Absences, Leave and Vacation

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. When a professional staff member is routinely tardy, frequently absent or is absent for an extended period of time, the learning environment and district operations deteriorate, and the students suffer.

Professional staff employees may be terminated for excessive absences or tardiness. Unless authorized by the Board or the superintendent or otherwise authorized by law, an employee's absence or tardiness is considered excessive if it:

1. Is for a reason not granted as paid or protected leave under Board policy.
2. Exceeds the number of days allotted by the Board for that particular leave.
3. Is for a reason authorized by Board policy but exceeds five (5) days a month, 20 days in a semester or 40 days per school year.

Even if the absence or tardiness is authorized by the Board or the superintendent, if the absence or tardiness occurs for a reason not granted as paid leave under Board policy or if it exceeds the number of days the employee has been granted under a designated leave, the employee's salary will be docked.

No employee will be disciplined or terminated for absences qualifying for protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or other applicable 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. Part-time professional staff employees will receive these leaves on a pro rata basis:

1. Sick Leave -- Professional staff employees whose assignments call for 12 months of full-time employment will be entitled to 13 days of sick leave. Professional staff employees whose assignments call for full-time employment only during the regular school term will be entitled to ten (10) days of sick leave. Unused sick leave will be cumulative to 125 sick leave days. An absence of over one (1) through four (4) hours shall be counted as a half-day of sick leave.

A full-time employee who needs more days sick leave than is allowed may have up to ten (10) additional days. The employee's regular pay will be reduced the amount a substitute would make regardless whether or not a substitute is hired. Time lost before actually beginning the work of any given year shall not be allowed for a new employee. A first year employee would be eligible for ten (10) days of sick leave after actually beginning work; however, if the teacher does not plan to resume his or her teaching duties, then his or her sick leave is established by pro-rating the time for each month he or she has been on active duty. Absences may be charged against sick leave for the following reasons:

• a. Illness, injury or incapacity of the employee. The Board reserves the right to require a physician'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.
• b. Illness, injury or incapacity of a member of the immediate family. The Board defines "immediate family" to include spouse, parents, children, children's spouses, grandparents, grandchildren and siblings of an employee or employee's spouse and any other family member residing with the employee. (Note: "Family" for FMLA purposes is more limited.)
• c. Illness, injury or incapacity of other relatives, with permission granted by the superintendent. A maximum of three (3) days may be used for this reason.
• d. Pregnancy, childbirth and adoption leave in accordance with this policy.

A district employee may not be entitled to 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.

Sick Leave Reimbursement -- After a full-time employee has accumulated 125 days of sick leave, ten (10) additional sick leave days will be issued, the following year. At the end of each year thereafter, the employee will receive one-fourth of his/her daily salary for each day in excess of 125 days. Daily salary will be established by dividing the annual base salary of the teacher by the number of days the contract is written.

Upon leaving the system after ten (10) years of service, full-time employees will receive $1 per year of service spent in the district for each unused sick leave day.

2. Bereavement Leave -- Five (5) days leave will be granted if a death occurs in the immediate family of the employee or employee's spouse and will not be charged against the employee's sick leave. If extra time is needed, five (5) additional days may be requested from the superintendent which will be charged against sick leave. The Board defines "immediate family" to include spouse, parents, children, children's spouses, grandparents, grandchildren and siblings of an employee or employee's spouse and any other family member residing with the employee.

Two (2) days leave may be granted for attending the funeral of a relative other than the immediate family of the employee which will not be charged against the employee's sick leave. One (1) additional day may be requested from the superintendent which will be charged against sick leave. One (1) day leave may be granted for attending a funeral other than for relative, but it will be charged against sick leave.

3. Personal Leave -- A maximum of two (2) days of personal leave will be available per school ''' year. Unused personal leave days will accumulate as sick leave days.

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

• a. Tax investigation.
• b. Court appearances, unless applicable law requires no leave be charged to the employee.
• c. Wedding or graduation.
• d. Observance of a religious holiday.
• e. Conducting of personal business of such a nature that it cannot be performed on a Saturday, Sunday or before or after school hours, including parent-teacher conferences.
• f. Leave connected with duty as a volunteer firefighter, member of Missouri-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team, Missouri Task Force One, or Urban Search and Rescue Team. h. Leave under the FVILA.
• g. Leave for other purposes as approved by the building principal.

Leave will not be granted for an employee before or following a holiday; or during the first 10 and last 10 days of the school year. Exceptions due to extenuating circumstances may be granted by the superintendent or designee. 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.

4. Vacation -- All professional staff employed on a 12-month basis will be entitled to ten (10) days of vacation per year. After 15 years of consecutive years of service 12-month professional employees shall be entitled to 15 days of vacation. 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. A district employee may not use vacation days during the period the employee receives Workers' Compensation for time lost to work-related incidents.

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

1. Holidays -Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July 4th.
2. Professional Leave -- Teachers may be granted professional leave upon the approval of the superintendent or designee. Professional leave must be arranged well in advance, and is not considered personal leave.
3. 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.
4. Military Leave -- The Board shall grant military leave as required by law.
5. 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 (7) 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.
6. Leave to Vote -- Employees who do not have three (3) successive hours free from work while the polls are open will be granted a leave period of three (3) hours 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.
7. 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.
8. 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 and Urban Search and Rescue Team. 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 building 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.
9. 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.

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, as detailed in the following section. The district shall only apply up to six (6) weeks of accrued paid leave to such absences. Employees who are ineligible for FMLA leave may take up to six (6) 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 leave or unpaid leave. Pregnant employees who need more than six (6) weeks of paid or unpaid leave for a pregnancyrelated incapacity must provide certification of the medical necessity for such leave.

Notice

Information concerning the employee's rights under this act will be posted in accordance with law and will be provided in any employee handbooks that are distributed.

For any employee who is not eligible for the FMLA leave, including any employee who has exhausted available FMLA-protected leave, requests for leave and the use of benefits time shall proceed according to the district's established policies, and the procedural requirements of the FMLA shall not apply where they are not mandated by law.

Date Modified: January 2012

© 2013 Monroe City R-I | Policies Provided By Missouri Consultants for Education | Powered By Static Dynamics