HB 4485 — Allow education employees to donate sick leave to co-workers for maternity leave

(A) May limit the maximum number of days used by an employee;

(B) Shall limit the use of leave bank days to an active employee with fewer than five days accumulated personal leave who is absent from work due to accident or illness of the employee;

and (C) Shall prohibit the use of days to:

(i) Qualify for or add to service for any retirement system administered by the State;

or (ii) Extend insurance coverage pursuant to §5-16-13 of this code.

(D) Shall require that each personal leave day contributed:

(i) Is deducted from the number of personal leave days to which the donor employee is entitled by this section;

(ii) Is not deducted from the personal leave days without cause to which a donor employee is entitled if sufficient general personal leave days are otherwise available to the donor employee;

(iii) Is credited to the receiving employee as one full personal leave day;

(iv) May not be credited for more or less than a full day by calculating the value of the leave according to the hourly wage of each employee;

and CS for HB4485 (v) May be used only for an absence due to the purpose for which the leave was transferred.

Any transferred days remaining when the catastrophic medical emergency ends revert back to the leave bank.

(3) The administration, subject to county board approval, may use its discretion as to the need for a substitute where limited absence may prevail, when an allowable absence does not:

(i) Directly affect the instruction of the students;

or (ii) Require a substitute employee because of the nature of the work and the duration of the cause for the absence.

(4) If funds in any fiscal year, including transfers, are insufficient to pay the full cost of substitutes for meeting the provisions of this section, the remainder shall be paid on or before the August 31 from the budget of the next fiscal year.

(5) A county board may supplement the leave provisions in any manner it considers advisable in accordance with applicable rules of the State Board and the provisions of this chapter and chapter 18 of this code.

(c) Effective July 1, 2019, a classroom teacher who has not utilized more than four days of personal leave during the 200-day employment term shall receive a bonus of $500 at the end of the school year.

If the appropriations to the Department of Education for this purpose are insufficient to compensate all applicable classroom teachers, the Department of Education shall request a supplemental appropriation in an amount sufficient to compensate all eligible classroom teachers.

This bonus may not be counted as part of the final average salary for the purpose of calculating retirement.

CS for HB4485 (A) Incapacitates an employee or an immediate family member for whom the employee will provide care;

(3)(3)Donor "Donoremployeemeans employee" means a professional educator or school service person employed by a county board who voluntarily contributes personal leave to another designated employee;

and (4) "Maternity“Maternity leave"leave” means leave taken by a pregnant woman topursuant attendto for their child, as Intr HB 2026R1357 otherwise set forth in §21-5D-4 of this code;

CS for HB4485 (c) Rule.

and (C) The receiving employee requires additional personal leave because of a catastrophic medical emergencyemergency; or maternity leave;

or maternity leave.

Intr HB 2026R1357 (E) Each personal leave day contributed:

Any transferred days remaining when the catastrophic medical emergency or maternity leave ends revert back to the donor employee;

CHAPTERCS 18B.for HB4485 NOTE:

HIGHERThe EDUCATION.purpose of this bill is to allow the donation of sick days for maternity leave.

ARTICLE 7.

PERSONNEL GENERALLY.

§18B-7-14.

Higher education employees' catastrophic leave and maternity leave bank and leave transfer.

(a) For the purposes of this section, "employee" means either of the following:

(1) A classified or nonclassified employee who is employed by a higher education governing board, by the commission or by the council;

or (2) A faculty member, as defined in section one, article eight of this chapter, who is eligible to accrue sick leave.

(b) An employee may donate sick and annual leave to a leave bank established and operated in accordance with subsection (d) of this section or directly to another employee in Intr HB 2026R1357 accordance with subsection (e) of this section.

No employee may be compelled to donate sick or annual leave.

Any leave donated by an employee pursuant to this section shall be used only for the purpose of catastrophic illness or injury as defined in subsection (c), or maternity leave established in subsection (h) of this section and shall reduce, to the extent of such donation, the number of days of annual or sick leave to which the employee is entitled.

(c) For the purpose of this section, a catastrophic illness or injury is one that is expected to incapacitate the employee and create a financial hardship because the employee has exhausted all sick and annual leave and other paid time off.

Catastrophic illness or injury also includes an incapacitated immediate family member as defined by a governing board, the commission or the council, as appropriate, if this results in the employee being required to take time off from work for an extended period of time to care for the family member and if the employee has exhausted all sick and annual leave and other paid time off.

(d) A leave bank or banks may be established at each state institution of higher education, the commission or the council to which employees may donate either sick or annual leave.

The bank or banks may be established jointly by the policy commission and the governing boards or may be established for the commission, the council, and each of the governing boards.

Sick or annual leave may be deposited in the leave bank, and shall be reflected as a day-for-day deduction from the sick or annual leave balance of the depositing employee.

Donated leave may be withdrawn by any employee experiencing a catastrophic illness or injury when the following conditions are met:

(1) The president of the institution or the chancellor of the commission or the council, as appropriate, verifies that the employee is unable to work due to the catastrophic illness or injury, or maternity leave;

and (2) The president of the institution or a chancellor, as appropriate, approves the withdrawal and provides written notice to the personnel office.

The withdrawal shall be reflected as a day-for-day addition to the leave balance of the Intr HB 2026R1357 withdrawing employee.

(e) Sick or annual leave may be donated to an employee experiencing a catastrophic illness or injury, or for maternity leave.

The leave shall be donated at the request of the employee after appropriate verification that the employee is unable to work due to the catastrophic illness or injury , or for maternity leave as determined by the president of the institution or the appropriate chancellor.

When transfer of sick or annual leave is approved by the president of the institution or the appropriate chancellor, any employee may donate sick or annual leave in one-day increments by providing written notice to the personnel office.

Donations shall be reflected as a day-for-day deduction from the sick or annual leave balance of the donating employee.

An employee receiving the donated sick or annual leave shall have any time which is donated credited to his or her account in one-day increments and reflected as a day-for-day addition to the leave balance of the receiving employee.

(f) Use of donated credits may not exceed a maximum of twelve continuous calendar months for any one catastrophic illness or injury.

(1) The total amount of sick or annual leave withdrawn or received may not exceed an amount sufficient to ensure the continuance of regular compensation and may not be used to extend insurance coverage pursuant to section thirteen, article sixteen, chapter five of this code.

(2) An employee withdrawing or receiving donations of sick or annual leave pursuant to this section shall use any leave personally accrued on a monthly basis prior to receiving additional donated sick or annual leave.

(g) Donated sick or annual leave deposited in an institutional leave bank or transferred under subsection (d) of this section may be inter-institutional in accordance with the policies of the appropriate governing board.

Each institution, the commission or the council is responsible for the administration of the sick or annual leave deposits, withdrawals and transfers of its employees.

Rules implementing the provisions of this section may be adopted jointly or separately by the governing boards, the commission or the council in accordance with section six, article one of this Intr HB 2026R1357 chapter and, in the case of the commission and council, in accordance with article three-a, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.

(h) Leave may also be provided to an employee who uses maternity leave, which is that leave taken by a pregnant woman to attend for their child, as otherwise set forth in §21-5D-4 of this code.

Any donated leave for this purpose shall be done in the same manner as otherwise set forth in this section.

NOTE:

The purpose of this bill is to allow educators in the public school system or in the higher education system to donate leave to employees who use maternity leave.

The bill defines maternity leave.

Finally, the bill sets forth the process for the leave transfer.