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UT System Administration Policy Library -- Policy INT142
Sick Leave Pool |
Responsible Officer: Associate Vice Chancellor for Employee Benefits and Services
Sponsoring Office: Office of Employee Services
Effective Date: April 1, 2006
Last Reviewed: November 11, 2008
Next Scheduled Review: July 1, 2009
Errors or changes to: policyoffice@utsystem.edu
CONTENTS
Policy Statement
Rationale
Scope
Website Address For This Policy
Related Statutes, Policies, Requirements Or Standards
Contacts
Definitions
Responsibilities
Procedures
Forms Tools/Online Processes
Appendix
POLICY STATEMENT
The University of Texas System has established a sick leave pool to provide a source of additional sick leave for employees who work at least twenty hours per week for a period of at least four and one half months and who are not employed in a position requiring enrollment as a student as a condition of employment. The sick leave pool is intended to help employees and their families if a catastrophic illness or injury forces an employee to exhaust all paid leave and to lose compensation as a result.
RATIONALE
The purpose of this policy is to provide for the administration of the sick leave pool of The University of Texas System.
SCOPE
All offices of UT System Administration
WEBSITE ADDRESS FOR THIS POLICY
http://www.utsystem.edu/policy/policies/int142.html
RELATED STATUTES, POLICIES, REQUIREMENTS OR STANDARDS
UT System Administration Policies & Standards |
Other Statutes, Policies & Standards |
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CONTACTS
If you have any questions about UT System Administration Policy INT 142, Sick Leave Pool, contact the following offices:
Subject |
Office Name |
Telephone Number
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Email/URL |
Human Resources/ Employee Benefits |
Office of Employee Services |
512-499-4587 |
esc@utsystem.edu |
DEFINITIONS
Catastrophic Illness or Injury:
A severe condition or combination of conditions affecting the mental or physical health of the employee or the employee’s immediate family that requires the services of a licensed practitioner for a prolonged period of time and that forces the employee to exhaust all leave time earned by that employee and to lose compensation from the State for the employee.
Immediate Family:
Those individuals related by kinship, adoption, marriage, or foster children who are so certified by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission who are living in the same household, or if not in the same household, are totally dependent upon the employee for personal care or services on a continuing basis.
Licensed Practitioner:
A practitioner, as defined in the Texas Insurance Code, who is practicing within the scope of his or her license.
Paid Leave:
Any sick, annual, compensatory, floating holiday, overtime or other personal paid leave the employee has accrued prior to or, if using time granted from the sick leave pool on an intermittent basis, during the period of pool leave.
Pool Administrator:
The person appointed to administer the sick leave pool at The University of Texas System.
Sick Leave Pool or Pool:
The accumulated sick leave donated by employees for utilization in accordance with this policy.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Pool Administrator
- Adopts forms and regulations appropriate for the administration of the sick leave pool.
- Credits the sick leave pool with the contribution and will deduct a corresponding amount from the contributing employee’s sick leave balance.
- Considers applications to use sick leave pool hours in the order in which they are received and will approve or deny applications.
- Credits the employee with sick leave pool hours and will notify the employee and the supervisor of the amount of time granted from the pool.
Employee
- Submits an application to the pool administrator in order to contribute sick leave to the sick leave pool.
- Submits an application to the pool administrator in order to request withdrawal of sick leave from the sick leave pool.
PROCEDURES
1.1 Pool Administrator
The sick leave pool will be administered by a pool administrator designated at The University of Texas System by the Chancellor.
1.2 Contributions to the Sick Leave Pool
The sick leave pool will consist of the sick leave hours voluntarily contributed to the pool by other employees of The University of Texas System.
With approval by the pool administrator, employees are permitted to contribute one or more days of sick leave to the sick leave pool. With the exception of contributions by retiring employees, contributions to the pool must be in units of eight hours.
Retiring employees are permitted to contribute to the sick leave pool in any amount and are not restricted to increments of eight hours.
1.3 Withdrawal of Sick Leave from the Pool
Applications to withdraw sick leave from the pool must be submitted on the form prescribed by the pool administrator. An application must be filed with the pool administrator and must be accompanied by a statement from the licensed practitioner treating the illness or injury that resulted in the exhaustion of the accrued paid leave of the employee making the application. The statement must provide sufficient information regarding the illness or injury to enable the pool administrator to evaluate the employee’s eligibility.
An employee is eligible to withdraw sick leave from the pool if the pool administrator determines that the employee or a member of his or her immediate family suffers from a catastrophic injury or illness and that the employee has exhausted all accrued paid leave because of a catastrophic illness or injury or because of a previous donation of sick leave to the pool.
In determining the amount of sick leave to be assigned to an eligible employee from the pool, the pool administrator will take into consideration the information contained in the employee’s application, the number of applications then pending, and the amount of sick leave available in the pool. In no event shall the sick leave allocated to an eligible employee from the pool exceed 90 days or one-third of the sick leave pool balance, whichever is less, for the duration of lifetime employment with The University of Texas System Administration.
The employee may use sick leave assigned from the pool in the same manner as sick leave accrued by the employee and will be treated for all purposes as if the employee were absent on earned sick leave.
The estate of a deceased employee is not entitled to payment for unused sick leave assigned from the pool.
2. PROCEDURES
2.1 The pool administrator will adopt forms and regulations appropriate for the administration of the sick leave pool.
2.2 An employee who desires to contribute sick leave to the pool must submit an application to the pool administrator.
2.3 Upon approval of an application to contribute sick leave, the pool administrator will credit the sick leave pool with the contribution and will deduct a corresponding amount from the contributing employee’s sick leave balance.
2.4 The pool administrator will consider applications to use sick leave pool hours in the order in which they are received and will approve or deny applications within ten working days after receipt of the complete application.
2.5 Upon approval of an application for sick leave pool hours, the pool administrator will credit the employee with sick leave pool hours and will notify the employee and the supervisor of the amount of time granted from the pool.
2.6 Sick leave contributed to the pool may not be designated for the use of a particular person.
2.7 Although contributions are voluntary, employees who leave state employment are encouraged to contribute to the pool, unless there is a possibility that they will be reemployed by the state within twelve months and thereby eligible to have their sick leave balance restored. A terminating employee who contributes sick leave to the pool is not eligible to have those hours restored if he/she returns to state employment within twelve months.
FORMS AND TOOLS / ONLINE PROCESSES
None
APPENDIX
None
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