METROPOLITAN NASHVILLE BOARD OF EDUCATION
SUPPORT EMPLOYEE SICK LEAVE BANK
SICK LEAVE BANK
RULES AND REGULATIONS
I. Purpose
The purpose of Sick Leave Bank is to provide sick leave to contributors who have suffered a personal catastrophic illness, injury, disability or quarantine and all paid leave is exhausted.
II. Administration
The Sick Leave Bank shall be administered by a Committee of Trustees. The Committee shall be composed of five (5) members: two (2) members appointed by SEIU, two (2) members from Human Resources and one (1) member from the Steelworkers Union.
III. Trustees
a. In the event any member is unable to be present at any meeting of the Sick Leave Bank Trustees, the member may appoint a representative to serve during a particular meeting if authorization is given in writing by the absent Trustee.
b. Trustees are eligible to succeed themselves.
c. All actions of the Trustees shall require three (3) affirmative votes. Decisions of the Trustees shall be final and cannot be appealed or grieved.
d. All records of the Bank shall be kept in the Human Resources Office of the school system. The Trustees shall inform the Human Resources Office of all applications they approve and the amount of leave granted the applicant.
e. The Trustees shall act affirmatively or negatively on all Sick Leave Bank applications on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month.
IV. Membership Provisions
a. Full-time support employees who have completed a minimum of one (1) year of employment shall be eligible to participate in the Bank; however a minimum participation of one hundred (100) employees shall be required to establish the Bank. Full time employment is defined as working 20 hours or more per week.
b. Any support employee who elects to participate in the Bank shall initially have three (3) days of sick leave deducted from his/her personal accumulation and deposited in the Bank by completing and signing the Sick Leave Bank Enrollment Form. The signing of the Enrollment Form by the participant relieves the Board of Education, SEIU, Steelworkers and the Trustees from any liability.
c. Employees participating in the Bank shall agree to abide by the rules and regulations established herein by the Trustees.
d. Enrollment shall be open during the months of August, September and October of any year. Deadline date for enrollment is October 31.
e. Donations of sick leave to the Bank are nonrefundable and nontransferable except in the event of termination of the Bank. In the event the Bank is terminated, the total days on deposit shall be returned proportionately to the current participating members and credited to their personal sick leave accumulation. Days returned under this section and credited to the individual participant’s accumulation shall be rounded to the nearest one-half (1/2) day.
f. If at any time the number of days in the Bank is less than one per member, or at any other time deemed advisable, the Trustees shall assess each member one (1) day of accumulated sick leave. If a member has no accumulated sick leave at the time of the assessment, the first earned day after the assessment shall be donated as it is accrued. It is the responsibility of the member to hold sick leave in his/her sick leave balance for assessment and to notify the Sick Leave Bank Administrator upon accrual.
g. The enrollment authorization shall remain in effect for the current and subsequent years unless cancelled in writing. A member may withdraw from the Bank on any June 30 by prior written notice to the Trustees. Membership withdrawal shall result in forfeiture of all days contributed.
h. Application forms for the Bank may be obtained at each work location and the Office of Human Resources.
V. Sick Leave Bank Usage
a. Sick Leave Bank days may be granted only for instances of catastrophic disabling illness, injury, complications of pregnancy, or quarantine of the individual member. Grants of sick leave from the Bank shall not be made to any member on account of any elective surgery, or the illness of any member of the participant’s family, or during any period the member is receiving disability benefits from Social Security or local retirement plan. Disability benefits from individually purchased policies shall not affect eligibility to draw from the Bank. Pre-existing conditions occurring during 12 months prior to joining the Bank shall not be covered.
b. A participant shall not receive any sick leave from the Bank until after having exhausted all accumulated sick leave, personal leave, annual leave and compensatory time as verified by the department head.
c. There shall be a waiting period of six (6) consecutive duty days (excluding extensions for the same illness or injury) following the exhaustion of all available “paid leave” before days from the Bank may be used.
d. Members of the Bank shall be eligible to make application to the Bank for sick leave only after having been a member of the Bank for thirty (30) calendar days.
e. All requests to draw upon the Bank must be submitted on a Sick Leave Bank Request Form and submitted to the Trustees within thirty (30) calendar days of the first date Bank usage is requested. In extreme and unusual circumstances, exceptions may be approved.
f. All Request Forms to draw from the Bank must be accompanied by a statement on the Medical Certification Form certifying that leave is medically required by the specified illness or disability. Such form must be signed by the attending physician.
g. An applicant or member drawing on the Bank may be required at any time to undergo a medical review (at his/her expense) that is performed by an ASC network physician.
h. Coverage for any illness shall be for a minimum of five (5) days.
i. The total of days allowable cannot be increased due to multiple illnesses beyond a maximum of sixty (60) days for one year and ninety (90) over two consecutive years. The lifetime maximum number of days allowable to any member of the Sick Leave Bank shall be one hundred twenty (120) days.
j. In the event a member is physically or mentally unable to make a request to the Trustees for use of sick leave days, a family member or agent may file the request.
k. Employees may receive benefits from the Bank only for their annual payroll period of employment.
l. Sick leave granted to a member from the Bank need not be repaid by the individual, except as all members are uniformly assessed.
m. Leave grants from the Bank, approved by the Trustees, shall not be less than five (5) consecutive days or for more than twenty (20) consecutive days for which the individual applicant would have otherwise lost pay. Applicants may submit requests for extensions of such leave grants before or after their prior grants expire. A physician’s statement is required to verify all extensions.
VI. Loss of Benefits
A member shall lose the right to obtain the benefits of the Sick Leave Bank by:
a. resignation or termination of employment;
b. cancellation of participation which is effective on June 30 next;
c. refusal to honor such assessment as may be required by the Trustees;
d. being on approved leave of absence with the exception of personal illness or disability leave;
e. retirement;
f. refusal to comply with the guidelines, rules and regulations of the Bank.
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