06:10:12 Non-Faculty Sick Leave Bank

Purpose

The purpose of the Non-faculty Sick Leave Bank is to provide additional sick leave to members of the bank who due to serious illness or injury have exhausted all their personal sick and annual leave, in accordance with TBR and Walters State leave policies.

Policy

I. Establishment

The non-faculty sick leave bank is established in accordance with TBR Guideline P-061 and pursuant to a petition submitted to the president and signed by twenty regular, non-faculty employees.

II. Eligibility

Participation in the non-faculty sick leave bank is available to regular full-time and regular part-time, non-faculty, clerical and support and administrative employees whether serving in an academic, fiscal, or modified fiscal year appointment. To enroll, an employee must have at least eight (8) days of accrued sick leave available.

III. Administration

The non-faculty sick leave bank shall be administered by five trustees appointed by the president of Walters State Community College. The trustees shall approve a plan of operation subject to the approval of the president. The plan shall be in compliance with TBR Guideline P-061, TBR policy, institution policy, appropriate recordkeeping and accounting principles and statutory provisions.

IV. Trustees

The five trustees shall consist of at least three clerical and support staff employees. The remaining trustees may be members of the administrative staff. Initial appointments are made as follows: two trustees will serve for one year, two trustees for two years, and one trustee for three years. Current trustees are eligible for reappointment. Any vacancy resulting from expiration of a term, discontinuation of employment, retirement, death, resignation, or removal by the president of a trustee from the trustee role shall be filled immediately by appointment by the president. A chairperson may be elected by the trustees for a term determined by the trustees. Upon expiration of the chairperson’s term, an election will be held by the trustees. A chairperson may be re-elected.

The trustees shall approve or reject requests for withdrawal of leave from the bank. They shall adopt reasonable rules for assessment of sick leave hours in order to maintain an adequate reserve of sick leave hours for bank members. The reserve shall only be established through the assessment of bank membership and shall maintain a positive balance at all times. All members shall be assessed the same amount of sick leave hours. The trustees shall have sole discretion in determining how many assessments are necessary to maintain the reserve’s positive balance. All actions by the trustees require three affirmative votes for approval.

V. Sick Leave Bank Plan Of Operation

The plan of operation includes the following provisions:

1. An employee must have been a member of the bank for thirty (30) calendar days prior to applying for withdrawal of sick leave bank hours. The bank member’s supervisor shall be informed of any request for bank leave, prior to approval by the trustees. A physician’s statement must accompany the request and must include the following information:
    
   1. nature and cause of disability
       
   2. the expected duration
       
   3. prognosis and opinion as to ability to return to work
       
   4. date when first diagnosed and/or treated
       

Refusal to submit the physician’s statement will result in denial of the request for sick bank leave.
 

2. A bank member’s sick leave and annual leave must be exhausted prior to receiving bank sick leave.
    
3. Bank sick leave shall not be used for:
    
   1. elective surgery
       
   2. worker’s compensation claims
       
   3. illness or death of any member of the individual’s family
       
   4. during any period when the individual is receiving disability benefits from social security, a state-sponsored retirement plan, or Board of Claims benefit.
       
   5. pregnancy, unless it is accompanied by medical complications that incapacitate the employee and prevent her from working.
       

Approved bank sick leave will run concurrently with FMLA leave for an eligible employee who has not already exhausted the twelve (12) workweek entitlement
 

4. Initial grants of bank sick leave to individual bank members shall not exceed the hourly equivalent of twenty (20) consecutive days. Subsequent grants of bank sick leave shall not exceed the hourly equivalent of sixty (60) days in any fiscal year. The maximum number of bank sick leave hours a member may receive for any one illness, recurring diagnosed illness, or accident is the hourly equivalent of ninety (90) days.
    
5. A bank member may be eligible to receive sick leave which has been donated by other employees if he/she has made application for bank sick leave and the necessity for bank leave is substantiated by the trustees. Should bank sick leave be denied, the bank member shall be eligible to receive donations from other employees as provided in TBR Policy 5:01:01:15.
    
6. When a bank member is physically or mentally unable to apply for bank sick leave, the immediate next-of-kin may make a request for bank sick leave on his or her behalf. If there is no next-of-kin available, this request may be made by the legally appointed guardian or conservator or an individual acting under valid power of attorney.
    
7. Grants of bank sick leave shall not be contingent upon repayment of hours used or waiver of other employment benefits or rights.
    
8. A bank member shall lose the right to request bank sick leave upon termination of employment, retirement, cancellation of bank membership, refusal to submit a physician’s statement, refusal to honor the trustees’ assessment, and upon going on a leave of absence in a non-pay status for reasons other than illness, injury or disability. A bank member’s inability to honor the trustees’ assessment will result in temporary loss of the right to withdraw bank sick leave. This right will be restored upon transfer of the individual’s personal sick leave assessment to the sick leave bank.
    
9. A bank member may cancel his or her membership at any time during the year upon written notification to the trustees. Assessed sick leave is non-refundable upon cancellation of membership and non-transferable upon transfer to another TBR institution or technology center, UT or state agency.
    
10. Employees who are granted bank sick leave shall continue to accrue sick leave and annual leave, if applicable, and service credit for retirement and longevity purposes, during the time they are on bank sick leave. Also, they will receive credit for any holidays that may occur during the bank sick leave period.
     
11. The trustees shall approve or reject all requests for bank sick leave within ten (10) calendar days of receipt of the request. The operation of the non-faculty sick leave bank shall exist separately from the regular sick leave accrued to individuals’ personal accounts with respect to approvals and appeals. The decisions of the trustees shall not be appealed beyond that body.
     
12. All official forms and records pertaining to the sick leave bank and formal minutes of the trustees’ meetings will be maintained in the Office of Human Resources. All records shall be subject to audit by appropriate state officials.
     
13. The initial enrollment period will begin with notification to employees of the bank’s establishment. This enrollment period will last forty-five (45) calendar days. Subsequent annual enrollment periods will be from February 1 through February 15 and August 1 through August 15 of each year. Enrollment forms and guidelines will be made available to eligible employees along with notification of the bank’s establishment. The effective date of the bank will be April 1, 2006.
     
14. All eligible employees who elect to join the bank shall be assessed an hourly equivalent of three (3) days as the initial enrollment assessment in accordance with their employment classification. The chart below shows the number of hours assessed based on time worked. The assessment of sick leave shall be deducted from the individual’s personal accumulated sick leave. The amount of subsequent assessments will depend upon the balance in the bank’s reserves and the number of members. However, a maximum of three (3) days will be assessed for any one assessment. A member must have a balance of at least 5 days of sick leave before submitting forms of reassessment.
     
15. Upon cancellation of membership, a former member must meet the initial assessment in order to rejoin the bank and may rejoin only during the annual enrollment period.
     
16. A restriction on pre-existing illnesses limits the number of hours that may be withdrawn for a particular pre-existing condition to the equivalent of thirty (30) days during any fiscal year or forty-five (45) days for any one pre-existing condition.
     
17. The following official forms will be used to operate the sick leave bank: (a) Official Sick Leave Bank Election Form (Petition), (b) Enrollment form, (c) Request for Bank Sick Leave, and (d) Notice to Sick Leave Bank Member of Assessment of Sick Leave Days.

VI. Amendments

Amendments to these guidelines may be made by an affirmative vote of three trustees and approval by the president.

VII. Dissolution Of The Bank

The sick leave bank shall be dissolved if the institution is closed or if the bank membership falls below twenty (20) individuals. Upon dissolution for insufficient membership, the total hours on deposit shall be returned to participating members at the time of the dissolution and credited to their personal sick leave accumulation in proportion to the number of hours each has been assessed individually. 9/06; 10/13; 05/16

Sick Leave Bank
Chart of Assessments