4080 Sick Leave
Sick leave is allowed for sickness, injury, pregnancy, childbirth or recovery from childbirth, medical, surgical, dental or optical examination or treatment; when an employee’s presence at work would jeopardize the health of others because of exposure to contagious disease; or accidental injury or illness in the immediate family. The immediate family shall be defined as the employee’s spouse, child, parent, parent-in-law, legal dependent, or persons currently residing in the immediate household. Accumulated sick leave may also be used for the serious illness of a sibling, grandparent, or grandchild.
CERTIFIED EMPLOYEES
Certified employees shall earn sick leave according to the following schedule:
Ten-month employees 10 days per year
Eleven-month employees 11 days per year
Twelve-month employees 12 days per year
Sick leave for certified employees shall be credited at the beginning of the school year. If a certified employee’s effective date of employment is not at the beginning of the school year, the employee shall immediately be credited sick leave in an amount equal to one day for each month to be worked between the effective date of employment and the end of the contract year.
Upon retirement, severance or termination, certified employees who have been continuously employed in the Union School District for the last fifteen years or more in a sick-leave qualifying position are eligible to be paid for unused sick days in accordance with the negotiated UCTA Master Contract.
Upon retirement, severance or termination, the Board of Education will pay all certified personnel at the rate of $65 per day for unused sick leave up to 120 days accumulated while employed at Union Public Schools. Only days accumulated while continuously employed at Union Public Schools will be eligible for payment. Transferred-in sick leave days from any source, including sick leave accumulated from prior service with Union Public Schools, will not be eligible for payment.
Upon retirement, severance or termination, the Board of Education will pay all certified employees at the rate of $75 per day for unused sick leave accumulated in excess of 120 days. These days will be maintained by the district until employment ends and will not be available for employee sick leave or donation leave use.
Current sick leave balance could include the cap of 120 days, plus ten sick days for the current school year, plus any unused personal leave days from the previous year. Sick leave in excess of the maximum amount available for use will be maintained by the district but will not be available for use by the employee.
Only days currently accumulated while continuously employed at Union Public Schools will be eligible for payment. For the exclusive purpose of retention of leave balances, a leave of absence granted by the Union Board of Education shall not be considered as an interruption of employment.
Any qualifying, terminating employee who wants to retain sick days for the purpose of transferring the sick days
to another school district for the next school year (rather than having the days automatically paid out), must request in writing to the Director of Payroll that sick days be retained for the purpose of allowing the employee to transfer the sick days to another school district for the next school year. The written request to retain sick days must be received by the Director of Payroll no later than thirty (30) days after the employee’s notice of retirement, severance, resignation or other termination is received by the Human Resources Department.
The district will provide one (1) week of parental leave for the birth of a child and to care for such child at the time of the qualifying event for a maximum of once per contract year.
The district will provide one (1) week of paid adoption leave for the adoption at the time of the qualifying event for a maximum of once per contract year.
SUPPORT EMPLOYEES
Full-time and part-time support employees shall earn sick leave at the rate of one day per month or a proportionate amount based on the number of hours consistently scheduled to work for a five-day work week as per the negotiated USPA Master Contract. A support employee’s initial hire date will be used to determine the number of sick-leave days earned during the first year. This benefit will be credited at the rate of one day per month or one month’s proportion of the total annual amount. Provisional support employees will not accrue sick leave.
Sick leave shall accumulate up to 120 days (plus current school year’s accrual) for full-time support employees. For accumulation purposes, one day equals up to 8 hours for full-time employees based on regular work schedule as per the HR100. Part-time support employees shall accumulate sick leave for a proportionately equal number of hours up to a maximum of up to 690 hours. One (1) day equals up to 5.75 hours based on the regular work schedule as per the HR100. On June 30 of each year, any sick leave balance available for use by the employee exceeding the
maximum will be reduced to 120 days for full-time employees and 690 hours for part-time employees. Sick leave in excess of the maximum amount available for use by the employee will be maintained by the district but will not be available for use by the employee. If an employee transfers from full-time to part-time, their sick leave in excess of maximum accrual for part-time employees will be reduced. Sick leave may be taken in one (1) minute increments.
A support employee with ten or more consecutive years vested in the district in a sick-leave qualifying position, upon termination, shall qualify to receive payment for unused sick leave up to the cumulative cap at the rate of $50 per day for 8-hour employees, for less than 8-hour employees would be paid proportional for the daily hours worked for unused sick days up to 120 days and at the rate of $55 per day for 8-hour employees or, for less than 8-hour employees would be paid proportioned for the daily hours worked for unused sick days in excess of 120 days. No employee shall be reimbursed for any unused sick leave which the employee transferred in from another school district or elects to transfer to another school district.
Any qualifying, terminating employee who wants to retain sick days for the purpose of transferring the sick days
to another school district for the next school year (rather than having the days automatically paid out), must request in writing to the Director of Payroll that sick days be retained for the purpose of allowing the employee to transfer the sick days to another school district for the next school year. The written request to retain sick days must be received by the Director of Payroll no later than thirty (30) days after the employee’s notice of retirement, severance, resignation or other termination is received by the Human Resources Department.
The district will provide one (1) week of parental leave for the birth of a child and to care for such child at the time of the qualifying event for a maximum of once per contract year.
The district will provide one (1) week of paid adoption leave for the adoption at the time of the qualifying event for a maximum of once per contract year.
ADMINISTRATORS
Sick leave earned at Union Public Schools for administrators shall be earned at the rate of one day per month. An administrator’s initial hire date will be used to determine the number of sick-leave days to be earned during the first year. Sick leave for administrators shall be credited at the beginning of the fiscal year. The administrator shall be eligible immediately for sick leave in an amount equal to one day for each month to be worked between the effective date of employment and the end of the contract year.
Payment for accumulation of and reimbursement for unused sick leave for administrators shall be made as per the negotiated UCTA Master Contract.
All administrators are eligible, provided they have been continuously employed in the Union Public School District for ten years or more in a sick-leave qualifying position, for payment of unused sick leave upon retirement, severance or termination. Unused sick leave up to 120 days accumulated while employed in the district will be at the rate of $50 per day and accumulated but unused sick leave in excess of 120 days accumulated while employed in the district will be at the rate of $65 per day. Only days accumulated while continuously employed at Union Public Schools for ten years will be eligible for payment unless specifically approved otherwise by the Board of Education and as allowed by state law. Except days earned in the current year and personal leave accumulated but unused in the prior year, sick leave days accumulated in excess of 120 days will be maintained by the district but will not be available for employee sick leave or donation leave use.
Any qualifying, terminating employee who wants to retain sick days for the purpose of transferring the sick days
to another school district for the next school year (rather than having the days automatically paid out), must request in writing to the Director of Payroll that sick days be retained for the purpose of allowing the employee to transfer the sick days to another school district for the next school year. The written request to retain sick days must be received by the Director of Payroll no later than thirty (30) days after the employee’s notice of retirement, severance, resignation or other termination is received by the Human Resources Department.
The district will provide one (1) week of parental leave for the birth of a child and to care for such child at the time of the qualifying event for a maximum of once per contract year.
The district will provide one (1) week of paid adoption leave for the adoption at the time of the qualifying event for a maximum of once per contract year.
TRANSFER OF SICK LEAVE
Unused sick leave earned in another Oklahoma school district may be transferred to Union Public Schools provided the employee is employed the next succeeding school year. By law, the district cannot accept the transfer of sick days when the employee does not submit paperwork to transfer his/her sick days within the fiscal year following his/her previous school employment. Such sick-leave days transferred to the district shall be used first in the case of illness and shall not be eligible for reimbursement upon separation from the district. Certified employees and administrators may transfer in a maximum of 120 days of sick leave. Support employees may transfer in a maximum of 120 days of sick leave.
At separation from district service, employees shall not be reimbursed for unused sick leave which they elect to transfer to another school district.
Revised 6/10/96 UCTA 4080, 4091
Revised 12/8/97 USPA 5.02, 5.12
Revised 12/14/98
Revised 12/13/99
Revised 1/8/01
Revised 12/8/03
Revised 12/13/04
Revised 12/10/07
Revised 11/10/08
Revised 1/18/10
Revised 11/8/10
Revised 12/10/12
Revised 12/9/13
Revised 12/8/14
Revised 11/14/16
Revised 12/9/19
Revised 12/11/23