Leaves and Absences

See policy DEC series

Full time employees are entitled to time off with or without pay according to district policy as outlined in Policy DEC.

Sick Leave

• Local Sick Leave

The district provides local sick leave without the loss of pay or benefits to all full-time employees.  Sick leave is advanced to all personnel at the beginning of each school year and is shown on the paycheck stub. (For more information as to how to read this information on your paycheck stub, go to http://www.pasadenaisd.org/finance/paycheck_sample.htm.)  

Local sick leave is earned on the basis of an employee’s number of assigned days on duty and is accumulated on an hourly basis.  

If an employee uses more sick leave than he or she has earned, the cost of unearned sick leave will be deducted from the employee’s paycheck in June.  If an employee terminates in the middle of the year, his or her unearned sick leave pay is returned to the district.  When an employee terminates and has used unearned sick leave, the amount will be deducted from the employee’s final paycheck. 

These local sick leave days cover:

·         Illness of employee or his/her family*

·         The attendance during child birth of an employee's family member**

·         Death in the immediate family***(five days maximum per occurrence)

·         Other family deaths****(one day maximum per occurrence)

*  Immediate Family as described in husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother,

    brother, sister, grandparent, or grandchild (Blood and Marriage relative equally).
** One day limit for normal child birth; in the case of complications as the result of child   

    birth it would be handled as illness in family.
*** Husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, brother, sister, grandchild, grandparent,

    or any other relative who is residing in the employee's home at the time of death.  (This leave covers Blood and Marriage relatives equally.)
**** Aunt, uncle, first cousin, niece, or nephew (This leave covers Blood and Marriage relatives equally) 

• State Personal Leave

Full-time employees qualify for State Personal Leave Days, consisting of a maximum of  five days per year with no limit on accumulation.  Effective August 1995, state personal leave days can be used according to policy. 

Extended absence

In the case that an employee is absent for more than 5 consecutive days and the school or department is not aware of the problem, the secretary will check with the employee to determine the cause and need. Payroll will also be notified in the case of the 5 consecutive days of absence. Payroll will contact the campus secretary to verify cause and need for absence. Any employee absent more than five consecutive workdays because of personal illness or illness in the immediate family must request FMLA and submit medical certification of illness and of his or her fitness to return to work.  

• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Employees who have personal or family illness may be eligible for Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The Family Medical Leave Certification Form is available on-line at http://www.pasadenaisd.org/personnel/forms/formslist.htm under Family Leave Request . This form must be completed and returned to the campus or Human Resources Department before the leave begins or, if the need for the leave is unforeseen, as soon as is practical. 

The Benefits Office will review the situation to see if the employee is eligible (the employee has worked for at least one year and for 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months) then will either approve or deny the request. The approval or denial letter will be sent both to the employee and campus or department.

If the request is approved, then the employee is entitled up to 12 weeks of FMLA. Paid leave and FMLA will run concurrently.

If the request is denied, the secretary will contact the employee. The employee will then contact the Benefits Office to see what options he/she may have. 

• Sick Leave Bank

The Employee Sick Leave Bank is another option if the employee is a member. The Sick Leave Bank is a pool of sick days that has been established by employees who have made a one time donation of three of their accumulated local sick days. The Bank is available to members to draw up to thirty sick days per year--once all available paid leave is exhausted--in the event that they experience a qualified critical illness or injury. In the case of an illness or injury in the immediate family an employee is eligible for a maximum of fifteen sick days. An additional thirty days for the member or fifteen days for the illness of an immediate family member may be requested in extreme hardship cases.

Employees can only enroll in the Sick Leave Bank during the month of September of each year. The forms are available on the campus or on-line at http://www.pasadenaisd.org/personnel/sickleavebank/Sick%20Leave%20Bank%20Member%20Appl.-HR.pdf .  

To be eligible for membership an employee must:

1.      Have been an employee of the school district for one (1) year

2.      Be an employee who earns sick leave

3.      Be willing to donate three (3) days of local sick leave to the Sick Leave Bank by the close of the enrollment period. 

• Hardship Leave

Another option for an eligible employee is hardship leave. Hardship leave can be used when an employee has used all earned personal leave, sick leave, and vacation leave benefits. The employee may apply for a hardship extension of sick leave equal to his/her accumulated leave as of the end of the previous budget year, not to exceed 30 days.  Hardship sick leave can only be used for the employee’s personal illness or disability, including pregnancy-related disability.

An at-will employee who is granted a hardship extension is still an at-will employee who may be terminated for any reason, or no reason, except the District may not terminate an employee for an unlawful reason.

Any employee who has hardship leave will have a substitute’s daily rate deducted from the employee’s pay during this time whether or not a substitute is needed or employed.  Applications for hardship extension of leave must be submitted in writing to the associate superintendent for human resources.

• Temporary Disability Leave (TDL)

To qualify for Temporary Disability, an employee must be employed full-time and in a position requiring educator certification by the State Board for Educator Certification or by the District. The maximum length of temporary disability leave for educators is 180 calendar days.  Temporary disability leave runs concurrently with any other form of leave, paid or unpaid. The employee must submit a request for temporary disability leave of absence to the associate superintendent for human resources. The request must be accompanied by a physician’s statement confirming the employee’s inability to work, the date upon which the employee has requested that the leave begin, and the probable date of the employee’s return. 

The information on this page is not meant to provide all answers concerning sick leave, personal leave, Family Medical Leave, temporary disability, or hardship leave. If there are questions please contact the following: 

            Employee Benefits Office                 713-740-0121

            Payroll Office                                     713-740-0263