Policy 5325 - Sick Leave Bank

Purpose
Each employee of the district may participate in this optional Sick Leave Bank; however, beginning membership shall be voluntary. To participate, each employee shall contribute a minimum of two of his/her earned sick leave days. Sick leave days thus contributed shall be deducted from the individual’s sick leave entitlement and cannot be returned whether used or not. These contributed sick leave days shall form a pool of sick leave days that upon the recommendation of the Sick Leave Bank committee, will be available to any eligible participating employee for his/her extended or recurring illness or injury which forces him/her to miss days from work which extend beyond that employee’s accumulated sick leave.

Contribution
To participate in the Sick Leave Bank, each employee shall initially contribute a minimum of two (2) days of his/her accumulated sick leave to the Bank. These days will be deducted from his/her sick leave entitlement and cannot ever be returned whether used by any employee or not. Each subsequent year of the Bank’s operation, the Sick Leave Bank committee shall determine the number of sick leave days each participant must contribute in order to keep the bank solvent at a contribution maximum of 2 days per year.
 
All employees will sign and return the Sick Leave Bank membership application within three (3) weeks of employment indicating whether he/she wants to join the Sick Leave Bank. Any member who is granted days from the Sick Leave Bank must continue to contribute sick leave days at the prescribed level being contributed by joining members. Such members cannot drop out of the bank until:

  • either he or she has paid in as many total sick leave days as used
  • the sick leave bank is dissolved
  • the employee terminates employment with the Kimberly School District.

Membership for all other employees is voluntary. An employee may withdraw upon written notice to the Sick Bank committee.

Part-time employees will contribute two (2) days equivalent to their part-time status within the school district. (For example, a half-time employee would contribute two (2) one-half days or one (1) full day of sick leave to the bank in order to participate).
 
Application
Application for use of the Bank shall be submitted to the Superintendent no later than five (5) days after the employee returns back to school or if the employee is unable to return back to school, then no later than sixty (60) days after the employee is absent from work. The Sick Leave Bank committee shall review the request (within a reasonable amount of time) to determine the eligibility of the employee. If the committee deems necessary, it may require proof of illness at the time of application and from time to time after a grant has been made. Any grants for sick leave that are turned in to the Payroll Department after the tenth day of the month (the day that the School District payroll cut-off day was set), shall be paid to the employee in the following month’s paycheck.
Guidelines
The committee shall have the authority to establish such guidelines as it deems necessary to implement this program. After complete review of the application, the committee shall have the authority to make a final decision within the guidelines as to disposition of the case.

Eligibility
In order for an employee to be eligible for sick leave benefits from the Bank, the employee must first:

  • Be a contributor to the Bank, and
  • The reason for absence must be of an unavoidable nature. The following ARE NOT to be considered for eligibility:
    1. A person choosing elective or cosmetic surgery
    2. Maternity or paternity leave
  • Be absent from work due to personal illness or injury and;
    1. All of his/her accumulated sick leave, personal leave, and vacation leave (if applicable) days are depleted.
    2. Have had his/her salary deducted for one day of pay.

Maximum Days Granted
The maximum number of days that one employee may be granted in any fiscal year will be thirty (30) days. No employee shall be paid for more sick leave days extending beyond the remaining number of days he/she is scheduled to work in that fiscal year. In no case will the granting of the leave cause an employee to receive a greater amount of pay from the District, plus Social Security disability, worker’s compensation, and private disability insurance payments than his/her salary for that year. When an employee receives Social Security disability payments, or worker’s compensation, or private disability payments due to illness or injury, his/her pay from the School District will be reduced by the amount received from these other sources if the employee is also using Sick Leave Bank days.

No employee shall be granted more sick leave days than the total number of days he/she is absent from work due to illness or accident.

In no case shall an employee be granted more than a total of one hundred (100) days from the Sick Leave Bank for all illnesses or disabilities during his/her total years of employment with the Kimberly School District.

The maximum total number of days used from the Kimberly School District Sick Leave Bank shall never exceed more than five hundred (500) days for all employees during any one school year. After the bank has accumulated three hundred (300) days, members of the Bank will not be required to contribute further days. New members desiring to join would participate by following the plan as outlined under the Contribution section of this document.

If the Sick Leave Bank is exhausted during a fiscal year, no additional days may be added until the following fiscal year. Therefore, all grants may be terminated and all further applications may be denied for that fiscal year.

Excess Days
Sick Bank grants to individual employees will not be carried over from one fiscal year to another. All such grants end at the fiscal year. If an employee does not use all of the days granted by the Bank, the unused sick leave days will be returned to the Bank.

Committee
The Sick Leave Bank Committee shall consist of six (6) people, who are as follows:

  • Two (2) members appointed by the teachers (one elementary and one secondary)
  • One (1) member from the Administrative / Supervisory staff, appointed by the Superintendent
  • Two (2) classified employees appointed by the classified staff
  • The Superintendent of the Kimberly School District.

The minutes / notes and all decisions will be recorded by the School District Clerk. The committee shall develop and distribute the rules and procedures for the orderly administration of the Bank. The Committee shall also be responsible for reporting in a timely manner to the District business office the name of contributors and the number of days contributed. The committee shall be responsible for reporting in a timely manner all days granted to any employee by the Sick Leave Bank and any other necessary information necessary to maintain an adequate accounting of the operation. The actual accounting for the Sick Leave Bank will be done by the District Office staff, and the records will be kept in the School District Office.

All members of the Committee must be present in order for the committee to consider applications for grants or conduct other regular business. The meetings will be scheduled and chaired by the Superintendent. An applicant’s application may be processed by phone by the committee if the application is:

  • Routine
  • Clearly within this policy
  • All supporting documentation is in place.

The Committee shall have the authority to make final decisions within the established guidelines as to the disposition of each case brought before it.

Legal Reference: 

Policy History:
Adopted on: January 15, 2004
Revised on: March 12, 2009; September 15, 2021