Mingo County Schools

  • << Policy 3120.04 - Employment of Substitutes
  • Series 3 - Professional Staff
  • Policy 3431 - Personal Leave

    Adopted on May 16, 2017

    Effective July 1, 2017

    At the beginning of the employment term, any full-time employee of the Board of Education shall be entitled annually to at least one and one-half days (1 1/2) personal leave for each employment month or major fraction thereof in the employee's employment term. Unused leave shall be accumulative without limitation and shall be within the State. A change in job assignment during the school year shall in no way affect the employee's rights or benefits.

    Definitions:

    A. Employment month: twenty (20) employment days.

    B. Full-Time Employee: Any person employed by the Board who has a regular position or job throughout his/her employment term, also known as a Regular Full-Time Employee, working more than three and one-half (3 1/2) hours per day.

    C. Immediate Family:

    1. spouse

    2. sibling

    3. children

    4. parent

    5. grandchild

    6. grandparent

    7. son-in-law

    8. daughter-in-law

    9. brother-in-law

    10. sister in-law

    11. legal guardian

    12. any relative living in the same household

    D. Life Threatening Illness: A physical or mental illness, injury or impairment which involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice or residential health care facility.

    E. Personal Leave with Cause: An absence due to an accident, sickness, death in the immediate family, or life threatening illness of the employee's spouse, parents, or child, or other cause authorized or approved by the Board.

    F. Personal Leave without Cause: An absence taken without regard to the reason.

    Personal Use Utilization:

    An employee shall qualify to use personal leave and be paid the full salary from his/her regular budgeted salary appropriation during the period which the employee is absent, as follows:

    A. Personal Leave with Cause:

    1. Personal injury due to an accident.

    2. Personal sickness.

    3. Death in the immediate family, limited to a period of three (3) working days.

    4. Life threatening illness of the employee's spouse, parents, or child.

    B. Personal Leave without Cause:

    All regular full-time employees shall be permitted to take up to three (3) days of their personal leave days annually, without regard to the cause for the absence, except that personal leave without cause may not be taken on consecutive work days unless authorized or approved by the employee's principal or immediate supervisor. Notice of such leave day shall be given to the employee's principal or immediate supervisor at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance, except that in the case of sudden and unexpected circumstances, such notice shall be given as soon as reasonably practicable.

    The use of such day may be denied if, at the time notice is given, either fifteen percent (15%) of the employees or three (3) employees, whichever is greater, under the supervision of the principal or immediate supervisor, have previously notified the principal or immediate supervisor of their intention to use that day for such leave. Personal Leave without cause shall not be used in connection with a concerted work stoppage or strike.

    Personal Leave without Cause days may not accumulate.

    Any employee taking leave in violation of the above stated reasons for granting personal leave shall be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination.

    Eligibility Requirements/Procedures:

    All claims for personal leave must be in writing on the form(s) provided by the employer, signed by the employee, and submitted immediately upon return to work and presented to the employee's immediate supervisor for approval.

    A. When personal leave is a result of pregnancy, the employee shall be required to furnish the Superintendent's Office with a written statement by the employee's attending physician indicating the period during which the employee is unable to perform the duties of employment.

    B. A physician's written verification is required to be supplied by the employee to the employee's immediate supervisor after 3 consecutive days of absence.

    C. The Board reserves the right at any time to have a physician of its choice to examine a personal leave claimant at the Board's expense.

    D. If an employee should use personal leave which the employee has not yet accumulated on a monthly basis and subsequently leave the employment, the employee shall be required to reimburse the Board for the salary or wages paid to him/her for such unaccumulated leave.

    E. If any error in reporting absences should occur, the Board shall have authority to make necessary salary adjustments in the next pay after the employee has returned to duty or in the final pay if the absence should occur during the last month of the employment term.

    F. If an employee is awarded workers' compensation benefits, such employee shall receive personal leave compensation only to the extent such compensation is required, when added to the workers' compensation benefit, to equal the amount of compensation regularly paid such employee. If personal leave compensation equal to the employee's regular pay is paid prior to the award of the workers' compensation benefit, such amount which, when added to the benefit, is in excess of the employee's regular pay shall be deducted from the employee's subsequent pay. The employee's accrued personal leave days shall be charged only for such days as equal the amount of personal leave compensation required to compensate the employee at the employee's regular rate of pay.

    If an employee qualifies to use personal leave pursuant to the above provisions, the employee shall accrue seniority during the period of time that the employee is on a Board-approved leave of absence.

    If an employee is awarded workers' compensation benefits, such employee shall receive personal leave compensation only to the extent such compensation is required, when added to the workers' compensation benefit, to equal the amount of compensation regularly paid such employee. If personal leave compensation equal to the employee's regular pay is paid prior to the award of the worker's compensation benefit, such amount which, when added to the benefit, is in excess of the employee's regular pay shall be deducted from the employee's subsequent pay. The employee's accrued personal leave days shall be charged only for such days as equal the amount of personal leave compensation required to compensate the employee at the employee's regular rate of pay.

    Annual Incentive for Unused Personal Leave

    While the Board understands that events may occur that require an employee to be absent from work for one or more days at a time, employees must also understand that such absences can be a detriment on student learning, disrupt the normal operation of the schools, and drain Board resources through the employment of substitutes. To that end, as authorized in WV Code 18A-4-10a, the Board establishes an incentive program to encourage regular attendance throughout the school year.

    This incentive shall be monetary in nature, and shall be considered an addition to any salary, wages, or other usual compensation afforded to Board employees, subject to withholdings as required by state and federal law. On or before July 1 of a fiscal year, the Board shall, upon recommendation of the superintendent, set the amounts to be paid to each employee who qualifies, and shall make these amounts known to all employees of the Board through electronic or other means. This incentive shall be paid on or before June 30 of each fiscal year to any and all employees who qualify under the following provisions:

    1) A professional employee qualifies for this incentive program during a particular fiscal year if and only if he/she is a full-time, regular employee of the Board on or before July 1 of that fiscal year, and remains so throughout that fiscal year, up to and including June 30.

    2) A professional employee who is not absent for the entirety of the fiscal year shall be entitled to the full amount of the incentive; provided, that an employee with fewer than 6 but more than zero absences during a fiscal year shall be entitled to a portion of the full incentive, rounded to the nearest dollar, as detailed here:

    Days absent00.511.522.533.544.555.56 or more
    Portion of full incentive100%92%83%75%67%58%50%42%34%25%17%8%0%

    3) For the purposes of this program, a professional employee shall be considered absent if he/she is not present at his/her assigned work station, and is not otherwise assigned to report elsewhere, and is not otherwise authorized to travel on behalf of the Board, and is required to account for his/her absence with one or more of the following reasons:

    a. Personal leave with cause

    b. Personal leave without cause

    Under no circumstances shall an employee who is absent under an active worker’s compensation claim(s) be considered ineligible for this program, other than if he/she is absent separately from such claim(s).

    4) For the purposes of this program, a professional employee shall be considered absent for a whole day if he/she is absent for more than three-and-a-half hours or more than half of an assigned work shift, whichever is less, and shall be considered absent for a half day if he/she is absent for fewer than or equal to three-and-a-half hours or less than or equal to half of an assigned work shift, whichever is less.