If the subpoena is directly related to the employee's school duties, the employee will be released for court appearance without loss of leave. Other court appearances will be deducted from personal leave.

Firefighter Leave – Employees will be allowed to use personal, vacation and/or unpaid leave for any time taken to respond to an emergency in the course of performing duties as a volunteer firefighter. For the purposes of this section, “volunteer firefighter” includes members of Missouri-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Missouri Task Force One, Urban Search and Rescue Team or those activated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in times of national disaster. Employees covered under this section shall not be terminated from employment for joining a volunteer fire department or for being absent from or late to work in order to respond to an emergency. Employees shall make every reasonable effort to notify the principal or supervisor if the employee may be absent from or late to work under this section. Employees are required to provide their supervisors with a written statement from the supervisor or acting supervisor of the volunteer fire department stating that the employee responded to an emergency along with the time and date of the emergency.

Crime Victim Leave – Any employee who is a crime victim, who witnesses a crime or who has an immediate family member who is a crime victim will not be required to use vacation, personal or sick leave in order to honor a subpoena to testify in a criminal proceeding, attend a criminal proceeding or participate in the preparation of the criminal proceeding.

Civil Air Patrol Leave – Any employee who is a member of Civil Air Patrol and has qualified for a Civil Air Patrol emergency service specialty or who is certified to fly counternarcotics missions shall be granted unpaid leave to perform Civil Air Patrol emergency service duty or counternarcotics missions without loss of time, regular leave or any other rights or benefits in accordance with law. The leave is limited to 15 working days in any calendar year, but is unlimited when responding to a state- or nationally declared emergency in Missouri. The district may request that the employee be exempted from responding to a specific mission.

Coast Guard Auxiliary Leave – Employees who are members of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary will be granted an unpaid leave of absence for periods during which they are engaged in the performance of United States Coast Guard or United States Coast Guard Auxiliary duties, including travel related to such duties, when authorized by the director of auxiliary or other appropriate United States Coast Guard Authority. Such leaves of absence will be given without loss of time, regular leave or any other rights or benefits to which such employees would otherwise be entitled. The leave is limited to 15 working days in any calendar year, but is unlimited when responding to a state‑ or nationally declared emergency in Missouri or upon any navigable waterway within or adjacent to the state of Missouri. The district may request that an employee be exempted from responding to a specific mission.

Victims' Economic Safety and Security Act (VESSA) Leave – Employees may take unpaid leave in accordance with law for absences related to domestic or sexual violence where an employee, an employee's family member or a person residing in the employee's household has been the victim of domestic or sexual violence. Leave may be taken intermittently or on a reduced work schedule. Two workweeks of unpaid leave will be available in a 12-month period, except that employees of districts with fewer than 50 employees but at least 20 employees will be limited to one workweek of unpaid leave. Employees may use accumulated paid leave or compensatory time concurrently with unpaid VESSA leave. VESSA leave does not create a right for employees to take unpaid leave that exceeds the amount of unpaid leave time under FMLA. Employees are required to give 48 hours' notice of the need for leave unless such notice is not practicable. The district may require certification of the need for leave, which may include documentation from an entity aiding the victim, a police or court record, or other corroborating evidence. Information provided by the employee in conjunction with the use of this leave will be confidential in accordance with law.

Pregnancy, Childbirth and Adoption Leave

This section creates no rights extending beyond the contracted period of employment. FMLA certification and recertification procedures apply to FMLA-eligible employees. An employee must notify the district of the need for and anticipated duration of the leave at least 30 days before leave is to begin, if foreseeable. If 30 days' notice is not practical, the employee must give as much notice as possible. A pregnant employee shall continue in the performance of her duties as long as she is able to do so and as long as her ability to perform her duties is not impaired, based on medical opinion.

Employees eligible for FMLA leave for the birth, first-year care, adoption or foster care of a child will have such leave applied in accordance with the FMLA. The district shall only apply up to six weeks of accrued paid leave to such absences.

Employees who are ineligible for FMLA leave may take up to six weeks of leave for the birth, first-year care, adoption or foster care of a child and may use any combination of accrued sick leave, personal leave, vacation or unpaid leave. Pregnant employees who need more than six weeks of paid or unpaid leave for a pregnancy-related incapacity must provide certification of the medical necessity for such leave.

§§ 285.625-670

Federal

29 C.F.R. § 1604.10 29 U.S.C. §§ 2611-2619 Family and Medical Leave Act 29 U.S.C. § 216© Fair Labor Standards Act 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d-2000d-7 Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-1-2000e-17 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

DLB: Salary Deductions

GBCBA EMPLOYEE WALKOUTS, STRIKES AND OTHER DISRUPTIONS IC: Academic Calendar